Hey there Good Buddy Ron and 222 MHz ops,
I was expecting a nice quiet evening on 222 MHz. I had not been up to
the shack since coming back from the NEWS VHF Conference. I got a call
from Good Buddy Chris W3CMP, who was in the area. He came over and we
both drove up the hill to have a fun time on 222 MHz. I turned on the
power and noted that the antenna heading was 160 degrees. That is
strange. It should have been 300 degrees. I looked at the antenna and
it was pointing where I had left it on a northwest heading. So what is
going on? I tried rotating the antenna and it moved OK, but the heading
indicated made no sense at all! So Chris is using his phone to check
azimuths. He figured that maybe winds had twisted the array around. I
didn't think so, but had no idea what went wrong. We finally
boresighted the antenna at 220 degrees and looked at the heading that
the control box indicated. It was somewhere around 60 degrees. A few
mental correction factors were implemented and we went to find the W3CCX
beacon on 222.060. We found it but it was PW. I switched to the fixed
antenna and it sounded much better. Maybe the yagis had some damage? It
was not hearing well. By this time, stations were popping up all over
and we tried to make a few contacts using our correction factor. Thank
God for the fixed antenna as it was the only thing between me and
another bout of insanity! I could see where my mental makeup was
heading. In another week I would be found in a cheap hotel in Pittsburg
with empty pizza boxes all around the bed and Papst Blue Ribbon bottles
all over the place. It would not be pretty. Chris and I eventually
figured out that the beam headings indicated were actually drifting
around and the correction factor was shrinking with time. I then knew
that I had water inside the ten turn pot in the Prosistel rotator.
Every few minutes we would go back to the W3CCX beacon and try to find
it. After some searching, we came up with another correction factor and
then went and tried to find another station to work. We did this every
few minutes when we could not find the station we were looking for. Each
time, the error and correction factor had drifted.
I am surprised that we worked anyone. We had 15 or so in the log. I
heard N2SLO working WZ1V and tried calling but never heard Dave again.
By 00:30 I was done. Chris and I decided that a better plan was to
retire to the house and have a schnapps or two or three. He also had to
get some take out for his sainted wife who puts up with him and get back
to her with some food to avoid physical harm. Just kidding about the
physical harm. We went QRT and left the hill. I am sorry for missing
WA3EOQ who shows up rather late these days. I am also sorry that any EME
attempts were not possible with the direction indicator hosed and
drifting wildly. Trying to track the Moon was impossible.
My plan for reviving my mental health involved going fishing today up at
our camp. The trout are probably biting, the lake is calm, and the Sun
is out. I was all set to go until the Missus informed me just now that,
with all the rain we had, my little fishing boat sank while tied to the
dock. Here comes Pittsburg!
73
Dave K1WHS
On 5/13/2025 9:02 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
222 conditions were kind of flat but good activity tonight:
WB2ONA FN20, WA3NUF FN20, K1WHS FN43, N2SLO FN30,
WB2VVV FN41, W1XIV FN34, WB3IGR FN10, W3JG FM29,
W9KXI FN12, W1TR FN31, N1SV FN43, W1XR FM19,
KA3FQS FN20, WA2LTM FN20, K1PXE FN31, K1BX FN43,
K1OR FN42, W1AUV FN32, W1AIM FN34, N1LHP FN42,
and N1ROZ FN32. Thanks for the QSOs !
73 Ron WZ1V
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