Part of AZ SOTA s2s activation from W7A/MN-039

Hiked up to SOTA peak Loma Alta (W6/NC-350) in central Marin (CM88qa). This is
the same place I went last year for the January contest. I did better this time.
I made an extended double zepp for 6m. Having all modes on 222 helped too, most
of my contacts there were sideband. K6MYC certainly helped me by getting me on
three bands. He was the only person in DM07 I heard. Just before I had to pack
up, 6 opened. I heard a bunch of SoCal stations, then XE2JS in DL68 started
booming in. He got the AA6 from my call, but couldn't get the rest :'( If only
the opening had started 30 minutes sooner. For the June contest I hope to have
separate antennas for 144/432, and have something for 1296.

First January VHF effort and it was a blast!

Portable from same location just outside of Cherry Creek State
Park in SE Denver. FT-817, Z817 tuner, Battery power, Hustler 6m
mobile antenna. Limited time, so I juat set up at the same
location both days.

(One-grid rover - okayed to enter by Bart.)

A couple of firsts for this contest. It was my first January VHF
contest and my first VHF Contest at my new QTH with a new antenna
set up. I have beams on 6m, 2m and 432 on a 50 ft. tower. The backbone of the station is my 7
element 6 meter beam on a 30 ft. boom. Also helping is my QTH which is located on a hilltop with an
elevation of 1835 ft. ASL. In
South Texas the population density isn't conducive to a lot of activity on the other UHF and higher
bands, so I stick to the basics and enter the 3 band category. The contest was fun and I gave it a
full effort. While conditions weren't very good, there was just enough action to keep me interested.
Thanks to rovers KA5D, KD5IKG, K5ND and W5DMB, who provided many QSO's. FT-8 was the busiest mode
from my South Texas QTH. I look forward to the June Contest.

Poor propagation and only a few contestants on Saturday made it difficult. I was only able to
contact one station while I was in FN41. After moving from FN41 to FN51 and setting up I was unable
to make any contacts. Saturday night into Sunday there was a nasty snow and sleet storm and I stayed
home.

I really wanted to try out my new Yeasue 8900R and do 3-bands
FM-only, but I had so many chores to do that I couldn't get setup
until about 5pm.

WORKED 18 GRIDS
LOTS OF BAD WX SAT.
BUT BETTER CONDITIONS SUNDAY

My SO2R setup with N1MM+ and two instances of WSJT-X worked quite well.  Unfortunately I was unable
to resonate and mount a new 9 element LFA Yagi for 2 meters in time for the contest, leaving me with
only an attic discone on that band.  The bit of 6m Es that showed up was a nice surprise. I made
more FT8 QSOs than SSB QSOs.  Hoping for better results in June.  73, Walt, AJ6T, EM64

10-band QRP rover. Because of weather forecasts, only ran about half of my planned route. 903 didn't
work a couple times, 10G did not work at all; otherwise, all expected contacts were made.

I did a combination VHF contest plus Summits On the Air activation from Genesee Mountain, west of
Denver at 8200 feet. It was a fun day, good weather. 
I'll post a trip report at k0nr.com later.

minimal portable set-up and hard to have anyone copy me using FT8. Heard nothing on PH or CW.

Band Mode  QSOs   Grids
50   CW           1          1
50   USB        10          3
50   FT8       159        35
50   MSK144  17       14
---------------------------------
Total             187        53

Score : 9,911

Operating only on 6 Meters, the majority of QSOs were made on FT8.
Most FT8 QSOs were made from my living room easy chair using
VNC Server on the PC in the basement shack and VNC Viewer on my
Android phone. The audio output of the JTAlert sound card feeding
an FM wireless transmitter alerted me via a nearby FM receiver
whenever someone called me.

On Sunday I was able to watch the NFL playoffs while working the
VHF Contest. To say the least, it was a different kind of contest.
There were very few SSB stations and even fewer on CW. The 50.313
MHz FT8 frequency was constantly busy. The 50.260 MHz MSK144
frequency provided 17 random meteor scatter QSOs and 14 new grids.
The addition of the digital modes made the usually boring
January VHF contest a little more interesting.

I wonder if it might be time to consider creating separate
analog and digital VHF contests.

73,
Rich - K1HTV

2m beam iced and useless all Sunday, 6m beam iced but usable: swr ~2.5:1

Conditions seemed pooor until we got a bit of an opening on Sunday around sunset local time.  There
was a big snow storm this weekend, so it worked out just fine to stay inside and play radio.

Geez the fun just never ends.  I got back home in early Dec from the Keys to discover that despite
making arraignments to have my main tower fixed by the time I got back, it wasn’t, and the 6M
arrays on both towers as well as 2304 were kaput.  The custom made part needed to fix my worn out
guy ring was at least finally fabricated after 4 months of problems and delays.  I arraigned some
tower help and we managed to cut the old part out and replace it a few days after I got back. 

I fixed the 2x11 6M array on the main 6M tower and the 2304 problem.  I found about 2” of water in
the 8x7 array tower relay/match Stackmaster box that had just been repaired about a year earlier
from the lightning strike and apparently had not had the gaskets replaced.  I sent it out for repair
again and it sat there until two days before the contest when they finally looked at it and almost
all the relays were shot, as well as some positions on the expensive new shack controller that I’d
had to replace last year. But they could sell me a whole new system.  Needless to say I’m not
thrilled about that.  

The Contest itself was anticlimactic.  I never worked anyone on 2304. In fact I only even found one
rover and one fixed station that even had it, but both were too far away for conditions. Two meters
was suppressed all weekend and 222 and 432 were much better bands. The temperatures dipped down to
the minus regions the day of the contest and the insulator noise was horrendous, especially to the
west.  It quit the last 15 minutes of the contest.  The big rain/snow mix that occurred on Friday
must have iced up a lot of stations in MI, IN and OH because I hardly heard any of them.  It also
kept most of the rovers home.  No real 6M Es and no enhancement.  Just a real January grind. 

On a positive note the new version of WSJTX seems to fix the problems were have seen with contest
mode and rovers.  I used it a lot to drive up my grid total.  It’s still difficult to pry local
stations off 6M digital and get them to QSY to other bands, but we seem to be making some progress
there.    

73 de Bob2 K2DRH

Very cold and poor driving conditions.

FT-8 and MSK saved the day

Rochester VHF Group

My 59th January contest (1960 - 2019, minus one missed year). Now restricted to indoor antennas. 
Had four yagis stacked a total of 33".  But any antenna is better than none.  Activity lower, as it
continues to decline over the years.  The intrusion of digital modes has altered the character of
the contest.  Digital should be in a separate contest, or at least in a separate category.  It
diverts contact opportunities from the 'lower power" stations, and stratifies the contest operation
(all only my opinion).  Nevertheless, I'm glad I am still here to participate, and enjoy renewing
acquaintances on the bands.

LIMITED PARTICIPATION DUE TO FAMILY COMMITMENTS WHILE TRAVELING TO FROM
VANCOUVER, WA (USA) TO OREGON COAST. A MISPLACED ADAPTER AND EQUIPMENT
MALFUNCTION LIMITED MOBILE OPERATION TO STOCK HT ANTENNAS AND LOW POWER. WEATHER POOR THROUGHOUT
CONTEST PERIOD. OPERATED IN CN73, BUT MADE NO QSOS IN THIS GRID. DID NOT OPERATE 6M. FIRST 1.25M QSO
FOR ME.  MAY TRY 6M FM AS WELL NEXT TIME. SEVERAL RANDOM QSOS UNAWARE OF VHF CONTEST.

"Most FM activity was on 2m."

VERY COLD. VERY LOW BAND ACTIVITY.

low activity

My computer (FT-8) worked about 30 contacts, I worked the rest.

Very good Es for January Contest. First grid circling encounter with other rovers. That sure helped
my score.

Participation was very low for this contest.

Great contest.  A lot of new stations and a lot of fun.  73 to
all who made the contest a success.

I wanted to visit some mountaintop spots in the Olympic Peninsula
that I'd heard about but never seen. So in this January
VHF contest, I took the ferry across Puget Sound and
activated rare grid squares CN77 Mt Octopus on Saturday,
and CN78 North Point on Sunday. I set up all day long
as a portable station with modest power but fairly big
antennas. It's such good fun to work stations up and down
the coast from British Columbia to Idaho to California. FT8 let
me collect several new and distant grids but it's awfully slow going.
My thanks go to all the many PNW rovers, especially Rod WE7X/R
who explored even more spots in these remote grids.

I had to stay at the home QTH for this contest, no mountain top portable for this one. I usually go
up to Windy Point Campground @ 6,000 ft and operate the 10 watt portable category. I hope to be back
up there in June. Enjoyed a short 6m opening on Saturday and worked XE2JS and of course a few of the
guys in the mid-west states. Stuck with CW-phone, I think most operators where on FT8. Had fun as
usual :)
Rick / K7CNT
Kingman, Az

Saturn 6 halo at 15 feet - FT8 only. Grand total of 14 points! Probably better next year with beams
on 6 and 2.

QRP Portable on SOTA summit MN-142

Second submit to correct Claimed Score and correct time for one QSO.

bad weather on Saturday with 8 inches of snow, nice local activity on Sunday. No openings heard
while operating

Fun to see what you can do on Sunday
afternoon when the playoffs are going
and the Big Gun stations are hungry !

What an incredibly cold and windy weekend weather. Even better to get out and Rover in the January
2019 VHF contest. Work and other commitments limited my time in the field, though I enjoy every
contact that I shivered through. 
Tried to implement everything I learned from Andrea Slack, K2EZ, the Queen of Rovers, at her recent
exceptional presentation at FLARC (Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club). The best part were the eyeball
QSO's with Bob, KD2BKD/R, who had really prepared well for multi-band and multi-mode, proving the
value of planning and preparation, along with Tom, N2YTF/R, who we ran into again at Stateline
Lookout in Alpine, NJ. 
What a great coincidence after meeting Tom at the same site during the September 2018 VHF Contest.
Tom is an avid SOTA operator, and was well equipped for all the bands approaching daylight ;-) Had
the pleasure of hanging out with Tom after the park officially closed, when our only concern was
getting locked in ;-)
Glad to hear that Tom has been invited to present at FLARC. Really looking forward to that.
In hindsight, that would not have been awful as long as we could keep from freezing or blowing off
the steep cliff.
My big takeaway was the value of planning and preparation to maximize on-air time, minimizing setup
in the field. This includes some obvious (to some) tactics as pre-programming the frequencies and
modes into the radio, mobile mounting the antenna or having a more rapid deployment technique,
operate as many bands as possible, consider QRO though my heart belongs to QRP, constantly upgrade
and improve the antennas, bring snacks and beverages though always keep sanitary facilities nearby,
plan the route for most efficient operation from multiple grids, dress for the weather and the rapid
changes that occur during day and night, improve antenna aiming, use spotting and other resources if
allowed in the rules, have all logging and other software loaded and tested including backup
devices, enhance power resources, and much more. Getting more field practice in VHF ops outside of
the contests would be a great benefit.
All in all, fun fun fun with good friends, and a great learning experience.
See you on the bands again soon.
Thanks to all and 73.
:Steve Rosman KA2YRA/R

We are Der Funkwagen
Visit ka5d.com

Fun to get on the air for a short time.

Compromised antennas left me with very few grid squares and cost me a lower score. Will have to give
in and go back to the digital modes like FT-8 for those coveted extra grid squares.

Exact time data was lost; times were in the last 3 hours of the contest.  Pretty
slow contest due to wx, but at least wanted to ensure everyone else got their
points!

What a thrill to stop sending CW
and hear di dah di    di dah di
I'm getting Rogers, Yahoo !

This was my first contest. I made my first contact on 6m during the contest. I made one phone
contact and the rest were FT8. I really enjoyed seeing the high power operators making distant grid
square contacts that I wasn’t able to hear. I had lots of fun working 6m and I’m looking forward
to the next one!

Sorry, I'm new to the logging program. My name is Mark Pedersen, the address is 21 Brunson Way,
Penfield, NY 14526, comment - done in conjunction with Boy Scout Klondike.

THIRD CONTEST LOG

FT8 was king on 6 meters. Had nice E-Skiip Sunday afternoon. No SSB on 6 meter since all stations
were on FT8 - even when signals were +16. Nice to work TG, XE and DM grids. Looking to be more
active June 2019

I lost a mast due to high winds right before the contest. I had antennas for 432, 902, and 2304 on
it.

This was my first contest since I received my license. I found it very exciting and it helped me
understand and use the equipment more efficiently. Now, I can’t wait to get my general to work the
rest of the world. 

Maryellen 
kD2NNM

Mount Umuhum

First VHF contest. Fan Dipole and digital only on 6m.  Would consider a rover station next year.

This was mine and KE6PY's first try at competing in the Rover category.  We
operated DM13 from Double Peak in San Marcos CA and later DM12 near Laguna
Mountain in East San Diego County.  Although there were times I thought we had
clear shots into the LA area, Mexico, and the SoCal desert we really didnt hear
much of any activity outside of San Diego county. When we got into the Laguna Mt
area,  it being National Forest, most all of the operating areas we had
previously scouted were closed due the the government shutdown.  We still
managed to make to most of it and squeaked out a few more contacts from DM12.
Still had a great time and plan on doing it all over next year.
Nick, KK6TV

I operated the contest from the SOTA peak W7A/MN-143. Sunday morning of the
contest coincided with the Arizona SOTA Summit to Summit event which put
operators on 15 summits in Arizona with VHF gear. In addition several rovers
past thru activating 4 grids within range. Two events in one what a great idea.
I hiked my summit in the dark and was treated to a great sunrise while setting
up my station. It was well worth the effort to carry a 38 pound pack to the
summit. I can't wait until next year. It was worth it to make over a hundred
contacts without a 6m opening.

This is my first time operating the January contest from Florida as a snowbird.  My temporary living
quarters in the warm climate of S. Florida are very comfortable, but I found out too late that they
are contaminated with RF interference.  Wide band noise prevented me from making many contacts with
my 3 band effort.  Next time I'll try roving so I can escape the interference!

My first VHF contest! Combined radios with K5SRT rover.
My team consisted of:  KG9DUK, Alexander Naas,
K5SRT, Ross Terry, and KB0YHT, Nick Farlow

First January VHF, 3rd Contest ever!

Winter weather disrupted the January effort. Looking forward to June.

All quiet here

equipment=TS570S, antenna=G5RV dipole at 10 m in trees, Thanks for the fun!

We had crappy weather
The VHF contest logs use slightly different fields

First contest. File upload not working. Had to create by hand.  Hope everything is correct!

Lower turnout but fun anyway.

Operated prior to bowling, mpbile parked in the bowling alley parking area. Was hoping for an
opening.

Many thanks and kudos to K1JT and the entire WSJT development team on the outstanding improvements
realized in version 2.0.0!

Cameo Appearance Mode

This is my best score ever in the January contest, and with
probably less than the usual BIC time!  No Es openings to speak
of either. (I did briefly hear some W6's on FT8 Saturday, but
didn't work any.) Highlights were working W7MEM on 2m (no meteors
involved), and W7YAQ way down in CN94 on 6, likewise meteor free.
Lots of new calls heard.  Contacts were fairly even split between
FT8 and SSB on 6.  Thanks for all the QSOs!

Fun to hear the other operators say
Thanks for the contacts and new
multiplyers, when are you going to be
in the next grid ?

A chilly weekend for portable operation. Had Es on 6 meters Saturday evening to
Arizona and California, but no luck working anyone with 10 watts. Sunday noted
extensive Es along the east coast and dancing just out of reach south of
Kansas.
K1TO and WX4G popped in briefly late Sunday afternoon on 6 meter FT8 working
W3.
Sunday evening finally worked XE2AT DL91 around 0057z for my only 6 meter Es
contact. The rest of the log were locals.

Very much enjoyed the comraderie and overcoming the challenges of cold windy weather and still
performing.
Our team spent significant amount of time assembling and planning KG9DUK's first rover effort.
N0LD/R team:  N0LD-Randy Wing, W0HGJ-Harvey Jones, N5ZY-Marcus Sutliff

trying endfed wire sloper antenna @ 15-60ft

VHF activity is growing in AZ!  Thanks to the SOTA guys and of course the rover!

Local Club Compitition - RRRA

Dont ask your wife to be a rover driver in a snowstorm! #!##

There is a repeater on 146.555

cancelled the rover effort, operated from my driveway until I had to start shoveling snow

RoverLog is terrific!

rain, high winds, ice but still had fun!!
try to do better next year

Tuned my triband vertical for low end of 6, to pass out a few QSO's to locals. 28 grids went into
the log!

Glad the rovers and portables were out there despite the bad weather.

I thought I would play in the contest some.  I've been QTH challenged for much too long!  (Since
2012)  I used the South Florida DX Association club station.  No antennas for 2 or 70CM, but I
managed a few QSO's with some VERY local stations!  

The 6 meter antenna is a 6 element homebrew design, up on top of the hospital, but it is fed with
180' of poor coax.  Additionally, since we don't have enough coax runs available in the conduit, the
6 meter coax shares duty with the 40 meter antenna using a duplexer on each end!  I would be
surprised if there were more than 30 watts at the antenna.

It was pretty much an FT-8 contest.  Never heard much on SSB or CW. I really enjoyed the rare
January Es openings.  They weren't big openings but they were good enough to have some fun.  

Glad to hear so many FCG members on.

Very 73,

Randy
N4QV

this is  log only  no score ....for count by other stations...

RoverLog is terrific!

902 and above QSOs are Checklog

1850 feet on mt erie anacortes washington state

Location: ARRL Southwestern Division including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara,
Orange, San Joaquin Valley Sections
450 Miles driven
Score: 5970 points    (QSOs 133) (QSO points = 199) ( 24 Grids  worked 8 + 6
Grids Activated)
QSOs per Mile (QPM) = .296
Points per Mile (PPM):  13.27
Interesting ‘highlights’:
On Saturday, we had sunny skies, temperature 74 deg. F, calm winds: temperature
inversion between Malibu & San noted visually and by signal reports.
Grids Activated (6): DM04, DM03, DM13, DM14, DM15, DM05
Equipment: FT857: 6m/2m/70cm; TM331A: 135cm; DJ-G29: 33cm; DJ-G7: 23cm;
Antennas: whips on 6m- 70cm & small handheld yagis for 33cm & 23cm. (7 element
2 meter yagi used in DM05 only)
ALL QSOs on SSB or FM.
Operators: Pete, N6ZE, & Woodie, WA6WDY

This was my first solo contest and it was lots of fun thanks to all of the SOTA stations on summits,
and the Rovers.

TRANSCRIBED PAPER LOG

Good participation but poor wintertime conditions.
Thanks to the rovers out there in January weather!

Just played occasionally on FT8 6 meters handing out Qs and looking for new grids on 6 and maybe
even a chance at working my last two states SD, and HI on 6. Seems like there may be some bugs in
version 2.0 with decode though. Usual band conditions on VHF for January. Very low activity on the
higher V/UHF bands, not worth the time to engage. I only have 144 and 432 SSB and 223FM. If you camp
out on 144.200 call frequency, there may be some occasional activity. Just can't see spending the
weekend anymore camped out on 144.200 waiting for someone to drop by. No one calls CQ anymore. Seems
that's all done via phone calls and texts and chat rooms...Hey Joe, K9???...meet me on 432.090 in 5
minutes and we'll run the bands from there. ARRL V/UHF contesting has really turned into a joke.Look
forward to the CQWW VHF though in the summer. That's still a contest with operator and "his" RADIO!
I'll still enter a log for SMC, but that's really my only motivation for getting on during these
V/UHF contests anymore.
73 Gene N9TF

There was activity on Saturday during the contest on FM, but on Sunday there was little to none on
FM.

No 432 stations heard digital

Conditions were so-so on Saturday and pretty bad on Sunday.
I spent a few hours alternating between FT8 and CW, but
there was almost no activity on the latter. No new grids
this year, but it's always nice to have a bit of Es on 6 M
this time of year.

Just handing out a few points to locals

In the Mode selection area, MIXED/CW/SSB/RTTY,
I marked as MIXED but actually FT-8 only.
VHF contest is changining.
I much prefer to stay on the weak CW band,
but saw 99% of the activity on 50.313MHz.
I think we are chaning.

RoverLog is terrific!

50 MHz - RIG: ICOM-703 5 watts ANT: 5 ele Yagi/60'
2mtr/450: ICOM 2730/60 watts ANT: Vert Dual Band @ 30'

like doing this contest vhf especially on 50 mhz,
my band was completely closed.
  PS to interest at 50.056 .00 on 6 meter my beacon station VE3TDG / B will be active from January
28/19
73 at all and at the next Contest.
VA3SY - VE3TDG / B

I operated "Rover" from FN03AN and EN93XO on Saturday and Fixed
station "Single Op" From FN03BM on Sunday (logs submitted separately).

Should this have been called the ARRL VHF FT8 Sweepstakes?

Casual, smallish part-time, digital entry - all MSK144 and FT8.  Enjoyed pinging some meteors,
working East Coast-Caribbean Es, and handing out the FN74 multiplier.

Due to illness I had no plans to contest.  Had only 59 and 432 fully rotatable on 30' tower.
Saturday in snow, put a 144 4 elmt WA5VJB yagi on a photograohers light stand at 8' aimed 250.Got 10
Q'smin first hour then it really slowed down.

For DX, heard a station in FN23 on 432 completing a qso and nothing from  east heard for rest of my
time operating.  At 11:31 pm local, heard and worked K3TLP in EN91 @ 263 km for best odx on cw. 
None of the activity on south side of Lake Ontario ever heard.  Still was challenging and fun.

Thanks to the sponsor and to all who participated.

73,

Bill   VE3CRU

The January 2019 VHF Contest was my 48th and this year, it was a cold, windy, snowy one! Despite the
highly variable conditions there were a few great contacts such as K1RZ, K8ZR and WA3DRC on 902 Mhz,
plus WZ1V late on Sunday on FT8 on 144/222/432. Nice to have a few MSK144 contacts this year, and
FT8 helped during the brief opening to Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico! This year we managed to
work 3 contacts on 10Ghz by operating from the driveway out in the fresh air! It was worth it
working VE3KH, VA3ELE and VA3TO. That snow scatter "aurora" is so cool, I'm hooked! Great to work 50
right through 10Ghz with VA3ELE this time, now I need to get a real antenna up for 5.7 Ghz. Thanks
to to the rovers VE3OIL/R and KF2MR/R thanks for the 7 and 6 bands sweeps guys! I hope to catch
everyone in June. 73 de VE3DS

BAND           QSOs              MULTS

50             37                9
144            48                11
222            26                8
432            29                7
902            11                4
1.2G           17                5
2.3G           10                3
3.4G           2                 2
5.7G           1                 1
10G            2                 1
24G            0                 0
300G           1                 1


RVHFG eleigible score 24111

My transmitted mode is shown for cross-mode contacts
Log includes 2 duplicate QSOs not counted toward claimed score
Equipment -
50 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr+amp 80W, Moxon at 20'
144 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr+ amp, 100W, PAR Omni at 20'
222 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr 20 W, 7 el.indoor Yagi
432 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr 10W, 10 el. Indoor Yagi
903 MHz Elecraft K2+rx conv., homebrew tx, 5W, 7 el.Yagi
1296 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr+amp 6 W, 10 el. Indoor Yagi
2304 MHz Electraft K2+xvtr 1W, 9 el. Indoor Yagi
10 GHz Elecraft K2 + 2m xvtr + DB6NT xvtr/amp 2 W, 2 ft dish

ALL CONTACTS WERE FM AND WE HAD FUN.

Thank you for sponsoring the contest.

My 6m and 903 antennas were damaged by winds BEFORE the storm on contest weekend.
Icing and winds caused me to lower the crank-up towers to half height decreasing my range.
FT8 drained all the contacts for CW/SSB on 6m and some of 2m.
I think we need a rule change: work stations once per band on all of Phone, CW, Digital to give an
incentive for CW/SSB contacts.

Was in and out of the shack, mostly passing around towards the end. While
needing a distraction to avoid the stresses brought about from watching the AFC
Championship USA Football Game with the home-town greats, The New England
Patriots. The 'PATs' secured another trip to the championship, or, the Super
Bowl.

FT8 Mode is the wave of the future.  It is easy, tons of fun, Any licensed ham
with a multi-mode rig and a PC can benefit from using it.  While not in the
shack, I had remote access to the shack PC and was able to knock out QSOs
remotely.  All but 2 CW QSOs above were FT8.

It drove me a bit crazy with the inability to easily check duplicate stations
with WSJT-X, this may be since I didn't start a new .adif log, but the dupe
checks cost some time.  I found that the 'Visible Dupesheet' in N1MM Logger+
helped to quickly ID potential Dupes. Also the HamApps applications helped quite
a bit.

This contest conflicts with NAQP on Saturday Afternoon/Evening, so hang in there
for Sunday!

uj

Our logging software is old and doesn't understand digi modes, so anything marked
as RY is FT8, MSK144 ot JT65

Relatively low activity because the ice storm made it hard for people to come,
plus conflicts with other MIT events. Digi modes on 6 and 2m basically saved us,
netting us contacts as far out as Florida, but made it hard to run the bands.
Our 2m rotor froze solid halfway through the contests so we only got southwest,
and the small dish rotor failed making it impossible to make contacts on 903 and
2304.  the 18ft 1296 dish was better than ever though, and after fixing a power
output problem noted by K1KG netted us a full 300W. Sadly only one EME contact
with G4CCH, due to problems yet to be resolved with our WSJTX interfacing
preventing us decoding jt65.

Overall, I think these were the worst contest conditions I've ever seen, so I
was really happy how well we did despite that.

Thanks to all for the QSOs and 73,
Daniel, KC1EPN

Except for 3 contacts the rest were FT8-I liked it!

1st contest from our new QTH in DM24 & presently surprised w/the results.  Short opening on 6m to
TX,KS, MEX.

Part-time only for this one.

Snow storm affected conditions here is WNY, freezing tempertures and blowing snow hindered rover
opertion.
Rotors were frozen or worked very slow but still enjoyed getting back into VHF contesting with more
than 1 band.

IT TAKES PROPAGATION, A FULL MOON WITH  AN ECLIPSE, AND THEN THEY
WAS FUTBOL PLAYOFFS.  73  ALL   THE CREW

QRP/SOTA portable on W7A/PE-034

I did not record the time and this is my best guess.
Make sure WZ8P gets his credit, conditions were that bad!

The rotor on the 2m and up antennas was stuck facing east which basically
meant the loss of the UHF+ bands. Fortunately, the rotor on the 6m yagi
was working. I decided to try a FT8-only approach to see what could be
achieved. I think it worked out well: 28 grids and only a few by Es on 6m.
I was able to make some QSOs on 2m so that helped the cause. Thanks to all
for the QSOs. 73, Ron (W8RU).

W9II@ARRL.NET -
Six meter band only.

I wish there were more CW and phone operators. It seems like everyone is gravitating to FT8.

The FT8 mode was great for the VHF Contest on 6M, but the activity we used to have on 144 and 432
and up using voice and CW was completely missing. I couldn’t even scare up any FT8 up there. I
suppose one reason for that is that we can’t easily request our 6M contacts to move up to those
bands the way we used to. So until we figure out the solution to that situation, this contest
won’t be as much fun nor as competitive.

Ham radio and snow blowing

Yaesu FT-818 5th Floor Apt
6m ground plane, also worked on 2m
432 Arrow 5 el yagi in window
6 watts power

FT8 has proven to be a disruptive force in the VHF SS contest. FT8 has completely leveled the
playing field allowing minimally equipped stations to compete with the big gun stations for contacts
and grids. But, with no easy means to move FT8 contacts to higher bands contacts on 222 MHz and
above were sparse and non-local grids were hard to come by. Too many stations stayed on 6 and 2
never utilizing the UHF and above bands. There will be much discussion in the coming months on how
to adjust to the new paradigm created by the latest WSJT phenomenon. WA3NUF

Had to rebuild the tower and remount the 50 and 144 antennas.
Didn't get my new 2x2 stack for 432 up, but the bands were comatose
so no real loss there.

Rough conditions on 6m and not much 2m activity out here in farm country.

I operated QRP Portable from SOTA Summit W7A/MN-070 this year. I started the 1.3 mile hike in the
dark (flashlight in hand) to my summit at 6:20 AM.  My 40 pound pack included small yagis and the
mast for all five bands and four radios (OK...three were HT's). Got on top before sunrise and set up
the station. I operated on 6/2/222/432/1296 this year.The bands were loaded with 20 SOTA operators
on at least 16 different summits, three or four Rover stations, and the usual local home operators.
To say things were busy would be a really large understatement. In 5 hours and 5 minutes of
operating I made 155 contacts and recorded my best ever QRP Portable score. This was way too much
fun! Thanks to all of the SOTA operators for joining in the fun again this year. Without them this
contest would be a lot slower.

MCCRT Team

Conditions were poor and there were very few stations on SSB and CW.   The
contest should be renamed the 50.313 MHz Digital VHF contest.

Not much SSB or cw but tons of FT8 on 6 and 2!

very light activiity

QRP Protable from SOTA summit MN-125

The air wave conditions were quite bad, but I still had fun, considering that I actually got Indiana
on the 2 meter band. - wow.

SQUALO UP 10 METERS IN A TREE. 30 WATTS

My first 6m contacts... ever.  Elecraft KX3 at 10W into a MFJ discone at 25 feet.

the log submission needs to reflect only 6 meter op for multi ops  and not lump us into the other
categories

fun playing radio w/ minimalist antennas..FT8 is great.

QRP Portable on South Mountain

note all FT8 & MSK144 QSOs logged as PH.

It was a little time part of conditions, but it was a wondeful time with my wife and with operation
with phone and FT8 activities.