AA2SD/R  KE5NJ/R Sept VHF Rove Summary Sept 16, 2026. - Fellow Pack Rats and Friends, Here is a
final summary of  our Rove, this was the best ever score with Chris and I putting in a tag team
effort to work Pack Rats and all operators. We planned 23 individual SKEDS on the first day of the
mountain to run the bands, and we achieved contacts with 19 total  planned SKEDS or  82% success
rate which was excellent.

 We constantly utilized  the W3SZ Map for pointing, and also pinging our locations worked very well.
For this Rove I upgraded 2 rooftop antennas and reduced power on the bands to  manage battery power.
 All of our contacts were achieved analog, with the exception of a small test for FT8. We had
constant activity during the 2 day period and appreciate the stations that made the efforts to
follow and contact us.

Here is a Google  link to our Rover photo album, some are redundant as I document hookup and
equipment for future use.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aDm5bB5BmgwhomV87

Thanks to all PackRats, W2EA Mountain Toppers, K2AA  and other Operators for working our Rover Tag
Team,

We will soon start on our Jan VHF Contest improvement plans and send out information.

AA2SD and KE5NJ/R
Scott and Chris

Power, Rigs and Rover Antennas Deployed:   
2 Mtr-100 Watts with Diamond 5 Element featherlight Yagi, backed up with 2 Halo Stacked Antennas
432 - 85 Watts with Diamond 10 Element Yagi backed up with 2 Halo Stacked Antennas
222 - 5 Element Yagi backed up with 2 Stacked Halos
6 Mtrs 100 Watts - Freq Tester Large Halo Only Rooftop mounted
1296 -47 watts with small Directive Systems Looper 15 elements
903 --  48 watts with small Directive Systems Looper 19 elements 
2.3 -  32 Watts with Directive Systems Looper 45 elements
3.4 - 20 Watts with Directive Systems Looper  54 elements
5 GHZ  -5 Watts with Horn Antenna
10 GHZ - 1.8 Watts with  Slot Antenna 12 Slots x 2  Roof Mounted from Bert pe1rki.com
IF Rigs - FT991A, for the lower 4, ICOM 905 with scope for the Micro Bands, FT891 for FT8 Test
Transverters - All Demi,with the exception of a Kunhe for the 10 GHz
DC Power - (2) -100 Watt LIFEPO4 Batteries, (4) 35 AMP Gel Batteries,  Charging from Renogy DC to DC
Charger
Summary of Visits to Grids
Over 400 Miles driven  in 2 days
Operated with 10 Bands - 10GHZ Slot on the Roof, and 5GHz Horn ( I made several 5GHz Hatchback
contacts by opening the hatchback) Chris also deployed Slot antennas on 5 and 10 GHz  manufactured
from Bert pe1rki.com.
The first day we stayed on top of FN21 Camelback for 4 1/2 hours, we were busy the entire time, and
did not have a slow period, most likely due to SKEDS planned
We visited 5 Grids  FN20, FN21, FM29, FN10, FN11, we also stayed at each location for over 2 hours
I visited 2 home locations at the end of the contest in FM29 W2SJ and WB2RVX
I visited Bob W2SJ home to confirm a 10 GHz Contact and 1296 and I visited Mike's WB2RVX home to
confirm all 10 bands
I stayed in the contest to 10:50 PM, and worked several stations from Pole Hill Park in Gibbsboro
FM29 including K1TEO on 1296 and 903 from 190 ft
Smaller Yagi Beams worked very well for 2 MTRs and 432
10 GHZ Slot only was excellent, I worked W2EA and Roger W3SZ in the Slot Antenna with no set up ( I
drove my car in a large circle in an empty Parking Lot at Penns Peak  while monitoring signal peak
to offset the null on the Slot Antennas). The Slot also allowed me to work WB2RVX and W2SJ during a
home visit.
Improvement Areas:
FT8 did not work well in the hotel, only 6 contacts
2.3 and 3.4 need work minimal contacts, I will check the antennas
Battery Power Management

image.png

AA2SD/R Sept VHF Contest Summary Sept `6, 2026 -  
Go Out and Play Radio Listen fo

Went up to Mt Umunhum (W6/CC-052) south of San Jose for about an hour
of operating. Beautiful day to sit on the summit, not a huge amount of
activity.

6m dipole, up 3 meters, oriented N-S

Spent a lot of time repairing things. My 60th Sept. Contest.

Very little joy on 6m!

Conditions were unexceptional as usual for September.  I did not find any 6m
sporadic-E but there was enough meteor scatter to piece together FT8 QSOs with
some patience.  I kept myself busy running three simultaneous transmitters,
mostly on 6, 2 and 1.25m.  I felt like I might be missing something on 2m when I
QSY'd the IC-9700 to 432 MHz or 1.2 GHz.  A dedicated FT-857D on FM netted
a few extra QSOs on 2m and 70cm.  My most satisfying DX contact was a Q65 6m QSO
on a dead band over the mountains with KK4MA in South Carolina.  I did not have
enough time before the contest to get a 902 MHz transverter and amplifier
working, but I am looking forward to adding that band for the next contest.  In
the RF desert of middle Tennessee there is not much point adding microwave gear
to my station, so instead I will concentrate on improving situational awareness
with existing equipment.  I can resonate with the comment by Doug, K4LY, about
the difficulty of a full time contest effort as I get older.  I could not get
out of bed early enough Sunday morning to work some meteor scatter near
sunrise.

Equipment:
6m K3s, KPA1500 (200w), 4el LFA Yagi
2m IC-9700 (100w), 9el LFA Yagi
1.2m IC-375A (30w), 15el M2 Yagi
70cm IC-9700 (75w), 21el M2 Yagi
23cm IC-9700 (10w), 36el I0JXX Yagi

Entry is under: Single Operator Portable Analog Only

Fuse blew in multi-mode VHF station. Requires a 5 x 20 type 
previously unknown to me. Only local electronics component supplier
shut down in June. Thus 50 Mhz only !

50 mhz on Saturday and 144-1296 on Sunday. Highlight was working FN36 and EN71 with my small low
power station. I tried many times to stir up microwave activity by calling CQ on 2 meter CW. That
was a waste of time. That problem never existed when I ran 1500 watts and a four yagi stack at
WA2FGK. Those days are over. Great to be on a small hill close to my home, and giving out points
from FN11. I either need more phone numbers or miracles

My first ever  VHF contest in 46 years with ZERO propagation enhancement on any band.

Slow contest. Rovers made my day.

Pretty poor propagation this go round! Looking at PSK Reporter there was a small strip of activity
west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon and then east of the Mississippi River. 
Things have been tough before but not this tough!

K7YO operating from fixed CN85.

After a hiatus of 6 years from roving, Terry W8ZN and I (Andy K1RA) resurrected the old Grid Pirates
rover and operated from 5 grids as K8GP/R.  We visited FN10db, FM19aw, FN00wa on Sat. and FM08jl,
FM09te on Sun. We fought through rainy, foggy wx on Sat. but enjoyed some nice wx on Sun.  

I've posted a detailed article (7000 word/30mins) and podcast (60mins/AI) + photo album (230 pix). I
tried to satisfy both the VHF+ enthusiast and the newcomers alike.  If you've got some time to
waste, please check out the media links below. I'd appreciate any feedback.  

https://k1ra.us/roving/k1ra-k8gp-rover-arrl-sept-vhf-2026/

OR

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yxzaPo2CZF2H8aVc9
https://rss.com/podcasts/back-on-the-road-with-k8gp-rover/

Thanks & 73! 

k1ra@k1ra.us

Only operated Saturday and saw no openings. Worked only locals

Great weekend rove despite the rain on Sunday morning. Avoided electrical storms somehow.

Thanks to all for all the QSOs and skeds. Until next time.. -KA1QAS/R

Band was pretty dead

I got my first 2m and 70cm SSB/DG QSOs during this contest!
Operated for about 11.5 hours on 6m, 2m, and 70cm and
had a great time.  Many thanks to the contest organizers
and all who participated!

First time logging participation in a contest!

did not make a big effort in this particular contest as had other events during the weekend but got
on when I could. Sunday morning we had a tremendous downpour of rain of course I had to go out and
rotate the beams the armstrong method! still fun!

It was fun working WB2AMU using different antenna and radio setups.

Very poor conditions.  Missed nearly all of Sunday. See you in January.

Good contest for this weekend; worked it from a local park at a elevated position Having 6M in the
kit was a help where I got to use both diigital modes and SSB which was a bonus in the log as I was
packing up to leave the park. I look forward to doing this type of event next year. Thanks to
everyone that worked me . See you next year,73

Operated FM only from Signal Hill using 25 watts.

One of the best VHF contests for tropo, and activity. Worked many new grids and calls, as well as
several rovers (thanks y'all!!!) 73  Lou  KT1R

Best QRB is 5079km for J88IH at FK93

A tough contest with not much propagation. No Es on 6, and
thunderstorms put a damper on tropo. Highlight was meteor scatter on 6
Meters Sunday morning. Logged AI5D, N0AN, and KB0V with 10
watts!

FYI, there is 3 ARRL VHF contest each year. I have operated every one since 1974.

Not much activity!

2026 ARRL September VHF Contest.

I really had a great time getting outside and operating the contest from the beautiful POTA/SOTA
US-8319 W2/NJ-009 at State Line Lookout FN30BX at about 525 feet elevation on top of a cliff. I
believe most of my good DX was due to the high gain shirt, although propagation was good for me as
well! This location has a greasy spoon, a bathroom, a parking lot and a view (tree free from about 0
to 180 degrees. I had dreams of getting out Saturday and Sunday, but reality intervened and I was
only able to get out Sunday afternoon after a driving rain had passed. The IC-905 worked well with
the exception of the GPS unlocking when I was running FT8 on 1.2Ghz, although that didn't seem to
stop any contacts. I had a great time trying to work Wheat (N1YCQ) on 902mhz but no luck even with
FT8.  He could copy me but I never got a 902 copy on him....too much local noise. 902 was run with a
Q5 transverter and an IC_705 IF. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced an element for my 6m Diamond
yagi, and so there was no 6m for me! Of course there are lessons learned each time.  See you in
January!

had fun,good activity

With a bad w-o-r-k schedule and all the rest I don't get a lot of
radio time, so this date was circled on my calendar for six weeks
or more as an incentive to finally complete a few station changes.
I was able to better point my fixed 70cm yagi, and best of all get
a brand new Q5 222 transverter and a used 902 DEMI transverter on
the air! Both have very limited antennas -- room to improve for
next time -- but it was thrilling being able to complete a contact
or two on each of those bands. I appreciate the folks on FT8
6m who will point toward Nevada, and big thanks to Daniel KE7UQL
whose encouragement in contesting is infectious. His
persistence in building a 902-capable setup despite no one on this
side of the mountains having that band helped give me the push I
needed to get mine on the air even if jerry-rigged. Next time
hopefully there will be fewer outside responsibilities and a little
more air time. Onward and upward!

FT8 operation from grid FM18.
20 QSOs logged on 144 MHz; 18 creditable after 2 same-band duplicates.
2 QSOs logged on 432 MHz.

September ARRL VHF Contest

Very low activity here in NE Ohio. No CW or SSB stations heard. All contacts were FT8.

Thanks for all the QSOs. This was my first VHF contest and likely won't be the last. 73 to all!

bad conditions

Spent 99% of my 3 somethng hours calling CQ. Very few locals down here
do VHF contesting. And when 6m is dead so is the contest. Glad I only
wasted 3 hours of my time in the chair, although I did leave the volume
turned up on the 6m rig on 50.125, and 2m rig on 146.52 in case I heard
any activity emitting from the shack while I was in the house. Just heard
a lot of static. 6m rig K3S 100 watts to 3 elements at 18'AGL. 2M/70cm
rig Yaesu FT-897D 50 watts on 2M 20 watts on 70CM to a Comet GP-1 at
18'AGL. 73, Gene N9TF

All QSOs via EME

BAND           QSOs              MULTS

50             57                18
144            86                26
222            31                10
432            36                12
902            16                7
1.2G           16                7
2.3G           12                7
3.4G           12                7
5.7G           10                8
10G            12                9
24G            6                 6
123G           9                 7
LIGHT          6                 6

The weather for the event was fair end of summer weather.  Some heat and humidity with
threats of rain but nothing significant developed. The cooling temperature at night could have
supported tropo if the remaining wind had not cleared it all out.  Only isolated e-skip distance
decodes.   Not sustained enough to rule out the possibility they were long MS burns.
The digital and analogue portions of the contest continue to mix like oil and water.
Motion between the two modes without non-amateur means is most uncommon.
Socres, QSO counts and multipliers remain creditable but feel like they are built on a
thinning crust of fewer multi-band stations.  There seems to be a decrease in the activity
floor of random local, newcomer and casual stations that were the seeds of growth in the past;
digital and analogue.  There are few digital stations grinding out CQs and even fewer analogue
stations.
Nonetheless, while I desire an increase in the activity level, I will continue to work on the
contest puzzle

Last minute opportunity to work the contest when a contractor
cancelled work at my house !! This time out gave me a chance to try a
couple new things: Driving (slowly !) between some grid-corner
locations with Antenna mast mounted to a flagpole holder on the hitch
of my little Honda FIT 2) Operating FT-8
Both worked and was a good learning for next time.
I am learning all about how challenging Rover is from a human factors
point of view and how much I have to learn !  I definitely need to
improve in the Advertising/ Communication department and make use of
K1RZ/W3SZ  Database, the Groups.io boards , and the ON4KST app.
It's  a learning curve :-) but a fun one.

73 and maybe see you in January 'test.
VE3RSA/R
TC

My transmitted mode is shown for cross-mode contacts
Log contains 3 duplicate QSOs not counted in claimed score
Equipment -
50 MHz FTDX10 100 W (60 W on DG), Moxon
144 MHz K2+Q5Signal Xvtr+B2518G 100W,5 el Yagi & FT-290RII 25W,GP indoors
222 MHz K2 + Q5Signal Xvtr 20 W, 7 el Yagi indoors
432 MHz K2+Q5Signal xvtr+RFC 4-310 100W,11 el Yagi & RT-95 20W+indoor GP
903 MHz K2 + Q5Signal Xvtr 6 W, 7 el Yagi indoors
1296 MHz K2 + Q5Signal Xvtr 5 W, 10el Yagi indoors
2304 MHz FT-290R + HB xvtr 1 W, 9 el Yagi indoors
3456 MHz FT-290R + HB xvtr 1 W, 15 dBi horn indoors
10 GHz K2 + 2m xvtr + DB6NT xvtr + amp 2 W, 2ft. dish indoors
24 GHz FT-818 + HB Xvtr 250 mW, 1 ft dish indoors

I did not have a lot of time a busy weekend Saturday was our
Clubs Hamfest. I got an vintage IC-03AT I got 1 qso.

Fun time running multi-band from Mount Greylock! Modified K6 worked great on 900 MHz.

6 Meters FM - GE Delta 90 watts, 2 Meters FM - Kenwood TR751A 25 watts, 1.25 Meters FM - Alinco
DR-CS25T 50 watts, 70 Cm FM - IC-47A 25 watts, 900 MHz FM - Motorola MCS 2000 ,outdoor omni antennas
up 23-25 feet

The South Jersey Mountain Toppers ARC known as W2EA operated again this September with the usual
challenges. We had 3 operators under the age of 25!

HAD A GREAT TIME AND THANKS FOR SPONSORING IT!

September 2026 ARRL VHF QSO Party

Only had a small time window on Sunday evening.
The rotor on the 2m-and-up array failed and thus the antennas
were frozen in place. Thanks for the QSOs and 73, Ron (W8RU).

Poor condtions

A stuck antenna rotor & limited hours handicapped me, bu tnot bad under the circumstances.

Only had limited time to participate. No evidence of enhanced propagation during my operating time.
Enjoyed my time working the contest, but found many station issues that need to be addressed before
January.

A combination contest and POTA activation from Farm River State Park (US-1665) in East Haven, CT.

I was expecting challenging conditions for this year's event for
several reasons.  We had a few of our active VHF contest operators in
the area become silent keys during the past year, including Glen,
WB2JAY.  In addition, it was the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which
impacted attendance by some of our active operators in the area (The
ARRL should be more cognizant of this holiday and try to adjust the
date, if possible).  Then I had an evening wedding to attend that was
an hour away in Eastern Long Island, so I could only do 35 minutes of
operating on Saturday.   I was hoping for some tropo conditions but
bands were pretty poor on both days.  On Sunday, there were tremendous
rain storms which made QRP portable operating very challenging and
there were not many stations to work at all.  I did get to try out
some different antennas on the four bands when SWR conditions affected
the usual antenna setups that I had.  Thanks to Mitch, KE2CCG, for
working me on three bands.  Another highlight was working Pat, NS4T, who was visiting Long Island,
his old home grounds from the state of Georgia.  I had worked Pat when he was in Georgia during the
June VHF contest calling his SSB signal using CW during marginal conditions.  Some serious
restructuring should be considered for this event and the January event to encourage more CW
and phone activity, and possibly shortening the time period to really
reflect the actual number of participants!

Thanks to the [Rovers

Thankfully, I got one good QSO across Lake Erie into VE3 - EN92
(Stephen) on 2M.
I plan to work the VHF fall sprint contests, and then the next ARRL
Jan VHF Contest of 2027. Getting and hearing VHF and UHF activity is
now proving quite difficult for me with less VHF participation, and
the on-slot of the modern popular FT digital mode. 73.

Not able to get on the June vhf contest because bad coax
and connectors on 2M yagi on the tower. Just got that all fixed
day before this contest with low swr. 440 antenna worked,
only 1 contact here, disappointing, would like more 440.
First time I've operated SOLP2R.
2 radios, FT-991 50w and our new Yaesu FTDX-101D on
6m, 100w. Conditions weren't that good with signals in
briefly then gone and not much activity, everthing
on FT8. Tnx for the Q's. 73

PLEASE MORE ANALOG ACTIVITY. We NEED ONE DEDICATED ANALOG VHF
TEST !

Anaog Only.