Folks,
You kinda get out of VHF what you put in to it. Look at what Dave has done
for 222 in just the last year. Every Tuesday night there is tons of
activity, probably more than you see on 2m. My new QTH still under
construction is at 2500' ASL and I'm learning about the challenges of
having antennas survive in high winds and ice. We had a bad ice event in
late January that ripped a 2m H frame off one of my towers and wrecked my
elevation rotors on my 222 and 432 arrays. Not being at the site except on
weekends, trying to build our new house and keep Directive Systems cranking
out antennas for everyone has been a challenge but if Dave who is many
years older than I am can climb 100' towers by himself then I can certainly
climb up on my roof (yes the one I fell off of 2 years ago and broke my
back!!) and fix my antennas. Dave is like 480 miles from me and except for
this last Tuesday, we can work on phone. He is also helping to get 222
activity by converting a bunch of Larcan 1.5kw amps, one of which I've been
running for almost 10 years. W6PQL sells complete pallets for 222, just add
50V, some relays and a LPF and you are QRO!! There are still FT736's and
IC-375's around, K3SK is running a 375. Q5signal has transverters and I
don't accept that interfacing a transverter is that big of a deal. Used
DEMI transverters pop up now and then and there are the cheap transverters
on ebay from Ukraine (I believe), maybe not the greatest but it gets you on
the air.
You can't expect to get on with an omni or a 5 ele beam and 25w and expect
to work 500 mi, it's not 40m with FT8!! This past Tuesday which was the
sprint, I ran a single FO16, 1500w and worked 40 Q's and 24 grids in about
3 hours. There is a lot of activity in New England and I bet they can work
the folks in northern Maine and our friends in VE land. I think I have 3 or
4 VE3's in my log and I know there was a VE2 in FN25 on but 600 miles is a
bit of a stretch. I know a lot of folks have an aversion to digital but get
on the ON4KST chat room, figure out how to get your computer interfaced to
your radio for WSJT. We all grew up with rotary dialed telephones and we've
all accepted smart phones so adding FT8 or Q65 or MSK144 to your radio
toolbox isn't that big of a stretch.
If you need technical advise on getting a transverter interfaced to a radio
and you can't figure it out, call me!!
My fingers hurt from typing so I'll shut up!!
Terry Price - W8ZN
Directive Systems and Engineering
703-754-3876
On Fri, Apr 21, 2023 at 7:15 AM Mike VE9AA ve9aa@nbnet.nb.ca <
ve9aa@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:
> Hey Paul & Everyone !
> Paul, Sorry to hear about Dave, W5UN. I had no idea he had passed. He
> was one of the 3 or 4 we worked on 2m EME from Sable in 1996 (CY0AA).
> and I worked him once/twice from my home as well. (CW of course--no
> digi!)_
>
> Your experience mirrors my own, more or less. I think you have way more
> gusto building antennas, amps and all that sort of thing, that's for
> dang certain. I remember drooling over pix of your quad arrays back in
> the day and did eventually manage some 2 and even 4 bay 2m arrays
> partially homebrew....but those quads. MAN!
>
> I recall much excitement working you from our FN77 Miscou Island trip on
> AU back what seems like 100 years ago (probably more like 40 or 45 yrs
> ago). To us up there in a mosquito infested tent, back then...that was
> pure joy!
>
> Anyways, I won't wax too sentimental except to say it was a great ride
> and I am always looking for ways, such as yourself to put excitement
> back into my VHFing, which has pretty much gone dormant the past 5-10
> yrs. I don't (won't is a better word) do FT8, but might do 222
> providing I could find some gear. Maybe you can shoot me a private
> email and tell me about the MM xvtr.
>
> Cheers everyone!
> Hi Mike and all,
>
> </pre>I have never seen 222 gear for sale at swap meets or the like here
> either unless you count the very beat up, broken CushCraft yagi (11
> elements?) I found at Hosstraders/Deerfield back in the late 1990s. I
> rescued that poor thing from ending up at the scrap yard for $10 which
> was probably more than I should have paid but after replacing several
> elements that were snapped in half I had a lot of QSOs with it.
> Admittedly I haven't been to any in a few years but used to go to most
> of them. I did find a Microwave Modules transverter on Craigslist New
> Hampshire in 2016 or 2017 and managed to find a way to obtain it with
> lots of help from the VHF community. It is now for sale, but I suspect
> shipping to Canada would cost enough to make it pretty uninteresting.
> </pre>Activity here in Maine is down for the same reasons. Some have
> gone silent key, some have given up as QSOs have become harder and
> fewer. I'm trying to avoid joining either group for a while longer!
> </pre>Sadly I am getting more and more discouraged with VHF. I want to
> love it like I used to but the relationship has faded.
> </pre>I am still struggling with chronic fatigue (more like chronic
> exhaustion) and have not managed to be on for a single 222 Activity
> Night in many months. I tried extra hard for the 222 Sprint but it was a
> no go.
> </pre>VHF contests are a real slog here now. If I run for 24 hours the 2
> meter QSO rate runs around one per hour. I imagine that's probably more
> than the VE1/VE9 guys got back in the VHF heyday. If so I don't know
> what kept you guys interested! I have a much more capable station now
> than I did back when 70 to 100 QSOs was the norm. Obviously 222 and 432
> QSOs are fewer in number.
> </pre>Bill seems to do well from FN54 but I think superior QTH plays a
> big role in that. Being 50 miles closer to most of the stations probably
> doesn't hurt either.
> </pre>I don't want to give up, but I don't know how to put the fun back
> in it. Back in the day there was EME to take up the slack and keep the
> spiders blown out of the HV (literally! Yikes!) but now there's not that
> and stuff just gathers dust. The bald eagles enjoy sitting on the 2m
> antenna as it is the highest lookout spot around by some 30 feet and
> they have a nest nearby.
> </pre>I am reminded of something Dave, W5UN (SK) told me when I tried
> returning to 2 meter EME in the early 2000s. He said the bloom came off
> the rose some years before that in terms of activity. I would say the
> same of VHF terrestrial activity now, at least in terms of what can be
> worked from here.
> Sorry about the long winded commentary.
>
> 73,
> Paul N1BUG
> </pre>
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