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VHF Contesting

VHF Contesting. Scott Honaker – N7WLO. Why Contesting?. Emergency preparedness Familiarity with equipment Operating practice Competitive need Challenge. Why VHF?. More about location than station – even playing field Cooperative contest More relaxed Less band “fighting”

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VHF Contesting

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  1. VHF Contesting Scott Honaker – N7WLO

  2. Why Contesting? • Emergency preparedness • Familiarity with equipment • Operating practice • Competitive need • Challenge Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  3. Why VHF? • More about location than station – even playing field • Cooperative contest • More relaxed • Less band “fighting” • No awkward antennas • Everyone can play – available to all class licenses Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  4. Rules - Classes • Single operator (high/low power) • (Limited) multi-operator • Rover • Single operator portable (QRP) Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  5. Rules – Grid Points • Maidenhead Grids • 1 degree latitude x 2 degrees longitude • Either 4 or 6 character designator • Covers the whole world • Seattle is CN87, Bellingham CN88 • Vancouver, BC is CN89, Portland is CN85 • 1 Grid point for each grid contacted per band • 1 Grid point for each grid activated Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  6. Maindenhead Grids Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  7. Rules – QSO Points • Modes (CW, SSB, FM) • Most activity is USB on/near call channel • A QSO is same points regardless of mode • No additional points for additional modes • Bands • 6m to light • Higher bands worth more points • Exchange – Call and grid square • Score = Grid pts x QSO pts Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  8. Equipment - Radios • Multimode (CW, SSB, FM) – most activity is SSB • Multiband - 6m, 2m, 220, 440, 1.2 gig • FM OK 2m and up • IC-706MKIIG, FT-100(D), FT-817, TS-2000(X) • Don’t forget IC-T81s, TH-F6A, etc. • Transverters Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  9. Equipment – Antennas • Loops • Beams – Planars - Dishes • Horizontal polarity • Verticals only useful on 2m, 222, 446 • Arrow, Cushcraft, M2, KB6KQ, Par • Mast/rope, telescoping masts, park-on mounts, etc. Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  10. Facilities • Car • Camper • Truck • Tent • Trailer • RV Rodger KK7LK on Mt Anderson Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  11. Rover Vehicles Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  12. Mapping • Delorme Gazetteer – Identifies grid squares and good operating locations • Topo data is critical for finding good operating locations or route planning • GPS – Can provide antenna bearings • Locations scouted on • http://pw1.netcom.com/~n7cfo/locations.htm • Radio Mobile software • http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  13. Locations • Altitude • Access to population centers • Unique grid squares • Accessibility – rover • Beware of “populated” hill tops – may need intermod filters Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  14. VHF Propagation Modes • Sporadic-E • Most common on 6m • Troposcatter/ducting • Most effective on 6m through 70cm • More common in summer, near water • Aurora • Works late at night on 6m and 2m • Point antenna north Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  15. New Modes • Not too common - yet • PSK 31 • Similar noise immunity to CW • Easily run on most laptops • http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html • JT 44 with WSJT • Copy up to 30dB below the noise floor • Computer clock and radio freq must be accurate • Not real-time, must be scheduled/arranged • http://pulsar.princeton.edu/~joe/K1JT/ Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  16. PSK 31 Frequencies Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  17. VHF During Field Day • VHF/UHF QSO counts are notoriously low • The vast majority of QSOs are voice • FD scoring gives 1 point for voice, 2 points for CW and 2 points for data QSOs • Typical VHF QSOs might be 80 – all voice • If 50% added soundcard modes, we get 5 points per station rather than 1 point • 80 points becomes 240 points • This doesn’t count QSOs now possible with PSK/JT44 Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  18. Strategies • Make noise • Pay attention to 6m band openings • Track rovers and the bands they have • Identify big stations with multiple bands • Use CW/PSK/JT44 for extra QSO points • Bring as many bands as possible • Scan 2m FM simplex channels and 446.000 • Check out http://www.pnwvhfs.org Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  19. Monitoring Activity • 50.125 – 50.200 MHz USB • 52.525 MHz FM • 144.200 – 144.250 MHz USB • 146.580 FM and 2m simplex (not 146.520) • 225.500 FM or 222.100 USB • 432.100 – 432.120 MHz USB • 446.000 MHz FM • 1294.500 FM or 1296.100 USB Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  20. Additional Field Day Info • Use HamScope/MixW/WSJT to make CW/PSK available to all operators – it all loads on the logging machine • Arm the GOTA station with VHF and multimode software • Anyone not operating should be contacting the VHF and GOTA stations • Use down-time for JT44 contacts – while continuing to monitor other frequencies Scott Honaker - N7WLO

  21. Have Fun! Scott Honaker - N7WLO

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