VHF ContestingVHF Contesting

Scott Honaker – N7WLOScott Honaker – N7WLO

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 22

Why Contesting?Why Contesting?

• Emergency preparedness• Familiarity with equipment• Operating practice• Competitive need• Challenge

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 33

Why VHF?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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 44

Rules - ClassesRules - Classes

• Single operator (high/low power)

• (Limited) multi-operator• Rover• Single operator

portable (QRP)

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 55

Rules – Grid PointsRules – 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 66

Maindenhead GridsMaindenhead Grids

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 77

Rules – QSO PointsRules – 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 88

Equipment - RadiosEquipment - 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 99

Equipment – AntennasEquipment – 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1010

FacilitiesFacilities

• Car• Camper• Truck• Tent• Trailer• RV

Rodger KK7LK on Mt Anderson

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1111

Rover VehiclesRover Vehicles

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1212

MappingMapping

• 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1313

LocationsLocations

• Altitude• Access to

population centers• Unique grid squares• Accessibility – rover• Beware of

“populated” hill tops – may need intermod filters

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1414

VHF Propagation ModesVHF 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1515

New ModesNew 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1616

PSK 31 FrequenciesPSK 31 Frequencies

HF Band Frequency VHF Band Frequency

160 M 1807 KHz 6 M 50.290 MHz

80 M 3580 KHz 2 M 144.144 MHz

40 M 7070 KHz 1.25 222.070 MHz

30 M 10140 KHz 70 cm 432.200 MHz

20 M 14070 KHz 33 cm 909.000 MHz

17M 18100 KHz

15M 21080 KHz

12M 28120 KHz Most PSK 31 is USB

Scott Honaker - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1717

VHF During Field DayVHF 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1818

StrategiesStrategies

• 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 1919

Monitoring ActivityMonitoring 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 2020

Additional Field Day InfoAdditional 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 - N7WLOScott Honaker - N7WLO 2121

Have Fun!Have Fun!