If any of you reading this post think that the VHF/UHF bands
we love are too crowded, you can probably skip ahead to the next
post, saving yourself a few minutes.
I bet an acceptable topic for the list would be a good discussion
about how anyone here has helped increase activity on the bands.
More activity = more potential contesters which = more fun.
For those of you who have helped increase activity, thanks.
For those of you who aren't sure how to do it, let's get a thread
started that will help motivate you. I would enjoy hearing from
many voices (keyboards) about this topic. I am not interested in
being the sole focus here.
Save for the Northeast and major metro areas, (an assumption
on my part, I may be wrong) there just isn't much VHF/UHF activity.
Especially on a day-to-day basis. So to improve things, it doesn't
take a mammoth effort. If everyone on this list got just one new
person involved with V/UHF, it would make a big difference.
I promote V/UHF in two primary ways.
1) By far the biggest factor is hosting weekly nets. I use email
heavily, in contacting VHF/UHF groups, as well as all-purpose ham
clubs. You have to remind folks over and over that you are doing the
nets. You wouldn't believe how many guys need the reminders.
Hams enjoy hearing signals on the air, and there aren't nearly
enough of them on the weak-signal side. So you or your group
need to make a commitment to hosting on-air activity and also
promoting it, so you don't end up with the same stale 3-5 guys
every week.
Now to be perfectly honest, there's nothing I'd rather do than
contest on V/UHF. Or work a good band opening. But if the only
times I get on the air are for those infrequent occasions, then I have
no excuse to complain about activity levels. I finally decided last
year that I was going to take matters into my own hands.
I made a conscious decision to be available on Wed. and Thur.
evenings, and host the nets. Hosting regular activity WILL get some
new folks on the air, if you are also diligent about promoting what
you're doing. Having my own website now (www.kc9bqa.com) is
helping to augment the email reminders. I know it's working because
besides a core group of "regulars", we hear a new ham or two most
weeks, checking out what we're up to.
#2) In season, I promote the contests, both on the nets and on
my website. I don't browbeat or force hams into contesting, but I
let them know how much I enjoy them, and I make sure they know
when each contest is.
Coming up in 2 weekends, we have the CQ WW VHF Contest.
In my opinion, this is probably the best contest for someone who
doesn't have much experience on V/UHF. Why? Because it's 6 and
2 meters only. What bands does almost any ham have? 2 meters,
and perhaps 6, as well. In theory, everyone who has ever been on
a repeater is a potential VHF/UHF'er, as well as a potential contester.
I know many here will have a great laugh at that mindset, but if you
already have a closed mind, then you probably wouldn't make a very
good ambassador for V/UHF anyway.
All I know is that there's a helluva lot more hams on repeaters
than there are on 6 or 2 SSB. Yet, so few of the repeater users know
what it is we enjoy so much. So it makes sense to at least share our
experience and enthusiasm with them, and let them decide if they want
to take it from there. I am NOT talking about dumbing anything down.
If the shack-on-a-belt guys are perfectly content where they are, that's
all good. Lots of different ways to enjoy ham radio.
BUT... there is that 5 or 10% that you can turn a lightbulb on for.
Don't ever discount that possibility. Would getting 20-30 new guys to
check out your net, or perhaps eventually try a contest make a big
difference in your area? Of course it would. Well to find those 20-30
guys, you should put the word out to 500 or so Joe Q. Hams. I'm
not into the repeater thing, but I will meet them halfway, on the nets.
While I'm not interested in dumbing anything down, I'm also
not trying to burden the new guys with talk of transverters, of stacked
yagis, etc. I just try to keep it about 6, 2 and perhaps a little 223
or
432, and see who starts asking more questions as we get familiar.
So I will be promoting the July 18-19 CQ WW VHF heavily
on my website and my nets, telling anyone who will listen that we're
going to be sticking to 6 and 2 meters in this contest, so it won't be
hard to find us contesters. I'm going to tell those with FM only to
keep 146.55 and 146.58 busy. I'm going to promote an activity
period later Sat. evening and early Sun morning for the FM folks,
because that's when the bands may improve to the point where
they might actually work a few stations 50-100 miles away. I'm
also telling these newer ones about 6 meters, because that's the
easiest way to get them tuned into an "AHA!" moment.
Enough about me... who is promoting V/UHF here and how is
it translating into new ops and (fingers crossed) new contesters?
73,
Todd KC9BQA EN63ao 40 N of Milwaukee
50 thru 2304
http://www.kc9bqa.com For Frequent VHF/UHF Updates
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