June 2024 VHF Contest

A View of the Delaware Water Gap from Jim Thorpe Overlook as a VHF Rover During the VHF ARRL Contest

Thanks to all of the Pack Rats,SJRA members and all operators for working me from the road as Rover this weekend. It was an exciting contest with a new test of Halo Antennas as I worked from the overlooks. I experienced my first opening on 6 Mts from Grid FN10, and worked several midwest stations and Florida. I thought I would make more contacts from other overlooks, but the Halos are restrictive for distance, they worked very well for contacts on the run, and instant set up at the site location. I will follow up with a short video next week of this Rover adventure. 

W3CCX had a great signal at every overlook and in FM29, it was fun to work with all of the operators. Although my score was low, for me personally it's about advocating for VHF low signal operation and getting more activity on the bands, especially all  with SSB phone. I did not operate FT8 for this contest.  A special "thanks' to the hard working crew of the Pack Rats up on Camelback setting up the entire W3CCX station, and to everyone that supports this club effort.

Perched at Camelback and Ready to start the Rove for the Contest

Quick Summary Stats

• ARRL Section : SNJ    Club/Team : Mount Airy Pack Rats   

• Antennas - Halos Antennas only  (4 Band Rover ) 6Mtr-2Mtr-222-70cm  FT991A  

• Total Contacts Made  110   Score : 4,260

• Grids Visited  (7) mostly overlook locations

Some other interesting statistics and comments

• I drove over 582 Miles in 2 days 11 hours 45 + minutes windshield time

• Highest elevation Moosic Mtn Overlook 2200 ft/ average elevation of (6) overlooks visit was 1,730 ft

• (2) amps went down during the contest

• Road Vibration -Power pole connectors don't work well for amp/battery/radio connections when you are driving on gravel roads in the mountains.

A view of the Delaware Water Gap from one overlook Jim Thorpe PA

Here are my Grids Worked by band - and the fun opening on 6 Mtrs from a mountain overlook with Halo Antennas

AA2SD/R Rover Perched at the top of Camel Back Mountain at 2200 ft durin the 2024 VHF Contest with the Mount Airy VHF Pack Rats

AA2SD/R  Rover Plans June 2024 VHF Contest

ALL SCHEDULE UPDATES WILL APPEAR HERE. THIS SCHEDULE IS BASED ON WEATHER AND DRIVING CONDITONS AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

 PLEASE REVEW THE UPDATED SCHEDULES BELOW

YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON APRS.FI

Follow me on APRS - can track my exact location on APRS.FI by entering SSID number AA2SD-9 during the contest, time may vary based on travel conditions and weather. 

AA2SD/R Fast Rove Plan for (2) Days

For the June 2024  VHF Contest I plan to fast Rove to (2) converging grids square locations. The first Grid Square convergence is located South of Binghamton NY (FN 11, FN22 and FN12). The second location is West of the W3CCX Camelback Pack Rats set up (FN10, FN21, FN20). All with good elevation overlooks and within radio reach of the Pack Rats and other operators.

I plan to only operate with updated Halo Loops and Amps, and a push up mast moxon. This will be a much quicker pace for me at each location, no antennas set up, I only plan to spend 1 hour at each location operating and will work FT8 in the evening.  You can follow me on APRS at APRS.FI  or the https://w3sz.com/map.php with live location updates to point your beams.

I am calling this my Born to Run Rove in the Mountains !

Follow me on APRS - can track my exact location on APRS.FI by entering SSID number AA2SD-9 during the contest, time may vary based on travel conditions and weather.

(4) Band Rover - frequencies 

144.203 - 50.128 - 432.103 -222.103 

 +/- based on  traffic

Saturday June 8th  - Roving South of Binghamton NY- Grid Square Convergence with (4) Grids

Sunday  June  9th  - Roving from Mount Pocono, Jim Thorpe PA  to South Jersey  (3) Grids

The ARRL June VHF Contest typically begins at 2 PM Eastern Time (EST) and ends at 11 PM the next day. The contest takes place during the second full weekend in June, and the 2024 contest will be on June 8–9. The contest's goal is for US and Canadian amateurs to contact as many amateur stations as possible in different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares using authorized frequencies above 50 MH 

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 8-10, 2024)

Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC Monday.

Rule Changes for 2024: 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)

VHF/UHF Log Sheet

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