Hi Jim, Did you connect with Jon, W0AMT/R, in DM76? John

I'll have to say, this one was hard. I heard absolutely no hint of any opening on 6 m. Despite my cell carrier claiming service in the area, they had none, so I had no way of coordinating contacts. Th

I'm heading northeast for the upcoming contest next weekend. As usual, 6/2/432, 100/100/50 W, gain antennas. Cell service at all sites looks marginal, so I plan to send updates via Slack NMVHF when I

I'm thinking I might try DM76/85/86 (near the convergence) next month, if I can figure out stuff like where I would sleep and what I would eat. If I do that, I too would love to work someone in DM74.

Using k7fry.com/grid/ DM74CX59LK : I have operated from this spot 2-3 times. If you need more space to put up antennas you might be able to go slightly further east beyond the gate on Martinez Road. I

Do you see just one (shifting) FT8 signal on 432, or more than one? I'm wondering if you also see a stationary signal. If it's aircraft, I'd also expect that it would eventually disappear, or sometime

Half the battle was just keeping equipment and operator cool enough to get through the weekend. The only major failure was the battery booster, which popped under the stress Saturday afternoon. Propag

My plans for this weekend are pretty simple: DM76va Saturday 1800-0100Z (maybe later if I'm being productive) DM63qv Sunday 1400-2100 Z 6m 100 W + Moxon 2m 100 W + 6 el. All modes. I'll occasionally p

Thank you all for the info and good advice. Seems worth a try next time I'm out but not too far from civilization. John AA5PR

Are there points to be had on FM simplex during the contests? If so, what's the etiquette for getting them? I suspect that calling "CQ contest" on 146.52 might not fly.... John AA5PR

Over the last year or so I put effort into improving the antenna configuration on my rover to reduce setup and teardown times, so this time around felt I could visit 7 grids during the contest. That w

Jay - Glad I could help. Getting there is the only hard part for me. You make the rest easy. Drive, set up, turn on radio, W9RM is calling. And most critically, hearing me. 73, John AA5PR

My plan for this weekend is below. I expect times will be accurate only given poor conditions on 6 m. If 6 is open, I'll probably stay wherever I am until my productivity starts to seriously decline.

Jay - I'm thinking of DM72/73/82/83 on Sunday. Based on experience, if I start the day in DM82 we should have no problem. DM81 is not in the plan this time around - I'm not done with New Mexico. John,

I'm tentatively planning on going in the opposite direction (southeast NM) this time around. DM55/56 are not great places to visit at the moment. That said, I need a little push (lacking an antenna) t

Jonesy - I suggest you take a look at your candidate locations using heywhatsthat.com, which will generate panoramas showing your horizon. You'll be in the neighborhood of some pretty significant peak

I'll be roving southwest NM this weekend for the contest. I'll be on NMVHF Slack chat and wherever else I can find takers. Feel free to text me at 505-373-4671 if you want to get my attention. Times a

Anyone have plans yet for roving during the January contest? I expect to be a bit more agile this time around, but haven't figured out where I'm going. I'd be happy to coordinate to maximize grid cove

KD - The WSJT-X FreqCal process should reliably get you very close unless your rig is drifting badly. You might try FreqCal at cold start, after 1 hour on receive, and after some high-duty-cycle trans

I spent early Saturday afternoon in DM55 in the Cibola National Forest south of Thoreau, NM. In the couple of hours I had there, I enjoyed the 6m opening that stretched as far east as EM64 from my loc