For the September VHF Contest I decided to stay-at-home. Nothing to do with a pandemic or anything like that. I just needed a rest from roving. Plus, I wanted to regain my perspective on why I started roving in the first place.
Overall Results
I was fairly pleased with my overall results. Managed to get 119 QSOs in the log. Only 4 were SSB QSOs on 144.200 with a few locals. Everything else was FT8 with a single MSK144 QSO.
I was pleased with 64 multipliers. Six meters saw 66 QSOs and 32 grids. Two meters came in at 49 QSOs and 29 grids (five new grids from home). 432 saw only 4 QSOs and 3 grids. I didn’t work anyone on 222.
Tropo Opening Sunday Morning
I pretty much spent most of the contest in the ham shack. Slept about 6 hours from midnight to 6 AM. Getting up early I was rewarded with an excellent Tropo opening. Mostly I worked them on 2 meters. You can find the APRS map nearby, showing the full extent of the opening.
As I noted above, I managed to find five new grids on 2 meters. That’s one of the downsides from roving — the grids don’t typically count for your home station award chasing.
I watched Contest Scores Online from time to time. There aren’t many VHF contesters using this pretty neat service. With N3FJP’s VHF Contest Log, it automatically sends your score to an online distribution service and it gets posted for everyone to follow on the web.
It shows your category and ranks the other competitors. I was running in second most of the time for Single Op Low Power. But later noticed on 3830 Scores that the guy ahead of me was actually in Single Op 3-Band. This isn’t one of the options for Contest Scores Online — rover isn’t one of the options either. Plus, there were only about 100 showing up on the scoreboard. It wasn’t a realistic comparison, but does show what could be done for clubs or just buddies competing against one another.
Below is the screen shot of my activity during the contest from the online scoreboard. It maps out QSOs, multipliers, and score.
Butt-in-Chair
The chart above points out the times I was away from the station. The first lull was sleeping. The second was watching the Italian Grand Prix and eating pizza with my wife. It also gives you a good idea of the activity level from my station here in North Texas. I also like how it shows the score ramping up significantly at the end as the full multiplier count came more and more into play.
At the end of the contest, the butt-in-chair mantra came back to bite me in the butt. I was watching things develop on 6 with a strong signal showing up from California. Turned the antenna and worked quite a few stations on the West Coast. Hadn’t heard any earlier in the contest.
As that all wound down, with about 20 minutes left in the contest and no new stations to work, I went downstairs, lowered the antenna and pointed it east. I then fetched a cocktail and wandered up to the shack. Yikes, a new multiplier had appeared while I was gone, but too late as the contest was over. I clearly need to wait until the contest is actually over.
Home Station Setup
My home station isn’t much different than my rover. I use a pushup mast with a 5-element 6 meter Yagi and an 6-element 2 meter Yagi. That requires a run of just over 100 feet of coax. For 222 I use an Omniangle and for 432 an eggbeater, both positioned in the alcove above the second-floor ham shack. The rover Yagis I use on the rover for 222 and 432 are clearly a better way to go.
Rotation of the shack Yagis is done by running down the stairs, out the backdoor, and twisting the mast to the right direction. Often the FT8 QSO is done by the time I get back to the shack.
I run two rigs: IC-9100 for 6 and 222; IC-910H for 144 and 432. The IC-9100 drives a TE Systems 175 watt amp on 6 (my 375 watt amp is at TE Systems awaiting repair) and the 222 transverter and 100 watt amp. The IC-910H drives a 2 meter 170 watt amp and runs barefoot on 432. The great benefit of the two rigs is watching FT8 on 6 and 2 at the same time.
Home Station Impressions
I enjoyed working the contest from home. I had thought that contacts might be a bit challenged, and of course they were to a certain extent, but there was plenty to keep me busy. Plus, I could address a few projects in between openings. Plus, it was fairly easy to fix a few things along the way or tweak the software.
I also was able to work quite a few rovers. I almost never work a rover when I’m on the road. We’re either not pointing in the right direction or the signals are just too weak. So that helped make it fun.
I started my rover adventure for the September 2018 VHF Contest. Then it was all SSB and a tiny bit of CW when the signals were too weak. Now it’s almost all FT8 with some MSK144. So it’s quite a different experience both as a rover and from home.
Rover or Ham Shack? We’ll see how I feel when the January VHF contest comes around.
January 18, 2022
Managed to win the West Gulf Division and North Texas Section in Single Operator Low Power. Here’s the certificate to prove it!
Jim – Great article. Unfortunately in northern Ohio we did not get much in the way of a blessing by the propagation gods. I had to keep the butt in the chair for the majority of the weekend and be happy if I got 2 or 3 in a given hour by the end of the contest. The online scoreboard is so much fun. I was pretty fixated on you breathing down my neck early on, and then with trying to keep up once you pulled ahead! (By Sunday night I was hitting the local nets to see who wanted to join me on simplex and run some bands.) All in all, I can’t complain – I dragged my feet on getting beams on the roof this summer and didn’t have them up. Ultimately I ran 2m/70cm cross-polarized from almost everyone on a Comet GP-9 at 30ft, and a doublet wire cut for 80m tuned for 6m. Nice work in the contest, nice score, and great write-up on your experience doing it. -doug AB8M
Oh my goodness, Doug. What a great perspective on the contest and particularly on Contest Scores Online. I had no idea anyone else was paying attention. Fun times and it certainly got more people involved in your area. Good luck with your antennas. We’ll see what happens in January. 73, Jim @ K5ND
Great write-up Jim. Nice work with your 6 el 2M yagi. N8GA, W4IY and AA4ZZ were in for a couple of hours on 2M Sunday eve to EM28. May have been open to AA4ZZ ~ 1830z Sunday – -WQ0P worked them but I was not on the radio.
Thanks, Jon. I had a really good time operating from home. The last time I operated from home was in 2018 and the VHF contests have changed remarkably in that time. I, of course, saw it happening from the rover. But didn’t see the increased activity in overall. Still considering what I’ll do for the January contest. 73, Jim, K5ND