Hello 222 denizens,
It is a good bet that most everyone is worn out from all the excitement
over the weekend. Between the CQWW CW and the EME Contest, things got
pretty hectic. If you also operated in the ICWC Medium Speed Contest
this weekend then you must have been maxed out for sure. I tend to skip
the ICWC Medium Speed Contest as I am more of a slow speed or no speed
kind of guy. But time marches on, and it is Tuesday and time for the
222 Activity night, where you can sweep the old french fries and gravy
off your rig and spark it up in an effort to maybe make a few contacts
on the 222 MHz band. The plan is simple. Just get on the band after
dinner. On the East Coast the fun starts around 00:00 UT or 7 PM. I will
be on 222.100 about that time looking for a QSO. A check with the
Hepburn map shows absolutely nothing anywhere except Florida. There
will be no thousand mile contacts tonight with your mag mount stuck
sideways on a garbage can. (That actually happened and was reported in
the latest QST VHF column.)
Most folks use the ON4KST Chat page for liaison and it is quite useful
to alert folks that you are QRV on 222 if you are a bit off the beaten
track. So try to get on even if for only a few minutes. The more
people that show up, the more fun is had by all. A bunch of 500 and
1500 watt amplifiers have been distributed around. I am hoping that they
start appearing in greater numbers soon. There is nothing better than a
rare station showing up with a pounding signal!! KM0T has a big signal
with his.
Speaking of pounding signals, I did a bit of listening and calling on
432 on my rising and setting Moon. There are some big stations to be
heard even if you have a single yagi. I had lots of equipment problems
that would divert my attention. My 432 amp was acting up. It seems to be
a HV issue or lack thereof. Low HV is causing my HV protection circuit
to start to drop out. My power output dropped way down and the
protection relay started to chatter. Power dropped under 1000 watts but
that did bother anything. So now I have to get out the HV probe and
check a bunch of resistors. It's always sumthin! I can't imagine that
the HV supply is delivering much less volts. Otherwise I would be seeing
billowing plumes of smoke and ash! One station worked on 432 was KD2LGX
in New York. I did a double take and saw that he was delayed about 2.6
seconds so his signal was coming directly from the Moon. Talk about the
long way around! Maybe I can work KD2LGX on 222 this evening and
compare signal strengths!
I'll be on 222 a bit before 00:00 UT. I hope to catch a lot of activity
this evening in between the snow flurries. CU on 222.
Dave K1WHS
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