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Re: [VHFcontesting] [222Activity] July 16 happens to be a Tuesday.

To: k3sk@buckwalter.co
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] [222Activity] July 16 happens to be a Tuesday.
From: AsTech LLC <besimer123@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:12:02 -0400
List-post: <mailto:vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
That's racist.... " Boys and Girls ". WOW.

On Tue, Jul 16, 2024, 3:58 PM David R Buckwalter via VHFcontesting <
vhfcontesting@contesting.com> wrote:

> I am so bum'd today.  I had high hopes of being on 222MHz tonight.
> However, as I was prepping new cables for the 222 array I quickly realized
> the low loss feedline I purchased requires N connectors with a larger
> diameter center pin than standard LMR connectors.   So, another $140 of
> unanticipated expenses and an additional delay has brought my antennas
> upgrades to a halt.
>
> On the bright side, all but the 23cm antennas are back on the tower and 2m
> & 70cm are operational.
>
>
> de K3SK
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io> On Behalf Of David
> Olean
> Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2024 12:07 PM
> To: 222 >> 222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io>;
> vhfcontesting@contesting.com; NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [222Activity] July 16 happens to be a Tuesday.
>
> Hello boys and girls,
>
> We live in exciting times.  A portion of that excitement happens with many
> of us on Tuesday nights.  The last couple of weeks showed a distinct bump
> in activity on the 222 band. There is now a reasonably sized group of
> operators so that it is possible for Good Buddy Ron, WZ1V,  to make 30
> contacts for two weeks running! That was with K3SK missing due to antenna
> refurbs and VE3DS, KO4YC, and others not being able  to get on and make
> noise etc etc..  So the activity is spreading!!  I just delivered two boom
> to mast plates to Jay, W1VD. He is revamping some old 220 Boomer yagis and
> I expect that we will hear GB Jay soon on the band. Both K1TEO and W1VD are
> in fantastic locations in SW New England and can  make those long DX
> contacts South and West, and can detect those miniscule openings that might
> be missed by a "smaller"
> station.  Having such beacons on the air should really improve activity
> even more and provide a realizable goal for stations that are far away from
> the high activity areas of Washington DC up to Southern New England.
>
> I am always excited when Tuesday rolls around because you can get on the
> 222 MHz band and make some nice SSB or CW contacts and spin your rtators
> all around looking for stations to work. This is just like the good olde
> days and you are guaranteed to make a few contacts.  If you are in an area
> with zip, zilch, nada activity, then it is up to you to talk up the band
> and try to enlist others in your operating area to get on.  W7JW worked a
> nifty meteor scatter contact from Michigan when he was only running 25
> watts a few weeks ago!  Being in a far away place with no local activity
> does not mean that you are out of luck. It is just a cue for you to explore
> the DX modes and see what is possible. Ant distance out to about 1000 miles
> is typicaly possible on 222 with a normal VHF setup. It will not be simple
> and easy, but who likes "simple and easy"? ..... Well maybe we do like
> "simple and easy", but you get my drift.
>
> I am at the far end of the activity corridor that extends from Washington
> DC up to Boston. I am maybe 80 or 90 miles North of Boston. I can work lots
> of stations but things slow down after about 00:30 UT.  By
> 01:00 UT most of the activity has dried up. It sure would be nice to
> extend that time by utilizing MSK144 skeds and even Q65B-60 or 120 skeds
> and play around with digging signals out from the noise.  I always try long
> haul skeds after about 00:45 or so. Last week, I stopped at 02:30 UT as
> there were a few long haul skeds involved.  Get on the ON4KST chat page and
> set something up with another station out of your immediate area. The worst
> thing that will happen is that you don't make a contact.
>
> N1JEZ and I have been discussing a tropo path that affects both of us. A
> few times we have found very week tropo enhancements extending from
> Northern New England out to Indiana.  After finding this path open
> occasionally over the years, when other paths are not viable, I am
> convinced that the two Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario, have a lot do do with
> it. We suspect that the path loss drops when conditions are just right over
> those water bodies. More investigation is needed, but Tuesday night skeds
> are a good way to look into it.  A quick look at the tropo scatter models
> shows a path loss of over 265 dB, and some of the models are out of range
> at 750 miles, but all it takes is about a 15-20 dB enhancement (reduction
> of path loss) and we are at 245 dB which is possible with the amateur power
> limits and a god setup.  I am sure there are other paths worth exploring.
>
> So fire up the gear. Turn off Tik Tok, and spend some time on 222 this
> evening.  Let us know what happens.
>
> 73
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
>
>
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