222 MHz Spring Sprint - 2020
Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS WA1T
Station: K1WHS
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FN43mj
Operating Time (hrs): 4
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 45 Mults = 19 Total Score = 855
Club:
Comments:
Keeping the 222 MHz station in operation has been challenging these last few
years. Most of the problem is QTH related, with the antennas located in a very
harsh environment. In 2018, I had one of the top yagis in my H frame get snapped
in half. Just thjis past March, one of the lower 30 ft yagis was broken in
half. This time I was ready and got it fixed in time for the 222 MHz Sprint. I
also have been reworking the shack gear and installed some much needed mods to
the amp & xverter setup to make it easier to use and more stable for 21st
century digital weak signal modes.
For the Sprint, my laptop croaked a few days before and I was without a decent
(fast) computer for decoding the massve number of callers on 222 MHz FT8. (heh
heh) Anyway, I found a great guy in NH who sold me a great laptop and even
fixed a busted one that I had for short $$. I loaded the ham software and
checked it all out. I had an FT8 machine and a second one for internet. I was
ready for the sprint!
On Tuesday, Al, WA1T came over and we proceeded to get on for the sprint. Al
operated and I watched the chat page and looked for possible QSOs. It was like
old times with the multi-op contest efforts from years past at "Dave's
Station". We had a blast just yakking and coaxing contacts out of the 222
MHz band. I even had a cooler with 4 (count em) FOUR nice IPA beers inside! The
activity level was rather staggering at first, but after the first hour, it
turned into a slog-fest. There was no propagation to speak of and every contact
made you work for it. The good news was that our success rate was pretty high.
You had to wait for the QSB peak and find the frequency with less interference
to make it all work. One thing we noticed was that the transverter was getting
clobbered by CH 11 TV. Unfortunately, CH 11 is 218 degrees from me. That is the
same heading for New York City. The noise floor rose about 6 or 8 dB and the
LVA antenna picked that up, making it much less effective for weak signals. I
should have fixed that, but forgot about it, as I had other more pressing
problems.
The day before the Sprint, I went into the generator shed and immediately saw a
small wet patch on the ground. It was leaking diesel fuel! Holy Cow! this is
serious. I looked closely and saw a small drip about every ten seconds or so.
OK, I figured, I can put a glass jar there and catch the leaking fuel until I
can drain the tank etc. I need to order a diesel transfer pump to remove the
fuel. So I put the jar in place and everything looked good until I got a
flashlight and paper towel to clean it up and inspect the pinhole location. One
swipe with the paper towel around the leaking area, and the ten second drip
turned into a rather robust steady stream of spewing diesel fuel! Yikes! What do
I do now? My solution was to empty the jar back into the tank, and run down to
the house as fast as I could and find some magnetic leak suppressors for oil
tanks. I thought I had several of them from years past. I found them and drove
back up the hill as fast as I could. When I got there, the jar was just about
ready to overflow. I plopped the magnetic doo-hickey over the leak and it
stopped. Whew! So that is why the receiver overload problem was not addressed
in a more timely fashion! I spent the rest of the afternoon throwing out my
diesel soaked clothes in plastic bags, and taking showers.
So Al and I just had fun and tuned around and enjoyed ourselves while sipping
some fine Massachusetts IPA concoctions. We tried early with VA3ELE in FN03 and
had no trouble working him. Al said that Peter sounded like a local or maybe
like he was in FN31. Al then worked VE3DS easily after that. I know that I
missed VE3DS in the 144 Sprint, so it was great to catch Dana on 222. It was
also great to work VE3FN in FN25. It was a red letter night to also snag N1BUG
in FN55. That is a grid that I rarely work, so Congrats to Paul, Mr. BUG for
getting on! It was also a treat to work the Vermont contingent, W1AIM and W1GHZ
for FN34! The big rotatable antenna got a workout as the LVA had the CH11 noise
in it. We kept the 4 stack aimed at Wash DC quite often, which is ten degrees
west of the NYC heading, in hopes of snagging a few southern grids. 270 degrees
was another hot direction as we wanted to hear VE3ZV. Al tried early in the
evening and VE3ZV in EN92 was good speaker quality on CW, but he could not hear
us. I had our power out set at 1250 watts. Later on we tried again and went
lower in frequency so VE3ZV could get away from interference and crud. We then
made a good 2 way contact. The distance is 511 miles! Those two way contacts
are much more fun than one way contacts.
Going back to the SW, we scared up a sked with W8ZN in FM09. Terry was at his
new VHF location and we managed a nice CW contact over a distance of about 500
miles. Not bad for stinko condx and zilch tropo. WA3EOQ in FM09 was also tried.
He could hear us, but his 100 watts was not making the trip back to Maine. A
later try produced paydirt! I caught him on a tropo peak and we squeaked out
another 500 mile QSO! Anytime a 100 watt signal can traverse 500 miles on 222
is cause for celebration. Al went out and retrieved our last two IPAs from the
cooler! We tried with Cornell, KO4YC in FM17. He heard us but we could not copy
him. That was also an over 500 mile path.
We ended up with 45 QSOs in 19 grids and 855 points. Having the newly acquired
laptop, I was curious to see if it would work on FT8 contacts. (Al and I are
really BIG FT8 guys) So we watched and watched and saw no FT8 activity. Oh
well, it seemed like it worked. Many CQs went unanswered. It was only near the
end of the sprint that we realized that 222.174 was the FT8 frequency. I had
been happily running FT8 on 222.074 and wondering why it was so empty!!!
After about 0215 UT, we found the correct FT-8 watering hole and made five
contacts on FT8. It was better than CW as we could sip our IPAs and not worry
about holding on to a keyer. We had 40 CW and SSB QSOs. There were some long
haul paths worth trying that we never attempted. K1MAP in FM14 might have been
possible as it is a partial over water path. Unfortunately, a sked never got
arranged. I also see that I missed some stations that were within range. Not
sure how I missed W1TR. I think K3MD lost his PA, but I missed him too. I might
have had some luck with AA4ZZ on FT8 if I knew what I was doing and had been on
the right FT8 frequency. I have said this all along. " I need a
chaperone!" All in all, it was great evening, especially after I threw
out my diesel soaked clothing!
Dave K1WHS
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