Sunday, January 21, 2024

ARRL VHF January 2024 Contest

It's that time of the year again - time to freeze while trying to be radio-active. At least in theory. Practically, some of us decided not to get exposed to the elements and the rest just minimized the exposure. We decided to avoid the predicted cold on Saturday and scheduled a limited activity for Sunday, January 21st. Well, it wasn't much warmer and the stay outdoors on the open spots where we usually go to for VHF+ contacts was far from pleasant.

Herbert AF4JF set up his SUV for the usual roving activity, just limited the number of bands to 3 and only worked on two of them - 144 and 432MHz. Harry WA0CNS set up his minivan in similar fashion and operated on 144MHz. Our new member Tony KB9LLD operated on 144 and 432 using a "drive-on" stand with a pole that carried very nice dual band beam. Ron KO0Z supported us from his home station.

We probably did not break any records and I am afraid that we won't win this contest either, but the activity was way higher than couple of last years combined. We have even worked some FM stations only using their handhelds! Hope this trend will spread, we need more activity!

Several pictures from today's outing:

Herbert AF4JF in EM48qs

Herbert AF4JF in EM49oa

Tony KB9LLD in EM48qs

Tony has a nice "drive-on" stand

Herbert worked Marshall WD9EXD in EM57
(142 miles) on the small 70cm loop

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