Dave,
I've been perfecting the VHF/UHF stuff since the September contest and am
almost ready for the January event. Last week I added new W6QPL PG-103
preamps on the tower for each of the 4 bands (2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 23cm) and fixed
an intermittent SWR issue I had on 2m. All that’s left to do is update some
software and add an additional display so I can be simultaneously baffled and
amazed by all the technological data displayed before me.
Then I can hope and pray for propagation.
de K3SK
-----Original Message-----
From: David Olean <k1whs@metrocast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 4:10 PM
To: NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting@contesting.com; 222 >>
222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io>
Subject: [VHFcontesting] Time to check out your VHF gear!
Hello VHF ops.
It is only 11 days until the January VHF Contest. This is the contest that
separates the men from the boys. The January Contest is noted for some of the
coldest and most wintery operating experiences. Band conditions are typically
awful and ice and snow can cause all sorts of problems. Today is also Tuesday,
so it is a perfect time to check out your 222 MHz VHF gear prior to the
contest. I find the greatest utility of having a specific night for a VHF band
is that it concentrates activity and allows you to develop a "feel" for how
well your setup is working. I used the 222 Nights this past Summer to monitor
changes that I made to the overall system as I was trying to fix some overload
problems that were hard to trace. Having many signals available in many
directions allowed me to zero in on what was wrong and then I could monitor
things as I fixed them. Test sets and noise figure meters are great, but get
you only so far. Listening to real signals and having a spectrum analyzer to
check out of band signals is a huge advantage.
Normally, I would be QRT for 222 night in mid January, but our last big storm
was a rain event and our last snow event was about 4" on the ground. I can get
up to the shack pretty well right now. and the temps are reasonable. It is 27
degrees right now. That is relatively balmy for Maine in January. My plan is to
head up at 6:30 PM local time and fire up the generator. I took my solar
battery system apart and hauled the lithium battery down to the house to keep
it warm. That means I need the big diesel running to even monitor the bands.
Not sure about snow in the future. If it holds off I can run 6 thru 432 in the
January Contest.
That is a rarity!
If you have not tried a 222 night yet, the activity gets going around
222.100 + or - starting about 00:00 UT and goes for at least two hours or so.
There is considerable activity in the NE, but other areas also have activity.
Activity in the midwest can go on well past 0200UT. It is a good idea to
monitor ON4KST 144/432 Region 2 Chat page. A lot of
222 ops check in and you can set up a sked with a distant station. You never
know what might happen. You might make an unbelievable contact over some
incredible distance! Meteors are possible. JT65 for tropo scatter is viable as
well. I have yet to try that. I just looked at the Moon position, and it is
rising here just after 0100 UT. Maybe I can try a sked with K3SK using the
rising moon. He starts seeing the Moon at
01:45 UT. That would be interesting. He has four big Yagis and QRO.
That might be exciting!!
73
Dave K1WHS
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