My first attempt with VHF QRP operation was this past July’s CQ VHF Contest in the Hilltopper category. That was great fun, so I thought I’d do it again at the ARRL September VHF Contest. This time, I used the same location in EM01 and added 432 MHz with my new Antenna Amplifiers Dual-Band Yagi for 144/432. The results were pretty good.

Overall Results

I ran from 1 PM to 7 PM on Saturday and from 7 AM to 1:30 PM on Sunday. At that time, there were few stations to work. Perhaps they were watching football.

• 6 m, 28 QSOs, 17 Multipliers.
• 2 m, 23 QSOs, 15 Multipliers.
• 70 cm, 10 QSOs, 7 Multipliers.

That adds up to 2,769 points.

50 MHz Sporadic E versus TEP

Not much was happening with Sporadic E on 6 meters. You’d decode once, and then it was gone. Most QSOs were local. However, I managed to work CE6UFF, CE2EP, and CE3FFC at 10 watts via TEP. I also picked up W9RM in Colorado and N0LD in Oklahoma.

144/432 MHz Great Fun

I was delighted with the number of contacts and multipliers on 144 and 432 MHz. There was a fair bit of activity, and I managed to snag quite a bit. It was relatively local, but sometimes, that can be a rare event during a VHF contest. The new antenna, in harmony with the IC-7100, worked great.

Don’t Use /P

The portable designator worked fine during the CQ WW VHF Contest, but I didn’t work any rovers during that contest. Unfortunately, when WSJT-X sends a reply to a Rover from a Portable Station, it labels both as /P. That makes the /P caller unrecognizable to the Rover and fouls up the contact. It took me a while to recognize why the rovers weren’t returning my calls.

After recognizing that challenge, I managed to change to K5ND and work a few rovers, but I’m not sure it will work in the contest log checking for the final scoring. Next time, if there is a next time, I won’t be using /P.

Contest Log Checking Update. When I turned in my contest log, I noticed that while the Cabrillo file showed K5ND/P, the /P was stripped upon submission, leaving only K5ND. When I checked with the ARRL, I discovered any /P, /QRP, etc. was stripped from the logs, leaving only /R callsigns. So, there is no reason to use /P in a contest.

Station Setup

A significant improvement to my station was a USB-powered double fan that moved air conditioning from the front seat into my back seat operating position.

The new 144/432 antenna also did a fantastic job. I had two Diamond wattmeters to monitor 50 MHz and 144/432 MHz to ensure I maintained the 10-watt limit.

I also used a Max-Gain Systems 25-foot pushup mast for the antennas. I pulled it out of my backyard setup and brought it along. It raised the antennas and was far sturdier than the painter pole I used in July.

The Macbook running MacLoggerDX, along with WSJT-X, worked fine. However, I would like to find a Windows laptop to run the software I use most. I did have some challenges with the computer clock, but it worked fine after a few restarts and ensuring I was connected to time.cloudflare.com.

Read the Manual

OK, I don’t really mean read the equipment operating manual, although I take great care to read every manual, at least on first use. What I’m referring to is reading the directions that come with products. In this case, it was the fairly run-down motel room I stayed in on Saturday night. You can see the message below, “It will also help abstaining Texas insects to enter the room.” I have no idea how they verify that the insects are abstaining.

This is in line with other messages seen on product packaging. For example, my brother found this on a spray can of pesticide: “Do not apply directly to food.” Or this on a small toy: “Check with your pastor before using.” My family finds its amusement in unique ways.

Thanks for the QSOs

Thanks to everyone who dug up my 10-watt signal to give me a QSO. I had fun, but boy, was it hot out there. Perhaps January will be more to my liking.