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Congratulations to Herb Murray, W3TM for taking First Place Rover-Limited in the WPA section in the ARRL June VHF contest. With the help of W3BC, the team made VHF contacts in 54 grids all over the US, from 5 different locations. A lot of hard work and cooperation paid off nicely for the intrepid adventurers as they turned the beams and eked out the weakest signals to successfully make contacts hundreds of miles away on VHF and UHF.
“Band conditions weren’t the greatest,” acknowledges Herb, but the team made the most of it with 109 QSOs, 54 grids worked + 5 grids activated, for a total of 7,257 points. “Since W3SO was having technical difficulties, I said, “Let’s go roving!'” continued Herb.
Working stations hundreds of miles away is a challenge at VHF and UHF frequencies, which are usually used for local communications within a “line of sight” distance. DuringVHF contests and other VHF activities, hams routinely stretch the distance to several hundred miles, far beyond line of sight. Making these long-distance contacts requires sensitive receivers, high-gain antennas, and lots of operating skill. Hams are up to that kind of challenge!
