Tom and Charles:
I appreciate your replies. Tom, I will call you later on today to chat about
the 432 antennas.
Since this is my first post on the VHF contest reflector, a bit more about me.
I have been "reading the mail" here for over a year. I see posts from fellow
hams I have known since I joined our great hobby back in the early 80's.
Back then, I had a pretty decent 2 and 6 meter station with a Cushcraft 32-19
and a CC 3 element 6 meter beam around 50 feet.
Power output was 200 watts or so on 2, and 500 watts on 6.
The current station is an Icom 746 for HF-2 meters all mode, and this Yaesu
FT-736R with 2, 6, and 432. I have an antique Raytrack 6m amp with a pair of
3-500z's, and a pristine Henry 3002A console that started it's life as a
commercial paging amplifier.
The Henry was quite a find, and I could not bear to see it not returned to use
on 2 meters where it should have lived all along.
Life changes took me away from Oxford for several years where I could not have
a tower. As of 2000, I am back on the west side of Oxford with 40 feet of Rohn
35. The tower would be higher, but I have Miami Universitie's airport a stone's
throw to the northeast of me, so antenna height is restricted.
Ground elevation here is ~1400 feet though, so that helps!
I know some of you will recall Clint WA8BBR from Blue Ash, Ohio as well as
Steve KA8MRI from Indiana. Both were very active VHF'ers from the 80's and
90's, and sadly are both SK. Clint and Steve along with a number of other
Cincinnati area hams were my mentors through the 80's.
I wish we could encourage more VHF/UHF activity, and feel that the advent of
cell phones and the internet which are great in many ways have also cost the
hobby some membership.
Don N8ECH
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