VHF Operating Scott Honaker N 7 SS Scott

VHF Operating Scott Honaker – N 7 SS Scott Honaker - N 7 SS

Why Contesting? • Emergency preparedness • Familiarity with equipment • Operating practice • Competitive need • Challenge Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 2

Why VHF? • More about location than station – even playing field • Cooperative contest • More relaxed • Less band “fighting” • No awkward antennas • Everyone can play – available to all class licenses Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 3

Rules - Classes • Single operator (high/low power) • (Limited) multi-operator • Rover • Single operator portable (QRP) Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 4

Rules – Grid Points • Maidenhead Grids – 1 degree latitude x 2 degrees longitude – Either 4 or 6 character designator – Covers the whole world – Seattle is CN 87, Bellingham CN 88 – Vancouver, BC is CN 89, Portland is CN 85 • 1 Grid point for each grid contacted per band • 1 Grid point for each grid activated Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 5

Maindenhead Grids Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 6

Rules – QSO Points • Modes (CW, SSB, FM) – Most activity is USB on/near call channel – A QSO is same points regardless of mode – No additional points for additional modes • Bands – 6 m to light – Higher bands worth more points • Exchange – Call and grid square • Score = Grid pts x QSO pts Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 7

Equipment - Radios • Multimode (CW, SSB, FM) – most activity is SSB • Multiband - 6 m, 220, 440, 1. 2 gig • FM OK 2 m and up • IC-706 MKIIG, FT-100(D), FT-817, TS 2000(X) • Don’t forget IC-T 81 s, TH-F 6 A, etc. • Transverters Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 8

W 7 DHC/R Station Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 9

Equipment – Antennas • • Loops Beams – Planars - Dishes Horizontal polarity Verticals only useful on 2 m, 223. 5, 446 • Arrow, Cushcraft, M 2, KB 6 KQ, Par, Wi. Mo • Mast/rope, telescoping masts, parkon mounts, etc. Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 10

Facilities • • Home Car Camper Truck Tent Trailer RV Scott Honaker - N 7 SS Rodger KK 7 LK on Mt Anderson 11

Rover Vehicles Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 12

Rover Stations Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 13

Mapping • Delorme Gazetteer – Identifies grid squares and good operating locations • Topo data is critical for finding good operating locations or route planning • GPS – Can provide antenna bearings • Locations scouted on – http: //pw 1. netcom. com/~n 7 cfo/locations. htm • Radio Mobile software – http: //www. cplus. org/rmw/english 1. html Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 14

Radio Mobile Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 15

Locations • Altitude • Access to population centers • Unique grid squares • Accessibility – rover • Beware of “populated” hill tops – may need intermod filters Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 16

VHF Propagation Modes • Sporadic-E – Most common on 6 m • Troposcatter/ducting – Most effective on 6 m through 70 cm – More common in summer, near water • Aurora – Works late at night on 6 m and 2 m – Point antenna north Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 17

New Modes • Not too common during contests - yet • PSK 31 – Similar noise immunity to CW – Easily run on most laptops – http: //aintel. bi. ehu. es/psk 31. html • JT 44/65 with WSJT – – Copy up to 30 d. B below the noise floor Computer clock and radio freq must be accurate Not real-time, must be scheduled/arranged http: //pulsar. princeton. edu/~joe/K 1 JT/ Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 18

PSK 31 Frequencies HF Band 160 M 80 M 40 M 30 M 20 M 17 M 15 M 10 M Scott Honaker - N 7 SS Frequency 1838 KHz 3580 KHz 7070 KHz 10130 KHz 14070 KHz 18100 KHz 21080 KHz 28120 KHz VHF Band 6 M 2 M 1. 25 70 cm Frequency 51. 120 MHz 145. 550 MHz 222. 070 MHz 432. 200 MHz Most PSK 31 is USB 19

VHF/UHF DXing • Es on 6 m is very common • Tropo enhancement common on 2 m (monitor beacons and weather stations) • New digital modes provide DX opportunities via Es, Tropo, Aurora, Meteorscatter and EME • Microwaves now more common and useful Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 20

VHF During Field Day • VHF/UHF QSO counts are notoriously low • The vast majority of QSOs are voice • FD scoring gives 1 point for voice, 2 points for CW and 2 points for data QSOs • Typical VHF QSOs might be 80 – all voice • If 50% added soundcard modes, we get 5 points per station rather than 1 point • 80 points becomes 240 points • This doesn’t count QSOs now possible with PSK/JT 65 Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 21

Strategies • • Make noise Pay attention to 6 m band openings Track rovers and the bands they have Identify big stations with multiple bands Use CW/PSK/JT 44 for extra QSO points Bring as many bands as possible Scan 2 m FM simplex channels and 446. 000 Check out http: //www. pnwvhfs. org Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 22

Monitoring Activity • • 50. 125 – 50. 200 MHz USB 52. 525 MHz FM 144. 200 – 144. 250 MHz USB 146. 580 FM and 2 m simplex (not 146. 520) 225. 500 FM or 222. 100 USB 432. 100 – 432. 120 MHz USB 446. 000 MHz FM 1294. 500 FM or 1296. 100 USB Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 23

Additional Field Day Info • Use Ham. Scope/Mix. W/WSJT to make CW/PSK available to all operators – it all loads on the logging machine • Use down-time for JT 65 contacts – while continuing to monitor other frequencies Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 24

PNW VHF/UHF Nets Net Name Freq(s) Schedule (Local Time) PNW VHF/UHF Group 144. 240 MHz 222. 100 Mhz 432. 100 MHz Tuesday 20: 00 Sunday 08: 00 PNW UHF Group 1296. 1 MHz Sunday 08: 30 Tuesday 20: 30 CN 87 Ragchew 144. 220 MHz Every night 6 M PSK Net 50. 290 MHz Sunday 19: 00 2 M PSK Net 144. 150 MHz Sunday 20: 00 Victoria VHF/UHF SSB Net 144. 200 Wednesday 21: 00 Victoria VHF/UHF SSB Net 432. 100 Wednesday 21: 15 Victoria VHF/UHF SSB Net 50. 125 Wednesday 21: 30 Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 25

Pacific NW VHF Society • • Email Reflector Local/National Vendor Lists Group Buys Net/Beacon List Awards Operating Hints and Locations Breakfast/ Annual Conference Much more… Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 26

Have Fun! Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 27

VHF/UHF Resources • Pacific Northwest VHF Society – http: //www. pnwvhfs. org • Radio Mobile software – http: //www. cplus. org/rmw/english 1. html • PSK 31 Homepage – http: //aintel. bi. ehu. es/psk 31. html • WSJT Software (JT 44/65, FSK 441) – http: //pulsar. princeton. edu/~joe/K 1 JT/ Scott Honaker - N 7 SS 28