‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM AUGUST 2005 QST PAGES 70 AND 103 ‰ OR 2 METERS, SO YOU ALREADY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT DIRECTION THEY ARE. THUS ANY CONVENIENT WAY TO PRODUCE LARGE AMOUNTS OF GAIN WILL WORK. ONE APPROACH IS TO PUT UP A 70 FT 22 M TOWER WITH TWO H FRAMES ONE ABOVE THE OTHER. ON THE BOTTOM, VERTICALLY STACK TWO 17 FT 5 M B ‰ FROM PAGE 103 ‰ I4WZT/341 I5ENL/343 I5FLN/359 I5ICY/342 I5IGQ/342 I5JHW/345 I5KKW/346 THE WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ THIS MONTH WE COMPLETE THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE SERIES ON VHF CONTESTING. THE FIRST TWO SEGMENTS, IN THE MARCH AND JULY 2005 COLUMNS, COVERED THE BASICS OF SETTING UP THE HARDWARE AND OPERATING CONTESTS. THIS SEGMENT WILL DISCUSS THE HIGH PERFORMANCE SINGLE OP HIGH POWER STATION AND ITS OPERATION. THERE WONT BE MUCH DETAIL BUT THERE WILL BE AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT IT TAKES. THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO PROCEED BUT THIS WAY SHOULD WORK. A LITTLE PHILOSOPHY FIRST LETS DEFINE WHAT WE MEAN BY A WINNING PERFORMANCE. YOUR GOAL SHOULD BE THE TOP SCORE FOR WHATEVER IS YOUR GEOGRAPHICAL REGION AND NATIONALLY A FINISH IN THE TOP TEN IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE BIG THREE ARRL VHF CONTESTS. YOU MAY NOT ACCOMPLISH THIS EVERY TIME BUT THAT IS YOUR GOAL. OF ALL THE ARRL CONTESTS, SUCCESS IN THE VHF CONTESTS IS LESS DEPENDENT ON GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION THAN ANY OTHERS. LOOK AT THE DX CONTESTS AND THE HF SS AS EXAMPLES. BUT VHF CONTESTS HAVE HAD TOP SCORES FROM A VARIETY OF GEOGRAPHIC AREAS BEYOND THE NORTHEAST WA8WZG NORTHWESTERN OH K9PW AND WB9Z IL W5ZN AR NW5E FL AND K0GU CO TO MENTION JUST A FEW. THIS IS DUE TO THE VAGARIES OF ES AND TROPO ‰ FROM PAGE 103 ‰ DU9RG/342 EA4DO/364 EA4DX/341 EA4GT/344 EA4KD/341 EA5AT/341 EA7DUD/341 EA8AKN/341 F2VX/356 F5KOK/346 F5VU/357 F6AJA/357 F6ANA/341 F6AOI/359 F6DLM/346 F6DZU/345 F6ELE/341 F6EWK/346 F6EXV/346 F6HIZ/341 F9GL/371 PROPAGATION AND A POINT SCORING SYSTEM THAT SO STRONGLY EMPHASIZES MICROWAVE CONTACTS. LETS NOW LOOK AT THE KEYS TO A WINNING PERFORMANCE AN OPTIMIZED STATION FROM AN OPTIMIZED LOCATION USING THE MOST EFFECTIVE OPERATING APPROACHES. LOCATION REREAD THE MARCH 2005 WORLD ABOVE 50 MHZ. IF YOU WANT ANY CHANCE TO WIN, EVERY SINGLE FACTOR IS IMPORTANT. IN FACT A SUPERIOR LOCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT IN VHF CONTESTS THAN IN ANY OTHER CONTESTS. YOU NEED TO BE CONSIDERABLY ABOVE THE LOCAL TERRAIN AND ABSOLUTELY CLEAR IN THE DIRECTIONS OF HIGH POPULATION DENSITY. LOCAL NOISE IS ALSO CRITICAL. YOU WILL WANT A LOCATION WITH FEW OR NO NEIGHBORS. AT THE LEGAL LIMIT, ESPECIALLY ON 6 METERS, YOU ARE BOUND TO CAUSE RFI TO CONSUMER DEVICES IF THEY ARE LOCATED TOO CLOSE TO YOUR ANTENNAS. OPTIMIZED VHF CONTEST ANTENNA SYSTEMS REQUIRE HIGH GAIN BUT PATTERNS SUCH THAT YOU WILL HEAR AND BE HEARD OVER A WIDE AREA AT ALL TIMES. FOR SIX METERS YOUR ANTENNAS HAVE TO GENERATE ALL ANGLES OF RADIATION USEFUL FOR ES AND ‰ FROM PAGE 103 ‰ F9RM/376 G0DQS/341 G3KMA/360 G3NDC/348 G3NLY/367 G3SNN/344 G3UML/366 G4BWP/344 G4IUF/342 GM3BQA/365 GM3WIL/344 GW3CDP/347 HA0DU/350 HB9AAA/362 ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ