August 2008 UHF Contest

The story

After having some success as a rover in the VHF contests, we decided to give the ARRL UHF Contest a whirl. KI9R was QRV on bands CD9EFG and laser. Operating from a fixed location was a new beast to conquer as coax losses, site noise and weather conditions are not a big concern in a rover. The weather turned out to be amazing and we experienced fantastic tropospheric ducting.

Prior to the contest, the three operators, Kevin KG9IL, John K9IJ, and I discussed this contest extensively in our local clubs and on the email reflectors. I went to club meetings and gave presentations about VHF/UHF contesting and gave some small demonstrations. Furthermore, we all begged everyone we knew to get on 223.500 MHz and 446.000 MHz if they had the capabilities. The team encouraged activity of any kind to get people on the air for the contest. As a result, we had more than 20 individual people stop by the site and wish us well and some remembered to bring their HT to work us on a few bands. We were also visited by the local police at 3 AM!

As for the contest, things went on as planned until 0300Z when things really started to pick up. We worked Alabama on 1296 MHz and AG4V in Memphis from 222 MHz through 3.456 GHz. Many of the higher band QSOs had huge signals. Usually, it's a struggle to hear stations on CW and this year they were armchair copy on phone. This was truly exciting for a low power station on a small hill northwest of Chicago. In this area, a 50-foot rise above average terrain is considered a mountain.

Our original goal was to set the division record and have a good time. We were able to break the existing division record and have a good time! Taking the number one multi-op spot was a true shock to our group. Next year, we are planning to add a few more ops and try to expand our capabilities. Spreading out the operating positions and having more operators will be a priority. I'm sure the road to W2SZ's mountaintop will be open by next year and defending the number one spot will be a severe challenge.