Packrats AA2SD/R, KE5NJ/R and KF3YJoin up at FN10AD to work the 222 and up Contest

AA2SD/R ARRL 222 and Up Contest August 1, 2026  -For this contest we met up with Andy and Chris to
work the 222 and Up contest. I also had plans to visit one more grid to qualify as a Rover. I use
these contests to prepare for the Sept, June and January VHF contests. I planned to test my new
antenna stack in which I changed my smaller ELK antennas with a 4 element 222 antenna, and a 10
element Diamond 432 antenna. Additionally I was testing a new 5 GHz Slot antenna, and a 10 GHz Slot
Antenna. I also brought along my 2 foot 10GHz Dish Set up.

Andy KF3Y was active with 10GHz and he deployed a push up pole with 1296 and 432 successfully. He
was very busy drawing the entire day. Chris KE5NJ/R used his full ICOM 905 set up and he was testing
a new 5GHz slot antenna for roving.

The Gremlins Stopped Me in my Tracks  Unfortunately at the start of the contest my Bias Tee
arrangement failed to switch all of my transvertors, and I lost all of my microwave bands except for
the 5 GHz and 10 GHz independent set up, and 432 and 222. I spent the better part of the day
troubleshooting in the field, and did not operate for more than 1 hour during Saturday. After a
frustrating ride back home I spoke  with N3RG and he provided advice on how to test for voltage on
the equipment switch head or on the transverter board. Early Sunday morning I was able to resolve my
issue due to a bad BNC cable, and a loose SMA connector on the transverter switching board. I have
determined that this configuration has been installed and re-installed over 20 times in my temporary
mobile rover, and SMA connectors have a propensity to loosen up in this environment.

Sunday Morning a Quick Recovery and Test Again   I was able to make a few contacts during Sunday
morning and worked with Ray N3RG and Jeff K1TEO from my favorite watering hole located at Pole Hill
Park FM29MT on 1296, 903, 222 and 432. I also worked my smaller loopers withDave K1RZ on 1296,
222,AND 432.


Shooting towards K1RZ elevated at 190 feet located at Pole Hill Park in Voorhees NJ FM29




A Summary of the Rove This was my worst performance during the 222 and Up contest, but I did learn
and trouble shoot in the field for the majority of the team. My meager score summary is below, I
would estimate I only operated for 1.5 hours on day one, and I spent about 1 hour Sunday morning
after correcting my issues.

Pros:
222 4 Element Beam Performed Well with Q5 Reports
432 10 Element Antennas Upgrade also performed well
Wiring Harness for the Antennas stack was installed with LMR400 Ultra Flex and feeds of LMR600 for
the Micro Bands
5 GHz Slot and 10GHz Slot antennas worked well for local contacts
Cons:
Not enough time operating due to troubleshooting
Transvertor SMA connectors plagued me on my board
Road worn BNC cables need to be updated and tested


Final Score Summary for my Brief Operating Time



Rover Set up at FN20AD during the start of the 222 and Up contest


Chris K3FNJ/R Rover set up at the start of the 222 and Up Contest located in FN20AD
.
It was great to meet Len N3NGE for lunch with Andy KF3Y and Chris KE5NJ/R.  I plan to update trouble
shoot all of the issues and be ready as a Rover during the Sept VHF Contests.


Go Out and Play Radio Listen for the Weak Ones
Scott  AA2SD/R   www.aa2sd.com
609 254 7120   Pack Rat DMR 8804

Low activity on SSB/CW.

There's hardly anybody on the air anymore around here.

2 hours operating time in Eastern Oregon in hot and smoky conditions

Rainy weather made for terrible propagation, and that was disappointing after high hopes for this
contest.  I did not make any really long contacts on any band.  Weak receive and higher than normal
SWR on 432 was tracked to a bad WaveNode directional coupler that had to be removed.  I missed what
would have been my highest point QSO with W5EME on 222 Q65 due to WSJT-X suddenly listening to the
wrong audio input (I thought it was a RF problem).  
222: IC375A (30w), 15el M2 Yagi
432: IC9700 (75w), 21el M2 Yag
1296: IC9700 (10w), 36el I0JXX Yagi

Activity was found to be extremely sparse in this contest.

contest region 11 (MI-OH-VE3-NNY-WNY-WPA)

Why the "region" system and why are we lumped with Canada  Why
no analog only category  WSJT doesn't support 6 digit grid
exchanges.

Probably the fiest sub-100 score ever submitted for this contest. VHF is difficult in the flatlands
of Illinois, and almost no locals have anything but an FM dual bander. At least got I a few of them
on 70cm FM. And thanks to my tech wife whom I purchased a 33cm Motorola HT for, and handed me a few
points.

Had little time over the weekend, but only one QSO in 3+ hours seems just a bit slow.  Hope others
had more activity than I.

Activity low on Sat.

Storm cells kept chasing me off the air. Made some
noise and gave out some points. Always a fun
contest. Thanks and 73, Ron (W8RU).

I could only operate single band setup on 222 FT8 from my remote laptop with no way to change bands.
222 best multiplier. I was still in recovery stage from a recent hospital stay. Got a mixed up start
until I saw K1TEO mention to use the EU contest mode. I ran about 5 hours total with 17 Q's & 11
Grids. Best distance was 487km to FM09te with w8zn. Tnx for the Q's. 73, George

The concurrence of Microwave Activity Day and the ARRL 222 contest provided an increase in activity
at least in the early part of the 222 contest, and especially due to the increased Rover activity.