KC9BQA

10:30am  Friday

Net control WB9LYH reported thunderstorms to his east, southeast and west on Wed. night.  Seems like every Wed. the radar is lit up across portions of the Midwest and Great Lakes.
There were some welcome check-ins from the areas that didn’t have thunderstorms.   WB8LNG EM79;  KC9RAP EN63;  N9IYV EN61;  K0TPP EM48;  N9RXM and KC9OVD EN41;  WB0SWQ and WA9BNZ EN40.

A small miracle!!  (sarcasm)  The long-range forecast for next Wednesday looks very peaceful.

Net control WB9LYH expects to be on next Wed. at the usual start time of 8pm central/9pm eastern.  If there’s ever a need for an alternate net control, we try to publicize it here at kc9bqa.com as soon as possible.  It never hurts to check this blog on Wednesday afternoons.

If you want more info about the Wednesday 144.240 net called by WB9LYH in EN54cl (central WI) scroll down to the post dated June 17, just below this one at kc9bqa.com.

8pm Thur.

Wed. 144.240 net control WB9LYH in EN54cl (central WI) emailed to say that last night’s net had incredible static to his east.  I believe it — there were some good storms rolling thru eastern WI and headed for Lake Michigan.
Even with the static, there was a solid turnout last night.  Thanks everyone for helping to keep 2 meter SSB active.
The 15 check-ins were:  N9JBW, K9ILU and N9IYV EN61;  KC9VHD and AB9QH EN62;  WB8LNG EM79;  N9RXM, KC9OVD, NG9K and K9FYU EN41;  WA9BNZ, W9BBP and WB0SWQ EN40;  WB9TFH EN53 and KC9RAP EN63.

Net control WB9LYH expects to be on next Wed. at the usual start time of 8pm central/9pm eastern.  If there’s ever a need for an alternate net control, we try to publicize it here at kc9bqa.com as soon as possible.  It never hurts to check this blog on Wednesday afternoons.

The 144.240 net is called every Wed. night at 8pm central/9pm eastern.  Net control WB9LYH is located in EN54cl, which is central WI, near WI Rapids or about 1.5 hours west of Green Bay, WI.  Mark has a big signal and enjoys pushing the propagation limits.  Please let VHF’ers in a very wide radius know that we’re on the air on Wed. nights.  With warm summer nights comes potential band enhancement.  Let stations in that 500-1000 mile range know about us.

From central WI, WB9LYH starts out looking NE, E and SE.  Eastern time zone is always targeted first with the 144.240 Wed. net.  From there, Mark starts edging S, then SW, W, NW and N to finish.  All licensed amateurs are welcome; the net is informal and the purpose is to increase activity on 2 meter SSB.  We always appreciate you helping to spread the word and doing  your part to make the SSB/CW portions of the VHF/UHF bands more active.

4:15pm Monday

Last Wed., there were 14 check-ins to the 144.240 net:  KD9TZ and KC9RAP EN63;  KC9VHD and AB9QH EN62;  N9IYV, K9ILU and WA9HIR EN61;  N9NMS EN52;  KB9KLD EM58;  WB8LNG EM79;  WA9BNZ EN40;  KC9OVD, K9FYU and N9RXM EN41.

Net control WB9LYH (Mark, in EN54cl, central WI) expects to be on again this Wed., at the usual start time of 9pm eastern/8pm central.

If you need more info about the Wed. 144.240 net from WI, scroll down 2 posts here on the front page at kc9bqa.com, to a June 1st post.

6:30am Friday

On June 1st, I made 3 posts about the ARRL June VHF Contest, which is on June 11-12.  Scroll down to those posts, make plans to get on and help spread the word.

On to the net report from 2 nights ago…
WB9LYH said conditions were OK, not great.  Check-ins were KS8B and N8PVT EN64;  KC9VHD and AB9QH EN62;  KC9RAP EN63;  WB8LNG EM79;  KA9DVX EN51;  WA9BNZ and W9BBP EN40;  N9RXM, K9FYU and KC9OVD EN41 and WB9TFH EN53.
I want to welcome KC9RAP to the net.  Glad you’re on 2m SSB.

If you are new here and want more details about the Wed. 144.240 net called from EN54cl by WB9LYH, just scroll down to the post below this one at kc9bqa.com.

12:30pm  Wed.

I know there may be t-storms in eastern parts of our region tonight, but the forecast is for clear weather in Central WI.  So 144.240 net control WB9LYH will be ON at the usual time of 8pm central/9pm eastern.

The 144.240 net is called every Wed. night at 8pm central/9pm eastern.  Net control WB9LYH is located in EN54cl, which is Central WI, near WI Rapids or about 1.5 hours west of Green Bay, WI.  Mark has a big signal and enjoys pushing the propagation limits.  Please let VHF’ers in a very wide radius know that we’re on the air on Wed. nights.

From central WI, WB9LYH starts out looking NE, E and SE.  Eastern time zone is always targeted first with the 144.240 Wed. net.  From there, Mark starts edging S, then SW, W, NW and N to finish.  All licensed amateurs are welcome; the net is informal and the purpose is to increase activity on 2 meter SSB.  We always appreciate you helping to spread the word and doing  your part to make the SSB/CW portions of the VHF/UHF bands more active.

PLEASE NOTE — the ARRL June VHF Contest is on June 11-12th.  A trio of articles promoting the contest and helping hams to get educated and involved is right below this article.  Spread the word to hams everywhere to visit posts dated June 1, 2016 at kc9bqa.com.

12:15pm Wed.

Start spreading the word everywhere about the ARRL  June VHF Contest, which is June 11-12, 2016.   Other posts dated June 1, 2016 at kc9bqa.com promote the contest itself, and give publicity to the 5 known VHF/UHF contest clubs in and near Wisconsin.  Those posts are right below this one.

If you want to know more about what a VHF/UHF contest is all about, I humbly refer you to a series of articles I wrote about 6-7 years back, called VHF Contesting School.   I wrote these articles to get even casual VHF’ers, and hams in general more confident about playing in a VHF contest.

Visit this link for KC9BQA’s VHF Contesting School articles   http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5931   You are free to share those articles with hams everywhere.  The whole reason KC9BQA.com exists is to increase on-air activity on bands like 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz.

Please don’t think that only the big guns get on for VHF/UHF contests.  The contests are a lot more fun if even the guys with just a few bands, or limited time, stop by and call some CQ’s, let others know they are out there, and make the airwaves more active.

WANT TO ALSO ADD…
Because those articles were written back in 2009 or 2010, some of the content may be outdated, in the areas of scoring or rules.  Refer to the ARRL website for current info.

Noon Wed.

This is a repeat of a post from early April.  If you haven’t visited in weeks, please use the archives (on the right) to go back over posts I made back in early April.

With the VHF contest season starting next weekend (ARRL June VHF on June 11-12), this is a good time for readers to join one of the regional VHF/UHF contest clubs, if you haven’t already done so.

As of June 2015, I know of 5 VHF/UHF clubs in and near WI.  When I say “VHF/UHF Club”, I’m talking about clubs where the emphasis is on SSB/CW/Digital modes on bands like 50, 144, 222, 432 MHz, clear on up to microwave bands like 902, 1296, 2304, 3456 MHz, and even into 5 and 10 Gig and beyond.
If you are even a casual VHF’er, but would like your contest scores to go toward a club total, consider joining any of these clubs.  All the info you need to get started is below.

1)  My club is the Badger Contesters.  Their website is at www.badgercontesters.org.  If you are within 175 miles of Oshkosh, WI, you are in the BC circle.  A graphic showing our territory is available at:  http://www.badgercontesters.org/club_area.html  The BC’ers are a low-key, low-stress, no-dues club.  If you want more info, go to the website or contact me.

2)  NLRS stands for Northern Lights Radio Society, which covers MN, and probably adjacent parts of W and NW WI and N IA.  Their website is at www.nlrs.org.

3)  SMC stands for Society of Midwest Contesters, based in IL and parts of adjacent states.  SMC is a very active HF club, with a decent number of V/UHF contesters, too.  Their website is at www.w9smc.com   SMC has done some amazing things, getting their HF contesters to try 6 meters in the June ARRL contest (when sporadic E skip usually opens up 6m across the country)

4)  CVVHF stands for Chippewa Valley VHF and they are pretty much centered on EN44.  I’m sure their territory covers most of NW WI and plenty of the U.P. of MI.  CVVHF’s website is at www.k9cvc.org.

5)  As of late summer, 2014, Michigan is now represented here.  Several motivated guys got together and have created the Michigan VHF-UHF Society or MIVUS.  Their website is at http://mivus.org/  Check them out.

If you enjoy V/UHF contesting, these clubs would like very much for you to join and then submit your contest scores as part of the club’s  aggregate score.

I am not aware of any active V/UHF clubs in IN or IA.  If I’m mistaken, someone set me straight.

11:45am Wed

The ARRL June VHF Contest is in 2 weekends.  It starts at 1800 UTC time (1pm central) on Sat., June 11th and runs 33 hours until 0300 UTC time on Monday (which is 10pm central Sunday night)    All bands from 50 MHz on up into the microwaves are in play.  The June contest has evolved over the last 5-10 years into the biggest VHF contest of the year.   6 meters is often open for long stretches of the June contest and I can remember working over 100 grid squares in a single contest.  Lots of fun.
Other big VHF contests are in July and September and January.   Here’s the link to the ARRL rules and info page for the June VHF:  http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf

Plus DON’T FORGET there WILL be an August UHF contest this year.  I covered this back in April, go here for full info http://kc9bqa.com/?p=8600 and make sure to talk this up in all directions.

Talk up the contest June 11-12 and help get more signals on the air.  Refer hams to this blog, if they need more info.

Like he has for years now, W0UC Paul in EN44 has created a Google spreadsheet where those of us in the Midwest/Great Lakes can post our June VHF contest plans.  Before I pass the link along (with W0UC’s permission) a few guidelines.  Please read these.
1)  I know nothing about a Google spreadsheet.  I’m just the messenger.
2)  Notice on the lower left that there are tabs for both fixed stations and rovers.
3)  Even if you’re part-time or you don’t know exactly when you can be on, post your general intentions anyway.  This is fun, not a legally binding contract. 
4)  We kindly ask that with this sheet, the emphasis remains on WI and nearby states.  We’re NOT trying to create a nationwide sheet.  If you are more than say 300-400 miles from WI, considering doing something similar for your own area.  It would be a big boost to V/UHF contesting if there were similar listings for other parts of the USA and Canada.
5)  Please spread the word among your V/UHF buddies in WI and nearby states to list your ARRL June VHF Contest plans here:   http://www.tinyurl.com/JuneVHF2016
6)  Because this is an interactive spreadsheet, remember to check back from time-to-time and view updated plans from both fixed stations and rovers.