Ed - You wrote:
"I have capability on 6M, 2M, 222MHz, 432MHz and 1.2GHz, but I seem to
find few stations on 222 and 1.2. I suspect that the more powerful
contesting stations have some schedule that they use for looking for
contacts on these bands. Can anybody help with some information?"
I rove, so my experience may be different from yours. I am also in the
sparsely populated southwest, so that may also tinge my experience.
Most of my rover contest contacts on 222 and 1296 MHz are not the
result of schedules, but rather making a contact on 2M or 6M and
moving with the station to other bands. When you work a station,
always ask them to move to other bands. A good contester will ask you
to move. You need to be ready to do this efficiently though, so be
sure that you know exactly which frequency you are going to, have the
rigs turned on, the antennas pointed in the right direction, and know
what your frequency error is. It helps to know the heading to the
usual big stations in your area as beam widths can get pretty narrow
on the higher bands, particularly on 1296.
As I progressed from one contest to another as a rover I received a
lot of encouragement from the regular VHF Contesters around here,
including those that can be categorized as "more powerful" to add
other bands. So I went from 6M only, to 6M and 2M, to 6M, 2M and 432,
to 6M, 2M, 222, and 431 MHz, to 6M, 2M, 222, 432, and 1296. As I added
each band, the regulars were eager to work me on the new bands I added.
Of course, 222 MHz and 1296 MHz are less populated than the other
bands, so you find less activity on them. But that should make your
presence on them more desirable to the more powerful stations. It also
helps to announce your capabilities on these bands to the serious
contesters before the contest. I have an e-mail list I keep and send
out my plans to it a couple of times before the contest.
I hope that this helps. - Duffey
--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM
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