Hello VHFers,
It was interesting to see the comments by N1BUG and GBR WZ1V. Both noted
that signals on Tuesday night were better than normal winter
conditions. That was different than what I saw from my perch here in
Mumbo Jumbo land, FN43mj. I figured condx were a bit down, but, as we
all know, things can happen to give you an opposite impression of what
is true. My only real benchmark that I trust is my attempt with Howard,
WA3EOQ. FM09 is a long way from FN43 and the long path tends to
minimize QSB to some extent. However, the signals last night were quite
weak and nebulous. I think I made three calls before I even detected
Howard's signal! This is rather unusual but it does happen on occasion.
I figured that the tropo scatter was a bit poor when we tried so that
colored my observations on the evening. Positive notes were KC2SGV in
FM29 who was weak but pretty good mostly on SSB. I also was surprised to
work Zach K1ZK in Burlington, VT when my sharp yagi was aimed Southwest.
K1ZK was off the side of the array! When I turned the yagis toward sunny
downtown Burlington, he got very loud and we switched to SSB! A QSO
with W9KXI had me worried as Al was very weak until he noticed that he
was aimed at W1GHZ in northern VT rather than at me in Southern Maine.
He was off by 20-25 degrees or so. When he peaked things up he came up
to normal S5 to S7 strength. I was also very pleased to see that Paul,
N1BUG was on and I wasted no time turning the beam towards Milo, ME for
a SSB contact. Mr. BUG has a great signal on 222 MHz.
I was just thrilled to be in the shack and not need any electric heat
running, or hear blasts of wind roaring thru all the guy wires and tower
sections. It was actually pleasant with mild temps and the wind had died
down for the evening. I was very mindful of the band decoder problem and
all the troubles I had last week. (That was the failure that attracted
the attention of the 222 MHz Activity Committee.) I have been running
the 222 gear for several days on solar power just to see if the dreaded
intermittent keying would re appear, but all was well. I am cautiously
optimistic that the high resistance leakage within a DB15 connector was
the actual cause of the keying problem. The night was free of glitches
or problems.
I ended up with 22 separate stations worked, which is one down from Good
Buddy Ron, WZ1V. I am not sure how he does it, but he is able to vacuum
up every signal audible on the band with ease. I missed working Phil,
K3TUF, the voice of Ephrata, PA. I think Phil quit early, and we never
connected. I also missed K3SK in FM07, but we are just too far apart to
make a go of it under typical condx. I did listen on FT8 for K3SK and
heard a real "whizzer" of a meteor burst on FT8. There was tremendous
doppler on the burn as the signal swished right through my passband so
fast that it was hard to hear any tones. It sounded like a big "swish".
I am sure it was Dave in FM07 as he was likely the only one on from that
area at the time. I suspect the meteor was coming in parallel to the
path azimuth of 225 degrees. I worked all my contacts on CW or SSB. I
made no FT8 contacts last night. I did listen a bit on FT8, but nothing
new was heard via digi mode. Signals copied there were WZ1V, WA3NUF,
K1ZK, and KV1J. Here is a list from the log book; QRB is in kilometers.
QSO worked by K1WHS (FN43MJ) on all bands
Type of propagation: All Mode: All mode
From 04/23/2024 to 04/24/2024 Distance over: 0 Km.
Page: 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE TIME CALLSIGN LOCATOR TX RX BAND MODE
PRO.REMARKS QRB
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/23/2024 22:52 K1ZK FN34JJ 59 220
MHzSSB TR 212
04/23/2024 22:54 KV1J FN44 59 220 MHzSSB TR
125+-
04/23/2024 22:55 WA1NLG F N41XS 59 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 196
04/23/2024 22:57 WB2VVV FN41CR 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 197
04/23/2024 22:58 N1JEZ FN44AR 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 168
04/23/2024 23:01 N1BUG FN55MF 59 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 259
04/23/2024 23:18 K1KG FN42ID 59 59 220 MHzCW
TR 142
04/23/2024 23:18 WA3EOQ FM09JO 59 220 MHzCW
TR 805
04/23/2024 23:21 W1AUV FN32II 559 559 220 MHzCW
TR 223
04/23/2024 23:34 W9KXI FN12NE 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 501
04/23/2024 23:34 WA1PBU FN42EK 559 220 MHzCW
TR 120
04/23/2024 23:38 WZ1V FN31RH 559 220 MHzCW
TR 266
04/23/2024 23:41 WA1PBU FN42EK 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 120
04/23/2024 23:47 KC1V FN31SX 559 220 MHzCW
TR 200
04/23/2024 23:56 WW1Z FN42ET 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 84
04/23/2024 23:59 WA3NUF FN20KE 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 496
04/24/2024 00:00 N1ROZ FN32TF 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 174
04/24/2024 00:02 W1AIM FN34UJ 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 154
04/24/2024 00:02 W1GHZ FN34UJ 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 154
04/24/2024 00:04 VE3KG FN24 559 220 MHzCW
TR 344+-
04/24/2024 00:12 WB2RVX FM29MT 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 519
04/24/2024 00:42 KC2SGV FM29PN 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 528
04/24/2024 00:44 WA2LTM FN20RH 559 220 MHzSSB
TR 453
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of QSO listed: 23 (WA1PBU was worked sorta twice. The first time
was a "Hi Kim" in a pileup. The 2nd was an insurance QSO. I missed
trying with GBR and his 100 mw handheld.
So it was a fun night . By 01:45 UT I was falling asleep. OGS was
kicking in. OGS is the abbreviation for Old Geezer Syndrome. And please
do not forget the 432 Sprint tonight. I am hoping to be on if the gear
is still working. It has been awhile since I was on 432. My RX is
working but have not tempted fate by turning on the TX driver and
amplifier!! In other Mumbo Jumbo news, the 144 MHz tower is finally
starting to take shape after a two year hiatus. The tower came down in a
microburst, due to a falling tree across the guy anchor that snapped a
welded guy fitting. We have about 30 ft installed but I took a look at
some of the sections and decided that they should not be re used, so I
have ordered a load of new Rohn 45 sections to give me peace of mind and
reduce the amount of swearing as the tower crew tries to mate the
sections up in the air. I am able to work on the tower quite easily now,
as I scored a very nice 115 vac winch that will lift the sections with
ease. I priced winches and saw that you can get Harbor Freight style
winches made in China for low dollars, but they have very limited
amounts of drum area for decent cables. The larger types used for tower
work start at $1500 and go up from there. I wanted a winch that could
hold more cable and finally found one while perusing Facebook
Marketplace in Sanford, ME. It was used in large gymnasiums for raising
and lowering basketball backstops. The used price was $100. I have it
now fitted with 380 ft of 3/16" stainless steel 7x19 cable. It is slow,
but very rugged and so I can work on raising sections with a minimal
crew now. As soon as the Rohn sections show up, I can finish the 144 MHz
tower task! I'll have two yagis up on top at 135 ft. WooHoo!
73
Dave K1WHS
On 4/23/2024 8:19 PM, Paul N1BUG FN55mf wrote:
Wow!!! Guess who made it for 222 Activity Night!? Oh boy, it was good to
be on 222 again, if only for an hour or so!! I continue to sleep poorly
and must get up at 3 AM, which makes evenings rough. I am absolutely
dead by 7 PM, usually already asleep. Anyway, I was only on for an hour
and didn't work any DX but did manage 10 QSOs:
K1KG FN34 CW
N1JEZ FN44 SSB
K1WHS FN43 SSB
KV1J SSB SSB
WZ1V CW FN31
KC1V CW FN31
K1KG CW FN42
WB2VVV CW FN41
WA1MBA FT8 FN51
WA1NLG FT8 FN41
Everyone had good signals. I would say most were stronger than usual.
I do see a pattern with my appearances. The last time I managed to be
functional enough on a Tuesday evening to get on was last fall when I
was actively working on the 10 GHz beacon project. I hadn't worked on
that until about a week ago, and here I am making an appearance. This is
no surprise to me. A good challenging and interesting project helps in
so many ways, which is one reason I seek them out.
I was asked about the 432 Sprint tomorrow night. I will TRY to be on,
but no promises. I still only have 25 watts on 432. I do have a big
honking amplifier sitting here, but it is not on the air yet. When it
does go online it will be limited to 300 watts or so until I find or
more likely build a driver amplifier, then 1200 to 1500 watts after that.
73,
Paul N1BUG FN55mf
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