2025 ARRL September VHF Contest!
Begin: Saturday Sept 13 at 1 PM Central
End: Sunday Sept 14 at 10 PM Central
My call will be N5ZY/R for Rover
ARRL VHF Contest Rules: arrl.org/september-vhf
Also check for my friends in OKROVER.INFO
Join us on-the-air during the No Static VHF Activity weekend! These two days everything 6m and up will be radioactive. For this rover event I will be meeting up with my friends of the OKRover group at Mount Scott and then we will head North. Sunday I will again start the day with friends of OKRover in Tulsa at Turkey Mountain and then I will drive South. Weather predictions looking great! No storms/hail!
Fun fact: In the June VHF contest the atmosphere provided some enhancements and N0LD/R and I both made some 2m contacts 1,000 miles away! That was great! This stuff is very interesting and a lot of fun!
- Grid Squares – Where and when
- APRS Position Beacon
- Visual Map
- Frequencies
- Antennas & Radios
- Calculated ve2dbe.com line of sight Signal Map
- Previous Results while rovering
- Post contest summary
Grid Squares – Where and when
| Local Time | Grid | LAT,LON | Elevation (Ft) | Note | Gmap Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SATURDAY 1PM until band dies | |||||
| 1-3PM | EM04 | 34.74529,-98.53184 | Mount Scott | ||
| 4:30-4:50 PM | EM15 | 35.03246,-97.93297 | Chickasha | ||
| 5:45-7PM | EM15 | 35.50335,-97.93830 | El Reno | ||
| 8:40PM | EM16 | 36.003213,-97.96142 | Dover | ||
| 9:30PM | EM15 | 35.63495,-97.74510 | Piedmont | ||
| SUNDAY 6AM until band dies | |||||
| 5-6AM | EM26 | 36.07073,-95.99425 | Tulsa Hills ShopCntr | ||
| 7-9AM | EM26 | 36.07073,-95.99425 | Turkey Mountain | ||
| 11-11:15AM | EM15 | 35.98606,-96.01076 | Clarion Hotel | ||
| 11:30-11:45AM | EM16 | 36.01049,-96.04800 | Creek Turnpike Overlook | ||
| 12:30-1PM | EM25 | 35.44057,-95.97012 | Henryetta | ||
| 1:45-2:15PM | EM24 | 34.90770,-95.82560 | McAlester | ||
| 3:20-3:50PM | EM23 | 33.99704,-95.50172 | Hugo | ||
| 3:50-4:50 | EM24 | 34.00391,-95.48348 | Hugo | ||
| 6-7PM | EM13 | 33.99815,-96.35494 | Durant | ||
| 7-7:20PM | EM14 | 34.02854,-96.38119 | Durant | ||
| 8:30-9:30PM | EM14 | 34.19392,-97.14566 | Ardmore | ||
| 10PM | EM14 | 34.82691,-97.30700 | Paoli | ||
APRS Position Beacon
I will use APRSdroid to beacon my live position.
You can see where I am using https://aprs.fi/ and searching for my callsign N5ZY.
Visual Map
Saturday
At Point 4 above we actually doing a grid dance in EM06/05/15/16. While Randy, N0LD, is driving around I will have the verticals up thus I cannot use the rotator & yagi antennas.. however my verticals are amazing however we are on flat land at 1,042 ft elevation since it’s toward Western Oklahoma (up-hill all the way) so I don’t know what our range may be.
Sunday
Frequencies
| Band | WSJT-FT8 (USB) | Call Freq (USB) | QSO Freq (USB) | FM SIMPLEX | FM SIMPLEX 2 | FM SIMPLEX 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 M | 50.313 | 50.125 | 50.145 | 52.525 | ||
| 2 M | 144.174 | 144.2 | 144.220 | 146.52 | 146.49 | 146.55 |
| 1.25 M | 222.174 | 222.1 | 223.5 | |||
| 70 cm | 432.174 | 432.1 | 446.0 | |||
| 33 cm | 902.174 ? | 902.1 | 902.125 | |||
| 23 cm | 1296.174 | 1296.1 | 1294.5 |
Antennas
| Bands | Antenna |
|---|---|
| Verticals | |
| 2 M | Whip while driving |
| 2/70/23 | Comet Base Vertical CMA-GP-95 while parked only and while the rotor is NOT in use! 6 dBi @ 146MHz, 8.6 dBi @ 446, 12.8 dBi 1.2 GHz |
| 1.25 M | Comet CA-SUPER22 while parked only 6.6 dB @ 222 MHz |
| 33 CM | Comet KP-20 while parked only 9.2 dB @ 902 MHz |
| Horizontals | |
| 6 M | Par Electronics Stressed Moxon, (50.3 Mhz) or M2 Antennas 6M-3SS beam or Par Electronics 6M Omniangle (OA-50) |
| 2 M | M2 Antennas 2M7X (144-148MHz) 7ele 12.3 dBi |
| 1.25 M | M2 Antennas 222-10EZ (222-226 MHz) 10 ele 14.1 dBi |
| 70 CM | M2 Antennas 440-11X (420-450 MHz) 11 ele 13.4 dBi |
| 33 CM | M2 Antennas 917HD (900-930MHz) 17 ele 17 dBi |
| 23 CM | M2 Antennas 23CM35 (1250-1300MHz) 35 ele 20.94 dBi |
Radios
| Radio | Desc/Use |
|---|---|
| IC9700 | 2m, 70cm and 23 cm USB and FM |
| IC7610 | 6m |
| IC7300 | To use with transverters |
| Q5 Signal L33-28hp50 | Converts 10 M to 33 cm |
| Q5 Signal L222-28hp100 | Converts 10 M to 1.25 M |
| Anytone | VHF Mobile |
VE2DBE.com LOS Calculated Signal Maps
I will try to publish these but I still have physical rover work to do..
Previous Results while rovering
As you can see from my ARRL VHF Contest Rankings below I’m a newcomer to VHF contesting and rovering. It’s a fun challenge though! I hope this Sept I can drastically increase my QSO count and multipliers.
| Yr | Mo | Category | Div | Nat Rank/All Cat | Div Rank/ALL Cat Me/Total | Div Rank/Rovers Me/Total | Score | QSOs | Mults | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Sep | SngOpLP | WGDiv (OK) | 9/25 | n/a | 513 | 28 | 19 | ||
| 2023 | Jan | ClascRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 23/47 | 2/2 | 399 | 17 | 19 | ||
| 2023 | Jun | LimtdRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 411/1588 | 51/100+ | 3/3 | 15228 | 157 | 94 | |
| 2023 | Sep | ClascRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 174/686 | 7/25 | 1/4 | 4182 | 67 | 51 | |
| 2024 | Jun | LimtdRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 154/1133 | 14/72 | 4/7 | 15566 | 180 | 86 | |
| 2024 | Sep | LimtdRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 129/636 | 6/41 | 2/3 | 4922 | 89 | 46 | |
| 2025 | Jan | ClascRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 205/764 | 11/40 | 1/1 | 2366 | 72 | 26 | Brrr!! Artic Blast! |
| 2025 | Jun | ClascRovr | DeltaDiv (AR) | 134/1257 (raw) | 6/33 (raw) | 3/3 (raw) | 37,791 (raw) | 251 | 153 | Good test |
| 2025 | Aug 222 and Up | Rover | Area 8 | 4/5 (raw) | 2/2 (raw) | 7,148 (raw) | Retreated Sunday 4AM from Hail storm | |||
| 2025 | Sep | ClascRovr | WGDiv (OK) | 35/540 (raw) | 35/540, 3/32 (raw) | 1/2 (raw) | 29,562 (raw) | 191 | 78 | Missed last grid due to LiFePO4 depletion |
Post contest summary
Ahh Oklahoma on 6m in Sept, the end of the summer sporadic E season. The gorgeous sunsets and cooler temperatures create a urge to be outside experiencing the sunset, to see the stars and planets and zipping satellites at the end of these 100°F days, and the forthcoming pumpkin spice lattes. This point in the season invokes a feeling that a joyful, relaxing ending is near with the fall leaf colors to be changing soon… First however we must torture ourselves by attempting to make VHF contacts during a contest when the 6m band is clearly tired and ‘not having any of that’.
6m provided only fleeting moments happy surprises of signals that begin loud enough to expect a decode only to be followed seconds later by emotional whiplash when the signal abruptly fades. Even worse, there was also the occasional strong Sp-E or MSp-E decode that invoked a fear of missing out on some spectacular openings if only I had the yagi instead of the loop, only never to be heard again. The moments of joy and anticipation that are abruptly replaced by loss of the forthcoming surprise. That is 6m in Oklahoma this September. I roved 772 miles for this contest yet I feel I was a simple amusement for the Greek God of Waves and Propagation. Clearly I forgot to perform my VHF Rover prayer before embarking on this journey.. however being with friends and seeing the sunrise/sunsets made it enjoyable.
For this contest N0LD, KC0MTM, KC3VSH and I met at Mount Scott to begin the contest then to perform some grid line and grid corner dances. We had an entertaining/terrifying time with our two vehicles after sunset which comes early in Sep! After sunset the moon did not rise for several hours so it was incredibly dark and occasionally we observed deer standing adjacent to the roadway. The N0LD rover rabbited around while I remained parked. When the call suddenly came over the radio, “N5ZY/R this is N0LD/R” I was frequently grabbing the wrong microphone in the darkness and/or attempting to log the QSO in N1MM before choosing the proper band. Eventually after my immersion into grid corner dancing I settled down and got into the rhythm and I was performing better – and then we were done. I had practiced this at my desk at home but the crowded Kia Niro cockpit is very different. Every movement with touch screens this close and at odd angles requiring various contortions leads to the occasional unintentional changing of a filter, band, mode, etc. It’s even more complicated when the hands are a bit shaky from coffee.
I am very grateful to those who chased me around the bands and reached out offering contacts on their other bands. Obviously I appreciate N0LD for working with me on the route but also AA5AM, W5LO, K5N, W0HGJ and AF5CC for several contacts. When I’m sleep deprived I need all the help I can get!
My 772 mile journey took me through 10 grid squares before the 12v LiFePO4 battery voltage was too low Sunday around 7pm. That was the end of my contest even though the next grid was just minutes away. My claimed score is 16,359 which is less than 1/2 the points I earned in June.. but a new personal record for my Sep accomplishments.
One change I made for this trip was adding another antenna switch and a little re-arrange of connections. Yes, it’s a mess. Yes I can see the sideview mirror.
| Unique Grids Per Band | Band | QSO Count |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 6M | 43 |
| 15 | 2M | 29 |
| 6 | 1.25M | 10 |
| 11 | 70CM | 40 |
| 9 | 33CM | 34 |
| 9 | 23CM | 35 |
68 Unique Grids by bands total + Rover activated 10 grids = 78 multipliers
379 claimed QSO points
Total 29,562 claimed score
Gridmapper Highlights of enhanced propagation
6M contacts Sat from Mt Scott EM04
These plots were created using WG7J’s GridMapper.
Par Electronics 6M Omniangle (OA-50) used Saturday on 6m. On Mt. Scott I wanted to swap to the beam antenna but the area was ridiculously busy. People kept knocking on my window asking “whats with all the antennas” and if I was out-of-the-car they certainly stopped to ask and take photos. On Mt. Scott I needed a dedicated spokesperson while I tried to make QSO’s but it’s just me in the car!
2M contacts Sat from Mt. Scott EM04
6M contacts Sun from Turkey Mountain EM16
Sunday morning on Turkey Mountain in Tulsa I swapped the 6m Omniangle for the 6m beam but to depart Turkey Mountain I did have to swap back to the Omniangle. I was expecting Sunday morning to be very busy on 6m but it was certainly not that! On Turkey Mountain we lost our usual parking lot in EM26 and the new parking lot is in EM16.
2M contacts Sun from Turkey Mountain EM16
2M contacts Sun from Hugo EM23
2M contacts Sun from McAlester EM24
Take away
This trip was decent but warmer than I expected and 6m did not provide the propagation that I had hoped for, however, we didn’t have storms and I didn’t strike any low limbs! The crowd of people on Saturday at Mt. Scott was also much worse than I’ve ever witnessed. Only one person asked if my antennas were for Ham Radio (Sunday morning at Turkey Mountain). She recognized them from helping with Scouts!
I’m looking forward to the next outing – even though it’s January… ugh, maybe not..