[VHFcontesting] Working K5QE in the ARRL Jan VHF contest....

[Marshall-K5QE]

Hello to all our friends in the Meteor Scatter / WSJT world from the 
K5QE contest team....K5QE will be operating in the ARRL January VHF 
Contest and would really appreciate any contacts that we can make via 
digital meteor scatter or EME for that "rare" grid.  The contest begins 
1900 UTC Saturday and ends 0400 UTC Monday (the weekend of Jan 20 and 
21).  For those of us still on local time, that is 1PM Central Time on 
Saturday to 10PM CST Sunday night.

For those stations that are outside our normal range, I invite you to 
try to work us on 6M, 2M, or 222 using digital meteor scatter OR 2M, 
222, or 432 EME When the moon is up. We will be operating EME on 
144.142MHz, 222.085MHz, and 432.080MHz Second Sequence.  For this
contest, the moon rises at 1600Z(before the contest starts) on Sat and 
about 1630Z on Sunday morning.

On 6M, we will be operating WSJT-X MSK144 digital meteor scatter on 
50.265MHz, grids, using the MSK contest mode.  The check box for the 
contest mode is on the main screen or under File/Settings/Advanced 
depending on what version you are running.  We will begin 6M meteor 
scatter operations at 0100Z Sunday = 7:00PM CST Sat Night.  Our QRG for 
6M meteors is 50.265MHz, as usual.  We may call CQ K5QE 265 on 
50.260MHz, but we will RX on 50.265MHz and we will complete our contacts 
there.  If we are calling CQ towards the NE, we will be on First 
Sequence.  If we are calling towards the West or NW, we will be on 
Second Sequence.

Please remember that the contest requires the exchange of GRIDS.  This 
is a good opportunity for smaller stations to get a DX contact on 6M, 
because the chances of an Es opening late at night are nil.  Please give 
us a try on 6M meteor scatter.  We run 1KW output on 6M meteor scatter 
with fairly large antennas.

On 2M, we will be operating WSJT-X MSK144 digital meteor scatter on 
144.142MHz, grids, SH=ON using the MSK contest mode. The moon rises at 
0850Z(=2:50AM), Sunday morning and we will be on EME thereafter.   When 
we operate 2M digital meteor scatter, we will RX on
144.142MHz.  We may call CQ K5QE 142 on 144.150MHz, but we will complete 
our contacts on 144.142MHz.  Please call us there.  We will be on normal 
sequence(see above).  Again, remember that the contest requires 
exchanging GRIDS.  We run a stacked pair of 17el M2's at 160ft and 1KW 
output on 2M MSK.  We also have a 9el with 15deg of tilt built in.  We 
plan to use this antenna for shorter distance contacts.

222 meteor scatter contacts are harder than 6M or 2M, but they they are 
easier than most folks think, especially with MSK144. If you have a 
decent 222 antenna and some power, visit with us on PingJockey and we 
can set up a sched.  Even if we only make 5 contacts via MS on 222, that 
is 5 grids that we(and you) will not make otherwise.

On 6M, 2M, and 222 we will cease digital operations at 7AM CST(=1300Z) 
on Sunday morning and revert to normal tropo type operations.  We will 
be watching the PingJockey reflector whenever we are doing digital 
meteor scatter and the N0UK EME-1 reflector whenever the moon is up for 
us.  The reflector is a wonderful resource, so feel free to use it 
liberally.

The new ARRL rules allow us to make schedules on PingJockey or the EME-1 
page, so don't be shy about chatting with us there. Using the reflector, 
there is no reason for us to tie up 50.260MHz or 144.150MHz, just call 
us direct on 50.265 or 144.142.  NOTE:  NO contact information can be 
exchanged on the reflector.

For specific schedules, you can call the contest station at 
409-787-3831.  We can also run FT8 if conditions are favorable. Just 
contact us on PingJockey or call us to set up a sched.

Thank you in advance for spending some time to work us in the contest.

73 Marshall K5QE, EM31cj
www.k5qe.com

East Texas