[VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January VHF/UHF contest?

Thu Jan 23 12:26:04 EST 2020

Hi Chet & Ron

The January VHF Contest is made for trouble. That is probably the reason 
it has been so popular over the years. That being said, I stopped 
getting on VHF in 2017 after 55 years of fun and bliss on 144 MHz. There 
were several reasons. Being retired, I found fly fishing to be a 
fantastic way to spend the day. I have been crawling all over the NH 
White Mountains looking for brook trout, Rainbows, and Salmon.  I made 
the trek down to N3NGE this year and helped out in the January contest. 
We had an awful time with the weather. Saturday afternoon, it was 
sleeting, then turned to freezing rain. The antennas iced up.  QSO rates 
plummeted and we were down to 5 or 6 per hour combined for all bands. 
The antenna patterns were reversed on each band. The power off the 
reflector was 6 or 8 dB better than what was available off the front of 
the antenna.  On 222 & 432, I started running by aiming the reflector at 
the station we needed. It did not help much. Things only improved the 
following morning where the temps went above 32 and the Sun worked on 
the ice to make most of it fall off.  We were fortunate that the ice 
finally did fall off!!

I had been bummed out by the influx of the digi modes into VHF 
contesting and DXing in general.  Our plan was to not work anyone on FT8 
so that we could run the bands later on. I guess it worked as we had no 
trouble making CW and SSB contacts with plenty of stations.  I found the 
bands were not as desolate as I had imagined them to be, and resolved to 
re activate my dilapidated station up on that ridge of solid rock up in 
Maine. I am even rebuilding my 222 station. One of my yagis managed to 
snap in half due to high winds a few years ago. It is not repairable by 
myself as the H frame needs to be lowered as the broken boom is up on 
top on the left. I'll need some extra muscle to fix it.

Anyway, my take on the January contest was that it was great and I had 
way too much fun working weak signals with iced up antennas. I am 
dusting off my VHF gear in hopes of getting active again (in between 
fishin' time)

And Ron, ..... The Pack Rats are still talking about you.  I saw 
several  "Ron" Voodoo dolls with pins stuck in them while I was in PA.

73

Dave K1WHS

On 1/23/2020 2:10 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
> Hi Chet: Spot on -
> anyone's who's still VHF contesting as long as we have
> are gluttons for punishment - bring on the pain we love it !
> Lot's of good contacts made despite challenging condx.
> -73 Ron WZ1V
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chet S" <chetsubaccount at snet.net>
> To: <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
> Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 08:59:41 -0500
> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January VHF/UHF contest?
>
>> Hi John,
>>
>> I believe you are misinterpreting the reports from the contest. These may be bragging reports, not disgusted tirades. The January contest presents challenges and problems for many, but hams like to persevere, engineers like to solve problems, and all like to talk about it afterward.
>>
>> Think of it like sailors or fishermen having a few beers in the cozy pub after a big storm. Do they talk about how beautiful the storm clouds and sky were, or do they tell tales of how tough a time it was getting through it. Still had a kind of fun, maybe a man thing.
>>
>> 73,
>> Chet, N8RA
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=snet.net at contesting.com> On Behalf Of John Young via VHFcontesting
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 10:58 PM
>> To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
>> Subject: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January VHF/UHF contest?
>>
>> So I have been reading the 3830 and ARRL Soapbox posts.  The vast majority of posts include a lot of commentary on poor turnout, poor conditions, dead bands and weather difficulties.  Some even question if its worth taking part in these contests. My experience and those of several others who worked FM in Northern VA or MD was very much the opposite. There was great activity from 2pm until 10pm Saturday and it wasn't what I would call slow (no 30 minute breaks between Q's) all the way up to 1 am.  Even when I got back on the air at 0330 Sunday there was activity to be had.  I didn't work through to the bitter end (or should I say bitterly cold end) but from the private emails it appears it never got boring.  Its not like we had great weather here by any stretch.
>> What made it so much fun?
>> Turn out and constant activity.  Working hard to get a weak contact.Rag chewing with truckers all night to add points as they cross grids.Making scheds with FM and multi-band rovers along with big fixed stations at "long range".Passing contacts between stations to build each others scores.Making a Q with people who never imagined a 100 mile Q was possible on FM simplexHaving a paraplegic 15yr old build a tape measure yagi so he can make a QSO with you (2017).People dusting off rigs they have not used in years or going mobile to a nearby hill top to give you another contact or multi.
>> A big part of what generated the activity was a coupe guys sending out a lot of emails to get people up on the air in our area.  That has over time generated a lot of turn out, both casual operators, new fixed site contesters as well as regional FM or FM/SSB rovers.
>>
>> Was having fun this January just an FM thing?  All our contacts are regional, propagation is not a big factor.  There are no digital modes, clickety Q, clickety Q.Its just you, a microphone, a radio, a cable and an antenna.  Pretty basic stuff.
>>
>> Did anyone else have a good time?Post something if you did.  All that reading is pretty depressing right now.
>> 73JohnKM4KMU
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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