Thanks to yesterdays’ tropo conditions I was able to complete QSO’s with OE3NHW in JN88 and SP6RGB in JO71. Both QSO’s are confirmed today via Logbook of the World (LoTW) and now I’ve got my 100 Maidenhead squares confirmed on 144 MHz. It was tough! It took me about 2 years to achieve this one.

Scoring a DXCC is easy. During the bigger contest you can do it in one weekend on HF with the right antenna and equipment. A VUCC award on 50 MHz can be done in one Sporadic-E season (may-aug). But on 144 MHz you really need time to complete it. Sporadic-E is very rare on this band. Meteor Scatter can help you, but there are only a few big showers a year.

In total I worked 133 Maidenhead squares so far, of which 100 are confirmed via LoTW. I don’t do paper QSL. Now I continue to work on VUCC for 432 MHz (50 squares) and 1296 MHz (25 squares) but this seems to be easier. The squares are already there, only the conformations via LoTW aren’t.

I’d like to thank all stations active on 144 MHz SSB *and* FT8. Yes. FT8 really brought a lot of activity back on 144 MHz tropo stations. And in particular for the FT8 stations in Europe: Also be active on 432.174 MHz.

The more maidenhead grids you collect, the more difficult it gets. While I’ve collected enough grid squares for the 50 MHz VUCC via LoTW I’m still in need for the last 17 on 144 MHz. It should be doable all via tropo using SSB or FT8 (of Meteor Scatter during the september Perseids shower).

Anyone active on 144 Mhz in these squares: JO00, JN29, IO84 or the German-Poland border (JO71, JO72) and willing to try using a sked? These grid squares should always be workable if you have a horizontal antenna system.

Update 19 juli: IN98, JN26, JN39, JO43, JN58 and JO66 added. VUCC score is now 95/100.