06/15/2007 | KE5ELU I had big hopes for the June contest this year. I had a whole new set up from what I had last year and anticipated making lots of contacts and getting a good score. The first 7 days of June saw the most 6 meter activity we had seen all year in my area. From the 2nd through the 8th, and with just a couple hours a day, I was able to work 13 states plus Canada along with 19+ new grids. This was with just a dipole in the attic. Going into the contest with band conditions like this, I was very excited. Much to my disappointment, come contest day the band conditions were gone. 6 meters in the Central Arkansas area was all but dead. 2 meter ssb was not much better but did have a little activity with the regulars on it. 6 meters opened up briefly with less than an hour left in the contest, allowing me to work into DM79 making this my longest 6 meter contact. It closed about as fast as it opened up. 2 meters was very short with my longest contacts being in Alabama and Kentucky. Pretty much no propagation at all in my area this year made for a big disappointment but I still had a lot of fun. Hopefully next contest we will get a major band opening. Oh what fun that would be! -- KE5ELU