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Check out the You Tube Field Day Video for the SJRA
An Early Morning Fog Sets in at Jim Thorpe on the Way to Penns Peak FN20DV
June 2025 VHF Contest Summary- AA2SD/R Roves from the Poconos Mountains to Lancaster PA
AA2SD/R Rover -June 16 2025 - Thanks to all that worked me from the Poconos and the ride down into Lancaster. The driving was white knuckled for two days, with constant rain, late evening fog and limited visibility in the morning. Despite the setback with travel conditions I was able to make (5) grids in total. I tested a new Grid in Lancaster, located at the Linville Hill elementary school set in the picturesque Lancaster County which proved to be a great spot at FM19XX with a 700 foot elevation. The weather was a definite factor in travel time due to the constant rain and mist. I logged a total of 474 miles over the weekend including the drive home.
Band Condition on 6 Meter with Enhanced Propagation. The band conditions on Saturday and Sunday were excellent on 6 Meters, and I worked multiple stations from Florida with my Halo Antennas. I was able to work a number of stations on the move from the Poconos to Lancaster while using my digital recorder. The shingle Halo on the roof rack proved to be effective with this enhanced propagation,
1296 Mini Looper Test with My Roof Rack - My 1296 mini looper test proved to be a success with (4) contacts, 3 with W3CCX and 1 with N3RG on 1296. This small looper sits on my roof rack and I watch from my inside sunroof to align the antenna. I also deployed a small ELK beam 2M/440 on the rooftop, which proved to be very effective and kept me dry in the cabin during the rain. The Elk is an ultralight compact log periodic antenna with dual bands. You can learn more about Elk Antennas here https://elkantennas.com/
New Dual Stack Antenna Set up with loopers and a small 2 /440 Elk Beam
Water Issues with Connectors Proved to be the Achilles Heel. - The constant downpours and misting while driving created havoc with (2) antenna connectors. I had double taped these connections, but can use some advice from fellow Pack Rats on how to waterproof a N connectors that will survive a weekend of rain and driving in the wind at 60 MPH for hours.
Dual Stacked Halo Set Ups Proved Out - During this trip I tested (3) sets of Dual Stack Halos from a company named Freqteser. The Dual stacked mini halos were used on 2, 440 and 222 Mhz. The dual stacked halos worked well for most contacts as long as I reached higher elevations. This saved me significant time from setting up antennas at each location in the driving rain. I also worked a number of roadside contacts, and on the move
contacts with the halo set ups. You can view the Freq Tester sire here for halos. https://www.freqtester.com/
A close call with a local bridge overhead, I had to Get Out and Check this, good thing I lowered my mobile to 11 feet from Prior Rover due to this concern.
Grids and Rove Summary
474 Miles Logged in 2 Days (5 Grids Visited)
The Knob FN21 HC - (5) miles north of the Pack Rats Set Up (good overlook 1711 ft elevation)
Butler Mountain Senior Living Center FN10XX (good overlook 1677 Feet elevation)
Lookout Motor Lodge FN11WA
Penns Peak Roadies FN20DV 1544 Feet
Linville Hill Elementary School FM19XX
QSOs in Log : 163 (all phone with only 4 FT8) tota 179 includes testing before contest Submitted Score 7,700
50 Mtrs - 74 Contacts, 144 - 36 contacts, 222 -21 contacts, 420 - 28 contacts - 1296 - 4
As a Rover it is a challenge to time your overlook locations and get your antennas set up in time for the contest and stay on schedule for contacts. This contest was a major challenge with weather conditions, being especially cautious with driving in mountain fog in the morning and evenings. I was pleased to still make (5) grids out of the planned (6) grids. A special thanks to the Pack Rats on the mountain, and to Jim KC3BVL rover coordinator, the burner phone contact and coordination was excellent with W3CCX.
I look forward to working with you during the upcoming August 222 and Up Contest this Summer with KE5NJ from the 100 Mile Overlook in Jim Thorpe PA.
AA2SD/R Rover Pulled over and Taking a Break in Lancaster PA
Hello Fellow Operators
I am a Rover with Mount Airy VHF Pack Rats and will be operating in the June 2025 VHF Contest weekend June 14 th and 15th and working (2) grid square convergence areas with a total of (6) Grids planned. I plan to fast Rove to 1 converging grid square location during Saturday in the Poconos, and will return to Lancaster PA to work (1) more Grid Square . I will be hand picking areas with good elevation and within radio reach of the Packrat's and other operators. I have attached a downloadable PDF of my schedule.
Improvements to my Rover - for this Rove I will have the 4 lower bands and I have added 1296 and 903. I have also added a mobile app to work FT8 in the evening from my Rover.
Sign up for my text program, I will send (1) message only once I am set up at the location.This is not a group text program. Click here to sign up
Follow me Live on the W3SZ.com map click here to view https://w3sz.com/map.php
Look for Me at the following Frequencies +/- based on band conditions
144.203 50.128 222.103 432.203 1296.100 903.100
Full Website detail and updates can be found here
You can sign up for text update for all Roving events. You will be sent one text only upon setting up at the grid location https://www.aa2sd.com/text-sign-up
Call Sign for the contest is AA2SD/R
Thanks
Scott
AA2SD/R Rover Plan for the June 2025 VHF Contest
https://www.arrl.org › june-vhf
(June 14-16, 2025). Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC . ARRL June VHF Contest
About
About
Contest Objective: 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 possessions) and Canada.
Dates: The second full weekend in June. (June 14-16, 2025)
Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC Monday.
Notice: Participants in the FM Only category can now count contacts made on 902 MHz and 1.2 GHz toward their scores. Previously, only contacts on the four lowest VHF bands (50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz) counted toward participants' scores in this category.
Click Here for Complete ARRL June VHF Contest Rules (PDF)
For contest information contact contests@arrl.org or (860) 594-0232
All legal modes are permitted. For Cabrillo file mode definitions, Digital modes should be represented as "DG" (for all things digital), SSB Phone as "PH", FM voice as "FM", and CW as "CW".
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.
Log Submission Deadline
Logs are due within TEN (10) days after the event is over. Logs may be submitted either online or via mail, but electronic Cabrillo logs are the preferred method. Electronic logs must be submitted via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org/
Logs that have been submitted electronically are listed on the Logs Received page. Click the contest name to see a list of submitted logs sorted by call sign and club name.
Online Log Submission - Cabrillo formatted logs must be uploaded via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org.
Submitting Paper Logs By Mail - Be sure to mail your completed Summary Sheet and Log Sheets postmarked before the log submission deadlines.
Paper Entry Forms:
June VHF Summary Sheet (updated for 2022)
Send completed Summary Sheets and logs to:
ARRL - January VHF Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111
If submitting a paper log, it is strongly suggested you use a delivery method that offers a tracking number.
If you wish to convert your log into a Cabrillo formatted log for electronic submission, visit www.b4h.net/cabforms/ and select the event of interest. You can input your log data which will be converted to a Cabrillo formatted log for you (it will generate a log and return it to you), and then you can in turn submit your Cabrillo log online via the web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org/.
Awards:
Downloadable Certificates will be awarded in the following categories at https://contests.arrl.org/certificates.php
Single Operator:
- Top Single Operator in each ARRL/RAC Section for high and low power.
- Top Single Operator on each band (50, 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 and 2304-and-up categories) in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Note: Since the highest score per band will be the award winner for that band, an entrant may win a certificate with additional single-band endorsements.) For example, if KA1RWY has the highest single-operator all-band score in the CT Section and her 50- and 222-MHz scores are higher than any other CT single operator’s, she will earn a certificate for being the single-operator Section leader and endorsements for 50 and 222 MHz.
- Top Single Operator Portable in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator Portable entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
- Top Single Operator, 3-Band in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident.(Single Operator, 3-Band entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
- Top Single Operator, FM Only in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator, FM Only entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
Rover:
- Top Rover, Limited Rover and Unlimited Rover in each ARRL Division and Canada where significant effort or competition is evident. (Rover entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
Multioperator:
- Top Multioperator score in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Multioperator entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
- Top Limited Multioperator in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Limited Multioperator entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)
DX:
- Top DX stations where significant effort or competition is evident.
Club Competition:
There are ten ARRL-sponsored contests that are designated as Affiliated Club Competitions (ACC) for ARRL and RAC affiliated clubs:
- RTTY Roundup
- January VHF Contest
- International DX Contest
- International Digital Contest
- June VHF Contest
- 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest
- September VHF Contest
- November Sweepstakes
- 160-Meter Contest
- 10-Meter Contest
For full club competition rules, please see the link below:
ARRL Affiliated Club Competition Rules
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