A trip like this with the kids to see the snow can be a source of inspiration for a ham radio operator. Don’t believe it? If you take the road from Ilava to Prievidza, you’ll pass through the Homôlka mountain pass, a well-known center for winter and summer tourism, situated on the border of the Strážovské vrchy and the White Carpathians, not far from the picturesque village of Valaská Belá. The impressive views of the surrounding area are also captivating, which suggested that this might be a suitable VHF spot.
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How to Choose a Location for a VHF Portable?
When selecting a location for the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest, I considered both Považský Inovec (JN98as) and Portáš, JN99ch. I tested Považský Inovec in 2018, and while it’s a good hilltop, the conditions there aren’t ideal for portable operations because it’s a very busy area. Portáš is used by OM3W, who have a permanent station there. And when skopys.cz showed that from Homôlka (JN98dv) I might actually be able to make contacts in key directions, I decided to head to a new vantage point this time. Homôlka is used by the OM3KOM group, the Dubnica nad Váhom Radio Club. You can tell that as soon as you reach the top of the ski slope.
OM3KOM antennas at JN98dv
Preparing to transmit
After inspecting the antennas (one reflector was broken), I set up my more modest setup. This is a big plus in contests like the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest. You can carry all your gear on your own to most hills. Mine consists of:
- 6-element YU7EF Yagi antenna
- Kenwood TR-751E transceiver
- 4.5-meter telescopic mast
- a netbook with N1MM+ logbook
- 12V 7Ah + 12Ah lead-acid batteries
- 12V / 19V step-up converter for the netbook
OM0A contest setup
A new addition was the YU7EF antenna. It seems the good rumors about this antenna are true. The antenna really does have a very clean radiation pattern. While it’s not necessary to log on a laptop, it does have its advantages. Since the built-in battery doesn’t last the entire contest, a step-up converter takes care of recharging.
I don’t know why, but setting up the rig takes much longer than packing it up. But it went fairly smoothly. Ready to transmit 10 minutes before the start of the contest—so I even had some time to spare! After turning on the transceiver, I heard a rattling and crackling sound coming from the speaker. Phew! It took a while to find the source. It was OM4CW at the bottom of the SSB segment calling out. To my ear, the signal didn’t seem overmodulated, but it was generating quite a bit of intermodulation products. Yuck!
At the same time, it’s a good thing I didn’t make the trip to Portáš. Right among my first contacts was OM5ZW from JN98as. So it’s a good thing I didn’t go to Považský Inovec either.
View from Homôlka JN98dv toward the west
What kind of contacts are possible with QRP on VHF?
Connections came in steadily, the vast majority through scanning. Calling didn't work very well. Two stations from Germany made it into the log. The first one, DR1H, ended up being the ODX at a distance of 521 km. In addition, I also heard DM5TI and IQ3LX.
GridSquare 144 Tot Accum
JN59 1 1 1
JN69 3 3 4
JN76 4 4 8
JN77 2 2 10
JN79 1 1 11
JN84 1 1 12
JN85 2 2 14
JN86 3 3 17
JN88 3 3 20
JN89 3 3 23
JN95 1 1 24
JN97 1 1 25
JN98 7 7 32
JN99 8 8 40
JO50 1 1 41
JO60 2 2 43
JO70 1 1 44
JO80 3 3 47
JO90 2 2 49
JO91 1 1 50
KN08 1 1 51
Total 51 51 51
Map of OM0A contacts in the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest 2020
It’s fair to say that Homôlka is a pretty good hilltop. The equipment worked well, and the power supply held up. Thanks, and see you on the air again, friends!