Thanks to all of the Pack Rats,SJRA members and all operators for working me from the road as Rover
this weekend. It was an exciting contest with a new test of Halo Antennas as I worked from the
overlooks. I experienced my first opening on 6 Mts from Grid FN10, and worked several midwest
stations and Florida. I thought I would make more contacts from other overlooks, but the Halos are
restrictive for distance, they worked very well for contacts on the run, and instant set up at the
site location. I will follow up with a short video next week of this Rover adventure. 

W3CCX had a great signal at every overlook and in FM29, it was fun to work with all of the
operators. Although my score was low, for me personally it's about advocating for VHF low signal
operation and getting more activity on the bands, especially all  with SSB phone. I did not operate
FT8 for this contest.  A special "thanks' to the hard working crew of the Pack Rats up on Camelback
setting up the entire W3CCX station, and to everyone that supports this club effort.

image.png
Perched at Camelback and Ready to start the Rove for the Contest

Quick Summary Stats
ARRL Section : SNJ    Club/Team : Mount Airy Pack Rats   
Antennas - Halos Antennas only  (4 Band Rover ) 6Mtr-2Mtr-222-70cm  FT991A  
Total Contacts Made  110   Score : 4,260
Grids Visited  (7) mostly overlook locations
Some other interesting statistics and comments
I drove over 582 Miles in 2 days 11 hours 45 + minutes windshield time
Highest elevation Moosic Mtn Overlook 2200 ft/ average elevation of (6) overlooks visit was 1,730
ft
(2) amps went down during the contest
Road Vibration -Power pole connectors don't work well for amp/battery/radio connections when you are
driving on gravel roads in the mountains.

Didn't seem to be very many people on this year. And I didn't hear any
6m openings. Decided to cut my time on the summit short after a gust
of wind pulled out a guy loop on my mast as it blew over. Not
something repairable in the field. Hopefully September is better, but
that is a pretty low bar.

Grid DXpedition from Llewellyn Johns State Recreation Area, POTA
US-8176, Grid DN85

Rain and poor conditions Saturday.  Glad there was a little 6 Meter E-Skip on Sunday.

This was a really slow event. I did another series of updates and tests of the "turnkey" mobile
installations for rovers to use, with the Icom 905 plus added antennas, plus one of the Q5 Labs
Transverters I have a few of for "band fills" the 905's don't have. Third time I've tried this,
upgrading as I have gone along. Contest conditions were poor from a propagation perspective on 6
meters. Other issues were less seasoned operators adding to both congestion and confusion. Also a
factor that seems to be increasing is the number of operators on FM and decreasing number of
operators on SSB Phone, or even (dare I say it) Digital. Hoping for a better September this year,
even with the Sun in it's current cycle, 6 was very disappointing this time around.Still have to
sort out multiple logging computers to help compiling the logs from different radio/transverter
combos.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AT NIGHT

WORKED A COUPLE NEW ONES FOR FFMA.

What a contest! Both Saturday and Sunday I had to change my proposed rover route to get around a
couple severe thunderstorms, avoid getting stuck on impassable country mud/dirt roads and to top it
all, trying to complete any contact with popcorn-like propagation on 50 MHz. This was easily the
worst conditions I've ever encountered during a June contest in over 20 years.

We operated near the corner of Grids DN73, DN72, DN 83, & DN82.  We ran 700-800 Watts to a 5-element
yagi at 25 to 32 ft in this remote area with little to no cell phone service.  Man-made noise was
zero except for a bit detected the last hour.  We had some computer issues and below normal Es
propagation.  A memorable event was the mile-long coal-train engineer who honked "TU" in CW as he
passed by us in DN83.

Could I say,  FT-8 has complete destroyed this contest,  plus
this year, even using the FT8 frequency as a indicator of a band
openings,  they never happened,,  as in never opened..    I worked
one local station, so I'm sending in my log anyway
I spent hours and hours listening to noise

No soap, radio

Used an indoor fan dipole and 90 Watts.

What a night and day contest!  Saturday reminded me of Jan '24, I didn't think that I would do much
better when I went to bed around midnight.  I had about same number of contacts and multipliers on
2m and 6m at that time.  Then I woke up to some nice 6m Es that help freshen things up for Sunday. 
No enhancement on 2m.  I need more elements for 70cm.

OCFD for six meters and phased loops for two meters.  Couldn't do portable this year so i was
limited to minimal antennas and 75 watts at home in the valley.

My best contest in some time.  Propagation for a June contest was disappointing but you get what you
get.

didnt operate very long had to do some yard chores. conditions werent very good, no real
enhancements to speak of. ran the mercury amp at half power and the beko at 1/2 power.

Morning activity

Tough conditions Saturday, followed by extremely active conditions Sunday morning and early
afternoon, and then closed. Worked 6-meter VUCC in a weekend. Thanks for the QSOs. Sorry if some
NILs show up in log-checking.

New to FT8 and stumbled across "TEST" being used in the CQ message - checked it out and made some
nice 6M contacts of over 1000 miles using a 20M vertical antenna!

FIrst contest after moving from Virginia to Oregon.  Dipole
laying across roof of RV

With my weak signal I was very surprised to
work some Europeans on Saturday evening.
Probably my best score ever.  It was much easier
to make QSOs on cw and ssb, than FT, but there weren't
many stations on analog modes to work.

There needs to be an easy to use electronic logger for portable & mobile stations.

Elevation is everything when it comes to VHF, and site selection makes
a big difference.  For this contest, I chose to hike an 8,200 ft peak
overlooking the LA Basin and Inland Empire with viewshed down to San
Diego, and up into the high desert.  I left the Icehouse Canyon
trailhead around 6:20 AM and arrived at Cucamonga Peak by 10 AM with
plenty of time to set up.

Rigs used were:
50 MHz: Wouxun Q10H and roll-up JPole
144 MHZ: Kenwood TH-K20A and Extended Double Zepp (hung vertically)
222 & 902 MHz: Alinco DJ-G29 and dual-band Diamond whip
432: Wouxun KG-UV9D and Diamond SRH-77CA whip
144 & 432: Kenwood TH-D7A and 3 element portable dual-band yagi
1296: Alinco DJ-G7T and PCB Log Periodic

Battling a head cold and feeling like junk, I only operated for 4 hrs
and 20 minutes, but logged 135 QSOs (4 dupes) and worked 6 grids on 5
bands, and 2 grids on 902 MHz.

It was great to get to work 6 FM bands this time.  Great rule change!

Band		Contacts	Points Per Q	Total Points	Mults
50		14		1		14		6
144		55		1		55		6
222		27		2		54		6
432		24		2		48		6
902		3		3		9		2
1.2G		8		3		24		6
Subtotal	131				204		32
Total:	6528

Stand-out contacts to me were the 6 grids on 1296, including DM02, San
Clemente Island.

Next year, I need to camp on the summit, bring some kind of electronic
logging tool to ID dupes and mults better, and work more 432.

Thanks for all the QSOs.

Adam
K6ARK

Great fun!dButton

All Remote not much time spent on the air.  Last contest of the
PVRC contest season.

Only had a little tme to work. Did get 1 new grid.

fun contest accept  near by ft8 on 6 m. it shouldn't take up the hold 6m band. 73 Matt ka0pqw

Another fun June Contest. Thanks everyone!

Didn't hear much this year!

Extremley High  winds on Saturday made changing antennas on truck from
Travel configuration to operate position very difficult for an old man.
Had to seek protection from the wind by getting to the leward side of
a building at the Hog Farm in EN43ax. At least no flys in the truck due
to the high winds !

Using 40m/20m Inv-V and 6m sloper and 6m Moxon (SW) antennas

WORKED FROM QTH AGAIN

6m loop at 34 ft.

FT8 has ruined this conest.

GOOD TO SEE MANY 6M STATIONS ON THE AIR, INCLUDING EUROPE. NO WEST COAST OR ALASKA FROM CONNECTICUT

I am a new ham who is getting more experience on the different VHF
bands.

Got frustrated by difficulty getting JTDX to operate correctly
with N1MM+ and DXKeeper., so waited to near end of test to play a
bit with WSJTX-N1MM+ combo.  Got it sorta working, and needed to
make a few test contacts.  Really prefer JTDX but it lacks the
contesting features for correct exchanges.

Limited Rover lower 4 bands

Operated from FM29jw

CW Contacts: 9
Unique Grids: 6

9 CW QSOs x 6 Unique Grids = 54 CW QSO Points

Thank you for the 2024 ARRL June VHF Contest.

Bands Got Hot Sunday AM - fun times.

Hadn't planned on doing the contest, but wanted to help support those who were, so I kept the radio
tuned to 6m FT8.  I was busy with work and burnt out from the International Digi contest the weekend
before.  Decided after the fact to submit my numbers.

DEAR ARRL THIS WAS LOTS OF FUN THANK YOU.

monitored most of the two days,
never heard any skip stations on ssb ,
no propagation !!  worked two locals

Combined with SOTA activation of Lazy Mountain KLA/MC-564.

Drove from Fairbanks to Haines to activate some rare grids in
Southeast Alaska and the Yukon Territory, and work some PNW stations
for the contest. Only 8 contest QSOs, but activated a slew of rare
grids including BP91, CP00, CP01, CP10, CO19 and CO29. Beautiful
drive, stunning scenery. Many tnx to KL7HBK, K7CW, VE7DAY, KA6BIM, and
W7FN.

Band contitions improved greatly on Sunday, but my time was limited.
Great contest!

Hardly any 6m propagation on Saturday, stations would pop in for 10 seconds and be gone. Sunday was
more of the same with a few hours here and there of better/longer lasting propagation.  A real
disappointment after the success of last June.

I participated in the VHF contest once before while running 70-100w from a Blue Ridge overlook on 2m
and 70cm. This time decided to try QRP with 10w and throw in 6m. Wanted to go to the Blue Ridge, but
the wife’s health limits my travel. Opted to go portable in the undeveloped industrial park 20
minutes away. 
Lackluster conditions Saturday afternoon. Operated until dinner time. The goal: make one QSO on each
band. Do the antennas work? Will anyone hear 10w? Check and check. Got two Q’s on 6m; two on 70cm;
and four on 2m. But not sure the 6m Moxon is working. The ATU has it matched to the IC 705, but not
sure it radiates. Ironically, the best DX comes on 70cm to EM96. The dual 15 element Yagis for 70cm
are working, but OMG they’re heavy! Will reserve those strictly for EME in the future. The duoband
Yagi for 2m/70cm borrowed from satellite work is doing fine. I’m really liking it. For both bands.
Home to cook dinner.
Woke up before dawn Sunday. Back to the industrial park. The focus: 2m tropo up and down the coast.
Can I count on it? Yes! Nine Q’s on 2m with a couple reaching MA and RI. Plus three nearby grids
on 70cm and another nearby grid on 6m. 1200Z arrives; home to make breakfast.
Breakfast dishes cleared, the DX map sites are showing Es over much of the Eastern US. Afternoon
approaches; it’s time to make 6m produce! I’ve lost confidence in the Moxon, so the rotatable 6m
dipole makes this trip. I know it radiates. 
On arrival, I stick the dipole as high in the air as I can handle. The band is busy. But no one is
hearing me. I see strong CQs and call, but nada. Bummer. Then the epiphany. Something I should have
remembered from HF QRP days 40 years ago. Many people can’t hear 10w. And the CQs I keep answering
are heard by lots of other stations, all with louder signals than mine. No wonder I’m batting
zero. So…why don’t I camp on a clear frequency and start CQing? Eventually, those who can hear
my signal will respond. 
Bingo! 13 QSOs come in the next two hours. Some pushing 1,000 miles. By 1800Z, threatening clouds
are gathering and the Es cloud I was working to the south and southwest has dried up. Not wishing to
be a component in a cloud-to-ground circuit, the dipole-on-a-stick comes down. Enough for this
episode. I have learned / re-learned a number of things and can think of a number of future
improvements. This has been great!

Good fun, nice turn out.
I achieved a new personal best; the mults definitely helped. Very cool
working San Clemente Island, DM02.

73 to everyone that worked with me this weekend. This is a personal best for my entry of ARRL VHF.
The digital modes over 50.313 were a good surprise via a homebrew J-Pole antenna hoisted some 30
feet up.  Had some trouble getting the 446 Mhz and 223.5 Mhz contacts to come in, only got one each,
but 2m was clearly busy in all directions. I will try this again next year! Thanks to everyone for
their participation.

Conditions were better and there seemed to be more stations on the
air.

Great to hear Convair/220 Club members on the air, an XE2-!Viva Mexico!, alot of Rovers and activity
on 6m and 222Mhz.

I only got 3 QSOs but next year I will try this again
16

Stressed Moxon up 20FT, 100 Watts Icom 7200 Thanks for the contacts I had a lot of fun.

Quite a change for the worse between this year and last year when had
qsos on SSB, CW and FT8 and 6 was open for hours here. Not this year
though as qrxing for an opening was as exciting as watching paint dry
but when it did it was unexpected. After a side qsy to 20 FT8 I wrkd
5U5K at my sundown Sat. while 6 was dead then came back to 6 right
away to see 9s and 5s on my screen. Vy unusual at that time but Sun

Casual operating just for fun.

I haven't been very active in contests for many years,with life and relocation I'm starting to
rebuild, from delivery a week ahead and rehung 1296 looper. 6 to 1296.
Saturday 6 never opened just local stuff, Sunday nice tropo to Carolinas down to Dominican Republic
on 2m ..worked Buzz wa4gpm on 1.2ghz with 10w in em90 easily on ft8 mode..spent the morning SP mode
cw ssb digi ..6m opens to w5 about 13z worked about a dozen on ft8 then over to ssb until about 17z
..up for 7 hours..took a siesta ..woke up around 1830z 6m still open usa to w2 w3 worked a few more
..short break then checked shf ackk missed w4erp in el95 by 2 hours.oh well I called southeast
off/on until end contest nobody around .A half hour before end of contest work ad4es el98 432,2m.

Well not my best score for the June contest, but not my worst
either.  No big Es openings all day Saturday, but before going
to bed Saturday night, I checked 6m one last time, and heard AA0EE
calling CQ.  Worked him and a few others in NE, MN, WI, but I
think most folks had gone to bed by that time. AAOEE was still
calling CQ an hour later.
solid openings, but still worked some good ones.
back on 432 this year, with a new antenna.  But I still don't
hear too well - too many trees around the house I think.  Also
222 MHz debuted at the shack this year: a minimalist setup with
5W, lossy feedline and a small fixed yagi, but still managed a
few QSO's.  Thanks for the fun!

6 meters waited until the last day to reveal itself!

Extremley High  winds on Saturday made changing antennas on truck from
Travel configuration to operate position very difficult for an old woman.
Had to seek protection from the wind by getting to the leward side of
a building at the Hog Farm in EN43ax. At least no flys in the truck due
to the high winds !

Saturday very poor conditions. Did copy AG0EE and K0DAS/R on many
frames on 6 Meters, but no QSO. Some Es to W1, W2, W3, W4 and W7
Sunday.

6m opening on Sunday!

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

As I have in previous VHF contests, I operated portable from a park
for a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation. I chose the Carlton Hill
Multiple Use Area (US-8622) given it's elevation (1,450 feet) and
proximity to other grid squares that would be active for the contest
in Western New York. I used my ICOM 705 with an Elk Dual Band Log
Periodic Antenna for 2m and 70cm, as well as a 3 element portable
Yagi
for 6m by Momobeam. For 1.25m, I had an Alinco monoband HT with a
role-up j-pole antenna on a mast, about 15 feet up. I also had a dual
band HT for 2m/70cm with a roll-up j-pole on a second mast. Last, but
not least, this was my first time operating on the 23cm and 33cm
bands. Another ham loaned me 2 Alinco HTs and a Yagi antenna for
33cm.
As with previous contests, this was a lot of fun and a good learning
experience too. I enjoy combining VHF with POTA and try to promote it
amongst others.

Best Score Ever!

Using NN4RBs setup guide, I was just barely ready on time for
this one.  I had been participating in an EmComm Direct Messaging
Target Stations Group Exercise all morning so it could have been
an issue.  (See https://groups.io/g/EDM-Target-Stations for more
about this group.)  In brief, I do not really have the necessary
equipment for this contest.  My Flex 6400 has 6 meters but I have
no dedicated 6 meter antenna; only my wires and Flex internal
ATU.  I only have FM on 2 meters and 440 with no directional
antenna.  I only have 220 FM available on a handheld.  Lots to
work on if I so choose.  There were more stations on 6 meters
than usual, but still not very many that I could hear.  There was
never any opening for me while I was on except for working one
California station!  How could that even happen when I was only
seeing locals  Was he even in California  His call sign seems
legit on QRZ.com.  I enjoyed working several locals: NN4RB, K4XL,
K4HXM, W1IE.  And, I had the pleasure of FINALLY working the
illustrious NJ4Q on CW on 6 meters.  An interesting contest for
sure but unfortunately not one where I was much help to the club.
I had too much else going on to keep my BIC.

Icom IC-208H 55 watts, 1/4 wave groundplane up 24 feet.

Finally, a decent Analog band opening with moderate activity on 50 MHz.!

RoverLog is terrific!

During my one good opening, I made many contacts using FT4. FT8 was very crowded, and FT4 provided a
valuable means of making a lot of contacts twice as fast. It wasn't very reassuring that I quickly
ran through most of the FT4 participants. More contesters need to use the FT4 contesting mode.

Nothing but local contacts on 6M. on Saturday any time I checked.  

Sunday was better but still limited direction of contacts toward the NE,  Ohio, PA and southern
Canada were the ones noted here.

Yaesu FT-991A, 25watts, 6m Delta Loop @ 15ft

Comments and photos are on my blog page, https://n5zy.org/2024-june-arrl-vhf-contest-as-a-rover/

Operated in the Single Op, Low Power category.  The 6 meter band conditions were poor this year,
with no real openings from the west coast eastward for CW/SSB ops.  Wish that the League would
create a separate mode category for the FT-8 mode.  Still, it was a nice opportunity to work AZ
locals on 6, 2, and 70cm.

On June 8 and 9, 2024, Scott (N6MI) and Tom (K6VCR) operated in the ARRL June VHF Contest from
Frazier Peak, Ventura County, California (in the Los Padres National Forest). We camped in a
converted television news van (n6mi.com) and Tom's tricked out off-road truck at 8,013 feet
elevation (near the forest service sign on the peak). 

The weather was nice during the day (in the 70s) and cool at night (around 55 degrees). The ladybugs
were everywhere.

Radio conditions were poor. We used a Yaesu FTdx101D on 6 meters and an Icom-9700 on 2, 432, and
1296. We also used a Kenwood handheld on 223.5 FM. We used: a five element yagi at 60 feet on six
meters; a 13 element yagi at 20 feet on two meters; an 11 element yagi at 10 feet on 223.5; an 18
element yagi at 15 feet on 432; and a 22 element yagi at ten feet on 1296.

Before log checking, we made 258 contacts and logged 76 grids: 138 contacts and 35 grids on six
meters; 72 contacts and 17 grids on two meters; 4 contacts and 3 grids on 223.5; 37 contacts and 15
grids on 432; and 7 contacts and 6 grids on 1296. This gave us a raw score of 23,788.

An early attempt at an FT-8 entry; quite a few locals on the air, but
little Es propagation; nice to also be a /R in local area for other
bands.

5 bands! but not much activity

2nd lowest score in the last 10 years for me in June.  97% of my
contacts were the the "local" tropo distance range.  Only a
couple VERY brief sporadic E openings on Sunday.

Slow and plagued by antewnna issues, but strill a lot of fun!

IC-7100, MOBILE ANTENNAS, 3D-PRINTED KEY.

6m was flat the few times I had a chance to pop in the shack Saturday.
Not much happening, but managed a few contaacts. Sunday was a rainy day all
day, so spent most of my time working the contest Sunday. 6m was very
fickle. No rotor for 3 element beam, so made many trips out to the back
of the shed between the rain drops, to turm the beam via the armstrong
method. Beam is only mounted 18' above ground field day style on several
4' long army surplus tent poles mounted in a 5' tripod on the ground. The
tripod is anchored to the ground with 6 (2 in each leg foot), 18" long
nail spikes, and then loose but firmly anchored to the shed eve to be
able to turn the mast. Had a few brief openings to NE FN grids and also
to the west to DM and DN grids. Last couple of hours was mostly spent
looking for local TN and KY grids, as 6m flattened out. Still waiting for
6m to realize we are near the peak of cycle 25. Sure has been frustrating
so far. 73, Gene N9TF EM66IJ
100 watts to 3 elements @ 18' above ground.

I'm not a contester; just wanted to take the opportunity to exercise
my modest, antiquated VHF station and hand out a few points. Equipment
is a Kenwood TS-440S I bought new in 1986 and Hallicrafters HA-6 and
HA-2 transverters. (I used an old Kenwood TR-2600 into a Ramsey kit
amp for two 146.52 MHz FM QSOs with mountaintop hikers.) Antenna for
6M SSB was a 3-element yagi at about 25', and for 2M a Channelmaster
mid-fringe VHF/UHF TV/FM antenna above the 6M antenna on the same
mast. (I replaced the original balun with a homebrew one that wouldn't
burn up when I transmit.) Needless to say, I didn't have much success
on 2M SSB, only working one station about 20 air miles from me.

Very poor conditions

Worked K5QE for my first ever EME QSO (144MHz JT65B), in 48 years as a ham. Someday, I would like
complete a CW EME QSO.

The June VHF contest was probably the farewell rove of NN3Q/r.  After at least 17 years of roving
the ops and rover van are tired  (hihi)  This rove was a shore 4 hours over two days.  We worked 9
unique calls scoring 7600 points with about 81 Q's.  This last rove was to work stations we have
worked over the years and were mentors.  Placing a rover is getting more difficult for a number of
reasons.  We thank all who we worked over the years, placing #1 USA rover one time, with many top
five finishes.  73 to all K3WGR  op

Can't remember ever having this bad conditions on 6M during June contest.

1 Jeep + 6 gridsquares + 4 ARRL sections + 3 POTA activations + 1 USFS forest road = lots of fun!

Awesome Contest! Great Band Condx

Not too bad of a score from a low band sloper and a wide tuner for 6m.

Icom IC-7300, ZS6BKW

QSO Count=11

Good fun. More challenges, a few more efficiencies found. No eyes
lost to antenna elements. A four grid rove. Fifth was a possible
bonus, however I'll do it when I'm younger. When tired I did
something to my logging program which borked the time for quite
a number of contacts. Recovered a few from WSJT-X and leaving
all in for those of others to hopefully be honoured. Used FT-8
for the first time. Felt weird. Initially I was thinking it
felt "dirty." I'll cope. 73 all.

Operated close to 7 hours. 5el 50mHz, 10el 144mHz, 19el 432mHz. See you next year.

BAND           QSOs              MULTS

50             112               44
144            90                23
222            47                10
432            45                10
902            33                9
1.2G           33                9
2.3G           17                9
3.4G           5                 3
5.7G           10                8
10G            15                9
24G            5                 5
123G           0                 0
LIGHT          0                 0

My transmitted mode is shown for cross-mode contacts
Equipment -
50 MHz FTDX10 60-100W, Moxon
144 MHz K2 + DEMI xvtr + amp 100 W, 5 el  For FM FT-290R 20 W, indoor GP
222 MHz K2 + XV222 20W, 7el. indoors
432 MHz K2 + MM xvtr+amp 50W, 10el. indoors.For FM FT-818 6 W, indoor GP
903 MHz K2+rx conv., homebrew tx, 5W, 7 el. indoors
1296 MHz FT-290R+xvtr+amp 6 W, 10 el. indoors
2304 MHz FT-290R+xvtr 1 W, 9 el. Indoors
10 GHz K2 + DB6NT xvtr/amp 2 W, 2 ft. dish indoors
24 GHz FT-290R+xvtr 250 mW, 1 ft dish indoors
Log contains 4 duplicate QSOs not counted in claimed score

BAND           QSOs              MULTS

50             21                13
144            14                7
222            12                7
432            14                7
902            12                7
1.2G           11                7
2.3G           7                 7
3.4G           0                 0
5.7G           7                 7
10G            6                 6
24G            5                 5
123G           0                 0
LIGHT          0                 0
109               73


POINTS

I had a lot of fun operating with my modest station. A vintage
IC-P3AT handie for the 222 contacts

That was just about the slowest June contest I have taken part in but
I still enjoyed it.

Not a single Q65 or FT4 signal heard.

Had some issues and delay with setting up, lesson learned go through things before you head out.
Once we got going conditions where ok Saturday evening. Sunday morning it was fantastic 6 meters was
wide open from the Northeast to the gulf coast area, Florida and also Mid west with some nice Es.
Then after a couple hours or so it was dead as a doornail. But lots of stations on digital and
phone! Overall was our best contest yet only dissapointment was no 10 ghz contact have some work
there. Cant wait for September!

Thanks for the contacts. Thanks to the ARRL for sponsoring the
contest, processing the logs, and preparing the results. 73 - Dan,
W1QK, Peter - KA1SYG, Roger - NG1R.

Best QRB is 639km for KE8FD at EN80

As usual, the view from the top of Flagpole Knob in the George Washington National Forest was
outstanding. Our goal was to simplify so we could enjoy the spot. For this contest, we built a
bracket with a winch on our small trailer to raise the 6M antenna into position. We also set up our
K3S-based Radio in a Box (RIB) to allow remote operation over Starlink for team mates who couldn't
make the trip. Both 'inventions' worked great!

Good time operating! I just wish more folks would pick up the mic and do less FT8.

Fantastic. They are my first contacts in the 6 meter band. 73

Saturday had marginal propagation. Sunday was a lot of fun; 6 m opened
to the NE, moved throughout the day, and settled over the Midwest,
generating many multipliers.

Thanks to everyone who tolerated my newbie ops skills, but I got better as time went on.  This was
my first full rover experience (Limited) and was grateful for all the other locals and rovers who
sought me out.  EM03 was a blast, as it was a confluence of a good location, numerous Sunday AM
coffee risers, and a great tropo opening on 2m.  I was confounded with SW corruption due to EMI from
my 2m coax (learned after the contest) and now ready try 902 MHz and 1.2G for next upgrade.  Also
successfully conducted 6m FT8 in-motion, which was an unexpected surprise how well it worked.  Had a
blast.  73 -dave W5OC

bla

Not much help from 6m this year.  Would like to see 2m count 2 points.

Great conditions in OH for once.

6m was the band that kept on giving this weekend. It always seemed
to be open so I just hung out there and had fun chasing mults. I
used FT4 a few times and it greatly improves the QSO rate. Thanks
for the QSOs and 73! -Ron (W8RU).

spotty conditions, part time due to family obligations, 50 MHz only

First time in this contest or any VHF contest - glad to make a
couple of contacts.  Thanks to all who participated and 73, W9TCV

No great openings this year :(

Great activity levels!  :)

Operated from the summit of Wachusett Mountain State Reservation,
Princeton MA
Used a Yaesu FTM-300 running on a 12AH battery. Used a 1/2 wave whip.

Equipment: Wouxun KG-Q10H, Comet CX-333 @ 20'. After Losing my entire station due to a house fire in
November, I am fortunate to have anything to operate.

RoverLog is terrific!

May and June were busy months here for me this year, but I was able to
clear a sufficient amount of time for the June VHF Contest for my QRP
portable operation using only analog modes.
I operated portable from the hill that I normally operate from on Long
Island and found that much of the parking lot was used for trucks,
portable lighting units for a nearby road construction project.   This
was good news, as there were very few visitors to the parking lot
during the time that I operated (Saturday afternoon and Sunday
morning).  This allowed me to focus fully on the contest.  (please see
the photo with this report)
Saturday conditions were marginal and basically confined to working
stations located in adjacent grid squares across the four lower
bands.
Sunday morning started slow, beginning at 7 AM, and I was hoping for
some kind of decent Sporadic-E opening on Six Meters.   This finally
occurred when I worked N0AC in EN31 on Six Meter CW just before 9 AM.
The band did open up to the Midwest and to the south, but the QSB on
the signals was significant as loud stations on CW would drop to
virtually nothing at times.  The highlight was working 2-hop
Sporadic-E into Mexico with XE2X on CW.   I did improve on last
year's score.  Sporadic-E always makes the Six Meter band
interesting!

where was everyone

spent many hours listening to noise

Lightning and rained curtailed operation again this year.

This was my first VHF contest in a long while. Really enjoyed testing
a new antenna and camping with my family. Can hardly wait for the
next one.
Tested a new log periodic for 50MHz through 1300MHz. I'd say it
worked fairly well.

A nice, if definitely windy, one-day operation at the high point of
southern Wisconsin: Blue Mound State Park and summit. Getting up
earlier would have helped, but I got good time on the 6m openings. I
also got some familiar calls in the regional contacts along with some
new ones further out on 2/1.25/0.7.
Equipment was KX3 with homebrew 6m full-wave rectangular loop, FT-818
and KG-UV8T with Elk 2M/440L5 and homebrew copper pipe 222 Moxon, and
TH-350 with stock tri-band whip.

Great weekend, Ron N1LSJ and I (WS1O) managed to hit 4 grid squares and make QSOs on 50, 144, 222,
432 and 1296 MHz!

Limited time, equipment problems, and VHF antenna issues... so I
appreciate all those who heard and QSO'ed or tried!

10 of 65 grids new ones on 6. Saturday was all local grids till evening. Then we had some minor
enhancement south. Sunday was good, some single hop. Oddly changing to phone proved 
pointless with FT8 essentially the mode of choice everywhere. Fun and nearly 100 Q's.

Mainly just a check log - Cheers!

Analog Only

POOR PROPAGATION HERE