It’s a challenge to operate at low power (QRP) on VHF, and since I love challenges, I was looking forward to the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest. I also considered trying out Veľká Javorina, JN88UU. However, the weather forecast called for strong winds with a Level 1 warning, which suggested the winds would be even stronger in the hills. So I decided to head to Brestovec, JN88ST, instead.
The contest starts at 9:00 a.m., which means that, including the drive and setup, I’ll be heading out shortly before 7:00 a.m. I’m pleased to see that the wind turbine on Ostrý vrch isn’t spinning—a surprising sight that means there’s little or no wind.
First, I set up the DK7ZB quad Yagi, then the 8-element DK7ZB Yagi on the second mast. I replaced the usual transformer-based power supply with a switching power supply. During a test with the generator running at full power, the output voltage of the transformer-based power supply dropped to about 12.5 V, which resulted in poor modulation. The switching power supply does not have this problem and works well with the generator. Furthermore, the power draw was lower this time, since the Kenwood TS-2000’s output was reduced to 10 W.
Number of contacts by DXCC country
I also used the SDR output for the panadapter, KST chat, and AirScout. Thanks to a bounce off an airplane, I managed to make contact with Nikol YT3N at a distance of 532 kilometers. Unfortunately, aircraft data has been loading into AirScout unreliably for some time now and dropped out several times during the contest.
I’m starting the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest with a slight 15-minute delay. Activity from stations in the south is immediately noticeable, and propagation conditions in that direction appear to have improved. Several stations also targeted high mountains and produced excellent signals even at low power.
Some stations, however, were using higher power levels as well, but even there I didn’t encounter any difficulties making contact. It’s a shame that some stations were operating exclusively on CW—otherwise, they would certainly have made it into my log. I heard three Italian stations, but I wasn’t able to make contact with any of them. However, my log includes 23 locator squares, and the average distance per contact is 235 kilometers—which is more than in the VHF PA contest!
Before the contest ended, Juraj, OM4AKF, who lives nearby and knows the area very well, came to visit me. I’m ending the contest a little early; I don’t expect to be able to increase my 16,000 points any further.
It’s a pleasure to meet friends on the band and say hello to them, and to test my skills and equipment. And that’s what the OM VHF LOW POWER Contest is all about. Thank you!