SPRINT Contests 222 and 432 MHz - Spring 2023

Herbert AF4JF, Harry WA0CNS and Ron KO0Z participated in the CSVHF SPRINT Contests for Spring 2023. There was a posting describing the 144 MHz SPRINT on April 10. The 222 MHz SPRINT took place on April 18 and the 432 MHz on April 26. This posting brings pictures from the 222 and 432 MHz contests.

In general, the lack of VHF+ activity in our area affects these short contests too. Not sure why - the SPRINT contests are well known and submitting the results is easy. We need to keep convincing local hams to use their radios (even FM handhelds) to participate!

Herbert AF4JF/R set up for 222MHz in Winfield, MO EM49pa

Harry WA0CNS on 432MHz at High Ridge, EM48rl

Harry WA0CNS on 432MHz with different antenna, EM48rl

Ron KO0Z/R on 432MHz in Winfield, EM49pa

Herbert AF4JF/R on 432MHz in Winfield, EM49pa

Darcey waiting for Ron KO0Z to arrive at the Winfield location

Herbert tested his new set of rover antennas during this Spring set of SPRINT contests (more to come during the microwave section). Ron switched between his dual-band loops and hand held Yagi for 432MHz today (sorry, no picture taken). Harry changed antennas too and actually worked us with the shorter beam with folded dipole.

We will all participate in the Microwave SPRINT on Saturday May 6th. Looking forward to it!

ARRL VHF Contest - September 2019

Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS decided to participate in the ARRL VHF Contest as Rovers. We have selected 144-220-432-1296-10368 MHz HAM radio bands for this contest.

Herbert posted an Article on the BARS blog site.

We have picked locations in Winfield area just North of St. Peters in Missouri this time, because the line between EM48 and EM49 grids goes right through that area.

Herbert's Rover (AF4JF)

Some pictures of the dam:

Everything considered, this area worked well for VHF contacts, despite its location in the river valley. We shall return here with more microwave equipment next time.

73 Herbert

AF4JF

"ARRL" UHF Contest 2016

>>> The ARRL August UHF Contest for 2016 has been cancelled, while the ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization Committee considers alternatives. <<<

This text is from an article on the ARRL web site, look here.

However, HAMs will still have a contest. Look here for details.

Aug. 6-7, 2016, 1800z Saturday to 1800z Sunday

     After ARRL announced that it would not sponsor the UHF contest in 2016, a group of radio amateurs from coast to coast came together to make sure that the contest does occur as scheduled on Aug. 6-7, 2016 (1800z Saturday until 1800z Sunday).

 

     The sponsoring group includes the leaders of several large VHF-oriented clubs, two volunteers who write contest results articles for QST, the editor of the "World Above 50 MHz" column in QST, two people with extensive computer log-checking expertise, and others who are concerned about the future of contesting on the amateur bands above 222 MHz.  We believe that continuity is important in amateur radio contests.  We do not want even a one-year hiatus for a contest that has been an annual tradition for almost 40 years.  While we welcome the efforts of ARRL's leaders to develop a new kind of UHF contest that could be held in the spring of 2017, in the meantime we are committed to hosting a first-rate UHF contest in 2016.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

Main VHF+ Contests in 2015

We have an older posting with more contests on our blog site right here or here. Some of the links to contest rules weren't updated yet, so today's posting below only shows a few contests today. We will update this list as soon as the information becomes available.

First Saturday  of every month	Microwave Activity Day (MAD) Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January 24-26 2015	2015 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes link for 2015 has changed, new link here
April -  May  2015	SPRINT VHF+ Contests link for 2015 here
May 2-3 2015	SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society) SBMS web site contest rules in the (old) SBMS newsletter here
June 13-15 2015	2015 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party link for 2015 has changed, new link here
July 18-19	CQ WW VHF ... T.B.D.
August 1-2 2015 ?	2015 ARRL UHF Contest (220MHz and Up) Rules here ?
August 15-16 2015	2015 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2 Rules here
September 12-13 2015 ?	2015 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party Rules here ?
September 19-20 2015	2015 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2 Rules here
Sept - Oct 2015 ?	SPRINT VHF+ Contests ? Rules here - not updated yet

2013 ARRL VHF QSO Party

Once again did some of the SLAMS members participate on a VHF+ contest. I have set up equipment for 144/432/1296/10368GHz in my usual location at YMCA in Westport, EM48sq.

The location actually is identified by following Maidenhead grid designator (according to my GPS): 

EM48SQ58AX

my usual setup

More pictures from AF4JF can be found here.

73 Herbert

AF4JF

Updated list of VHF+ Contests 2013

Updated list here.

Herbert
AF4JF

Main VHF+ Contests in 2013

We have an older posting with more contests on our blog site right here. Some of the links to contest rules weren't updated yet, so today's posting below only shows a few contests today. We will update this list as soon as the information becomes available.

First Saturday  of every month	Microwave Activity Day (MAD) Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January 19-21 2013	2013 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes link for 2013 has changed, new link here
April -  May  2013	SPRINT VHF+ Contests link for 2013 has changed, new link here
May 4-5  2013	SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society) SBMS web site contest rules in the SBMS newsletter here
June 8-10  2013	2013 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party link for 2013 has changed, new link here
(to be continued)
August 3-4 2013	2013 ARRL UHF Contest (220MHz and Up) Rules here
August 17-18 2013	2013 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2 Rules here
September 14-16 2013	2013 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party Rules here
September 21-22 2013	2013 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2 Rules here
Sept - Oct 2013	SPRINT VHF+ Contests Rules here - not updated yet

First Contest in 2013

ARRL January VHF Contest takes place on the third or fourth weekend in January. Begins 1900 UTC Saturday, ends 0359 UTC Monday. It will be held on January 19-21 this year (2013).

Objective as found on ARRL web site:

For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in the US (and its posessions) and Canada.

Stations in KH0-9, KL7 & KP1-KP5, CY9 and CY0 count as W/VE stations and can be worked by DX stations for contest credit.

More details here.

SPRINT Microwave on September 29, 2012

Herbert AF4JF, Jim N5MU and Rich N0PQU met at YMCA in EM48sq for last microwave contest of the season. We didn't have big contesting plans, just intended to try with Zack W9SZ who went to EN50rl on 1296MHz/10GHz and Ron KO0Z who went to his new location in EM59cl this morning on 10GHz too.

Propagation didn't really look promising - a little Hepburn enhancement, some water vapors, but nothing really promising from our usual sources of prediction:

(I believe that this made the difference today)

The day started quite bad - Herbert has forgotten his 23cm antenna and Jim forgot to bring his antenna pole, so we have had to combine our hardware into one 23cm station. It didn't matter much, because we didn't work Zack on 23cm today. Zack copied Jim's signal S5 on 1296.100MHz but Jim didn't copy Zack this time. Oh well ...

However, after a year of trying and trying, we have both finally worked Zack W9SZ in EN50rl from YMCA in EM48sq! That is a #5 grid for Jim and #6 for Herbert from this particular location. Thanks for all your patience with us, Zack! There are no terrain obstacles between us, but the distance is over 160 miles, so it requires a little help from propagation. Following picture shows the terrain profile between both locations:

Wonder of all wonders, it has worked today! Zack didn't hear the St. Louis beacon on 10GHz, but he has heard a 2.3GHz beacon from Chicago unusually strong, so something has been happening this morning.

Following picture shows Jim working Zack on 10GHz. We have had to move Jim's station close to Herbert's, because there was no signal from Zack at all 10ft. down the parking lot!

We have tried with Ron KO0Z on 10GHz after working Zack, but didn't succeed this time. Well, we have always tried much earlier in the day before ...

One more achievement can be claimed today - Rich N0PQU tested his 10GHz transverter today. He uses a MACOM brick oscillator on 10224MHz with a mixer and IC251 radio (more info about modifying that radio here).

Signal from this simple transverter was very stable, Jim N5MU and Herbert AF4JF have both made SSB  contacts with N0PQU across the parking lot. Although there still are things to be improved, Rich has certainly made it to the qroup of 10GHz-capable stations in St. Louis area. Congrats!

73 Herbert

AF4JF

SPRINT Microwave Contest

This coming Saturday, September 29th, is the day of SPRINT 902 MHz And Up Contest. Contest starts at 7:00am and ends at 01:00pm local (!) time.

   http://www.svhfs.org/sprints.html

Rules can be found here:

   http://www.svhfs.org/2012fallsprintrules.pdf

73 Herbert
AF4JF

ARRL VHF Contest

Some SLAMS members will participate in the upcoming  "ARRL September VHF" contest:

   http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf

From the ARRL web site:

The second full weekend of September. Begins 1800 UTC Saturday and runs through 0259 UTC Monday (September 8-10, 2012).

All authorized frequencies above 50 MHz (6 Meters).

Remember, every QSO counts!

73 Herbert
AF4JF

Next SLAMS Breakfast

Our next SLAMS Breakfast meeting will be Sunday September 2 at 8:00am.

Location will again be at Denny’s (I-270 and Dorsett Road).

 

We should spend some time discussing our plans for upcoming contests.

 

Who can make it?

 

73, John WB9PNU

ARRL 10GHz And Up

SLAMS will participate in the upcoming  "ARRL 10GHz And Up" contest:

   http://www.arrl.org/10-ghz-up

From the ARRL web site:

Third full weekend of August and September. The dates are August 18-19, 2012 and September 15-16, 2012. Operations may take place for 24 hours total on each contest weekend. Each weekend begins at 6:00 AM local Saturday though 12:00 midnight local Sunday.

We will attend on both days. Currently, our intention is to form several groups and drive around our area to activate nearby grids.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

Main Contests in 2012

First Saturday of every month	Microwave Activity Day (MAD) Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January 21-23 2012	2012 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here.
April - May 2012	SPRINT VHF+ Contests Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here
May 5-6  2012	SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society) SBMS web site
June 9-11  2012	2012 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party Rules here ... link for 2013 has changed, new link here
August 4-5 2012	2012 ARRL UHF Contest (220MHz and Up) Rules here
August 18-19 2012	2012 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2 Rules here
September 8-10 2012	2012 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party Rules here
September 15-16 2012	2012 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2 Rules here
Sept - Oct 2012	SPRINT VHF+ Contests Rules here

2012 Spring VHF/UHF and Microwave Contests

It's almost that time of the year again. See SPRINT Contest schedule for this Spring:

2.1. - 144 MHz
The 144 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Monday, April 9, 2012.

2.2. - 222 MHz
The 222 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

2.3. - 432 MHz
The 432 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

2.4. - Microwave (902+)
The Microwave Sprint will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012, from 6 AM until 1 PM local time. This includes all Amateur frequencies above 902 MHz. Please include band data in summaries and logs. NOTE: use of Liaison Frequency is encouraged.

2.5. - 50 MHz The 50 MHz Sprint will be from 2300Z Saturday, May 12, until 0300Z Sunday, May 13, 2012.

Rules and more details here

73 Herbert
-AF4JF

ARRL Microwave Contest 2011 1/2

Pictures from ARRL Microwave Contest 2011 Part 1 were published on the SLAMS web site.
Part 2 of this contest takes place on September 17-18, details here.


73 Herbert
AF4JF

ARRL Microwave Contest 2011 1/2

Next  big contest is 2011 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest (1/2) .

This is a long contest, third full weekend of August. Begins 6:00 am local on Saturday, ends 12:00 Midnight local on Sunday (August 20-21, 2011). Operations may take place for 24 hours total.

All authorized microwave bands from 10 GHz up through Light.

SLAMS will meet at local DENNY's restaurant on Dorsett Rd. (just off I-270) on Saturday at 6:00 am for quick breakfast and continue to EM48sq (big parking lot at YMCA on McKelvey Rd.). Some of us will stay there, some will move around the area later during the day.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

Microwave SPRINT Contest

Another microwave SPRINT contest took place on May 7, 2011. John WB9PNU went to EM49ua (AT&T Tower) with Jim N5MU who provided his 10GHz setup. Herbert AF4JF tried to contact them from near his home location in EM48qr. Unfortunately, Mr. Hepburn didn't sleep well tonight and his charts for our area were black. Signal propagation followed the charts this time, so the signals were below the threshold, although visible on a waterfall. Therefore, John and Jim moved around the hilltop and Herbert went to EM48sq (YMCA). Contacts were made on 10GHz CW (579) and 144MHz SSB (59).

Zack W9SZ went far northeast, over 250 miles away, so we didn't even try with poor propagation today.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

SBMS Contest

The SLAMS Group is going to participate on the SBMS contest (2GHz and Up) the weekend of April30-May1, see here:

   http://slams.web.officelive.com/Documents/2011%20SBMS%202G+%20rules.pdf

We will have a breakfast at "Denny's" on Dorsett before we drive out to have fun on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30am. Note that this will be just a quick meal for planning purposes before we get to our cars and drive to some hilltop locations. Everybody is welcome, you don't have to bring your own transverter or even be a member of our group to share the fun!

Also note that SPRINT contests continue this week with the 432MHz section. The 432 MHz Sprint will be from 7 PM until 11 PM local time on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Look here for details:

   http://slams.web.officelive.com/contesting.aspx


73 Herbert
AF4JF

Contest Activities

The 2011 contest season is almost here. We have set of SPRINT contests coming soon:

144 Spirnts - Monday, April 11, 7 - 11 PM local

222 Sprints - Tuesday, April 19, 7 - 11 PM

432 Sprints - Wednesday, April 27, 7 - 11 PM

Microwave Sprints - Saturday, May 7, 6 AM - 1 PM local (~900 MHz and Up)

50 MHz Sprint - 2300Z, Sat, May 14 to 0300Z, May 15

(note that the time of this 6m contest is in UTC)

Rules here 

-Herbert, AF4JF