Hi Mr BUG,
I noted that contacts were being made on 50 and then 144. I walked up to
the shack around 23:00 UT and fired up the 222 gear. Starting at about
2345 UT, I was answered by VA3ELE who was running just 25 watts on CW.
He had a good signal strength of 55A. A few minutes later, I worked his
neighbor VE3DS who runs more power and was very loud at 57A. Another
station worked was WX3K in PA, who also had a good signal. That was the
first ever 222 aurora contact for WX3K! I hope there are many more. I
worked WX3K between 00:00 and 01:00. Best DX heard was N4PZ in Chicago,
EN52 at 950 miles, but Steve could not hear me. He was a good 55A at
00:44 UT and again later at about 00:57 UT. The band dropped out
shortly after 0100UT. When things died down after 0115 UT I walked home
in the dark. I was sure that the aurora would come back around 11 PM,
but having a shack 1/2 mile away covered in snow prevented any more
monitoring.
I figured out a good plan for a pair of 16 el yagis. I am going to fix
them at 300 degrees as an AU detector.
Dave K1WHS
On 3/25/2023 11:56 AM, Paul N1BUG FN55mf wrote:
Hi Dave,
Can you tell us the time(s) of your aurora QSOs on 222, please? I am
wondering what time I should have been there!
I worked several stations on 6 meters but for the most part the aurora
didn't sound strong enough for higher bands at the times I heard it. I
may have got to the rig too late. I checked 2 meters several times and
heard only one station on SSB chatting away, evidently unaware of the
aurora. I couldn't catch a call sign. This was at a time when signals
on 6 peaked up stronger for about five minutes, then rapidly went down
again. I suspect the best part of the aurora was before I got there.
Evenings continue to be extremely difficult for me.
Paul N1BUG
On 3/24/23 11:02, David Olean wrote:
Hello VHF ops,
I was watching the solar indices in hopes that we might get a dump of
Solar particles down on the poles to spark off a real bonafide
aurora. After dinner, I trudged up the hill and turned on the
generator to get stuff running. I started calling CQ on 222.100 and
also monitored the ON4KST page. There was some concerted activity on
six and two meters. I was atad disappointed that more folks didn't
make the move to the higher band as conditions warranted. Still,
ther was activity on the 222 MHz band. My first AU contact was good
old VA3ELE running just 25 watts! Peter had a great signal via
aurora. Next station worked was VE3DS who was really pounding in. I
found that my "sweet spot" seemed to be between 295 and about 305
degrees. As time went along I found that 295 degrees was the best
heading later on. I heard N4PZ near Chicago with a great 55A signal
several times, but Steve did not answer my calls. Both VE3DS in
Toronto, and Steve N4PZ peaked at about the same heading. That N4PZ
contact would have been a great QSO and I suspect RX problems were
the fly in the ointment. I also heard and worked WX3K in PA.
Stephanie lives near the Delaware Water Gap in FN20. She announced
that this was her first 222 MHz aurora QSO! Congratulations are in
order for that. WX3K had a good 55A signal as well. Totals for me
were three 222 MHz AU QSOs and four stations heard.
I have been thinking about the best way to utilize the hilltop shack.
Not having remote capabilities is a big problem as getting up there
can be a problem. It does not get any better when you factor in the
age of the poor slob who has to do the walking. It is like walking
to school back in the old days. It was all uphill both ways!! I just
bit the bullet and am starting on a hilltop power project to allow
permanent power up there. I am enlarging my solar installation. I
have ordered a new big Lithium battery along with some killer solar
panels to generate 1 KW of DC power. The new batteries have internal
heaters. They can be powered by the Solar panels directly. This will
allow charging in the winter months. Now I have to remove the
original 150 AH lithium battery or keep the shack heated all winter
with a propane furnace. ($$) I am hoping that with a bigger system,
it will be possible to keep things running continuously. I will need
power for the 5 GHz internet link, a dedicated computer, and the K3
radio. All of this will have to run off a sine wave inverter that
must also be powered up continuously. I figure about a 15-20 amp
continuous draw at 12 VDC. I'll probably have to add a second lithium
battery to achieve my goal, but I'll start with just one 300 AH
battery. They are not cheap. If you figure 20 amps per hour of use,
a 12 hour period of no Sun will amount to 240 AH of battery drain!
Yikes. I suspect the correct battery capacity is three batteries for
a 900 AH capacity. That is only $5000. (a mere drop in the bucket) I
might be getting into trouble here! Walking up the hill is sounding
better and better!
73
Dave K1WHS
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