2026 ARRL June VHF Contest

• Grid Squares – Where and when
• Frequencies
• Post Contest Soapbox
• Post Contest Photos

I plan to arrive at Mount Magazine Friday evening June 12 for testing and car camping. I will be testing 6m on the North face. I likely cannot move around with even the 6m loop on top due to low hanging limbs there due to the time involved with remove/stow, scoot, unstow/attach I may not be visiting the South face.

My primary goal is to beat my personal best score, and if I happen to break into the section’s top 10, that would be the icing on the cake. I’ll also be experimenting with 10 GHz.

Of course, rover life is never predictable. From dodging tree limbs that threaten the antennas to fielding questions from curious onlookers, every stop brings its own surprises. Sometimes, explaining the “offensive-looking” rover vehicle takes more time than making contacts! But that’s all part of the adventure.

After wrapping up on Mount Magazine Sunday morning, I’ll hit the road, chasing new grids north and west before heading home. The schedule below is more of a wish list than a guarantee—rover plans always seem to change on the fly. No matter what, I’m looking forward to a weekend of radio, road miles, and Arkansas mountain air.

Grid Squares – Where and when

Local Time	Grid	Lat, Lon	Elevation (Ft)	Note	Gmap Link
SATURDAY 1PM until band dies
All Evening	EM35	35.17419, -93.64629	2570	North face of Mount Magazine AR	Google Map
Possibly in evening	EM35	35.16378, -93.64182	2540	South face of Mount Magazine AR	Google Map
SUNDAY 8AM to 10PM
7:30 – 7:45 AM	EM25	35.48456, -94.22541	430	Alma, AR	Google Map
8:30-9:00 AM	EM26	36.05842, -94.20301	1495	S Centennial Park Ln, Fayetteville, AR 72704	Google Map
9:30-9:45 AM	EM36	36.18162, -93.99804	1400	Nob Hill, AR	Google Map
12:35- 12:50	EM27	37.07552, -94.03992	1200	Sarcoxie, MO	Google Map
12:55- 1:10 PM	EM37	37.07470, -93.99944	1280	HW99 & I44	Google Map
5:40- 6:25 PM	EM16	36.07059, -95.99410	880	Turkey Mountain West Upper Trailhead Tulsa, OK 74132	Google Map
6:30- 7:15 PM	EM26	36.07535, -96.00526	800	Turkey Mountain East Upper Trailhead Tulsa, OK 74132	Google Map
7:30- 7:50 PM	EM15	35.98664, -96.00997	700	Clarion Hotel Glenpool	Google Map
8:00- 8:20 PM	EM25	35.94438, -95.98875	750	151st Elmwood Glenpool	Google Map
9PM – 9:30 PM	EM15	35.84418, -96.39772	872	Bristow	Google Map
				Contest over!

Map for Sunday Rovering

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

Frequencies

For this contest we are allowed to use everything above 6m and the National Simplex Frequency may be used if not busy however for 222 and 902 I’m using transverters from 28 Mhz so my band is limited to 1.7MHz (28.0 to 29.7 MHz).

Bands	Antenna
Verticals
NONE	Always experimenting, I’m bringing only stacked horizontals!
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 Stacked	2 x OA-144
2 M	M2 Antennas 2M7X (144-148MHz) 7ele 12.3 dBi
1.25 M Stacked	2 x OA-222
1.25 M	M2 Antennas 222-10EZ (222-226 MHz) 10 ele 14.1 dBi
70 CM Stacked	2 x OA-432
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
3 CM	Ebay 22 dBi (10.368 GHz) rectangular horn

N5ZY Rover – June 2026 VHF Contest Soapbox

What a weekend! The 2026 June VHF contest delivered the best 6m propagation I’ve participated in and a thunderstorm cut the fun short as 6m was really getting busy.

As a rover I activated 8 grids across Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma: EM15, EM16, EM25, EM26, EM27, EM35, EM36, and EM37 driving 270 miles Friday and 500 miles Sunday.

760 miles total for a weekend of radio.

The Numbers

Band QSOs Pts Mults

Band	QSOs	QSO Pts	Multipliers
6m	150	150	87
2m	24	24	12
1.25m	10	20	9
70 cm	2	4	1
Total	186	198	109

A poor score compared to my June 2025 but the weather made me tear-down just as 6m was really getting active but I did activate 8 grids!
109 worked grids + 8 Rover Activated grids = 117 for the Multiplier
and 198 QSO Points × 117 = 23,166.
Claimed Score: 23,166
Grid multipliers: 117

The single best contact of the weekend was working BL11 on 6m. That’s Hawaii. From Arkansas. The Es gods were generous Saturday night, and for a few minutes the path to the islands was wide open. And it wasn’t just Hawaii — I was copying JA stations on 6m as well. They never heard me, but hearing Japan from a mountaintop in Arkansas is a reminder of just how wild 6m can get when the band decides to open up.

Mount Magazine on Saturday night was absolutely amazing. From midnight UTC onward I was running close to 20 QSOs an hour on 6m — and the rate was still climbing. 15 the first hour, 17 the second, nearly 19 in the last 50 minutes before I shut down. Then the sky was flashing flashing much brighter and the thunder was rattling the car and the wind was rocking the car. With a 6m yagi up on the highest point in the state and lightning closing in on radar, there was only one smart move.

I envisioned standing on top of a wet car, on a wet ladder, in the wind, on the highest point in Arkansas — hanging onto a 6m yagi that at that moment is functioning as a world-class lightning rod. And the special bonus fear of watching that ladder catch a gust and cartwheel away on its own, leaving me stranded on the roof of the car with nowhere to go. Regardless of my score I decided if I die I won’t be able to submit a score so it was time to go. I shut down at 0250z (9:50 PM CDT). The rain didn’t actually land until 3AM. The band, I’m told, kept going wild until 1AM local.
By the numbers, those three missed hours likely cost somewhere between 50 and 80 QSOs, but it was great practice and fun to see so many 6m grids from a car on a high VHF perch.

Sunday — High Mileage Day

The storm that ended my Saturday night operation arrived at 2:45 AM. I was jolted awake by leaves and twigs hitting the roof and the crack of nearby thunder. Shoes on, car unplugged, everything stowed — and I was in the driver’s seat just as the heavy rain started. I drove away from the tree covered RV lot to the lodge parking lot and managed to doze in the front seat for a few hours, waking up about every hour until I finally poured some coffee under the awning at 5:45 AM and hit the road just after 6:15.

PSKReporter was showing 6m alive at 7 AM, so I was eager to get moving. I set up in EM25 after getting clear of the trees and made some QSOs before pressing on toward my planned stops.

EM26 — Centennial Park (9:20 AM): A lesson re-learned — the 6m antenna works considerably better when I remember to connect the barrel connector. Had to fall back to FM Phone for 2m and 222 since FT8 was just static, but I activated the grid and moved on.

EM36 — Nob Hill (10:50 AM): Tired and in a hurry, I wasted nearly 40 minutes parked facing the wrong direction, drove off looking for a better spot, then came back when I realized the original location was fine — I just needed to face North. A hard lesson in operating fatigue. Activated the grid and left at 12:09 PM.

EM26 — Noel, Missouri (1:45 PM): A happy improvisation. Spotted a great hilltop exit ramp with a gravel lot at Greenlight Dispensary and a field entry across the road — both right on the crest. Made good use of both perches in about 10 minutes before getting back on the road.

EM27 — Joplin (2:45 PM): Squeezed in a few QSOs from a high parking spot before continuing on.

EM16 — Tulsa area (8:25 PM): Turkey Mountain was a bust — both lots closed and the entire I-75 ramp area was bulldozed. I improvised with the parking lot at Tulsa Lighthouse Church a mile south, which gave me EM16. Conditions were thin by this point — Ross and Virtual Bob were about the only signals I was copying — but the grid was activated.

EM15 — Glenpool Clarion Hotel (9:25 PM): My final stop. Got a few QSOs in before the contest ended at 10:15 PM. Took down the 6m loop, stowed the gear, and pointed the car home.

The drive home was its own adventure — music loud, singing along to stay awake, finishing off the last of the (cold) coffee. I pulled in at 12:30 AM with 25-30% battery remaining.

Final tally for the weekend: roughly 805 miles. For the first time, I activated every intended grid. Band conditions were mostly 6m and 2m with a handful of 222 and 432 QSOs. The higher bands — 902, 1296, and a 10 GHz rain scatter attempt — produced nothing. Activity just wasn’t there. But the log is in, the grids are activated, and BL11 is in the logbook on 6m!

Photo from the Mount Magazine lodge parking lot when I arrived Friday evening.

Saturday morning at the campground with the Starlink battery and radio battery and car all charging. I’ve learned that Starlink does not operate if the voltage is below 12.5 or so..

A view of the ‘car camp’. I sleep behind the drivers seat and everything else is piled up behind the passenger seat. In this photo you can also see my 6m beam in the ceiling pocket I made.

Before the contest began I toyed with my 10 GHz horn and transverter pointing them at the storm to my North, as indicated by https://rainscatter.com/ but on Slack I was unable to find someone to try a QSO.

I put on the 6m portable beam and started seeking activity after the contest began.

Centennial Park, EM26 with a nice parking lot and hilltop.

EM37 Wentworth Missouri – Overpass of I-44 at “Lawrence 1032 Rd” or “Road F”.

That for some reason was one of the last photos I took until I arrived home, woke the next day and began disassembly.
Here is the mess of wires.. I also forgot to get a ‘finished’ assembly photo from the front seat. The Ziplock back is protecting the coax/rigid cable for 10 GHz. Not the ideal way to mount on it but I will improve it.. but the horn cannot withstand the wind and harsh environment of driving.. so I only put it up when I am parked and I plan to schedule a QSO.