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KX9X/1 - FN45 for CQ WW VHF

Jul 26, 2009 11:32 ET
Sean E. Kutzko, KX9X

Crossing into FN45 on Highway 145 in New Hampshire.

The balcony of our rental house in Pittsburg, NH in FN45. My antennas, Magalloway Mountain and the First Connecticut Lake are seen in the background.

The contest was a little slow on Saturday afternoon...

Cheryl spent Saturday hiking to the top of Magalloway Mountain and saw the fire tower. At 3,300 feet, this would be a great place to operate VHF+ from, if you could secure permission to operate from the tower.

Casey loved the view from atop Magalloway Mountain.

Conditions hadn't picked up by the time Cheryl got back from her Saturday afternoon hike.

Cheryl and I on the Wildlife Trail, standing over the Connecticut River on Magalloway Road between Second Connecticut and First Connecticut Lakes. The river is only about fifteen feet wide and a few feet deep here.

The US-Canadian border, at the trailhead for the hike to the Fourth Connecticut Lake.

One of several markers on the ground on the Fourth Connecticut Lake trail, delineating the US-Canadian border.

The obligatory "standing in two countries at the same time" photo.

The views along the rugged trail were well worth the serious effort of hiking it.

Hiking is fun.. physical exhaustion isn't. Boy, I need to start going to the gym.

Fourth Connecticut Lake, the one-acre pond/bog that is the source of the mighty Connecticut River.

Straddling the outflow from the southeast corner of Fourth Connecticut Lake. This is where the Connecticut River begins. It concludes its 410-mile journey through New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut by emptying into the Long Island Sound, near the village of Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

Hi folks-

Being on the other side of the pileup is where the fun is. I try to visit there as much as I can. As an active VHF+ operator (mostly 6 and 2 meters), this means operating from rare grid squares during VHF contests. Operating from a rare grid for VHF+ work can be just as exciting as traveling to a DXCC country for an HF contest, doesn't cost as much, and the antennas are smaller, which means a bit of driving can get you to some pretty remote operating positions. When the bands are open, the pileups can be just as exciting as in an HF contest.

I live in New England now, where truly rare grids are few and far between; the population density of the Northeast, combined with lots of VHF Rover and portable activity, has made most grids in the FN field relatively easy to work. However, thanks to the Fred Fish Memorial Award's Most Needed Grid Survey, some grid squares in the New England area still appear needed by many VHF'ers.

It had been a long time since I had participated in the CQ Worldwide VHF Contest. I just participated in the ARRL June VHF QSO Party as part of the W5ZN Limited Multioperator effort in EM45, had a couple vacation days coming, and was looking for something fun to do. My girlfriend also had a big certification exam coming up for her Occupational Therapy license and wanted to get away for a few days to do some last-minute cramming for her exam. After a bit of looking at the FFMA Most-Needed map, I decided to activate FN45, which is in high demand on 6 Meters, especially by many west-coast VHF'ers. This year's summer season sporadic-E propagation on 6 Meters has been nothing short of amazing, and I wanted to take advantage of the excellent conditions and hand out a rare grid to The Deserving.

Most of FN45 is in Canada. It is very rugged, mountainous terrain, and finding a high spot that will provide a good radio horizon is not an easy task in this grid. I consulted with a couple of experts in the area, particularly David K1WHS, who provided me with a couple of possible operating locations. I ultimately settled on a site in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire, near the town of Pittsburg. On Friday July 17th, my girlfriend Cheryl and I packed up her Honda Civic with 25 feet of antenna mast, a 3-element 6 meter beam, a 5-element 2 Meter beam, two 100-watt rigs, some tools, her dog Casey, and some clothes, and headed for Pittsburg, NH. It was a tight fit, but we managed to get all of that stuff in her tiny car. It's a good thing the rear seats fold down to create a hatchback-like feel, or this wouldn't have been possible.

Pittsburg, NH is a VERY beautiful place. Located in the heart of the Great North Woods, it has lots of things of interest, including being the largest township in the United States (over 300,000 acres), the home of the four Connecticut Lakes that are the source of the Connecticut River, and at one point was its own nation, having become the Republic of Indian Stream in the 1830's as a result of a border dispute between the US and Canada. The border disupute was peacefully resolved with the signing of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

We arrived at our rental cottage about 4pm, checked in, got some groceries, and I was putting antennas up by 5:30. By the time the antennas were in the air, it was raining, we had been eaten alive by mosquitoes and flies, and the bands were dead. I had also made a sad discovery; the view from our cabin was tremendous, but unfortunately it was straight east. To the west and southwest (the directions I would have to point to cover most of the United States), there was a hill directly in our path, not far from our cabin. The line of sight issue was going to be a factor, especially on 2 meters.

Saturday I awoke to find 6 slightly open. I worked several stations to the south and out to the Midwest, including K0SIX in Minnesota. The contest started at 1800z Saturday and ran until 2100z Sunday. Unfortunately, 6 meters died about one hour before the contest, and there was VERY little propagation to be had all day. I worked a lot of locals, including K1WHS, K1TOL, N1JEZ and other regional big guns. With their giant home stations and antennas, they were working a lot more stations in the New England area than I was. I kept switching from 6 meters to 2 meters, but with no enhancement, I wasn't having much luck at all. Cheryl wanted a break from studying, to she hitched up Casey and took a hike around First Connecticut lake, and discovered Magalloway Mountain and its fire tower. At 3300 feet, it's the tallest peak in the area. I wonder if you can operate from the building atop the tower?

As the contest progressed and I heard no enhancement,my heart sank. I like putting rare grids on the air, but when the propagation gods don't smile on you and you call CQ endlessly on a dead band, it can get depressing. I took short breaks here and there to eat, watch a little TV, and try to keep my spirits up. Saturday night, I had a sked with W4NX in FM19 at 0300z, but I never heard even a ping from him. Dissatisfied, I went to bed and hoped the next day would bring better propagation.

I got up on Sunday about 5:30 (0930z), turned on the rig and tried to work some early-morning tropo on 2 meters. Nothing doing... not even some pings on 6 meters. Cheryl went out for another hike as I tried to convince her I was having a good time ("No, really honey, listening to this pre-recorded voice loop of me endlessly calling CQ is FUN!"). I was hoping Sunday would give us some propagation.

At 1236, I worked VP9/WA4PGM in FM72. Hmmm. Could we be getting a Caribbean opening? I spun the antennas down towards the West Indies and lucked out, working CO8LY in FL10, J79PAK in FK95 and VP2MSJ in FK86. While that was certainly nice, it wasn't a strong opening to a large population center.Would conditions open to the south?

Indeed they would! I worked W4SO in south Florida at 1328, and then W4VHF/R in EM97 at 1344. This began the first decent opening all contest weekend. I worked as many as I could, but while the opening was sustained, it wasn't terribly strong. I only worked about 60 stations in 2 hours. In the middle of the opening I was called by AA4SC, who came back to me a couple minutes later. "Could you repeat your grid?" I repeated FN45. "Well, thanks for my last needed grid in New England!" That's the kind of stuff that makes going on Grid DXpeditions worthwhile.

Things to the southeast slowed considerably at that point, but I worked VO1KVT in Newfoundland (Grid GN29) and he was loud as could be. With his position north, and a weak-but-sustained cloud to the south, could double-hop out west be far behind?

For me, no. I found out after the contest that VO1KVT had completed with Bill, W5WVO in New Mexico, which resulted in new grids for both of them. However, I never heard any station during the contest any further west than K0SIX in EN35; he called me in the middle of my opening to the southeast, but I never heard another station in that direction.

The band folded at 1640z on Sunday, with my last QSO being K6JPD/4. After an hour of CQing with no replies and hearing no other stations, I took a calculated risk: The band wouldn't open for the remainder of the contest, but might open later in the evening. I decided to get out of the cabin for a while and see some of the countryside. As it turned out, K6JPD/4 was my last QSO in the contest.

Cheryl and I went out for a drive and saw some of the mountains and rugged terrain that is the Great North Woods. It is strikingly beautiful, with lots of wildlife, few people, and excellent fishing in the lakes.We opted for a drive around Lake Francis, on the Wildlife Trail, in the hopes of seeing a moose. While the views of the forest and mountains were exceptional, we didn't see a moose; maybe they were hiding in the same places as the good 6-meter propagation.

We got back to the cabin about 2 hours later and were preparing dinner when there was a knock on our cabin. It turned out to be Art, KA1YVU, who was a local in the Pittsburg area. I worked him in the contest, and he said he hadn't been on 6 meters in several years. He read in CQ Magazine in the VHF column that I was coming up to FN45, and he decided to dust off the old gear and see if he could work me. I had, and he stopped by to chat for a bit and hand-deliver a QSL card. We talked for a while about the local hams in the area and how rare FN45 was. With his getting back on 6 meters, I hope that there will be other resident hams that will hand out FN45 more often during next year's Sporadic-E season. I also worked VA2JOT in FN45, so there are at least a couple of resident hams on 6 meters in FN45.

Sunday night, after dinner, my calculated risk paid off; 6 opened up again to the southeast. I worked a handful of stations, mostly in the Carolinas. My last QSO was with KJ4EUT in EL98 at 0001Z on July 20. The band folded after that.

I worked a total of 136 QSOs in 58 grids. Not bad, considering the lack of a sustained opening. I would have preferred more, but that's why they call it SPORADIC-E propagation.

Monday morning I packed up the antennas and we hit the road by 10am. I've been fascinated by the Connecticut River since I moved to take the job at ARRL HQ, and I wanted to see the source of this great river. The guidebooks and trail maps show the official source to be the Fourth Connecticut Lake, a small, 1-acre bog right on the border with Canada. To get to the lake, you must climb a very steep, rocky, muddy trail that's no more than 18 inches wide in most spots for about 3/4 of a mile. It is not an easy hike, and in the noon-day sun on a hot July day, it really knocked me for a loop. However, to finally make it to the top and find the little outflow on the southeast side of the lake that was the official beginnings of the Connecticut River was totally worth the effort. Over 400 miles long from the source to the mouth at Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River is over 2,100 feet wide near Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Here at the source, I was able to straddle the river. Such things never cease to amaze me.

The trip to FN45 was not a huge success in terms of handing out a new grid to the Deserving, especially those out west. However, it is the DOING that counts. I have no control over propagation, but I know that if I let the uncertainty of good propagation keep me from going, nobody will work me. It is always better to try and be unsuccessful than to not try at all.

No doubt I will be active from another rare grid next summer...it's what I love about ham radio. You can do it, too. Make your own adventure, find a rare grid, and go have fun!

73,

Sean Kutzko KX9X

ARRL Contest Branch Manager