Greetings   John Young, KM4KMU here.

Thank you for your efforts during the September VHF/UHF contest. I hope you had as much fun as I did. FM simplex was busy and the all too brief rag chews were fun and often inspiring.  If it were not for you being there the score would have been zero, instead it was a record high of over 14,000 points.  The final results should be in the April QST.

The January VHF/UHF contest is right around the corner and I would once again like to have your call in my log.  I will back up on Reddish Knob just west of Harrisonburg Va (FM08JL). If you have time over the January 19-20 weekend please listen for me calling CQ on 146.520 simplex (no repeater shift).

Dates & Times
Start:  Saturday January 19, 2 pm local (1900 UTC)
End:  Sunday January 20, 11 pm local (0359 Monday Jan 21 UTC)
Unless it’s busy I plan on sleeping from midnight until 5 am local Saturday.

Location
I will be operating from Reddish Knob FM08JL about 15 miles west of Harrisonburg VA at an altitude of 4,400 feet with a 360 degree field of view.  

My Station:
6m        100W      5 element beam
2m        100W      10 element beam, SSB mast mounted Pre Amp 
1.25m   100W      10 element beam (FM only)
70cm    100W      18 element beam, SSB mast mounted Pre-Amp  

Frequencies 146.520 (primary)  QSY to 52.525, 223.5 and 446.000 146.535 when 146.520 is busy with hams not contesting. The use of 520 for contesting is secondary to the needs of others.  

If you are contesting SSB I will be happy to switch over to SSB to complete contacts on bands we cant make on FM.  My antennas are racked over 30 degrees so I can work both FM and SSB with only minor losses.  

Please Spread the Word I would greatly appreciate it if you could let others know I will be out there on FM simplex that weekend.  FM simplex can be a bit of a desert.  While I do pretty good on multipliers, I generally have a much lower QSO count than most of stations I compete against.  Feel free to pass along this email or mention that I will be out there on FM to other hams.  Every little bit helps a lot.  

Schedules Feel free to arrange a schedule.   Before Friday night January 18:  Nosigma@aol.com or text to 703 678 6795. After Friday night:  Text to 703 678 6795.  Cell coverage is non existent for voice and marginal at best for text in the NRQZ, it can take 10 minutes to get a text in or out.  

Tough Grids:   There are several grids which due to terrain can be difficult to reach.  
EM96-EM99
FN00, 10, 20
FM05, 06, 17, 28, 29

These grids are critical for me to do well. I added a 2m SSB mast mounted pre-amp to improve performance into those grids.  If you are in one of these grids I suggest a scheduled QSO, it helps a lot if I have my beams pointed on you.  If you dont want to set a schedule thats OK, it takes me about an hour to work around the compass and you should hear me calling CQ on 146.520 FM at some point in the weekend.  

I hope to hear your FM rig on the air the 19th or 20th.  Don’t forget that SSB will be busy from 6m through 1296 so if you have that capability there will be a lot of folks out there.  

Thank you.  

73 John KM4KMU  

Notes:   If you would like me to drop you from my contest contacts email list that’s please let me know don’t and I will be happy to comply.   Unlike HF where assistance is not allowed, in VHF/UHF contests self spotting, setting up scheds, requesting QSO’s is allowed and in fact encouraged.  See rule 1.14 for contests above 50MHz.