10/25/2005 | K8EP With warmer temperatures, summer took one last jab at us as the K8EP group set up on Friday September 9. But, by evening and overnight during the contest, it was evident that fall had indeed arrived in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.

Again this year we were located atop North Mountain just west of Martinsburg, WV, operating grid square FM09xl. With a few changes to our antennas on 6, 220, and 432 we looked forward to the contest with added anticipation. Our improvements were basically getting a little more height to the 6-meter beam, and the luxury of having the 220 and 432 antennas on separate masts and rotors.

An added surprise came late Saturday night and into the early hours Sunday morning with an aurora opening. The operators were kept busy and for a few of us this was the first opportunity to experience this phenomenon. Other added bonuses came with a 6-meter band opening Sunday evening and a few CW contacts on 432 from some distant grid squares. Several of us realized a need to sharpen up our CW skills! Activity was steady as the contest ended giving a great finish to an enjoyable weekend.

Those participating included Rodney - N8RAT, Pat - K3MQP, Stu - W3STU, Dale - K3DD, Bill - N3JDR, Mark - W8CMK, Gary - WB8EKG, Milt - N3LTQ, and Adam - KB8UUE. We also want to thank Dan - K8GUN and Fred KB8SVT for kindly loaning their equipment to us, helping to make the weekend a success. Thanks to Rodney-N8RAT for the photos.

Everyone commented on how much fun this contest was and are already talking about January 2006.
To anyone who has yet to try the VHF contest we can only say come on in the airways are fine! -- W8CMK