CQ Worldwide VHF Contest 2025
 category: MULTI-OP
 callsign: W2RME





ANTENNA SYSTEM

MobileComm1, the N2SLN/R van providing antenna support structures and antennas

  6m
    5-el rover Yagi on rear tipping system
  2m
    4-stack omni on front tipping system

feedlines for both bands running into the CVARA club shack





RADIO EQUIPMENT






DESCRIPTION

Because of the early start time of the new contest format, Jon and I spent Friday afternoon leveling my contesting van and then assembling and installing a 6m 5-el rover Yagi and a 2m 4-stack omni on the van's tipping antenna support structures. The location was the club shack which experienced a VHF contesting tower failure in March. We had perfect wx for the occasion, with bright sunlight but only 73 degrees and low humidity, with a strong, cool breeze out of the north to keep us from overheating while working. We ran the feedlines and rotor control cable across the field into the shack, and installed a TS-2000 as well as 6m and 2m amplifiers with built-in preamps. The initial test was to listen for signals, and W3CCX/b was S3 on 2m from 90 miles away. Transmitting tests showed that everything was working. On Saturday morning we needed less than 45 additional minutes to get ready. We used an antenna analyzer which showed that the SWR was good on both antenna systems. The Hepburn Map indicated that Saturday morning would be better than Saturday night or Sunday morning for any possibility of tropo, so with 6m dead at 8 AM and with 2m enhanced, we started the contest on 2m.

After quickly working stations in all directions in the first hour thanks to the 2m omni, the band lost its enhancement and six meters opened to the west, and we worked into the DL, DM, and EN grid fields before noon. The best 6m DX happened at this time by working DL79 for a distance of at least 1800 miles / 2897 km. It was also a pleasant surprise pointing the antenna northwest and working a couple Canadians in hard-to-get EN86 on single-hop and hearing another in EN95 (less than 400 miles away). We also heard VE2CSI/b FO60 at 5x9+20. Then the band opened to the southeastern US simultaneously and we picked up lots of new grids and states in the afternoon. By 2 PM local time we had worked AC0RA/R in all 3 of his activated grids in Iowa before he had to cut it short due to thunderstorms. We briefly heard Montana 6m beacon W7KNT/b DN36, and worked a station in South Dakota. Troposcatter conditions were also elevated on 6m due to the high pressure system in place: We worked Virginia station N3MK FM27 at 314 miles / 506 km. The final sporadic-E contact went into the log at 1525 local time, but we stayed and worked stations on troposcatter until 2000 local.

One of the questions in our minds was, "Is it worth going back to the shack Sunday morning if the contest ends at 8 AM Eastern?". We would have our answer shortly. We had decided before the contest to go back early and were on the air 0615 local. The 10-watt W3CCX/b was S6 which was only one S-unit lower than Saturday morning's enhancement, but the activity level was better on Sunday morning. The first contact of the day was our best 2m DX of the contest with Maine station K1HC FN53 (294 miles / 473 km). We proceeded to pick up additional troposcatter grids that were missed earlier, including VE3ZV EN92 (2m), Rhode Island station WB2VVV FN41 on both bands, and rare grids FN24 and FN36 on 6m. Troposcatter signals at 6 AM Sunday, especially on 6m, were elevated once again due to the high pressure system lingering another day. We worked 25 states on 6m (half way to WAS in 24 hours) and Minnesota ended up being our most worked state (11 QSOs).

The wx was terrific for all 3 days of the effort--the setup on Friday, the operating all day Saturday, and the early Sunday morning push for the finish line followed by the teardown before the sun got too hot. We even beat our June score using only 2 bands. The most enjoyable thing about this contest was knowing that everyone spent every second looking for each other in the same place on the dial. The same will be true for the digital-only version two weeks later, unless there is confusion about whether to use FT8 or FT4. Perhaps the best plan is to use the lower bandwidth of FT8 when the bands are closed, and switch to FT4 when the bands are open. Update: W2RME takes second place Multi-operator in North America. Here is the article.






POINTS SUMMARY 



BAND   QSOs   GRIDS
--------------------
6m      78     57
2m      17     12
--------------------
TOTALS  95     69


claimed score: 7,659





LOG 


START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CREATED-BY: N3FJP's VHF Contest Log 6.6.10
CONTEST: CQ-VHF-SSBCW
CALLSIGN: W2RME
LOCATION: FN22GK
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: MULTI-OP
CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-MODE: MIXED
CATEGORY-TIME: 24-HOURS
CLAIMED-SCORE: 7659
OPERATORS: N2SLN W2BDN
NAME:
ADDRESS:
ADDRESS-CITY:
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: NY
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE:
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA
EMAIL:
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1214 W2RME             FN22   N1JEZ             FN44
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1215 W2RME             FN22   N1JEZ             FN44
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1219 W2RME             FN22   N2NT              FN20
QSO:   144 CW 2025-07-05 1229 W2RME             FN22   W1XIV             FN34
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1242 W2RME             FN22   K1RZ              FM19
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1255 W2RME             FN22   K1RZ              FM19
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1340 W2RME             FN22   KB0HNN            EN25
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1347 W2RME             FN22   N2SGQ             FN22
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1350 W2RME             FN22   N2SGQ             FN22
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1354 W2RME             FN22   WB2YMU            FN22
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1408 W2RME             FN22   AC0RA/R           EN32
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1414 W2RME             FN22   VE3ETE            EN86
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1417 W2RME             FN22   W0ZF              EN34
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1423 W2RME             FN22   KF0PSC            EN35
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1425 W2RME             FN22   WA0MHJ            EN35
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1425 W2RME             FN22   W0AAE             EN35
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1426 W2RME             FN22   VE3OOZ            EN86
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1427 W2RME             FN22   AA5PR             DL79
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1431 W2RME             FN22   W0ZQ              EN34
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1431 W2RME             FN22   ND0C              EN23
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1433 W2RME             FN22   N2NKX             FN22
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1433 W2RME             FN22   WB8IZM            EN74
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1434 W2RME             FN22   K5CBL             EM14
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1436 W2RME             FN22   K0KX              EN13
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1442 W2RME             FN22   K0SIX             EN35
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1448 W2RME             FN22   W2KEB             FN22
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1449 W2RME             FN22   N8BEG             EN75
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1449 W2RME             FN22   W9RM              DM58
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1452 W2RME             FN22   K3ISH             FN21
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1456 W2RME             FN22   WZ1V              FN31
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1457 W2RME             FN22   WN3A              FN10
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1459 W2RME             FN22   WN3A              FN10
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1502 W2RME             FN22   KA0PQW            EN33
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1505 W2RME             FN22   KO9A              EN52
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1512 W2RME             FN22   KF9AQ             EN53
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1514 W2RME             FN22   AB2HS             FN12
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1516 W2RME             FN22   K9UW              EN54
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1516 W2RME             FN22   N0KO              EM36
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1516 W2RME             FN22   KA3EQU            FN11
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 1518 W2RME             FN22   KA3EQU            FN11
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1521 W2RME             FN22   K0SM              FN12
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-05 1540 W2RME             FN22   AA0AW             EN36
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-05 1540 W2RME             FN22   WB8BZK            EN52
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1554 W2RME             FN22   AC0RA/R           EN42
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1601 W2RME             FN22   WA4GPM            EM90
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1607 W2RME             FN22   K9MU              EN44
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1610 W2RME             FN22   WB7PMP            EM95
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1629 W2RME             FN22   W3GQ              EM95
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1639 W2RME             FN22   WU5E              EM72
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1649 W2RME             FN22   N4RWG             EM80
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1651 W2RME             FN22   KC9K              EN50
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1657 W2RME             FN22   WR9L              EN61
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1700 W2RME             FN22   WZ8DX             EM79
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1701 W2RME             FN22   W4PF              EM78
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1702 W2RME             FN22   KC0MCH            EM28
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1706 W2RME             FN22   K4WI              EM62
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1708 W2RME             FN22   AD0H              EN32
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1710 W2RME             FN22   K2DRH             EN41
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1711 W2RME             FN22   K9JK/R            EN51
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1713 W2RME             FN22   N8EAT             EN61
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1715 W2RME             FN22   KJ4UGO            EM64
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1717 W2RME             FN22   W4DID             EM76
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1719 W2RME             FN22   K9ZF              EM78
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1720 W2RME             FN22   N0DLR             EN35
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1721 W2RME             FN22   WX4WKY            EM56
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1733 W2RME             FN22   K9PPY             EN51
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1746 W2RME             FN22   K9NW              EM79
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1750 W2RME             FN22   N4QS              EM56
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1753 W2RME             FN22   N9NUQ             EM61
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1755 W2RME             FN22   AC0RA/R           EN31
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1804 W2RME             FN22   K5TR              EM00
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1815 W2RME             FN22   WF7T              EM66
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1833 W2RME             FN22   NV4B/R            EM64
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1848 W2RME             FN22   AI6O              EM29
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1901 W2RME             FN22   WB4WXE            EM74
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1918 W2RME             FN22   AC4TO             EM70
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1923 W2RME             FN22   K6NG              EM66
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 1925 W2RME             FN22   KI4FTQ            EM72
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-05 2000 W2RME             FN22   N2NT              FN20
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 2012 W2RME             FN22   N2NKX             FN22
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 2111 W2RME             FN22   W3SO              FN00
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 2114 W2RME             FN22   W3SO              FN00
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-05 2133 W2RME             FN22   N3MK              FM27
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-05 2236 W2RME             FN22   K2QO              FN03
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 2343 W2RME             FN22   K3ONW             FM19
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-05 2347 W2RME             FN22   KB2RAW            FN22
QSO:   144 CW 2025-07-06 1020 W2RME             FN22   K1HC              FN53
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-06 1055 W2RME             FN22   VA2WA             FN36
QSO:   144 CW 2025-07-06 1117 W2RME             FN22   W1AUV             FN32
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-06 1120 W2RME             FN22   VE3ZV             EN92
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-06 1129 W2RME             FN22   WB2VVV            FN41
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-06 1131 W2RME             FN22   WB2VVV            FN41
QSO:    50 PH 2025-07-06 1132 W2RME             FN22   KB2KIR            FN22
QSO:   144 PH 2025-07-06 1133 W2RME             FN22   KB2KIR            FN22
QSO:    50 CW 2025-07-06 1146 W2RME             FN22   VE3KG             FN24
END-OF-LOG: