Hi folks-

The ARRL Programs and Services Committee approved the following VUAC's recommendations to the ARRL VHF Contest program:

1) Limited Rover: Limited Rovers will now be able to enter only on the four lowest bands for any given ARRL VHF contest. For January, June and September, this means 6 Meters, 2 Meters, 220 MHz and 432 MHz. For the August UHF Contest, this means 220 MHz, 432 MHz, 902 MHz and 1.2 GHz.

2) Club Competition is now permitted in the August UHF Contest.

These changes take effect immediately, and have been noted on the ARRL web site. Stations planning to enter as Limited Rover in the 2009 ARRL June VHF QSO Party should take note.

73,

Sean Kutzko KX9X

ARRL Contest Branch Manager

Hi Folks-

The 2008 ARRL 160M Contest Web results are now online. You can find the link to them at:

http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/

73, Sean KX9X

Hi folks-

What more can be said about Dayton that hasn't already been written? It's an amazing experience, one that every amateur should take part in at least once. This was actually only my second Dayton, but it was full of lots of fun things. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza this year, which is where all the contesters and DX'ers stay. It was a lot of fun to put a face to the calls I've been logging for years, sometimes decades. It's four days of set-up, meet and greet, fun, friendship, no sleep, teardown and dash to the airport. It's a whirlwind pace, and it's incredible. Hara Arena was also the site of an excellent concert by my favorite band, the Grateful Dead, back on November 30, 1981. Given how popular they became later in their career and how relatively small Hara Arena is, I can only imagine how much fun it must have been to see the Dead in such a small hall.For my fellow deadhead hams, you can download a fine audience recording of the show here. The Dead always allowed fans to record their concerts and share them freely, so enjoy it all you want.

Some of the highlights of the 2009 Hamvention for me were:

Meeting a lot of folks and having them say what a great job we've done to get radiosport more visible in QST and at ARRL HQ. All I can say is, thanks... everybody likes to get vaildation for their efforts. I appreciate all feedback, of course, but it's nice when it's good. :) If you see something that is in need of improvement here at the Contest Branch, let me know.

Spent a lot of time with in the IARU booth with the folks from the DARC and JARL, as well as new IARU President Tim Ellem, VE6SH and Vice- President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR. My primary responsibility was to oversee a CW competition using the RUFZ CW trainer. Chip Margelli, K7JA from Heil Sound graciously gave us some Heil Pro-Sound headsets as prizes for those who could copy CW the best with RUFZ. We had over 35 participants in 4 different categories based on age and experience with RUFZ. The overall winner was Uli, KK8I/DL2HBX, copying CW at over 70 words per minute. 14 year old Cal, K0DXC, was our winner in the "Youth" category at a very competitive 68 WPM, and Paul, N4PN was a winner in our "over 30" category. Congrats to all you gents!

Field Day was a big part of the ARRL's presence at Dayton this year. No, Field Day isn't a contest, but a lot of people treat it like one. Thanks to everybody who stopped by the booth and asked questions and shared their plans for this year. We ran out of special ARRL Field Day frisbees we were giving away. Dan Henderson N1ND, who is ARRL's Field Day Manager, referred to them as the official "Field Day Dinner Plate." We also gave out over 5,000 posters clubs can use to promote their Field Day operations in their community. Way to go, folks! It was also fun to speak at the Field Day forum on Friday morning, along with Ward, N0AX, on how to recruit more people into becoming hams from your Field Day presence.

I had a lot of comments on the Sweesptakes brooms this year. I'm glad that we could make the 75th year of SS so special for everybody, but ultimately, it's you that made the event. By getting on in record numbers, even at the bottom of the sunpot cycle, the 2008 November Sweepstakes will be talked about for years to come.

It was especially gratifying to be on stage with Ken Adams, K5KA, during the presentation of the Sweepstakes club competition gavels at the Contest Forum. Ken has busted his butt over the last couple years to keep SS fun for everybody, and the crystal gavel presentations were the culmination of a lot of work to make the 2008 Sweepstakes extra-special. Thanks to Doug, K1DG for squeezing us in at the forum and making that happen. Hats off to the members of the Potomac Valley Radio Club, the Southern California Contest Club and the New Mexico Big River Contesters for winning the 2008 November Sweepstakes crystal gavels in the Unlimited, Medium and Local Club categories, respectively.

On Saturday afternoon, I was asked to sit in with a roundtable discussion at the ARRL Youth booth. They were discussing how to get more youth on the air, and contest participation was one of the major topics. It was great to listen to what they had tosay, and a couple of really great ideas came from it. I've taken on a couple of "action items" and we'll see how we can get more of the youngsters involved in contesting.

The evening is when various clubs host hospitality suites at the Crowne, and it was gratifying to meet more people. I had lots of great conversations with folks about 6 Meter Grid DXpedtions for the Fred Fish Memorial Award, getting on during the Year of the State QSO Party, and wondering aloud about whether we're ever going to see sunspots again.

I had to swing by the Society of Midwest Contesters suite, of course...being a former "9," it was good to visit with so many folks from my old stomping grounds. Hanging out with so many friends from back home was great, including K9CT, KA9FOX, K9PG, KJ9C, K9ZO, K9GY, K9MMS, W9RE, K9AY and so many others.

Saturday night was the Contest Banquet. Thanks to Mike KH6ND, I was able to sit with the KH6 gang, which was a lot of fun. It was good to hear about operating the big events from the Pacific Island from a great bunch of oeprators. They put in a lot of hours to give you the KH6 mult. Of course, the highlight of the dinner was seeing Reverend Paul Bittner, W0AIH, get inducted into the CQ Contest Hall Of Fame. W0AIH's Wisconsin antenna farm is legendary, and at 75, Paul is still adding more towers. He is one of contesting's elder statesmen, a modest gentleman, and has given back a lot to the contesting community over the years. He is deserving of such a great honor. Congratulations, Paul.

Saturday night was the Kansas City DX Club's CW Pileup contest. I've heard about it for many years, but this was the first year I've participated. You're taken into a room with 5 other people, sit down at a laptop, and they give everybody a set of headphones. They play a five-minute tape of contest-style CW, with many calls sent over the time period. Your job is to copy as many calls as you can. Several calls are sent at the same time, just like a pileup, sent above and below your "zero-beat" frequency, at varying speeds, and with some interesting effect,s like noise, chirp, fading, and every other realistic effect they could add! I was able to write down 36 calls, which was thinned down to 25 after scoring. That put me in the middle of the pack. The KCDXC Pileup Contest is a heck of a lot of fun, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It didn't register until after it was over that I'd been seated across from none other than John, K4BAI. I've worked John dozens of times, most recently in a lot of QRP events. Thanks for all the QSOs, John.

Sunday morning, I didn't have a ride from the Crowne back to the Hamvention, so I hung out in the lobby and tried to bum a ride. I was getting desperate; I was about to start writing a sign that said "Will Give 25,000 Contest Points For A Ride To Hara Arena," but fortunately Craig K9CT and Bill, ND9E said they'd help me out and give me a ride back to Hamvention on their way out of town. Thanks guys, the check is in the mail!

I got to meet a lot of folks from my hometown of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois on Sunday. Ben K9BF and his wife Sheryl N9DOG, Milt K9QZI, Mark KC9DUU, and Pat N9GOC and his wife Donna, N9KVE were all on hand to say hello. I even got to see my old Elmer, Don W9CW, the Advertising Manager for CQ Magazine.

This morning I'm back at my desk at HQ, sorting through all my notes and taking care of a few business items I learned about while at Dayton. Thanks to everybody who said hello, and don't forget to drop me a note if there's anything you need or have a question.

Thanks for a great time! See ya in the pileups.

Sean KX9X

Hi folks-

It was reported yesterday that several people have started receiving their 2008 June VHF QSO Party plaques. This is good news! Congratulations to all the winners.

A special thanks to Steve Clifford, K4GUN, who was able to get his employer Toyota to become the Rover Plaque Sponsor for all available Rover plaques for 2008. We hope Toyota will be back as a plaque sponsor again this year, and talks are underway.

I am also happy to announce a change in the structure of the June VHF Plaque program, beginning with 2009. The ARRL Programs and Services Committee voted to change the structure of the June VHF plaque program. In the past, June VHF plaques had previously been issued for the top ten finishers in each category, regardless of their location. The PSC voted this spring to change this to awarding plaques based on ARRL Division, just like all other ARRL plaque programs. As every VHF'er knows, propagation characteristics vary tremendously from different areas of the country; the Southeast will have a completely different experience during the June VHF Contest compared to the Pacific Northwest, for example. We hope the change in the plaque program structure will better highlight the accomplishments of VHF'ers and foster more competition on the Section and Division level.

To that end, there are now 152 plaques available for the June VHF QSO Party.

The entry categories are:

Single Operator High Power, Single Operator Low Power, Single Operator QRP Portable, Multioperator, Limited Multioperator, Rover, Limited Rover, Unlimited Rover.

Plaques will be awarded to the top overall winner of each entry category, as well as the top scorers in the following Divisions:

Atlantic Division (DE, EPA, MDC, NNY, SNJ, WNY, WPA sections)
Central Division (IL, IN, WI sections)
Dakota Division (MN, ND, SD sections)
Delta Division (AR, LA, MS, TN sections)
Great Lakes Division (KY, MI, OH sections)
Hudson Division (ENY, NLI, NNJ sections)
Midwest Division (IA, KS, MO, NE sections)
New England Division (CT, EMA, ME, NH, RI, VT, WMA sections)
Northwestern Division (AK, EWA, ID, MT, OR, WWA sections)
Pacific Division (EB, NV, PAC, SV, SF, SJV, SCV sections)
Roanoke Division (NC, SC, VA, WEV sections)
Rocky Mountain Division (CO, NM, UT, WY sections)
Southeastern Division (AL, GA, NFL, PR, SFL, VI, WCF sections)
Southwestern Division (AZ, LAX, ORG, SDG, SB sections)
West Gulf Division (NTX, OK, STX, WTX sections)
Canada
Mexico
DX (All stations that are in DXCC countries other than the United States, Canada or Mexico)

There are numerous plaque sponsorships available for the new plaque categories. Plaque sponsors from 2008 were given first choice of plaques to sponsor. The following plaques are already sponsored for 2009:

Overall Winner, Single Operator QRP Portable

Overall Winner, Multioperator

Overall Winner, Limited Multioperator

Overall Winner, Unlimited Rover

Atlantic Division Multioperator

Northwestern Division Multioperator

Southwestern Division Single Operator High Power

The remaining plaques are available for sponsorship on a first-come, first-served basis. If you or your club would be interested in sponsoring a 2009 June VHF contest plaque, feel free to call or email me with your request and I will fill them as best as I can. Plaque sponsorship is $75 per plaque, which includes shipping to the winner. Plaque sponsors will be recognized on the plaque itself, in QST and on the ARRL web site.

As always, plaques that go unsponsored may be purchased by the winner.

Thanks for your interest in ARRL VHF contests; let's hope we all get some propagation for the June event!

73,

Sean Kutzko KX9X

ARRL Contest Branch Manager

kx9x@arrl.org

(860) 594-0232

Hi folks-

Certificates for the 2008 June VHF QSO Party went out the door today. Plaques were ordered and will begin shipping in a few weeks. I'll post another notification when the plaques go out the door.

Sean KX9X