Alaska VHF-Up Group Participation in the
2008 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes
KL7FF June 2007, ARRL June VHF QSO Party
Hello everyone. My name is Paul Kiesel and my call is K7CW. I live in Tahuya, Washington, a wide spot in the road about 35 miles to the southwest of Seattle, near Hood Canal. I'm the new Contest Chairman of the club. I've been active in contesting and VHFing since the my first year of licensing, 1959. 6 meters is my favorite band, but I am active on 2 meters and higher frequency bands, as well. Lately, I have made some moonbounce contacts on 6 and 2 meters, which is enabling me to work more DX than I would have otherwise. I hope my experience will allow me to contribute positively to the club.
Since we are now affiliated with the ARRL, it makes sense that we take advantage of that and enter the club competitions in contests that allow it. According to the ARRL General Contest Rules, our club qualifies as a Medium Category Club for competitions. That is, fewer than 50 club entries towards each competition can be made and the club area is the State of Alaska. This second part about the area means that only members of the club who are in the State of Alaska at the time of the contest my contribute to the club score. I have already submitted a list of members to KX9X, the ARRL Contest Branch Manager. I indicated the Alaskan residents, but all members are on the list in the event that a member from elsewhere travels to Alaska to participate in the contest. Those latter members are asked to contact me so that I can inform the ARRL Contest Manager.
The upcoming January VHF Sweepstakes takes place on the 19th, 20th and 21st (UTC) of January. The rules for the contest can be found at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/jan-vhf-ss.html . I should also point out that there is a set of VHF Contest Rules and a set of General Contest Rules to be found on the ARRL web site. If you are new to contests, you might like to take a look at them. Note that it is highly encouraged that each participant submit his or her log electronically using Cabrillo Format. (See the contest rules for a suggested utility for creating such a log. Most computer logging softwares can create Cabrillo formatted logs, as well.) It is, however, permissible to submit a paper log, if you like.
I would like to request all participants to report their individual scores to me directly, so that I can put together a little report for all to view on the club web page after the contest. I would like all participating members to report their scores to me, not just those in Alaska.
Since the January VHF SS occurs in the dead of winter, I think it unlikely that many Alaskans will want to venture out very far in the vehicle, but remember that there are the Rover, Rover Limited and Rover Unlimited categories available to enter if for some reason you can't get on the air at home. To enter in any rover category, you must operate in at least 2 grid squares. In Alaska, it shouldn't be too distant a drive to get to a second grid, though.
The January VHF SS is very popular in the eastern part of the US and Canada because of the enhanced tropospheric propagation that occurs there at this part of the year. It may be that special propagation conditions exist in Alaska during this period, as well. Operating in this contest may reveal conditions not previously discovered.
Preparing for this contest, for some, will mean blowing the cob webs out of some of the gear and soldering up coax connectors. Let's try to get all the gear going and participate.
Feel free to contact me at k7cw[at]yahoo.com if you have a question or observation. Please don't forget to submit your log if you make any contacts during the contest, even if you only make one contact. We want to show participation! Above all, if you're a member who lives in Alaska, be sure to state the name of the club as Alaska VHF-Up Group as part of your entry.
Good luck in the January VHF SS!
73, Paul, K7CW, Contest Chairman