01/21/2008 | N0JK I set up my portable station Saturday at the "Cattle Pens" in the Flint Hills of EM18 2 hours before the start. I turned on the 6 Meter radio to check the SWR and heard very loud CW down in the beacon band. The W9DR/b on 50.062 MHz in EL86 was booming in! Cool, a big contest Es opening right at the start, I hoped. But the Florida 6 Meter beacon faded out about 30 minutes before the start of the contest and I heard no more Es.

E-skip was spotted after the contest started to the south - Oklahoma and Texas to Florida,
and a nice opening along the east coast between Florida to 1, 2 and 3 land. My
best "DX" on 6 meters was KG5MD EM36 Midway, AR at 415 km. Not bad for 10 watts
and a 2 el yagi on groundwave. I heard K8MD EN82 and a station in DM65 briefly
on "scatter." 2 Meter conditions were terrible - only N0LL and KB0HH logged. As
the sun went down my hopes for a contest Es opening faded with it. Then it
started snowing, I got really cold (-3 deg F windchill), decided I had enough
and packed up. From high hopes to freezing fingers - that is the January VHF
Sweepstakes s/o portable in the heartland. -- N0JK