Hi Herb,
Back when we first got the band, 903 was quieter in the east. I lived
outside Cincinnati at the time and crud from cellular was lower at 903. I
had a home brew crystal controlled cw transmitter on 903.072 so that's
where I operated. However as I remember, to the west it wasn't the same and
west of the Mississippi folks stuck to 902. Fast forward almost 30 years
later (am I really that old?!?!?) and at K8GP, about 40 miles west and north
of D.C., 903 is pretty bad and 902 is much quieter. This past January, Andy,
K1RA and I took the K8GP show on the road and without exception, 902 was
CLEARLY quieter by LARGE margins, sometimes 3-6 S units!!!! At every
location we were at.
Everyone that has 900 MHz gear needs to figure out how to operate both until
everyone switches. If your transverter is set up with a 144=903, figure out
how to get your 2m rig to operate at 143, maybe a MARS mod. Some rigs will
do it with minimal effort. Or change the crystal in the transverter so
144=902, then you can operate both. I'm sure Steve has the proper crystals
for all the DEMI stuff. NTMS copied the LT33 transverter many years ago and
maybe there are some crystals around for those. If you use an intermediate
2m transverter, either change the crystal in the 2m unit or set up your HF
rig to cover 27 MHz, which EVERYONE knows is pretty easy!!
There are plenty of "elmers" out there so if you have a 903 transverter that
won't operate at 902 because your IF won't go, reach out to someone for
assistance and lets all move to 902. The 900 band is a very good band,
better propagation and less loss than 1296. Power is WAY easier to come by
with all the analog cellular stuff around.
Terry, W8ZN
-----Original Message-----
From: VHFcontesting [mailto:vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf
Of Herb Krumich
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 12:13 PM
To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [VHFcontesting] 902 vs 903
For several years, our contest station has been having a real issue
operating the 903 mhz band. This band five years ago was racking up around
twenty grids for our station with contacts consistently as far as 400 miles.
We converted our transverter with a switch to either operate 903 or 902.
But I never realized the filter I was using had tremendous cut offs down
from the 903 band. That is now being taken care of.
I was able to check into the Pack Rats net last evening with a fairly quiet
902.100 .
My question to everyone is what areas of the country are still operating
903. From our location in the Pocono Mountains of Pa. FN21, it's impossible
to operate there. I need to add more cut-off on my cavity filter above 902
and when doing so, I will not be able to hear signals on 903.
Thanks for your input
Herb K2LNS
Stn mgr for the WA2FGK location
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