06/09/2025
National ARRL VHF Contest NEXT WEEKEND!
Purpose: To practice operating in a NO REPEATERS, simplex-only environment. To train for "The Big One."
Date and time: Begins at 1100 PDT (11 a.m.) Saturday, June 14; ends at 1959 PDT (7:59 p.m.) Sunday, June 15.
Easy: You may participate standing in your driveway holding an HT. Try it, just for a few minutes. (If you live in a valley, drive up a hill for better results with an HT.)
Rally times: Hams in our area agree on informal rally times (listed below) to increase the chance of talking to a human and to pace ourselves. During the contest, operators observe and take advantage of different radio propagation conditions at different times of the day. Your personal schedule might allow you to participate during only one of the rally times listed below, and we welcome brief participation.
Saturday from 11AM to 1PM, then at 3PM, and at 6PM.
Sunday at 9AM, at 12 noon, at 3PM, and at 6PM.
Suggested FM simplex frequencies:
FM - 146.52, 146.55 (2M VHF band), 146.58 (SOTA frequency)
FM - 446.000 (70cm UHF band)
FM - 223.500 (1.25M band)
FM - 52.525 (6M band)
No tone, no offset, just plain simplex.
If you have a base station radio that does SSB:
SSB - 144.200, 144.180, 144.220 (2M VHF band)
SSB - 432.100 (70cm UHF band)
SSB - 222.100 (1.25M band)
SSB - 50.125, 50.150 (6M band)
DMR - 441.000 simplex
Digital (FT8) - 50.313, 144.125 and 144.165, and 432.065
Information to log (if you choose to log):
(1) the call sign of the contact (and your call sign)
(2) the grid square of the contact (and your grid square) (DM12 for Poway and south, DM13 north of Poway)
(3) time of contact (in UTC/GMT, 7 hours ahead of PST)
(4) band
(5) mode (phone or other)
Official logging and submission is optional. You do not have to submit a log. Logs are due within TEN (10) days after the event is over.
Exchange:
An example of a typical contact "exchange":
K6RJF calls CQ by saying, "CQ contest, CQ contest, this is Kilo Six Romeo Juliet Foxtrot, K6RJF, contest."
Responding to the CQ, AG6X says, "K6RJF, this is AG6X in DM12"
Then K6RJF says, "AG6X, this is K6RJF, I copy your DM12, and I am also in DM12, thanks for the contact".
Finally, log the contact on paper or on a computer spreadsheet. If you want to try logging software, some are free (N1MM) while others charge a modest fee (N3FJP).
When you gain confidence and experience with the "exchange," and if there is no question about the identity of the other station, and if radio conditions are good, some operators shorten the exchange, as follows:
K6RJF in San Diego calls CQ
N6VI in Chatsworth (Los Angeles County) answers the CQ saying, "K6RJF N6VI DM04"
K6RJF replies saying, "N6VI DM12" (says the other person's call sign, then his own grid square)
N6VI acknowledges saying, "QSL, thanks for the contact"
You may also hear "QRZ?" which means, "Who is calling me?" as a shorthand way of inviting the next contact ("Who is next?") when the frequency is crowded.
Rover: if you log a contact with a Rover station, be sure to add the suffix "/ROVER" to the person's call sign in your log because you might talk to the person later when the person is in a different grid square. You will get credit for both contacts and both grid squares if the other person is a "/ROVER."
SOTA: if you contact a ham who is combining the VHF Contest with a mountain summit activation (SOTA -- Summit On The Air), the other ham might ask you for additional information, perhaps a signal report, to complete his SOTA log.
Be prepared to explain the VHF Contest to a SOTA activator who has been living on mountaintops and is not aware of the VHF Contest and who was hoping only for his four contacts so that he could nail the summit activation. You might have to tell him his grid square.
Likewise, be prepared mentally in case you encounter a random ham who is not aware of the VHF Contest, just happened to stumble into the fray, and you have to talk him through the exchange. There is no requirement for the random ham to log the contact or submit a log. And you might have to tell him his grid square.
Operating tips:
1. Phonetics. Accuracy is important because during a pile-up, it is very easy to confuse callsigns that sound similar. Local San Diego examples are KM6LKP vs. KM6LKT, and AI6KU vs. KI6KU.
2. Capture. FM is challenging during a contest due to "FM capture." One moment you are trying to copy the call sign of a weak station a hundred miles away, and seconds later, a closer, stronger radio "captures" your radio receiver and blots out the weak station.
3. Elevation. If you drive to a high spot in your neighborhood, you may collect more contacts during a rally time.
4. Break squelch. To hear a weak station, you might have to lower your squelch setting or turn off carrier squelch entirely (break squelch).
Safety: If you are intending to operate portable or mobile, please do so with care and in accordance with State, County, and City rules for your area.
Details, full rules, and scoring formulas: https://www.arrl.org/june-vhf
Those who contact N6AA in Topanga, CA or N6VI in Chatsworth, CA will receive a special prize. (N6AA is our ARRL Southwestern Division Director. N6VI is our former Vice Director. Both N6AA and N6VI live in the Los Angeles area and are avid contesters.) If you contact N6AA or N6VI, please let me know.
Talk to you soon! . . Rob
K6RJF
DM12
