The VHF spring sprints are coming soon.   2 meter sprint is April 11  7pm to 11pm local time.


I'm planning to go roving for this one.  Will be working from grids EN60, EN61, EN70 and EN71  


I'm hoping to be able to work much of Indiana and reach into Ohio, Michigan, Illinois  and maybe into Wisconsin.


With some good tropo I might get a little further.  Will be running 200 watts SSB/CW into a stacked pair of horizontal  loop antennas.


Top loop is at 13.5 ft on the back of the truck with the other 64 inches lower.











I hope I hear a few arfcomers.   Gamma762,  I expect to work you again in this contest.

 

2011 Announcement - Preliminary

2011 Spring VHF/UHF Sprints

"Distance Scoring" will continue in 2011 for all 5 of the Spring Sprint Bands/events.

Dates for the 2011 Spring
Sprints will be: 144 MHz - Monday, April 11; 222 MHz - Tuesday, April
19; and 432 MHz - Wednesday, April 27. Each of these will be from 7pm
to 11 pm LOCAL time. The Microwave/902 MHz & Up Sprint will be on
Saturday, May 7, from 6 AM until 1 PM local time.
The 50 MHz Sprint will be from 2300Z Saturday, May 14, until 0300Z
Sunday, May 15, 2011.



https://sites.google.com/site/springvhfupsprints/2011-announcement

in other news a local ham was shot by police responding to a report of a suspicious person, the ham was shot while screaming "you will not touch my radio!!"

Looks like I could work the 432 sprint. I'm off that day.

I'd like to work AZ on 432     Have done it on 2 meters



 

I have a spot at 6000ft I like to frequent.
Here is the view to the east/ne from the secret location..

 nice,   That looks like it would be nice for HFpack too.  

NOw get up there with some VHF/UHF gear for the sprints.

That may be better for a daytime operation that evening where it will be dark by the time it ends.



 

HF? Done...10 meter mountain top ops. Portable from that location. The dark doesn't bother me, I have lights!

..and ammo.

nice 10 meter op.  Now go work some more bands there.  





 

Got the setup in the truck worked out.   Was going to make a rack then
found these cheap clip together shelves at Menards.  $6 and they fit in
real well.   I didn't want anything permanent.  A coule bungy straps
and it is in place and solid.  Some of you may notice that I have the
IC-703 in there instead of the 7000.   Same size... didn't want to tear
the station in here apart yet.  I'm hooking up the old TS430S to
replace the 7000 while it is out for contesting.  Hope to work some of
you next monday evening.  7-11pm EDT.


Remember the 2 meter sprint is April 11  7-11pm local time.    
I should be able to work a most of Indiana,  a lot of IL,  and some of
MI and OH.  Maybe further if we get a tropo opening.  I will be running
200 watts into the antenna system shown earlier in the thread.

I will have another local ham along with me.   We will be working from the area between Silver lake and Rochester IN.  Hope to work out a couple hundred miles.  Maybe more if conditions are good.

Look for us around 144.205 SSB (200 Watts)  and 146.550 FM (60 Watts)  the exchange is your grid square.... 6 digit maidenhead if possible but not required.

Testing last night I worked into ON, MI, IL, WI and Ontario.  Give it a try.  IF you don't hear our Radio Signal Level you may still have fun and may make some good contacts.

Hooked everything up again and ready to go.   This afternoon  after hooking it up,  for some reason I had the amp SWR protection kick the amp out.  Can't figure out what caused it.  SWR is 1.2:1

on the analyzer.  I took the Bird meter and 250C slug out and tested it.  At 200 watts out  of the amp I was showing 4 watts reflected.  With the bird inline I made a contact into Ohio east of Toledo.  Over 135 miles.  it didn't kick out on that one.   talked to the guy for about 20 minutes with no problems.  So I left the bird inline.  decided not to mess with something working.  Working that distance should get me a few VE3 stations.  Hope to get a lot of OH, MI, IN and IL worked.   Should be able to work WI too.  I expect to be able to work about 200 miles,  maybe more if conditions are good.



Will be on 144.205 SSB unless there is too much QRM  and on 146.550 FM with 60 watts.  146.580 if 55 is busy.

Good luck! I suppose I could work 2m this evening from home...but my beam is oriented in the vertical plane. Not good for local SSB.

Worked 25 stations.   Furthest contact was Gamma 762.   247 miles..... arfcom won the distance award.  



Worked him from 3 of the 4 grid squares we were active in.   He reported that he could hear us in the 4th one but we couldn't hear enough to make the contact.



He beat out  K2DRH by about 16 miles... and had a stronger signal.

Gamma762,  is your success because you have bigger antennas than K2DRH?  



 

Looking at the log again after a few hours of sleep I see that Gamma762 was not the furthest contact.    We made one contact with a station close Lebanon, IL.    He was 266 miles from our location at the time.   Gamma,  you only win second place,  but I think you are the furthest with omni-directional antennas on both ends.  I am sure W9GKA has bigger antennas than you at his contest statioin.

Well I didn't hear a soul on 2m SSB last night.

were you using this antenna?


http://www.hamradio.com/images_manuf/H0-001066A.jpg





 
 
 

No, mine is made by Heathkit...HA!
I was using this setup..

Mine is too... but they aren't in business any more.  



 

Damn..I missed it. I had to work late...then had to work overnight. I was home for maybe 2 hours last night.

 not sure where you are in Ohio,  but you may very well have been in range for me.  Worked EN71,81,91 EM88,89

about anywhere in OH you may have been in range for me.  



 

I am 30 miles east of Columbus and about 10 miles south of Newark. I am sure we could have worked...if I had my yagi up.

worked one very close to you



 

Conditions weren't blistering but there was a little prop anyway... enough to get out over 500km from my gizmo omnidirectional antenna, and almost as far in the opposite direction.  Used my old 2m amp and preamp for the first time, seemed to be working ok although I really need to get it set up for direct keying instead of the RF sensing stuff.  What I took for front-end overload of the preamp turned out to be aurora propagation, just barely there this far south.

There can't have been that much activity, at least in my area, with the scarcity of contacts that I had.  I didn't have any trouble working people on the air, just weren't enough of them.  Would have been nice if the band had stayed up a little longer so I could have worked that MS station.  With more time on the air I seriously think I could work VUCC off of that little antenna.  If I ever get stuff rebuilt the way I want I hope to have a couple of them stacked in addition to some beams.  If aluminum wasn't so expensive, I'd be tempted to build one for 6m.  I need to get a stack of 4 built for 432.

It doesn't take a whole lot to get on the air on one of these contests, if you have an SSB capable radio.  Both this one and in the January contest I worked contacts in the 80 miles range on 2m, that were just using a dipole at very moderate height (~20 feet).  And I worked a bunch of people with 50 watts, and still haven't even had a really good tropo opening.  100 watts on 6 meters will easily get you coast to coast if E skip opens up.

For anyone who has 220 mhz,  the sprint is tomorrow evening, April 19.   7pm to 11pm local time.  If I do activate for this one it will be FM only 60 watts  antenna at 90 ft from our club station.


Next one for a rover is the 70 cm sprint on April 27.


The 6 meter sprint will be from 2300Z Saturday, May 14, until 0300Z Sunday, May 15, 2011.  This is the only one which is not on local time.  With the Es season starting nationwide or greater may be possible.


If you are into microwave contesting I'm sure you can look up the details on those bands.





http://sites.google.com/site/springvhfupsprints/2011-announcement-rules



IF you would like to experience what it is like to be on the DX end of a pileup  you can do it without going to a foreign country by spending a few hours as a rover in a VHF/UHF contest.



 

70cm sprint tonight.  7 to 11 pm local time.  K9JK/R will be working rover from Nobelsville, IN to Cincinnati, OH.  We will be working the corner of EN71, 61,70, 60

listen for the Radio Signal Level/Rover.  WB8BZK/R will be roving the southwest suburbs of Chicago.  There will be more so it may be a good time to add to your 432 grid total.

We will have a pair of 432 loops 100watts and a 10 element beam if it isn't raining.    K9JK/R will be running a similar setup with 80 watts.  We don't plan to stand out in thunderstorms to erect and turn beam antennas.  the loops can be used while moble.

I was informed yesterday that my distance score for the 2 meter contest does check out .   Looks like I have a very good chance to have high score in the rover class.   I already know that I have topped the 2 who had first and second for the last 5 years.  Yesterday was the last day to submit logs so the only way I can lose is if someone unexpected turns in a rover log that we haven't heard about yet.   Information I had was current to about 5 pm yesterday.