IARU region 1 September VHF contest

Arguably, to all 144MHz aficionados, this is the most important contest of the year. A contest that attracts thousands of participants all over Europe. The high power multi op category is the pinnacle of madness: dozens of teams climbing the mountain peaks, erecting multiple antenna systems, sparing no money or effort – in the hopes of winning the IARU cup. Trust me, this is HAM Radio to the extreme.

I’ve just received photos from my friend Manu F8FKI showing TM9A field-day setup (station owner F6JMT). All these stacked yagis were put up this week, just before the contest. All of them are for 2m band only. Over 200 elements, covering all directions, instantly switch able. The shack is a converted trailer.

And the main radios: two IC-7300 with 2m transverters and one IC-9700.

Now, the French team is not the craziest team out there. Last year’s top scores came from teams having even more antennas. Fellow Frenchman TM5R has seven stacks, 8X8 N/E – 8X8 E – 8X8 S/E – 4X8 S – 4X8 S/W – 4X8 W – 4X8 N/W. A total of 320 elements. They are transmitting simultaneously in all seven antennas, in seven directions. Croatian team 9A0BB had 240 elements and came in third last year. The winner was German team DR9A. Their portable tower is mounted on a 9 tonne truck and extends 37 meters.

I would pay money to be a fly in that shack over this coming weekend. Wouldn’t you too?