Well the RAC Canada Day Contest is over for another year.

As with all the RAC Contests I set certain goals for my self and for this one was no different.

The goals were as follows:

HAVE FUN- This is a must. I am a casual operator and not a “dyed in the wool” contester. The main thing is to have fun and keep it friendly… This was not an issue and I had a blast working across Canada.

TRY AND WORK CANADA COAST TO COAST TO COAST-

Well almost… I had contacts in:VE1, VE2, VE3, VE4, VE5, VE6, VE7, VE8, VE9 and VO1. East Coast to the West Coast and the North West Territory.

Unfortunately this time VO2,VY0, VY1 and VY2 escaped me.

HAVE A SCORE IN THE TOP 50% OF MY CATAGORY. Needless to say that this time its not going to happen. I made contacts on 15m, 20m and 40m and they were good contacts…. I just needed more of them.

After about 9 hours of radio stretching it out over a 24 hour period it was all over. One of the lowest scores I will not be submitting but it was still fun.

Onwards and upwards so…. Happy 4th of July to my American Friends…. I’ve already gotten 7 of the 13 Colonies station in the log and I started chasing them today.

Check out their website for more information.

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Then it looks like its back to “Playing Pota” again ….

73bob

That’s a reminder that the RAC Canada Day Contest starts at 0000 hrs UTC on July 1st and runs for 24 hours. The link will take you to the RAC Website and you can look over the rules.

Hopefully the Propagation Deity will be smiling on us for the Contest.

73bob

That’s a reminder that the RAC Canada Day Contest starts at 0000 hrs UTC on July 1st and runs for 24 hours. The link will take you to the RAC Website and you can look over the rules.

Hopefully the Propagation Deity will be smiling on us for the Contest.

73bob

Sunday afternoon after I got home from the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour I set my Buddipole up on my back deck.

Above pic shows the configuration but that’s not my deck…

It was set up as 6m dipole and was approx 20 feet off the ground. Using my Yaesu FT991a (my shack radio) I fired things up and spun the dial….

In a 30 minute time period I managed to get 9 Stations in the log. All of them were SSB contacts and they all were to the South West of my location.

Grid Squares EL87,EM31, EM53, EM73, EM90, EM94, EM98 were logged. And for the record Kingston Ontario (my home) is in FN14

I also tried 2m ssb with the 991 and my 2m halo but no luck hearing and being heard.

But still getting 9 contacts into the log using a simple dipole antenna in a small time period shows us why they call 6m the “Magic Band”

73bob

With the HF band conditions as they are today:

It might be a good thing that this weekend seems like its going to be a VHF Weekend.

Saturday and Sunday our local repeater group are assisting the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour on Saturday and Sunday.

Long time readers of this blog (thank you) will remember that this Tour has been running for many years now and 3 Amateur Radio Groups assist by providing communications for it.

The tour starts in Ottawa (Ottawa Amateurs step up) (VE2CRA Repeater)and take the back roads to Perth Ontario (Perth ARES Group) (VE3KJG repeater) and then from there take the back roads to Kingston (where the Frontenac Amateur Radio Club is located) (VE3FRG Repeater) and spend the night at Queens University.

The map is not exact…. Just shows where the tour starts and finishes

Sunday morning they do the trip in reverse…. Depart Kingston for Perth and then arrive in Ottawa on Sunday late afternoon

For my part I will be at the Saturday Finish at Queens University and will be back again at Queens at 6am for the Start of the Return trip to Ottawa.

But (if you read my previous post) this weekend is also the ARRL June VHF Contest so….

Once I get home after the Saturday shift and my Sunday shift of the Bike Tour I will be trying to give out the rare “FN14” grid square on 2m, 6m and 70cm. No beams here but its the best I can get away with here.

Enjoy your weekend and I hope to get you in my log…

73bob

This weekend is the ARRL June VHF contest. Its a fun way to test our your VHF Capabilities and your antenna systems…

The following is a “cut N paste” from the ARRL Website:

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About

Contest Objective: For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in the US (and its possessions) and Canada.

Dates: The second full weekend in June. (June 8-10, 2024)

Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC Monday.

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Now this is a busy weekend for me (radio wise) as the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour will be in Kingston during that time and its the only scheduled Public Service Event that our local group does every year.The picture on the left was taken the first year I assisted the Kingston Group on the event. Previous to that I lived in Ottawa and I participated with the Ottawa Group on the same event.

But lets get back to the contest for a bit:

First of all…. Head over to the ARRL website for the latest update and the full rules for the Contest.

Click on the ARRL logo below for the Rules PDF

Using my Yaesu FT991a I plan to be giving out the “Rare FN14” Grid square on both 2m and 6m SSB.

On Saturday my Bike tour shift will finish around 6pm (EDST) or 2200 (UTC) if I did the conversion correctly… So I plan to operate from 2300 UTC for a couple of hours.

On Sunday my tour will finish around 9am (EDST) or 1300 (UTC) once again if the conversion works and will try again then around 1400 UTC once I get home.

My 2m/70cm antenna will be a simple Halo or loop which will be horizontal at approx 20 feet above ground. The 991a has an output of 50w ssb on 2m. As the loop is “sort of” useable on 70cm I will be able to give some locals an extra multi.

My 6m antenna will be a simple “Buddipole 6m Dipole. The 991a has an output of 100w ssb so it should be able to get a bit of a signal out across the Lake (at least I hope it will).

Later tonight there is a vhf net that starts on 144.250 usb that is based in Eastern Ontario. Check out the West Carleton Amateur Radio Club for more into on that. After that they call the role on 70cm and 6m. I stand a change on 6m and 2m if someone has their beams aimed southwest. More on how this works later.

Lets see who can hear the “Popgun” with the tiny antennas…

73bob