I believe the 2013 June VHF contest can be summed up as shock and awe.   The bands were doing crazy things this year, but it added to the excitement of the event.  I worked lots of new and distant grids on both 6 and 2 meters. The weather was phenomenal with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s for most of the contest, which is considered chilly for Texas in June.   This was perfect weather for outside operation of the contest in portable mode.

I worked hard before the 2012 contest to maximize my portable VHF setup only to find that the bands didn’t cooperate during that contest.  This left me with a mediocre score which was disheartening.  One good outcome was little preparation was needed for the contest this year.  I hoisted the beams, ran the coax, setup the table and chair, hooked up the radios and solar panel, and was on the air in quick fashion. 

I was a little worried as the 2013 contest started that things were headed in the same direction as 2012.   Six meters was slow when the contest started on Saturday.  However, right off the bat the strangeness of the contest began as I logged Dominican Republic on six meters within minutes of contest start.  This was followed up by several other grids in the Caribbean.    I have never worked that far out with QRP power.     

The Caribbean Es cloud slowly moved west throughout Saturday afternoon.  I was able to work some stations in South Florida and the gulf, followed by eastern Mexico.   My log quickly filled with new EL grids which was a real treat.   Before long stations in EK were appearing on the band, and I was able to work EK98 near Mexico City, a new one for me.   Unfortunately most of these were low ham population grids, so my gird multipliers piled up, but the contact count was low.

Just when things couldn’t get stranger, six meters went short.   I began working stations in far South Texas from North Texas with 5 watts!  It was a struggle but I was racking up grids that I had never heard before in the home state on the magic band.  As I worked several stations along the border I could hear stations in Houston and Austin, but with only 5 watts to work with I couldn’t confirm a contact.

Late Saturday afternoon a complex of thunderstorms formed in the Texas Panhandle that lead to several unstable openings into Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah.  All the while the band was also still open into Mexico via the old Es cloud.  This gave my “armstrong” rotator a workout as I spun the beam to and fro grabbing stations as they appeared on the band.    I was treated to a wonderful Texas sunset courtesy of the same storm complex as I worked new grids via its Es cloud.

Later that evening as six meters closed, I transitioned my operations over to 2 meter and 432 SSB.   The craziness continued on two meters as I worked into Oklahoma and Kansas with 9 watts!   My guess is the strong thunderstorm complex to my north was creating an enhancement.  My grid count on 2 meters quickly increased as did the excitement of working new grids.  

While working a station in Kansas I heard a weak station calling CQ from EM56.  I just about fell out of my lawn chair.  I fired out my callsign and the station came right back to me.  I was so shocked I had to ask him three times to confirm he was in Tennessee, and each time he said yes.  I was blown away, 496 miles with 9 watts on 2 meters. What an amazing way to end the first day of the contest!

On Sunday, six meters really redeemed itself from Saturday’s strangeness.  I had solid openings into 1,2,3,4,6,7,8, 9, and 0 lands.   I very quickly racked up lots of contacts and new grids from the northeastern states, through the Midwest, and finally into the desert southwest.   This combined with all the strange and rare grids I worked on Saturday lead to a good final score when the dust finally settled.

The VHF contest is by far the most interesting and fun contest that I participate in.  The unpredictability of the VHF bands is what adds to the excitement of this contest.  With each contest, I start out wondering what surprises I’ll encounter, and finish the contest amazed at a new outcome.  This year is no different with lots of shock and awe moments and new grids in my log. 

 As to running the contest as a portable QRP station, I say it every year.  It’s truly awesome to run a “compromise” station, portable setup, arm-strong rotator, and 5 watts of power and make boatloads of contacts.   As I always say, what fun is running a kilowatt when it’s possible to work ‘em with much less?