Please disregard this log. I omitted a qso and resubmitted a corrected log.

Only a few hours to operate. 6m from the downstairs shack, low 6m
dipole only, other bands from the workroom upstairs with indoor
antennas.
Paper logging then manually entered into N1MM,
I hope I converted the time correctly.

It was a sunny and fairly warm day for the hike up to SOTA peak Loma
Alta (W6/NC-350). I brought my six-band setup. Activity seemed lower
this year than previous years. My theory is that is was thet first
nice weekend this year, and people just wanted to be out instead of at
their radios.
By the time this is published, I'll have a video of the experience
on my YouTube channel: youtube.com/@hambitious

The first evening it took sending approximately 5 "RR73" for any
station to confirm QSOs and sometimes I had my doubts whether
they received it or not.  These were terrible conditions, but
thanks to the regional/statewide hams that I worked I managed to
make several QSOs.  Thanks to all for the QSOs.

I enjoyed operating this contest from my home QTH using low power and small attic antennas. I was
able to copy many more grids than I completed QSO's with. I was also flagged in many grids where I
did not copy any stations.

If there was enhanced propagation
it hid very well.

Lots of problems, this time. Antennas were encrusted in snow.  5 GHz XMTR  power was low.  Hope to
do better next time.

Finally some activity in the January VHF contest in our area. Maybe thanks to the nice weather,
almost short sleeve temperature.

Here in FM08 land, no SSB activity on 6 meters either day. All QSOs were on FT8. 
I, and others, on FT8 could have had more Qs, but for whatever the reason, essentially no one was
operating FT4. I had more than 1 lost FT8 QSO that likely would have been QSL using FT4. Yes, the
prop was abysmal, but "adapt & overcome"!

6 keep trying to open but just spurts!

I had two NJ7A. The first was on MSK144, the second was FT8. A dupe??

The January VHF contest in the PNW rarely has any type of propagation and that was the case for me
this year. That didn't stop a good number of local stations and a few hardy rovers from getting on
and operating. I'm still trying to figure out a good way to get local FT8 stations, on 50 Mhz, to
follow to higher bands for additional contacts. 

Overall, what activity I did find gave me a chance to try out my version of the N6NB multi-band quad
rover antenna. It needs a few more improvements before this year's rove during the June VHF. Till
then 73's  Tim

dupes included but not counted in points

Moving, so had almost zero to work with. Dragged up a UR3LMZ 2m
transverter, my TS-590SG, and got them talking. First QSO was
6mW output till I noticed a misplaced jumper. Then up to 8W the
rest of the time. And the first 3 QSOs were with a loop in the
shack. Moved outside at 15' for rest of the time. Fun! de K2AXX

Late post to the soapbox, but this was the first outing for the EV Rover, and I have to say that
everything went perfectly, sure I spent a little time soldering a fresh jumper or two, and a
crimping fresh powerpoles for a transverter after parking in the driveway late Saturday night, but
that's not too far out of the ordinary. I gave the power system a test back in June as a Portable
Op. to see if running the station off of the regular 12v battery would be enough if I allowed the
12v to trickle charge through the high voltage battery when putting car in utility mode while
parked. This was great, and offered no problems. I was a little concerned that the WNY cold temps my
have some affect on this, but in the four grids I completed there were no issues. This was also the
first outing having a 10g xverter of my own, and adding 3400 - I'd had them previously, but on loan
from others. I think had I known just how many people were on 10g, I would have tried to add it
years ago, before incorporating 2304 even - the band just performed wonderfully. All in all, not too
shabby with a score of 36,801 projected - no June contest for me this year, but it was nice to get
back in the rover saddle. I may be operating in September this year, we'll see. Hoping to add 5ghz
before then, and be a full 10 band rover. I don't really have any intentions of going any higher
than that!

Used an indoor fan dipole and 80 watts. I called CQ TEST on CW various
times during the contest but received only one response.

Was already to have a good weekend contesting.  That did not work out the way it was planned Six was
working as expected but I couldn't get anyone to answer me, not even locals.  After two hours of
this I decided to do a recheck of connections; I discovered the wrong antenna connected connected to
the two meter port of the 9700.  That fixed and signals much stronger on 2m the situation was
unchanged until I noticed that the radio was indicating 144.774MHz during transmit - the radio was
running an FM +split!  Fix something else.  With the split fixed I began making QSOs on 2m and
making up some lost ground until my power supply went up in smoke.  I had been working SO2R and had
accidently let the two radios get out of sync and with both running 90 watts output they presented a
total load of 120% of the continuous load rating for the power supply.  In the end, the power supply
went into thermal runaway.  Without a backup supply I was dead in the water for any attempt turning
in the livel of score that I usually do.  I worked a few of the locals using my HT but, for the most
part I enjoyed a couple of early bedtimes and a lay-in on Sunday morning.  Well, as soon as I get
the supply replaced and a backup in place I'll be back on the air.  Llet's see there's VAQP, June
VHF-UHF, Field Day, CQWW VHF, September, and ...

Too many stations use FT8 only. They should chech ssb/cw!!

Everything worked!  Ice/snow led to QRT, with antennas turning very slowly.  SWR seemed OK though.

My first January contest in many years.   I had a few equipment issues but had fun anyway.

Another contest successfully completed, no real propagation this contest, bands were quiet, Thanks
to the South Texas Contesters, we were able to make a few more contacts.

Poor propagation, poor turnout, too many forgot what a microphone or key are for, let the computer
do it.

Propagation was awful.  Moon passes were truly terrible.  The
declination was very low and the moon times were short.  You have
to be a masochist to run this contest.

The team had three operators in the vehicle and one virtual!

Rather poor conditions and participation. Thanks to the K5ATX/R, W5TN/R, and KA5D/R rovers.

Only heard two stations on SSB.  All the action was
on FT8.

6m USB worked OK, no contacts on 2m FM.

The Sunday afternoon 49ers-Cowboys game brought everything to a halt,
but by that time I had worked all the locals and never did hear any
skip on 6M SSB.

This event was a shakedown cruise for a new battery system for the
radios in the rover van. I made two dozen contacts from the comfort
of my driveway, and then three dozen Qs from the I-5 Smokey Point
Rest Area at CN88ve, a nice open area without nearby hills.
After finally connecting the right antenna to the right radio, the
setup worked well. Now, look: all I've got are two antennas and two
radios. So it turns out the odds of connecting them the wrong way
around is pretty near 100%. Thank you Murphy! See ya next contest.

Was too cold and snowy to go up on the mountain this year. Had fun anyway at the home QTH. 6 meters
was off and on, mostly off. Can't wait for next VHF contest !

Limited Time operation this year. Saturday evening and most of Sunday.

Terrible Condx Thank God for FM simplex

rain rain rain so no chance of ducting.  no Es either except at the very end on 6m.  biggest problem
was staying awake, boring. only 22 qsos counting 2 dupes.

k7YO operating from fixed CN85.

Very low activity this contest on SSB.  Made several contacts on FM
from High Knob, VA.  Had to drive off the mountain in heavy fog, snow and sleet. Had a good time
anyway and looking forward to June and more contacts on SSB.

Never saw an opening this weekend.   Never got a chance to really
test out the new tower mounted directional atenna for 6 meters.
Divided time between HA DX contest and NAQP SSB contest.

Fun to work the Family Station with
my Dad and see what kind of distance
we can get by aiming in different
directions with the beam antennas.

Fun contest but need alot more activity. Thanks 73 Matt ka0pqw

Was not very active as in the past. However it was so enjoyable to jump in an "experience" the
atmosphere of this years contest. I encourage past contesters to stay active no matter how small!

https://ka5d.com

I had a lot of fun, I was a rover, went to CN87,CN88,CN,97,and CN98  I need to make some changes and
 I need to get more organize  I had a tree eat my UHF antenna, and I had a mic that was hiding
someplace in the HYlander to many cords and cable 
KA7RRA

My second January VHF QSO party entry. Not much Es, just worked local stations. We are living
Florida for the winter, change of location from our Michigan permanent residence.

Very glad the temperatures got up into
the teens for Saturday and Sunday. 10
GHz is a real challange when wind
chills are below zero. Hard to make the
headphones to work thru the ear flapper
cap.

enjoyed the contest

Just Playing around to meet old friends

Very poor propagation conditions experienced Saturday
likely due to winter weather conditions eliminating
typical ducting and RF reflection/refraction over local
terrain and along SoCA coast.
A few SOTA peak stations heard at distances such
as KC6ARY, N7DA, and K6CPR.
Only very slightly better propagation Sunday p.m.
Many stations worked harder to make local QSOs.
Despite the poorer than typical conditions, it was fun.
Vehicle mounted vertical antennas for most QSOs
KD6EFQ/R traveled to various locations within
San Diego Section including local high spots in
DM12 at Del Mar Highlands, Poway, and San Diego
Sunday DM13 Ramona, Escondido, San Marcos.

NOTHING BEYOUND NORTHEAST STATES, CANADA

The logging software that I was able to use did not allow me to select standard FM frequency
ranges.

Any contacts logged with 144.520 should be 146.520.
Any contacts logged with 440.000 should be 446.000.

Thanks
Christian

Still had fun, but bands were dead!!!

Was too sick to go and operate as a rover this time around.

Only a couple minor improvements have been made to the rover setup since Sept VHF.  I finally got
the cables made and the third N8XJK booster installed.  There should now be plenty of excess
capacity to keep from running the individual boosters near their load limits even at full output on
any band.  I also got a new cable to change one of the computer displays from Mini DisplayPort to
USB-C.  For whatever reason, when the display is connected via Mini DisplayPort on the NUC, there is
noise that completely trashes the entire 432 band.  Simply changing that display cable completely
eliminated the noise issue.

As for the actual route, I was a little lackadaisical and in the end simply decided to hit a couple
grid corners I have visited in the past.  Saturday would be EN51-EN60-EN61 and Sunday would be
EN40-EN50-EM49 and then a stop in EM59 and EM58 on the way home Sunday evening.  There was snow in
the forecast for the weekend, but it wasn’t expected until late Saturday into early Sunday and
only about an inch, so it looked like the weather would be decent for the route.

Since the first grid is a few hour drive from home, I was up before dawn to get the van warming up
and finish packing in the last bit of gear.  Some things like the LiFePO4 station batteries really
don’t like below freezing temps, so it took a little longer than usual before I was on the road
heading to the first stop.  As it turns out, I overestimated the time needed to get everything
ready, drive time, and getting setup at the first top.  So, I ended up with some time to kill on
Saturday morning.  No big deal though, better than rushing to get there or not getting started on
time.

After the couple hour drive everything in the rover was good and warmed up and it was finally time
to settle in to play radio.  As other have reported and is to be expected on the VHF+ bands in
January, conditions were just pretty average.  Even with the so so band conditions, there seemed to
be quite a bit of activity during the first several hours of the contest.  After a few hours in each
of EN51, EN60, and EN61, the Qs were slowing down and it was time to start moving toward the new
corner for Sunday.  After an hour or so of driving I decided to stop and grab a few ZZZs before
continuing on early Sunday morning.

I had kind of expected there to be snow on the ground when I got up Sunday morning, but it was well
into the drive to the next stop before I saw the first snowflake.  Just on the west side of
Springfield, it started snowing and continued until I got to my spot in EN50.  As predicted it only
amounted to about an inch and was gone almost as quickly as it showed up.  It did make for a couple
nice pictures of the rover, even if I did try to kill myself slipping and sliding on the fresh wet
snow in the ditch across the road trying to get that “perfect picture”.  It was not one of my
more graceful moments to say the least.

After a few MSK Qs to pick up a couple multipliers first thing in morning, Sunday just turned out to
be another day of average band conditions for me.  Though I did see some other folks calling /
working the Caribbean, I never heard any of them.  I did see the random decode of an east coast or
southeast station on 6m FT8 throughout the day, but none of them ever lasted long enough to complete
a Q.

After several hours hanging out around the grid corner, it was time to start heading closer to home.
 As planned, I stopped in EM59 and EM58 along the way to get in another shot at the handful of
stations that had been following me through the weekend (thanks guys!) and even managed to snag a
couple new multipliers with some local stations around home that I hadn’t heard yet earlier in the
contest.

All in all, another enjoyable weekend playing radio…  

Gear:
Flex 6600 / Q5 Signal 5BVUX
50 - 200w - Par Moxon @ 18’
144 - 200w - Directive Systems 6el Rover Yagi @ 12’
222 - 100w - Directive Systems 10el Rover Yagi @ 10’
432 - 100w - Directive Systems 15el Rover Yagi @ 8’

Limited non-digital activity

ARRL January VHF Contest

Two women hams operating rover, one 13 year old son logging!

You have all herd it before, you didn't plan to fail, you failed to plan....
My plan was to operate as KI7OFL/R starting at a remote location DM31 and work my way back to DM51.
Work and life got in the way, I was getting everything together early Saturday morning to be in
position to start the contest as a Rover.
Opened the hood of my truck to find no coolant in the reservoir and an obvious drip from the water
pump. This is the second time in two years I have had this failure (Two years but about
80,000miles....). I ended up operating from the poorly located back yard within my HOA while I
worked on the truck. New water pump, hoses and related was just over $600, could have added another
radio or antenna.
Hopefully I will be better prepared for this summer's contest. 

73 everyone,
Bud
KI7OFL

Mag mount antenna on top of vehicle.

All antennas were mag mount verticals on top of vehicle.

Very poor condx

No Soapbox

lots of fun. I learn a little every year.

Good turn out; SOTA and POTA stations also in the mix.
Appreciate the QSOs along the way; from ops both familiar, and new.

Great contest.  First time going up to Palomar Mountain Boucher Hill
Lookout (SDG area, California) and setting up for this event.  Pix to
be forthcoming. Thanks ARRL!

This year Mr. Murphy came to visit the shack in spades.  At the
opening gate I realized I had some computer issues relating to
the expiring support for Windows 7 that I had to resolve, then I
messed up the WSJTx log files.  Finally got a late start, and
began making QSO's, but then discovered that the tree next to my
house had grown a bit since the Sep contest, and I could no
longer rotate my antenna.  I was stuck between 90 and 180
degrees!  Then to make things worse, no one seemed to be hearing
me on 2m.  I worked a couple locals on FT8, but my calls on SSB
went un-answered.  In desperation on Sunday afternoon I turned
off the 2m amp, and suddenly people started hearing me.
Evidently my 2m amp is now a 2m attenuator!  Some station work
needs to be done before June.  Thanks for all the QSOs in spite
of everything!

Lots of activity right at the end!

The Oklahoma Convergence:  

Several Operators in Oklahoma and Arkansas (N0LD, W0HGJ, K5SRT, KB0YHT, KI5RHN, KM5OX, N5ZY, KI5VZJ,
KC0MTM) decided to get together and do some synergistic, grid -square circling, line-dancing. Our
primary purpose was to put several rovers on the road at once in Oklahoma and Kansas to introduce
four people to rovering: KM5OX, KI5RHN, KI5VZJ, Cyrus Compton.  Cyrus is 13 years old and is
studying for his license: Cyrus helped log and did a great job!  

The teams consisted of 5 rovers:  N0LD/r, K5SRT/r, KI5VZJ/r, N5ZY/r, and KM5OX.

N0LD/r   - Randy-N0LD,    Harvey-W0HGJ
K5SRT/r  - Ross-K5SRT,    Nick-KB0YHT, Nick-KI5RHN
KI5VZJ/r - Ashley-KI5VZJ, Samantha-KC0MTM, Cyrus Compton
KM5OX/r  - Don-KM5OX
N5ZY/r   - Marcus-N5ZY

An Honorable Mention goes out to KX5S; he operated portable from 3 grids and he worked some of the
OKRovers from home towards the end of the contest.

The unlimited rover category is a great training area for new rovers with limited radios, antennas,
and developing skills.  It teaches the planning, discipline, mechanics, strategy, the tactics of
rovering.  

Our OKRovers group is designed to share our joy in rovering with others.  We will post pictures on
the ARRL website, but our website is great for seeing the pictures in our history: 
www.okrover.info.

We also have a Facebook group that shares our successes, trials, and tribulations:  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1766056970371203 or you can search "ARRL VHF Contest - N0LD Rover".

The OKRovers are trying to develop members into Classic and Limited Rovers.  Occasionally you will
see some of us spin off into these areas.  We really enjoy the thrill of a good long-distance set of
contacts from high points in the OK surrounding states.

Our three rover (N0LD/r, K5SRT/r, and KI5VZJ/r run began high atop Turkey Mountain on the SW part of
Tulsa, OK.  We worked EM26 and EM16 at one of our favorite spots in Oklahoma.  N5ZY/r met us briefly
as he operated high atop Turkey Mountain.  N5ZY/r has a new set of roof mounted antennas on his
electric car, really a thing of beauty!  We drove a few miles south and operated the grid corner and
then it was on to Caney, KS and the line-dance at the border between KS and OK.  A few miles further
north we ran into rain, but continued by working the grid line between EM27 and EM17.  We proceeded
to Winfield, KS and enjoyed a late dinner at Braum's.  Our contacts with the Wichita Metropolitan
area growing!  I was lucky enough to work KB0ZOM and WA0QHJ in Nebraska in EN00 on 2m from near
Augusta, KS and then the next day after I transitioned to EM07.  We arrived at KB0YHTs new house on
Saturday about 10 PM, pretty much on schedule.

The next morning we worked a number of local hams on our way to the grid square corner about an hour
SW of Wichita, KS.  6m was a little more open Sunday than on Saturday.  (Overall we did not make
many 6m e-skip contacts but we did have a brief opening to FN03 and FN04)  Our goal was to operate
the grid square corner, but then MOVE to the next one on-time to keep our schedule.  The EM07, EM17,
EM06, and EM16 corner was a little muddy, we avoided the EM17 combinations just to keep our schedule
on track.  After a restroom break was attempted in Manchester, OK - and failed - we went on to a
small town in Oklahoma called "Nash" that thankfully had a nice restroom in a nice convenience
store.  On to Enid for lunch at the Bricktown Brewery.  

We continued down the highway to Dover, OK and then over to the grid corner only to find that our
convenient EM05 part of the corner was blocked by a large crane doing bridge maintenance.  As such
we went south a mile or two and worked the EM05/EM15 line... we had four rovers - due to a thankful
meeting with KX5S!  After we had milked all the line dance possibilities and encountered a farmer
with an AR-15 rifle mounted in his truck (he had obviously seen a lot of thievery) most of us left
that area and worked the EM15/EM16 line.  Unfortunately, there were too many hills in between our
distance EM05 position and the EM15/EM16 hills.  However, K5SRT/r made some good VHF contacts with
our good friend WQ0P near Marysville, KS (EM19)!  Our experience is that EM06  is on a public road
near that position, but there are cattle guards and nervous farmers near that position, so we gave
it a rest and moved on!  We said our goodbyes to the KI5VZJ/r team as they were heading home to NW
Arkansas.

EM05 on the overpass west of El Reno is a wonderful location.  It is high up and the overpass has a
LARGE area adjacent to the overpass.  In the past we have worked into Texas, Mexico, and even
Nebraska from this location.  Today, conditions were worse than flat.  N0LD/r made some contacts
with N5ZY/r from a park near El Reno.  These were not easy contacts, it took a lot of aligning,
perhaps even some fortuitous knife edge refraction :)  K5SRT/r found a bridge that would have
decapitated his rover, so he skipped El Reno.  K5SRT/r proceeded to the hilltop with the water tower
west of the Riverwind Casino south of Norman, OK by skirting the west edge of OKC.  N0LD/r went to
the heart of OKC and then down 35 to the same location.  

Both rovers worked many local SCARS and Norman contesters - many with just FM equipment.  A notable
contact was with Mark-N5HZR the OK ARRL Section Manager.  KM5OX/r met us for his first rover
contacts on the watertower hill and some great sunset photos.  Saturn, Venus, and the crescent moon
were quite striking.

We proceeded to Purcell, OK and worked across a bridge to work the EM14/EM15 line, taking a break at
the local Braum's and answering many interested questions from the locals.  From there, we said
goodnight and changed occupants between N0LD/r and K5SRT/r to be able to return home.

We are proud of our Oklahoma and Kansas trip and our inclusion of four new rovers to the OKRovers!

Power ran was 100w on 2m and 6m.  50w on 432 mhz.
Running SO3B

Not a total loss...

N2JQR SOAP BOX ... TOWER COLLAPSE 4 DAYS BEFORE CONTEST  ..SOME REPAIRS MADE THANKS TO JOHN W3OAB.
BUT ONLY ABLE TO RAISE TO 35 FEET. SPENT 5 HRS IN CHAIR BEFORE RADIO POWER SUPPLY FAILED ... SPRING
SUMMER REPAIRS TO BE DONE..  :(

Thanks to Dave, K1TTT, for the use of his fine station!

This was my first real effort from my new QTH in FN30JU. All antennas on roof, so gave it a shot. No
E's entire weekend. The highlight was blowing up my BEKO 1KW 2M amp. Yes, I have bad luck with amps
lately. This happened probably due to an overshoot from my IC-9100. The protection failed. I never
use it with the Icom, but wanted to get some more power on FT8. That didn't end well, but had fun
this contest. FT8 contacts were mainly 6M. All other bands were predominately SSB/Phone. Ended
around 0150 UTC Sunday night.

A fun runup to WFD!

Easiest log ever to dupe check

Arrived at my cabin Thursday evening. Turned on the inverter, got the woodstove going and place
warmed up. 
Then friday morning the ice coating started, it almost ended my weekend but by midday friday, rain
then warming 
melted off the ice and SWR's returned to normal. Used that time to set up my secondary
antennas in the front yard ...simple 12 ft pole, bunjees, stepladder jerry rigged ! Then worked on 
getting my spare FT 991A/laptop connected and networked into main N3FJP . Ugghhh now networking is 
not working !!! Finally i got both networked, everything's working then the ice starts falling again
!  
2100 ft elevation in upstate NY is a double edge sword.  Went to bed friday night figuring my
weekend was probably finished but Saturday morning i wake up and the ice melted off...
and the ice held off til Sunday night around midnight ! Contest started off very well with lots of 
local/regional activity mostly within 300 miles but VERY VERY strong inside 300 miles ... i was glad
to 
get the occasional EM and EN grids when they popped up . Propagation from me (FN22) to the
Carolina's, GA, Fla and EM grids 
was spotty, not as good as usual and i didn't work alot of the usual calls i often work from that
region. 
Did get to work several local/regional people on 2m FM and 440 FM which was nice ! 
Had a couple nice, extended Qso's with a few new calls to me ... and a few regulars as well. 
A little ragchew during the contest was an enjoyable break. 
I pushed hard into Sat night, planned to hit the hay around midnight but started making Q's again 
but around 230am EST it ended. I slept from 3am until 5am est Sunday morning, got up, 
had a quick, cool, bag shower ...got some coffee and started on 6/2 meteor scatter around 6am .  
Had a blast making some new grids via MSK until that slowed ...then FT8 slowed so i threw on the
head phones, got my foot 
on the switch and started calling CQ . Made alot of one after the other local/regional Q's on voice
while it
lasted. Love it when i can get any kind of a run going on SSB voice, about 20% of
my Q's were on phone . Wish more people were on phone as you can really rack up points fast. 
From midday Sunday on, i jockeyed between bands making lots more regional Q's and also running out
in the rain
to armstrong the secondary antennas between eastward (toward NYC, NJ) and then straight 
down the east coast towards Phila, Wash/DC and VA ...Just so many calls this weekend within 300
miles i haven't 
seen before was nice ! Then sometime around 5pm Sun, the lack of sleep started hitting me 
so i made another coffee, threw my alum foil/prepackaged leftovers meal on the woodstove, ate dinner
around 6pm with
B.i.C trying to keep making Q's ...7pm ...8pm...now i'm getting really tired but i'm staying in
military mode !  
FT8, just after 8pm all heck breaks loose. I start seeing all kinds of SA and even snagged a few for
some new grids .  
Then i'm copying a guy in the southwest around 1000 mi at +18db , i make the Q and he sends me (i
think) around +20 !!! 
Had a few more Q just like that, approx 1000mi into the South/Southwest, abnormally strong copy and
receive . 
This SA and SW opening continued until around 930-10pm . The excitement provided a much needed
second wind 
for the final push and a bunch of new grids ! Spent the last hour looking everywhere
for any more crumbs and Q's ...throwing out CQ's on 2 and 6 phone, listened on 432.174 where i
randomly found 
and made a few Q's in the last hour. The end came and i treated myself to one dark stout beverage
and pretzels 
....which went down so good .  Pics of my QTH and setup are both on my QRZ page and the FB group
Eastern States VHF & up Chat . 
Two FT 991A , two networked laptops, mobile hotspot in my phone for internet.
Main Yagi's at 60 ft: M2 6m5hxp, M2 432-9wl, 15el K1FO on 2m . 
Secondary Yagi's at 12 ft in front yard my 1990's M2 2m-12 , Sirio 3el 6m yagi(nice wide pattern)
To the couple rovers i worked, Thank you ! I myself started doing weak signal as a rover, mid 90's
with K3YTL (Yellow Traffic Light) 6m-10Ghz . I'd like to coordinate better with rovers and work more
of you !  
Thank you everyone for all the fun and the Q's !  73 ...Steve

Tnx to all the Rovers KG9OV/R, NV4B/r,K4NO/r,AG4V/r,glad to see Rover activity pickup in this area

EME only in support of contest ops

RoverLog is terrific!

This is my very first VHF contest as a Rover in my vehicle with my equipment.  Obviously I was not
expecting anything but learning opportunities and I did not expect to make many contacts.  That
expectation came true but I did have fun and the weather was wonderful for January.  It was a
miracle I had everything prepared and was able to get on the air since I was assembling everything
the night before.

I owe Randy N0LD/R, okrover.info, a huge thanks for inviting me to join them again and for all the
preparation work he did getting everyone together to plan their trip and strategy.  Being in an
electric car with only a 64kW battery I obviously couldn’t follow them but I like to find a nice
place to park in a new location and see what the propagation will allow me to do.  Unfortunately
both days I did not start my trip until 6M propagation was ending.  It was mocking me as it was
incredibly busy while I was resolving problems.

Saturday I traveled to Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain which is 884 feet.  It overlooks the area as
required for VHF.  This is a park with many mountain biking, walking, hiking and running visitors,
and today, amateur radio visitors.  It offers a nice gravel parking lot with a few scenic overlooks.
 It does come with QRM from all the vehicle engines in the parking lot and those on the roadway
adjacent to the parking lot.  Also there are high voltage power lines running overhead and the urban
QRM all around the mountain.  Background noise was often high.

Sunday I traveled the opposite direction to POTA location K-7685 American Horse State Fishing Lake
near Geary Oklahoma.  This location was 1,600 ft but surrounded by other ridge lines, many of which
had wind generator farms.  I was also surrounded by oil fields with electric motors on the pump
jacks and scrubbers with I presume electric igniters.  So in some directions there was plenty of
QRM.  At one point however the noise went away.  As I was driving the last 10 miles to the location
the noise was actually very strong but then when I arrived at the top of the ridge and turned the
car the other direction the noise disappeared.  I suspect it was QRM from a nearby oil field.

For both locations I unfortunately arrived when 6m was finished for the day, or nearly finished.   
For 2m on Saturday there were some locals I managed to speak to but the national simplex frequency
was busy with chin waggers and calling CQ off-freq didn’t score any contacts.  For Sunday I was
not able to reach anyone except Randy, N0LD/R, when he arrived in El Reno.  He heard me calling CQ
and he came back to me.  I did hear another person on 2m very loud - when he came back to me he said
I sounded over-modulated and he couldn’t understand but then he faded away and I never heard him
again.  On 6m I copied a station in Mexico a few times but never made contact.

My goal was to activate a POTA location for the VHF contest but Turkey Mountain is not a POTA park
and the following day I was at a POTA location but nobody could hear me.  Also I was simply not
prepared at all to activate a POTA location.  I changed logging programs 3 times and chased Windows
COM port mappings, etc.  Next time I won’t have all the construction time and I can spend more
time on the software/setup.  Instead of taking one day off-work I should have taken two but I had no
idea how many hours I would spend assembling 2 antennas and all the PVC pipe and the roof rack.

My setup:
IC-7610 on 6M
IC-9700 on 2M, 70CM, and 23CM
Battery: LiFePo 12v from Bioenno Power (ABS, BLF-1260AS)

Antennas:
6M:  Par Electronics Stressed Moxon
2M:  M2 2M7X
70CM: M2 440-11X
23CM: Comet CYA-1216E  (M2 23CM22EZB not in stock)

RoverLog is terrific!

With limited operating available this time, I just used 5 in-town
locations with my mobile rigs with whip antennas plus two ALINCO FM
handhelds with whips for a few 223.5, 902.1, & 1294.5 MHZ QSOs. All
Thousand Oaks (DM04) sites had little tropo noted: there were
substantial winds & no temperature inversions were noted. All QSOs
were on USB or FM. Thanks to all who operated.

We had a lot of fun during this contest clocking in just about 600 miles over the weekend. We
operated from 2 new grids this time and look forward to re-visiting these spots in June. Special
thanks to the XYL, K7LSX/R, who is the best rover companion a guy could ever ask for. She makes it
fun. Hope to hear you in June.

A huge thanks to the rovers and their effort. No 6 meter opening made
for a slow time but FT8 and meteor scatter helped.

Started 4.5 hours late due to funeral.  Propagation poor.

Well, another January VHF in the books. Only 6m capable here, and it
was very sporadically (cough), open, sort of. I did make a couple SSB
contacts locally, and called CQ on both CW and SSB from time to time,
but all the activity, sparce, sporadic, and difficult to work, was on
digi FT8. Very challenging with only a 3 element beam up off the ground
about 18' fed with about 160' of DXE 400MAX direct burial coax. I was
kept busy making trips out to the antenna to turn by the armstrong
method. No rotor as of yet. Still planning the VHF antenna farm!
Lets hope OL'SOL keeps producing MORE sun spots and the SFI keeps
climbing. Maybe by next January conditions will be more like June or
even better, with Es and F2 prop mixed in. I can dream can't I!
73 Gene, N9TF. 100 watts to 3 elements 18' above ground.

Terrible Conditions.

SO3B

Fighting myself to ensure I submitted my log, having missed the
June VHF 2022 by an hour or so! Up Skirt Mtn. on Sat. Sunday,
with our only Island N-S hwy blocked by a geologic survey crew,
I couldn't go N (fm CN88) to CN89, so trickled west to CN78.
Then, at SEA LEVEL!!! and with no 'net access still roused some
contacts! 50 MHz had major line noise so stayed with 144.
Lesson learnt, set up all the gain antennas one has! Tnx all.

Had a late start, as spent the week prior putting the station back together with the Elecraft K4D,
Q5 Signal 5 band transverter and my switching system as well as 2304 and 3456 Mhz. Happy to report
that everything worked including 2304 and 3456 this time. Enjoyed the contest, with typical winter
up and down propagation. Glad to see so many locals on 50 Mhz and up this time!

BAND           QSOs              MULTS

50             107               32
144            95                21
222            41                9
432            42                11
902            17                5
1.2G           18                7
2.3G           8                 2
3.4G           3                 1
5.7G           2                 1
10G            5                 1
24G            1                 1
123G           1                 1
LIGHT          1                 1

My transmitted mode is shown for cross-mode contacts
Claimed score does not include two duplicate QSOs (VE3OIL/R, VE3ELL)
Equipment -
50 MHz Yaesu FTDX-10 60-100 W, attic dipole
144 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr+amp 100W, 5 el Yagi @ 25'.FT290RII 25 W, indoor GP on FM.
222 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr 20W, 7 el.indoor Yagi
432 MHz Elecraft K2+xvtr 10W, 10 el. Indoor Yagi.FT-818 6W, indoor GP on FM.
903 MHz Elecraft K2+rx conv., homebrew tx, 5W, 7 el indoor Yagi
1296 MHz FT-290R+xvtr+amp 6W, 10 el indoor Yagi
2304 MHz: FT-290R+xvtr 1W, 9 el indoor Yagi
10 GHz: K2 + 2m xvtr + DB6NT xvtr/amp 2 W, indoor 2 ft. dish

BAND            QSOs     QSO Pts       GRIDS

50                4          4           2
144              11         11           2
222               0          0           0
432               4          8           1
902               1          4           1
1.2G              3         12           1
2.3G              1          8           1
3.4G              0          0           0
5.7G              1          8           1
10G               1          8           1
24G               1          8           1
123G              1          8           1
LIGHT             1          8           1
29         87          13


Calculated score = 87 QSO Pts x 13 mults = 1131

I did not invite Murphy into the shack for the contest but he
showed up and decided that I should not be able to use my 2M beam
for most of the contest. So much for upgrading to new antenna for
the contest. Apparently new antenna does not like wet weather in
its curent configurations. Guess what It rained in Vancouver in
January

A last minute deal to put W1AW/0 KS on 6 Meters for the January VHF Contest. Thanks to Drew, K3PA
for letting me do it. Operated single op portable with a 3 el yagi on 6 Meters. Overnight Saturday
it snowed, and Sunday morning the rural roads to my operating site were icy and slushy. Almost
didn't go out due to that, finally decided to try for a few contacts. I was surprised when I turned
on the radio after setting up and the band map screen was full of strong traces at 1505 UTC. There
was a surprise sporadic-E opening Sunday morning. Es open to W1, W2, W3, VE3, and W8. The Ontario
stations were booming in. Even some F2 with PJ4MM FK52 peaking at -8 dB! Glad to hand out the VOTA
W1AW/0 callsign. Noticed some ops were receiving the hash <...> instead of W1AW/0. Especially when I
called other stations. Calling CQ seemed to work well. 73 N0JK.

Catastrophic failure on day 1 led to abbreviated activity, but had
fun anyway.

Too much emphasis on FT8!!!  Award multipliers for CW and phone.  PC
to PC is taking the fun out of the contest.

Forgot the contest was this past weekend. Did not work much of it at all on Saturday with less the
favorable band conditions. Sunday was much better and watched football and had a few beers working
the contest. Cheers from W4MAA

Poor propagation very limited CW activity.  6 meters has become a FT-8 band. Changes should be made
to this contest.  Allow 2 points for analog contacts especially CW and mults should also be allowed
mode. Need incentive to get on CW.


Puck W4PM

Cabrillo merging from multiple sources is a pain.

New Comet GP-9N, Comet CX-333, and Hustler G-3754 worked wonderfully with first time simplex
contacts into adjacent grid squares.  Special thanks to all those who came back to my CQ Contest
call in SW Idaho.  This was my second VHF contest and I was much more organized this time around  73
 Scott W7IMC

Great contest! A few very short sporadic E openings and some unexpected late evening F2 to South
America on Sunday night helped the score. Seemed like more local activity than last year also.

Nice weather this year.

Back on 2 Meters after a long hiatus. Quite a paradigm shift from previous contests. Very little
phone and CW activity. Mostly FT8. 
Had a lot of fun.

RoverLog is terrific!

Fun! Got to use N6ZE's extra ALINCO 222/902 MHZ handheld for some
QSOs.

Hiked up to the SOTA peak before sunrise. Operated as a QRP portabe 5 watt station from DM33, SOTA
Peak W7A/MN-119. Using an FT-818, 4 HT's, small beams on 2, 432, 1296, a Dipole on 6M, and Duckie
antennas on the other bands. Quieter than last year, and much colder also. Activity down from last
year is seemed.

The ARRL January VHF Contest is always a contest of survival,
especially for QRP portable operators.  Besides worrying about the
weather, there is concern about band conditions, which is usually not
optimal in January, except for a short Sporadic-E opening.  I was very
happy to work a CW station during this event in the CW portion of the
Six Meter Band!  Band conditions were pretty poor with stations west
of me in FN20 being weak and not workable.  I still enjoyed this
contest and fortunately, the weather was not too bad in Long Island
this year!

6M SSB 756 ProIII 100W Squalo Omni
2M SSB FT-221 10W Big Wheel Omni
LOCATION FROM RUSTBURG VA CAMPBELL CO. FM07
TIME BELOW IS UTC.

Just a few openings to Soth Fl. Only got to operate Saturday

Unfortunately, the 6 Meter band was dead - not even any noise was
heard. I got Mike in Loudoun County VA. about 25 miles from Washington
DC. on the 2 Meter band on CW - one of my farthest QSO's on the Two.
His CW carrier signal had its typical VHF varied fading echo flutter
tone. Unfortunately, that was the only distant 2 Meter signal to be
heard.

Hi!

This was an unplanned activity. As I was driving back to I-10 from the DM51/DM52 line where I had
been working satellites, I saw N7DSX's truck parked near Dragoon AZ, with both N7DSX/R and K7LSX/R
in action. After a quick tour of the truck, I asked N7DSX and K7LSX if they wanted some contacts
from my portable gear - Yaesu FT-817 for 6m/2m/70cm SSB, Kenwood TH-D74 for 223.5 MHz FM, all at 5W
output. Happy to contribute a few QSOs to their efforts.

73!

First Contest in a while. Disappointed with my station performance and the number of participants on
the air.

GOT LATE START BUT HERE IS MY LOG FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH.

I am operating analog, which is FM and SSB according to the ARRL
Rules.

Please consider changing the VHF contests to allow contacts with a
station for EACH MODE per band. My digital transmit ability was broken
so only operated CW and there was almost nothing there to work! Almost
everyone was on FT8. This contest needs to utilize more than one
frequency on each band or we are going to lose our allocations!

A good one day contest effort for me on the lower 4. Some missed grids opportunities. ON4KST chat is
always awesome ! A lot of sloppy FT8 etiquette out there. Seems to be related to NA VHF mode
perhaps. Some ops had decoding issues. Can there be a "information bar in WSJT to show decoding
errors or possible issues to inform the operator ? I think there are a lot of puzzled operators out
there when the exchange goes beyond 3 exchanges during a contest !

Analog-Only