Home

2023 ARRL September VHF Contest

34 Logs Received

Posted 2023-10-01
Click on a heading to sort

Callsign	Score	Region	Category	Bands	QSOs	Points	Grids	Rover Grids Activated	Grids Activated	PNW Grids Worked
K5QE *	111,360	STX	LM	ABDE	373	464	240		EM31	4
N0LL *	7,416	KS	SOLP	ABCD	97	103	72		EM09	2
AL1VE	6,327	WWA	SOLP	ABCDE	126	171	37		CN87	15
W7MEM	4,800	ID	SOHP	ABD	78	79	48		DN17	21
VA7SC	4,680	BC	SOLP	ABCD9EI	100	156	30		CN89	8
W7IMC	4,185	ID	SOP-ALG	ABCD9E	177	279	15		DN14	5
N7KSI	4,182	WWA	SOHP	ABCDE	88	123	34		CN86	13
N7QOZ	3,749	WWA	SO-ALG-3B	ABD	121	161	23		CN87	7
KA7RRA/R	2,888	WWA	RL	ABCD	117	152	19	5	see notes below	5
K7ND	2,632	WWA	SOHP	ABCD9EF	63	94	28		CN87	10
N6ZE	2,580	WWA	SOLP	ABD	91	137	19		CN87	6
N7DB	2,112	OR	SOLP	ABC	83	88	24		CN85	14
WE7X/R	1,921	WWA	RL	ABD	88	113	17	4	see notes below	5
K7MDL	1,805	WWA	SOHP	ABCD9E	69	92	19		CN87	6
KG7P	1,700	WWA	SOHP	ABCDE	68	85	20		CN87	7
KG7PD	1,476	WWA	SOLP	ABCD	66	82	18		CN87	10
W7GLF	1,460	WWA	SOHP	ABCD9E	52	73	20		CN87	8
VE7HR	1,037	BC	SO-ALG-LP	ABCD9EI	36	61	17		CN89	4
AG6QV	1,020	WWA	SOLP	ABDE	49	68	15		CN87	7
KB7IOG	952	WWA	SO-ALG-HP	ABCD9EF	42	68	14		CN87	4
VE7AFZ	810	BC	SOHP	ABCD9EI	51	54	15		CN89	7
VA7RKM	600	BC	SOHP	ABDE	39	50	12		CN88	4
K7CW	559	WWA	SOHP	A	43	43	13		CN87	12
VE7DAY	544	BC	SOLP	ABCDE	30	34	16		CO70	8
KX7L	539	WWA	SOLP	AB	49	49	11		CN87	9
W7RDW	304	WWA	SO-ALG-LP	ABD	30	38	4		CN87	4
AD7MC	252	WWA	SOLP	AB	28	28	9		CN85	6
W7TZ	176	OR	SOHP	ABD	12	16	11		CN83	7
KE7MSU	161	OR	SO3B	AB	23	23	7		CN85	5
KB7ME	100	OR	SOHP	AB	10	10	10		CN92	1
N7JA	68	EWA	SOP-AN	BCDE	10	17	4		CN97	1
WA7BRL	46	WWA	SOLP	AB	23	23	2		CN87	2
K7SYS	24	ID	SOLP	AB	6	6	4		DN18	2

*  =  PNWVHFS Member operating outside the Society region. Not eligible for PNWVHFS Awards.

** = Log received late, not eligible for PNWVHFS Awards.

Band Codes:
A - 50 MHz,  B - 144 MHz,  C - 220 MHz,  D - 432 MHz,  9 - 902 MHz,  E - 1.2 GHz,  F - 2.3 GHz,  G - 3.4 GHz,  H - 5.7 GHz  I - 10 GHz,  X - 17 GHz and Above

PNWVHFS Award Winners

Certificates presented at the PNWVHFS Conference, TBD 2024

Additional Rover Information

WE7X/R
Activated 4 PNW grids: CN86, CN87, CN96, CN97
Worked 5 PNW grids: CN85, CN86, CN87, CN88, CN97

KA7RRA/R
Activated 5 PNW grids: CN86, CN87, CN88, CN96, CN97
Worked 5 PNW grids: CN86, CN87, CN88, CN89, CN97

Soapbox Comments

N6ZE - WWA
Nice temperatures and clear skies, but no band openings. Saw a great Mukilteo fireworks show Saturday night, which is just across Puget Sound from me. Completed 9 QSOs with BC stations.

Equipment
- 6m: FT991 & 1/4 wave mag mount whip: 9 Q on FT-8 and 15 on SSB; 4 grids
- 2m: FT991 & 5/8 wave mag mount whip: 7 Q on FT-8 and 26 on SSB; 5 grids
- 1.25m: FT817 & Ukranian Xvtr with 6 el "WA5VJB Cheap Yagi": 12 on SSB; 4 grids
- 70cm: FT991 & 12 el M-2 yagi: 30 QSO; 6 grids
- 33cm: only copied WA9BTV

KX7L - WWA
A Saturday-only effort for me. The blue skies and pleasant temperatures were just too compelling. Nice to work all the locals!

KB7IOG - WWA
Thanks for all the contacts.

K5QE - STX
Operators: K5QE,  K5SAB,  N5YA,  KA5D,  K5ATX,  N5KDA,  KJ5BLU

AL1VE - WWA
Since I had fun on Mt Crag last year, I decided to return there again this year, but this time as a SOLP instead of a LM operation.

Although there were a couple of active forest fires nearby in the Cascades and Olympics this year it was way less smokey than last year. I could actually make out details on nearby Buck Mountain.

As noted by others, propagation conditions weren't the greatest, but that didn't suppress the number of local stations on the air. In my opinion, the lack of E-propagation on 50 MHz stimulated a number of contacts on the higher bands. Never one to miss an opportunity to experiment, I replaced all my antennas from last year's operation with homebrew antennas built from my aluminum parts stash. This included replacing last year's large 6M7 with a much shorter and lightweight five element 50 MHz LFA made from old TV antennas.

It's hard to say if this enhanced or negatively affected contact opportunities. I certainly did better with this year's Sunday morning MS operation. My best completed contact was 1800 kms, although a couple AZ and TX stations were copied.

It appears Forest Service is no longer maintaining any of the roads in the Buck Mountain or Mount Crag area. Although the upper gate leading to the Mt Crag site had been repaired since last year, again I found it unlocked. Since last year, the access roads are more potholed, have a couple of active rockfall areas and narrowed by grown-in vegetation. I used four-wheel-drive for the last 150', but vehicles with Positraction could probably make it up the last steep incline.

AL1VE used the large landing site about 50' below the Mt. Crag summit. It has a wide open horizon from N to SSW and room for several vehicles. Downtown Seattle is visible, through the smoke, just to the left of the Buck repeater site. I don't have any info on the commercial repeater on Mt Crag, but never copied any interference from it.

My rover vehicle mast provided my operating position, lodging and a mast for the upper bands. Stand-alone masts were used for a 5 el LFA and a small 3el yagi on 50 MHz

Driving Directions to Mt Crag, by AL1VE:

1. Get to Brinnon on Hwy 101, south of Quilcene.
2. At the north end of town, at the Brinnon Community Center, is Dosewallips Road which starts west between a gravel pit and a motel.
3. Set or check your odometer, as all distances will be referenced starting from Highway 101.
4. Drive 1.1 miles and watch for the 2620/Rocky Brook Rd on the North side of the road at 47.70442, -122.91274.
5. There is a "farm" with old equipment on the south side of the road.
6. The road starts out rather steep and looks like a residential access road at first, but suddenly becomes a narrow one lane forest road.
7. Go 2.9 more miles to the intersection of 2620 and 2630. 2620 is the road we stay on and it goes to the right. (4 miles showing from 101).
8. Go another 1.1 miles on 2620 to the intersection of 2620 and 030. 2620 is the road on the left and we are now 5.1 miles from highway 101.
9. Continue on 2620 another 3.2 miles, (8.3 from 101) to the top of the pass between Buck Mtn and Mt Crag.
10. As you reach the summit of the pass there is a storage area for road-building materials on the west side of the road. The road we want is numbered 050.
11. Turn west (left) on 050, travel .8 (8 tenths) miles to the intersection of 050 and 053.
12. Stay to right (uphill) and go another 1.25 miles to the intersection of 050 and 056. 056 starts as a sharp hairpin turn to the right through a gate and runs .75 miles to the end of the road.
13. Just before the end of the ridge, the road climb a very steep hill rising on your left. This goes up to a large landing here with a fairly open horizon from North to Southwest. There is a commercial(?) repeater located here.
14. It is possible, with 4wdr, to drive another 400 feet further uphill to a smaller old repeater site about 50' higher in elevation.
15. Headings can be confusing, so if you get a chance to see Mt Rainier or Mt Baker, make a note of where they are.
16. Destination is CN87mq45 at 47.76024, -122.96493.

** (During the last two years up there I have found the 056 gate unlocked and have never detected any intermod interference on 50 - 1296 MHz from the commercial repeater. Also most Forest Service signage is now missing or grown over. - AL1VE Sept 2023) **