[VHFcontesting] CQ WW

[Herb Krumich]

I had mentioned I would try an put a decent effort into this contestFrom our 10 band station, I am down to only 50 mhz.I was only able to operate for the first hour and a half on Saturday beforehaving to take 4 hours off. Conditions were spotty at best but did workstations to the south and picked up some nice gridsI got back on the air around 8pm and stayed until things slowed down around 11:30. Sunday I was back on at 8am and contacts remained steady.I don't want to get into the FT8 vs SSB comparisons . As they say"It is what it is".A few quick openings during the afternoon came from the Caribbean and EA plus CT'sBut only a few stations were worked. A new grid on a grind-out was appreciated.I probably did miss grids during my Saturday dinner time excursion's.To those who worked WA2FGK, this will be the last time the call will be used in a VHF contest.I want to thank Buzz WA4GPM for being my 100th grid worked in this contest This past week I uploaded enough contacts on LOTW to get me over the 100,000level on the low bands with my call K2LNS. This was part of my bucket list.Our once great station is now totally shut down on the hill in Bear Creek Twp., Pa.I've been making home improvements for the last year and taking down towersFour towers have been removed with three to go. I was hoping to sell this year, but it won't happen until 2023.My future plans will be a small system on the low bands and a VHF portable I have everything gathered to operate from 50-1296 low power.Surely hope to do this for a few more years.Everyone = Thank you for over 60 years of VHF contesting. It's been a blast.Ten's of Thousands of contacts on AM-CW-SSB-FM-JT65-MSK144-FT8 EME- Meteors etcAnd the best part is "I lived to tell this story". Score this weekend297 contacts and 102 grids for 30,294Keep the bands active gents. Any mode will do73Herb K2LNSStation mgr for the WA2FGK station "RIP"