About

Objective: For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in the US (and its possessions) and Canada.

Dates: The second full weekend in September (September 9-11, 2023)

Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC Monday.

Rule Changes for 2023: Participants in the FM Only category can now count contacts made on 902 MHz and 1.2 GHz toward their scores. Previously, only contacts on the four lowest VHF bands (50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz) counted toward participants' scores in this category.

Click Here for Complete ARRL September VHF Contest Rules (PDF)

For contest information contact contests@arrl.org or (860) 594-0232

All legal modes are permitted (while CW and SSB/Phone are most common, MSK144, FT8 and FM-Only are gaining popularity - other popular modes include PSK31, FSK441 and JT65). For Cabrillo file mode definitions, Digital modes should be represented as "DG" (for all things digital), SSB Phone as "PH", FM voice as "FM", and CW as "CW".

Stations in KH0-9, KL7 & KP1-KP5, CY9 and CY0 count as W/VE stations and can be worked by DX stations for contest credit.

Log Submission Deadline

Logs are due within TEN (10) days after the event is over. Logs may be submitted either online or via mail, but electronic Cabrillo logs are the preferred method. Electronic logs must be submitted via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org/

Logs that have been submitted electronically are listed on the Logs Received page. Click the contest name to see a list of submitted logs sorted by call sign and club name.

Online Log Submission - Cabrillo formatted logs must be uploaded via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org.

Submitting Paper Logs By Mail - Be sure to mail your completed Summary Sheet and Log Sheets postmarked before the log submission deadlines.

Paper Entry Forms:

September VHF Summary Sheet

VHF/UHF Log Sheet

Send completed Summary Sheets and logs to:

ARRL - September VHF Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111

If submitting a paper log, it is strongly suggested you use a delivery method that offers a tracking number.

If you wish to convert your log into a Cabrillo formatted log for electronic submission, visit www.b4h.net/cabforms/ and select the event of interest. You can input your log data which will be converted to a Cabrillo formatted log for you (it will generate a log and return it to you), and then you can in turn submit your Cabrillo log online via the web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org/.

Awards:

Downloadable Certificates will be awarded in the following categories at https://contests.arrl.org/certificates.php

Single Operator:

- Top Single Operator in each ARRL/RAC Section for high and low power.

- Top Single Operator on each band (50, 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 and 2304-and-up categories) in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Note: Since the highest score per band will be the award winner for that band, an entrant may win a certificate with additional single-band endorsements.) For example, if KA1RWY has the highest single-operator all-band score in the CT Section and her 50- and 222-MHz scores are higher than any other CT single operator’s, she will earn a certificate for being the single-operator Section leader and endorsements for 50 and 222 MHz. 

- Top Single Operator Portable in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator Portable entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

- Top Single Operator, 3-Band in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident.(Single Operator, 3-Band entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

- Top Single Operator, FM Only in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator, FM Only entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

Rover:

- Top Rover, Limited Rover and Unlimited Rover in each ARRL Division and Canada where significant effort or competition is evident. (Rover entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

Multioperator:

- Top Multioperator score in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Multioperator entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

- Top Limited Multioperator in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort or competition is evident. (Limited Multioperator entries are not eligible for single-band awards.)

DX:

- Top DX stations where significant effort or competition is evident.

Club Competition:

For full club competition rules, please see the link below:

 

  - Club Competition Rules ver 1.2 (rev 09 Feb 2022)

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September VHF

 

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the...

 

 

The September VHF Contest now includes two new categories: Single Operator, 3 Band and Single Operator, FM Only. Here are examples of Cabrillo log headers to enter the new categories.

  

Bt73 

Pete, n6ze@aol.com