Dave
GREAT that you're coming back.
Our last chat was on 160 (160!) from W3LPL.
Bob, w3idt
6m at W3SO
160m at W3LPL
.............................
. Robert F. Teitel, W3IDT .
. .
. W3IDT@arrl.net .
. W3IDT@comcast.net .
.............................
On 1/23/2020 12:26 PM, David Olean wrote:
Hi Chet & Ron
The January VHF Contest is made for trouble. That is probably the reason
it has been so popular over the years. That being said, I stopped
getting on VHF in 2017 after 55 years of fun and bliss on 144 MHz. There
were several reasons. Being retired, I found fly fishing to be a
fantastic way to spend the day. I have been crawling all over the NH
White Mountains looking for brook trout, Rainbows, and Salmon. I made
the trek down to N3NGE this year and helped out in the January contest.
We had an awful time with the weather. Saturday afternoon, it was
sleeting, then turned to freezing rain. The antennas iced up. QSO rates
plummeted and we were down to 5 or 6 per hour combined for all bands.
The antenna patterns were reversed on each band. The power off the
reflector was 6 or 8 dB better than what was available off the front of
the antenna. On 222 & 432, I started running by aiming the reflector at
the station we needed. It did not help much. Things only improved the
following morning where the temps went above 32 and the Sun worked on
the ice to make most of it fall off. We were fortunate that the ice
finally did fall off!!
I had been bummed out by the influx of the digi modes into VHF
contesting and DXing in general. Our plan was to not work anyone on FT8
so that we could run the bands later on. I guess it worked as we had no
trouble making CW and SSB contacts with plenty of stations. I found the
bands were not as desolate as I had imagined them to be, and resolved to
re activate my dilapidated station up on that ridge of solid rock up in
Maine. I am even rebuilding my 222 station. One of my yagis managed to
snap in half due to high winds a few years ago. It is not repairable by
myself as the H frame needs to be lowered as the broken boom is up on
top on the left. I'll need some extra muscle to fix it.
Anyway, my take on the January contest was that it was great and I had
way too much fun working weak signals with iced up antennas. I am
dusting off my VHF gear in hopes of getting active again (in between
fishin' time)
And Ron, ..... The Pack Rats are still talking about you. I saw
several "Ron" Voodoo dolls with pins stuck in them while I was in PA.
73
Dave K1WHS
On 1/23/2020 2:10 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
Hi Chet: Spot on -
anyone's who's still VHF contesting as long as we have
are gluttons for punishment - bring on the pain we love it !
Lot's of good contacts made despite challenging condx.
-73 Ron WZ1V
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chet S" <chetsubaccount@snet.net>
To: <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 08:59:41 -0500
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January
VHF/UHF contest?
Hi John,
I believe you are misinterpreting the reports from the contest. These
may be bragging reports, not disgusted tirades. The January contest
presents challenges and problems for many, but hams like to
persevere, engineers like to solve problems, and all like to talk
about it afterward.
Think of it like sailors or fishermen having a few beers in the cozy
pub after a big storm. Do they talk about how beautiful the storm
clouds and sky were, or do they tell tales of how tough a time it was
getting through it. Still had a kind of fun, maybe a man thing.
73,
Chet, N8RA
-----Original Message-----
From: VHFcontesting
<vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=snet.net@contesting.com> On
Behalf Of John Young via VHFcontesting
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 10:58 PM
To: vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January
VHF/UHF contest?
So I have been reading the 3830 and ARRL Soapbox posts. The vast
majority of posts include a lot of commentary on poor turnout, poor
conditions, dead bands and weather difficulties. Some even question
if its worth taking part in these contests. My experience and those
of several others who worked FM in Northern VA or MD was very much
the opposite. There was great activity from 2pm until 10pm Saturday
and it wasn't what I would call slow (no 30 minute breaks between
Q's) all the way up to 1 am. Even when I got back on the air at 0330
Sunday there was activity to be had. I didn't work through to the
bitter end (or should I say bitterly cold end) but from the private
emails it appears it never got boring. Its not like we had great
weather here by any stretch.
What made it so much fun?
Turn out and constant activity. Working hard to get a weak
contact.Rag chewing with truckers all night to add points as they
cross grids.Making scheds with FM and multi-band rovers along with
big fixed stations at "long range".Passing contacts between stations
to build each others scores.Making a Q with people who never imagined
a 100 mile Q was possible on FM simplexHaving a paraplegic 15yr old
build a tape measure yagi so he can make a QSO with you (2017).People
dusting off rigs they have not used in years or going mobile to a
nearby hill top to give you another contact or multi.
A big part of what generated the activity was a coupe guys sending
out a lot of emails to get people up on the air in our area. That
has over time generated a lot of turn out, both casual operators, new
fixed site contesters as well as regional FM or FM/SSB rovers.
Was having fun this January just an FM thing? All our contacts are
regional, propagation is not a big factor. There are no digital
modes, clickety Q, clickety Q.Its just you, a microphone, a radio, a
cable and an antenna. Pretty basic stuff.
Did anyone else have a good time?Post something if you did. All that
reading is pretty depressing right now.
73JohnKM4KMU
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