Icom America Inc.

In 2008 when I became a Director of RCA (Radio Club of America), I created the Youth Activities program. My committee and I set our goals to encourage, support, and showcase talented young ham radio operators. Up until the canceling of the 2020 Dayton Hamvention due to COVID, I had moderated the Youth Forum there for 32 years. Every year I would showcase 7 to 9 young hams who would give terrific presentations about their interests and passions in ham radio. The young presenters would get many networking opportunities from their exposure there. They would then become RCA Young Achievers, availing themselves of many opportunities we offer to support them. Icom and RCA are the main sponsors of this popular forum.

An RCA Young Achiever badge has been created which is adhered to the bookbags as one of the gifts Icom donates to the presenters, along with an ht radio and a personalized Icom jacket. In addition to featuring young hams at my youth forums around the country, I also visit schools and museums in order to introduce the radio/technology program there. Visiting STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) programs is a particular interest of mine; where I demonstrate the value of incorporating a radio curriculum into their program.

I also choose a creative and talented RCA Young Achiever to give a presentation at the annual RCA Technical Symposium. This is a prestigious event with an audience of notables in science and in the wireless industry. It is another amazing networking opportunity for the young people we support and encourage.

The recent QSOToday Ham Expo provided yet another opportunity to feature our best and brightest, technically creative young hams.

It was an honor to chair and organize the Youth Forum at this historic virtual event. I had 7 of our talented and technically creative young hams who each delivered fabulous presentations and then participated, along with me, in a live ZOOM Q & A session. This session was moderated by Bill Brown, WB8ELK with assistance from Audrey McElroy, KM4BUN one of my young presenters.

In my introduction to the Youth Forum I gave a brief summary of how I taught “Introduction to Amateur Radio” for almost 30 years at a Staten Island, New York middle school to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I invited the audience members to contact me for tips and advice on how to recruit and retain young people in ham radio, as well as how to convince an administrator to allow the program in a school. I can be reached at wb2mgp@gmail.com.

I then introduced each of my speakers with a summary of their talks. The first presenter was Jack McElroy, KM4ZIA, 12 years old, whose topic was “High Flying Kids with High Altitude Balloons.” He demonstrated how to motivate young people into ham radio through demonstrations with the balloons, and explaining about weather and radio. Jack explained about the math, different types of balloons, and other essentials to learn so that kids can enjoy this awesome part of the hobby.

Frances Bonte, KE8HPA spoke about “Citizen Science:HamSci and the Personal Space Weather Station Project.” She described and displayed the Personal Space Weather Station being developed by HamSci. She explained the cooperation that exists between scientists and amateur radio operators. The involvement of young people in technologies like radio will help to continue the work of citizen scientists.

The Wagner family presented next. Participating in their video was Bernadette, KE8LWO age 14, Agnes, KE8LWP age 10, and Ben, AD8FQ age 12. Their topic was “5 Fun Things for Youth to Do with Ham Radio.” They showed that despite being siblings, they each have very different interests, and that ham radio provides a variety of opportunities and activities for everyone. They all really enjoyed being part of the live Q and A session afterward, too.

Audrey McElroy, KM4BUN is 16 years old and her topic was “Getting Girls Involved in STEM: Specifically, Amateur Radio.” Audrey believes, as I do, that as we move forward in this hi-tech world; that young people, and females especially, will be playing a huge role with their contributions in science and math. The ultimate goal is for a woman to be independent; and ham radio and STEM creates a great pathway for this.

Connor Black, W4IPC is the 2020 winner of a contest I run, which is sponsored by RCA and QCWA, called “The Young Ham Lends a Hand” contest. He won due to his extraordinary efforts in volunteerism. His topic, as my last presenter was “How to Be A Great Contester.” He spoke about how young hams can get involved with contesting, improve their skills, and then how to get into doing remote contesting.

All of my young presenters enjoyed being part of this virtual experience, and were excited to participate in the ZOOM Q & A after the Youth Forum.
I was particularly impressed and pleased with the number of inquiries I personally received about recruitment and retention ideas for youth in ham radio. I was contacted by hams around the world with requests for suggestions on how to incorporate a radio program in a school setting. Almost all my young presenters received follow up, complimentary comments as well.

Carole Perry, WB2MGP
RCA Director, Chairperson RCA Youth Activities
QCWA Director, Chairperson QCWA Youth Activities

Youth Forum Speakers

I’m not entirely sure that “eyewitness” is the correct term for attending a virtual event. But I was there, so to speak, and here’s my report.

To Boldly Go Where No Amateur Radio Enthusiast Has Gone Before

OK, it wasn’t quite Star Trek worthy. But it did break some very new ground in amateur radio conferences. After all, many of us are used to living through in-person interactions at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

This was substantially different. To start there were 26,000+ registered and over 14,000 in attendance during the August 8-9 weekend. No scooters, bad restrooms, or challenged food. But also no direct contact with your buddies, the exhibitors, or tweaking knobs on all the great gear.

Instead, there were 60 speakers across four tracks along with an exhibit hall with 45 booths. If you missed a speaker, you could view their recording for thirty days after the event on the original virtual event platform. Now you can view the speakers, their presentations, and the follow-on Q & A sessions on YouTube. You can find the full list with links at https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/blind.html.

Kudos to QSO Today Podcast and All Exhibitors

I’ve known Eric Guth, 4Z1UG/WA6IGR, since he interviewed me for his QSO Today podcast in 2015. I next had the pleasure of learning more about him as we turned the tables and I interviewed him for his 200th podcast in 2018. And, yes, we had an eyeball QSO during the Dayton Hamvention in between.

Given that background it was no surprise to me that Eric would conceive of a world-wide virtual ham radio expo. Nor was it a surprise that he would do everything first class. That included selecting the vFairs virtual conference platform, recruiting a stellar list of 45 exhibitors, including Icom as the top-level Platinum sponsor. Thank you Ray Novak, N9JA, at Icom for leading the way.

Then the task list included speaker and moderator recruitment, booth setup, as well as training and support for all those vital activities to make the event a success. If that weren’t enough he and his small team came up with a leaderboard designed to maximize participation with the exhibitors. Plus, I’m confident that there was plenty of behind-the-scenes on-the-fly problem solving.

Attending Speaker Sessions and Exhibits

My own eyewitness experience began with the Keynote Address by Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, where he documented his work with COVID-19, the very reason we were attending a virtual expo.

I also attended a number of speaker sessions that somewhat reflected my eclectic mix of interests within our great hobby. The list of presentations on my list included: The History of Heath Company (learned a great deal about the early history of an organization I worked for from 1977 to 1989), CWOps CW Academy, DXing with Modern Software Defined Radios, Solar Cycle 24 and 25, EME on 40 meters, Getting Started on EME, GPS Today, Lithium Batteries, and Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites. There was so much to choose from. Glad the recordings are there for 30 days. I found the follow-on Q & A sessions to be very helpful.

One of my personal highlights was talking with Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, who was in the W1AW station at ARRL HQ for a live online tour. He would announce the tours each hour in the large QSO Today chatroom. I saw his announcement, popped over to the link he provided, and was able to engage in a video chat. Bob and I had worked on some Scouting initiatives. So it was good to catch up. This was a nice example of the person-to-person connections that can happen even with a virtual event.

K2BSA Radio Scouting Booth Duty

I also did some booth duty in the K2BSA booth, which was supported by Icom America. The booth provided information about amateur radio and Scouting in the USA. All of my time was in the chatroom. We answered a fair number of questions and others shared their insights into their work with the radio merit badge, summer camps, Jamboree on the Air, National and World Jamborees, as well as the Icom America Scout Loan Station program.

The exhibit was quite successful with several members joining the K2BSA Amateur Radio Association as well as signing up for the Jamboree on the Air / Radio Scouting newsletter.

When Can We Do This Again?

The good news is that we can do it again March 13-14, 2021. Not only that but Eric has stated that he plans to offer the ham expo twice a year. I imagine that he’ll have plenty of improvements in place as a result of the lessons learned during this groundbreaking, first ever, virtual expo for amateur radio.

Watch for updates on March registration at this link: https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com

I hope to see you there.

Images

With VHF simplex operation it’s all about finding the other stations for general communication, DXing, or contest QSOs, and there’s no better tool than a spectrum scope for finding those stations. Two great rigs with a built-in spectrum scope covering VHF are the IC-7300 for 6 meters and the IC-9700 for 2 meters, 70 centimeters, and 23 centimeters.

Spectrum Scope

I put those rigs to use in the ARRL January 2020 VHF Contest. You can find the details of my rover setup and operation at VHF Rover Contesting – Truly Moving QSOs. The spectrum scopes and similar operating controls across both rigs were huge during my rover run. It can get very busy during a contest and being able to catch a glimpse of a signal on the scope makes all the difference in finding stations and then getting them into the log. Having similar control setups between the rigs also helps minimize confusion when switching from one rig to the other – the touch screen on both rigs is very, very helpful.

IC-9700 VHF/UHF Rig

I’ve now used the Icom IC-9700 VHF/UHF All Mode Transceiver in VHF contests as a rover as well as from my home station for local activity nights and in a couple of tropospheric openings. Not only is it a super transceiver but the spectrum scope adds an entirely new dimension to your operating. Here’s how.

Finding Other Stations

As mentioned above, spotting other stations that are away from your receive frequency is a spectacular use of the IC-9700s spectrum scope. For example, the 2-meter SSB calling frequency is 144.200 MHz, so it’s good to monitor that frequency throughout a VHF contest. However, many stations will be operating around that frequency making calls or moving off the frequency to work another station. Being able to spot those calls can be immensely helpful.

While the 2 meter SSB calling frequency is typically the most important thing to monitor, the spectrum scope can allow you to switch bands to the 70 centimeter calling frequency, 432.100 MHz, and quickly get a feel for what’s going on within the band and, if nothing found, switch back to 2 meters.

Another helpful feature is the Scope SPAN setting. Here you can set it narrow, +/-2.5 kHz, or expand the amount of band that you’re monitoring up to +/-500 kHz. What I like about that is while I’m perhaps set up for WSJT-X FT8 at 144.174 MHz, with a wide setting on the spectrum scope I can see what’s happening at 144.200 MHz on SSB – or vice versa. The same holds true for other bands and even when trying MSK144 for meteor scatter on 144.150 MHz. The spectrum scope can greatly increase your awareness of what’s happening across the band.

Now in highly active areas, the high number of signals can be perhaps a bit overwhelming. In that case you’ll need to adjust your settings and how you watch the scope to maximize your efforts without becoming swamped with information.

Here in North Texas any activity at all can be news! Thus, you’re watching an essentially blank screen most of the time with any movement a good reason to tune to the station you’re seeing.

Verifying Correct Operation

One of the features of the spectrum scope that I really appreciate is viewing your transmitted signal. For this to work you’ll need to make sure that under SCOPE SET, you’ve turned “Scope during TX” to ON.

With this view you can readily see your transmitted spectrum. It’s particularly useful to make sure your WSJT-X FT8 signal audio level is set correctly. Too much and you’ll get splatter on your audio signal. This causes interference to other stations and may also make your own signal unreadable.

Spectrum Scope Setup

There are quite a few settings that you can adjust on the spectrum scope. I suggest spending some time tweaking with the colors, the line, etc. to find exactly the right combination that fits your eye and helps you readily find other signals.

At the top level menu you can set the span, either center or fixed mode, the reference level, the speed of the sweep and the marker that you use. In the SET mode you can set the type of display, the marker position, averaging, waveform type (I like fill + line), and you can make precise color adjustment for every part of the waveform.

In the past I’ve primarily used the center mode on the spectrum scope but a buddy pointed out the benefits of using the fixed mode. With this mode you can set the upper and lower frequencies and then move your operating frequency between them.

The waterfall can be particularly helpful as it provides insight into signals over time. If you miss the station on the scope, you can see it receding off the screen in the waterfall. This too has a number of setting from speed, size, to color.

There are enough settings to keep you busy for a while finding the ones that work the best for your type of operating style and your personal preferences.

Spectrum Scope – Must Have Feature

It used to be that you could purchase a separate spectrum scope and add it to your station. Now the spectrum scope is an essential tool in your operating arsenal. The IC-9700 as well as the IC-7300 recognize that and provide one of the best scopes built in. Try it out.

You may have read my earlier post titled Radio Contesting Journey – HF, VHF, Roving, and wondered about that last category, VHF Roving. Well, here’s more information along with highlights from my recent operation in the ARRL January VHF Contest.

VHF Contesting

VHF contesting is all about exchanging grids and maximizing the number of QSOs you can make on frequencies above 50 MHz. That usually includes 144 MHz, 432 MHz, and well up into the microwaves.

So, what’s a grid? It’s actually officially termed a maidenhead locator grid. This grid pattern divides the earth into ever more specific sections. For example, I’m in grid EM12kv. ‘E’ indicates the longitude field while ‘M’ indicates the latitude field. The ‘1’ narrows it down to longitude square and ‘2’ the latitude square. The ‘kv’ does the same thing for sub squares. You can even add further numbers for an extended square.

For VHF contests we use only the first four as the exchange. So I would send “EM12.” UHF and microwave contests use the first six to get even more specific.

A four digit grid square is 1 degree latitude tall by 2 degrees longitude wide. In the central USA that roughly equates to 70 miles (112 kilometers) north to south by 100 miles (160 kilometers) east to west.

VHF Roving

One of the challenges with VHF contesting is the limited range of communication coupled with the limited number of stations that are on the air. Now this can be overcome with some pretty nifty propagation modes such as tropospheric scatter, sporadic E, meteor scatter, and even moon bounce. But yet another way to add QSOs and grids to your contest logbook is by contacting rovers.

So, what is a rover? It’s basically packing your VHF equipment into a car or truck along with some way of mounting antennas and driving around the country during the contest. Along the way, every time you enter a new grid, you can work all the same stations over again. This adds QSOs and grids to their logbooks and does the same for you as a rover.

There are lots of ways to setup as a rover. Some place omnidirectional antennas on top of their car and make contacts while they are driving. Others stop and set up directional antennas and point them where they expect to find stations. Others do a combination of both types of setup.

My Rover Station

There are separate contest entry categories for rovers. I’ve chosen the limited rover category. This means only the four lowest bands: 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz. The power level is also limited to 200 watts on the two lowest bands and 100 watts on the two highest bands. Other categories allow more power and many more bands up into the microwaves. Limited rover suits my budget and to a certain extent simplifies my station set up.

Furthermore, my style of roving is to drive to a previously scouted location in each new grid, set up, and contact stations. Other rovers also operate while they are driving which gives them more opportunity to work other stations. Often, these type of rovers are two-person operations with a driver and operator.

You can see photos of my setup for the January VHF contest using an IC-7300 along with an IC-9700. That allowed me to operate 6 meters on the IC-7300, as well as drive the 222 MHz transverter using the 28 MHz band. The IC-9700 operated on 144 and 432 MHz. Thanks to the versatility of the IC-9700 I could have also operated on 1296 MHz, but that would have taken me out of the Limited Rover category.

My operating position is in the backseat of my SUV. There I use a laptop for logging and to run WSJT-X, see my article titled WSJT-X – Disruptive Technology @ Work (https://www.fbnews.jp/201908/usa_en/) for more info. WSJT has become very important to VHF contesting as it can generate QSOs at very weak signal levels.

For antennas, I’ve built a rotator mount that fits on top of my SUV. On the mast is a 6 meter Moxon along with Yagis designed for rover operation with eight foot booms for 144, 222, and 432. The overall height of my antennas comes in at 12 feet (3.6 meters).

My January VHF Contest

A big part of roving is determining and optimizing your travel route. You essentially need to find a quick way to get from one grid to the next. That’s best done traveling north-south since moving from grid line to grid line is roughly 70 miles (112 kilometers) versus the 100 miles (160 kilometers) required traveling east-west. You further need to find locations with line-of-sight views ideally in every direction. That’s not too hard to do in North Texas, which is pretty flat.

At the start of the contest on Saturday, I set up near the point south of Dallas, Texas, where four grids come together. In my case it was EM11, EM01, EM02, and EM12. I generated a number of QSOs and grids in the first three but had some trouble getting to an EM12 location – tree problems!

In the first three grids I was at locations that I’d used in several previous contests. But EM12 was a point mapped out using online maps. As I drove down this road, which I had not traveled before, I discovered a low hanging tree branch only after it had snagged my Moxon antenna, twisted it on the mast, and bent the side rods. Good grief.

At that point I needed to stop, climb on top of my car with wrenches in hand and return the antenna to its normal setup as near as I could make it. It worked, fortunately.

The other “highlight” of my contest weekend was meeting up with two other rovers on Sunday morning in southern Oklahoma at the intersection of grids EM14, EM24, EM23, EM13. This get together allowed the rovers to move from one grid to the next working the other rovers in other grids which maximized their QSOs and grids worked. It also allowed a brief stop to compare stations, tell stories, and just to say hi to one another.

For VHF propagation January isn’t the best time for sporadic E on 6 meters. Although I did manage to work into Arizona and Colorado during a brief opening on Saturday evening. I was also able to work a bit of meteor scatter on 6 meters Sunday morning. The rest of the contacts were pretty much line-of-sight or tropospheric openings.

I sure enjoyed using the IC-7300 and IC-9700 with their SDR receivers and the spectrum display. Those displays readily pointed out stations that were on the air and I just needed to adjust my tuning to pick them up. They also worked great with WSJT-X and the VHF contest logging software.

Next Steps

As always, I’m now working on setup improvements for the next contest, the ARRL June VHF Contest. This contest offers many more opportunities for 6 meter sporadic E openings that can really ramp up your score.

I’ll be ready and hopefully can avoid snagging trees with my antennas!

If you haven’t tried satellite operations, I heartily encourage you to check out this amazing yet easily accessed segment of our amateur radio hobby.

Ham Radio Satellites in Orbit

There are currently a number of amateur radio satellites on the air. While it’s no small matter to build and launch a satellite, it is becoming much more common. From piggy-back riding on other satellite launches to getting onto the International Space Station and tossed out the window, so to speak, there are many ways of getting into orbit.

There are two primary types of satellites: FM and SSB/CW satellites. The FM satellites currently include AO-85, AO-91, and AO-92. They use a single uplink channel and downlink channel. You can think of them as repeaters traveling at 17,500 miles per hour at roughly 300 miles above the earth. These three satellites have a 70 cm uplink frequency and 2 m downlink frequency. That means that your transmitter needs to be on 70 cm and receiver on 2 m. It also means that you can listen on 2 meters and hear your own transmitted signal repeated through the satellite. This is called full duplex versus half duplex when you can only hear when you’re not transmitting.

The SSB/CW satellites currently in operation include XW-2A, XW-2B, XW-2F, CAS-4A, and CAS-4B. These satellites are not limited by a single channel. Instead they have a linear bandwidth that allows several stations in QSOs at the same time. You still have one band for uplink and another band for the downlink.

As you may have guessed, you cannot see these satellites at all times. In fact, their visibility is typically around 10 minutes from the time the satellite appears above the horizon, travels across the sky, and disappears beneath the opposite horizon.

To find the times that satellites will be overhead you can use a smart phone app, computer program, or go online. AMSAT (The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) has an online calculator (https://www.amsat.org/track/index.php). You enter your location either from your grid square or latitude/longitude, select the satellite, and it will provide a listing of the satellite passes. That list will include dates and times for AOS, acquisition of satellite, the azimuth of the satellite, the maximum elevation, and the LOS, loss of satellite. This will help you determine when and where to point your antenna to connect with the satellite. It sounds a bit complicated, but once you’re got the process down it becomes second nature.

Satellite Ground Stations

Satellite operation, for all its out-of-this-world implications, doesn’t really require all that much in the way of equipment. A simple hand-held Yagi or log-periodic antenna works very well. Plus, a handy talkie can be used as the uplink transmitter and another one can be used for the downlink receiver. There are lots of possibilities for transmitting and receiving.

It does require a bit of skill, acquired by getting on the air, to line up the transmit and receive frequencies to hear yourself on the satellite, and to track the station on the other side of the QSO. It also takes a bit of skill to determine satellite orbits and where to point your antenna at the right time. All that just takes some practice to get it right.

And, of course, you can always improve your station. That could include adding a VHF/UHF satellite transceiver such as the Icom IC-9700. This rig is all set for satellite operation including receiving the downlink signal at the same time you’re transmitting — full duplex. You can also add computer control of the transceiver’s uplink and downlink frequency.

Another improvement is to use higher gain antennas that track the satellite’s azimuth (direction around the compass) and even elevation. Simple Yagis for 2 meters and 70 cm can be controlled by a small television rotator for azimuth and the antennas can be tilted upward around 15 degrees to cover the elevation of most satellite passes. Even better, you can use a rotator system that controls both azimuth and elevation. You can also interface the rotator system to your computer and let the software point the antennas.

My Home and Portable Station

As with most things in amateur radio, you can build as simple or complex a station as your heart desires and budget allows. For my station, I currently use the Icom IC-9700 Direct Sampling VHF/UHF Transceiver along with MacDoppler as the software controlling the rig’s frequency.

At home I’ve used simple fixed elevation Yagis and found them excellent. At the moment I’m using omnidirectional eggbeater antennas. They get me on the air but don’t work all that well unless the satellite is nearly overhead. These are, however, versatile antennas that also allow local repeater and even SSB/FT8 QSOs.

My portable setup uses a battery to power the IC-9700, a laptop to control the frequency, along with a hand-held Arrow antenna. This setup works exceptionally well in activating grids in rover mode. You can see this in the nearby photos.

Working Satellite DX

With satellites you will only hear stations that are in the footprint of the satellite. For the maximum distance you’ll be at one edge of the coverage pattern and the DX station at the other end. Some of my best DX from here in North Texas has been Alaska, Azores, Hawaii, and Northern Ireland. Even so, working grids in the USA can be a great deal of fun. There are 488 grids in the continental United States and it’s very, very difficult to collect them all.

Being the DX

That’s where grid expeditions come into play. As noted above, you can get on satellites with a handy talkie and a hand-held antenna. That makes activating a rare grid pretty easy. Well, of course, you have to get there first.

One thing to take into account is that those rare grids can be relatively nearby. They just don’t have any satellite operators, which is why they are rare. That makes for a fairly straightforward drive to reach a new grid, or you can even locate a borderline between two grids and activate them both at the same time. Activating a four-way grid line corner, putting four grids on the air at the same time, can really draw satellite operators.

That’s also what makes satellite operating fun. There is always something going on, new grids, new satellites, and quite a few new operators as they discover the magic of working ham radio stations through space.

My Recent Grid Activation

For this past Thanksgiving holiday, my wife and I visited my daughter and her husband in Amarillo, Texas. They are located in grid DM95 which is not a rare grid but one that doesn’t get on satellites all that often. So, I tossed my gear in the car and set up for satellite QSOs the day after Thanksgiving while my wife and daughter headed out for some shopping.

I had two satellite passes that worked well around noon that day, AO-92 and AO-91. These are both FM satellites and very active. As I set things up for AO-92, my software got all sideways trying to find the database of satellite frequencies. By the time I figured out what was happening and managed to restore things, the satellite had crossed the sky and was near the horizon. Dang. I’m sure you’ve encountered similar situations.

For the AO-91 pass, all was well. I picked up the signal early and listened closely to who was on the air. One operator had set up on a grid corner — activating four grids for one contact. So, I tried to let that work itself out. This is necessary when you’re on an FM satellite as everyone has to use the one channel that’s available.

Later in the pass, things opened up a bit and I was able to work four stations and put grid DM95 into their logbooks. It’s nice to help out other hams with their pursuit of operating awards such as VUCC with a satellite endorsement for working 100 grids.

Over the years I’ve also activated a few gridlines: DM74/DM84 in New Mexico, EM05/DM95 on the Texas Oklahoma border, and EM22/EM23 in Texas. That was a great deal of fun and generated lots of interest and activity from other operators who wanted to add those grids to their logs.

Grins

hat’s where the grins come into play — either working a new grid or activating one on a grid expedition. The community of satellite operators is a super open group of people, welcoming you into this aspect of our hobby, and offering any assistance needed. So, it is sweet to be able to return the favor of activating grids. After all, they’ve helped me add over 500 grids to my logbook.

If all this sounds of interest, for more information I recommend the AMSAT website and in particular their book Getting Started with Amateur Satellites. This book is updated every year with new satellites and covers entry level topics extremely well. Here’s the link (https://www.amsat.org/product/2019-edition-of-getting-started-with-amateur-satellites/).

Get on the air with satellites — have fun!

My contesting began as so many of my journeys begin – a simple entry with a great deal of discovery and learning along the way. Then, as with most of my efforts, I start thinking about changes that eventually become relentless efforts to improve from one contest to the next.

Now this is easy to do with anything in amateur radio. You can always get better and improve your station and your operating techniques. However, with contesting you actually have a report card on your efforts – your score for every contest you enter. Plus, you have a ranking against your fellow competitors.

It’s a short trip from seeing your ranking to start thinking about what’s needed to win, or at least to improve. That then leads to an examination of what contest category best fits you and your station, or at least ramps up the possibility of actually winning.

HF Contesting

I started out, quite some time ago, with HF contesting. What began as an effort to find more DXCC countries to add to my log moved pretty quickly into an improvement journey driven by scores and rankings. After all, it’s pretty nice to see your call sign in the listing of entries. Then you start thinking about getting better and finishing higher.

With me, it started out with CW contests and low power (100 watts) using a vertical antenna. The early improvements were to antennas and to spending more time in the chair, as well as using DX spotting assistance.

After a few years of that approach, I started looking at other categories such as single band entries and QRP power level entries. These categories have their challenges but they also have fewer competitors. I also found that entering 15 m single band allowed me to sleep at night when the band was essentially shut down.

My CW contesting run was eventually replaced with RTTY contesting. I enjoyed the technical aspects of getting everything set up correctly. That was followed by improvements in antennas, equipment, software, and even operating some SO2V – single operator two VFOs, where you CQ on one VFO and scan the band on the other VFO.

Perhaps my favorite time in both CW and RTTY contesting was building a 15 m Moxon antenna using fishing poles and wires. I installed it on a push-up mast pointed at Europe in the morning. I then watched the stations gradually emerge as the propagation improved (different stage of the solar cycle) and start working them with either low power or QRP. As the world turned and the sun moved, I’d run outside and point the antenna at Africa, then the Caribbean and South America. By evening, it would be pointed at Australia and Japan. It worked quite well and I actually won a few contests, even setting 15 m single band records.

VHF Contesting

As HF band conditions deteriorated, and my interest waned, I started looking into 6 m, the Magic Band.

That, of course, led to entering VHF contests, which initially held the same interest as my earlier HF contesting – this time putting more new grids in the log. Plus, it was great fun. It is not nearly as crowded as the HF contests. Plus, I even plugged in my microphone to make the majority of contacts. And, on 6 m during an opening whether you have 100 watts or 1,500 watts you’re generally making lots of contacts.

Then the relentless improvement began once more. First it was an improved 6 m antenna, then I added 2 m and 70 cm. My early efforts on those bands involved that same push-up mast that I’d used in HF contesting. This time I added a rotator. A simple TV rotator will work well with these small antennas.

My early antennas were WA5VJB cheap Yagis, see (http://www.wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf) for full assembly instructions. These antennas are cheap, easy to build, and perform great. They offer an excellent way of trying things out. Of course, I didn’t stop there but updated the antennas still further and even added preamps.

As with my HF contesting efforts, I started looking into not only improving my scores but finding the ideal entry category. I like the Single Operator 3 Band (SO3B) category. The three bands are 6 and 2 m as well as 70 cm. Power limits are 100 watts on the first two bands and 50 watts on 70 cm. The power limits in this category help out the small stations so you’re not competing with the higher power stations.

One revolution in VHF contesting, and operating in general, is the WSJT-X software. It has greatly improved the number of weak signal contacts I can make and even added meteor scatter contacts.

I noted in my article that it is “disruptive technology @ work” and many both love and loath the software for what it’s doing to the more traditional ways of making VHF contacts – phone and CW. But, there it is, one more way of improving your contest scores.

VHF Roving

After a few years of working VHF contests here in North Texas, it became obvious that after a few hours I had worked all the nearby stations. The only exciting moments were when 6 m opened up or when a rover drove through some nearby grids.

That got me thinking, always a troubling moment. Who are these rovers and how do they set up their stations? Plus, wouldn’t roving allow me to work those same dozens or so local stations all over again in each new grid?

My rover operations started out very simply with a 20 foot painter pole strapped to the side of my car. At every stop, I’d mount the 2 m and 70 cm antennas and set up the pole. Then I used my strong arm to rotate the antennas and work a few stations.

With that first effort, in a September contest, I elected to leave out 6 m since there were few openings expected. My route activated 8 grids, all around the local area with my route planned to minimize the amount of driving. I had a great time and I was able to improve not only my own score and activity level throughout the contest but also provide new multipliers and QSOs for other operators. Plus, at every stop I had an ideal location – no problems with homeowner’s associations.

Then, of course, the improvements started. Those included bringing along 6 m, upgrading the push-up mast, and then finally building an antenna and rotator assembly that fit on the roof of my car. That last one helped me reduce set up time in each grid to near zero and keep the operating location air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter as well as dry in the rain.

I will note that my style of roving is to drive to a previously scouted location in each new grid, set up, and work stations. Other rovers also operate while they are driving.

There are also separate entry categories for rovers. I’ve chosen the limited rover category. This means only the four lowest bands: 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz. The power level is also limited to 200 watts on the two lowest bands and 100 watts on the two highest bands. Other categories allow more power and many more bands up into the microwaves. Limited rover suits my budget and simplifies my station set up.

Radio Contesting – It’s a Journey

As you can tell, contesting can get in your blood. It gets you and thousands of other amateur operators on the air at the same time. It provides benchmarks for measuring your performance against others with similar setups. It can drive improvements in your station and operating skills. And, it also offers fun at whatever level suits your goals and budget.

Try it out at the next big contest.

My name is Jim and I’m a Magic Band addict. Here’s my story — weaving from Magic to Tragic then back to Magic — and doing so on a limited budget.

The Magic and Tragic Band

6 meters is known as the Magic Band because of all the extraordinary propagation that can happen on this VHF frequency (50 to 54 MHz), which is normally limited to line-of-sight propagation.

It can also be the Tragic Band — when none of this happens and the band is quiet for months at a time. Then all of a sudden one of those magic spells springs forth. That’s where the addiction comes into play!

Simple Stations Work Great

Magic and Tragic aside, it can also be a very easy band to get on the air. In most cases, you just push the 6 Meter button on your existing HF rig, since most modern transceivers include the band. Then you need to plug in a fairly small 6 meter antenna.

Suitable antennas can include a dipole at just 9 feet in length. Or a small beam with a low-cost television rotator. Not only that, but the antennas don’t need to be all that high in the air. In fact, most consider about 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) high to be optimum. But don’t even let that hold you back. I’m using 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7 meters) and getting excellent results.

In short, once the magic starts happening, a simple station can be quite effective in taking advantage of nearly every opportunity.

My Top 6 Meter Contacts

Here’s just a taste of what you can work on the Magic Band, pulled from my own log here in north central Texas:

ZL1RS – 7,434 miles (11,964 km) – CW in 2014 – Moxon beam

JA1UAV – 6,430 miles (10,348 km) – JT65 in 2017 – Moxon beam

LU4FPZ – 5,132 miles (8,259 km) – CW in 2014 – attic dipole antenna

EA8DBM – 4,667 miles (7,511 km) – FT8 in 2018 – vertical dipole

GM3POI – 4,447 miles (7,157 km) – FT8 in 2018 – vertical dipole

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