All,
I will be absent tonight. I fried my 222 TR relay on Sunday morning. A
replacement is not at the top of my Hamvention shopping list, Stop by at my
flea market spaces and say hi. I'm in 7513-7516.
de K3SK
FM07TH
-----Original Message-----
From: 222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io> On Behalf Of David Olean
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2023 8:29 AM
To: 222 >> 222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io>;
NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [222Activity] Tuesday 222 Activity Night
Last Tuesday I happened to look up at the microwave tower and saw something out
of the ordinary. Among other antennas up there, I have a quad loop yagi array
for 903 MHz. They are the long 47 element versions. It seems that one of the
47 el loop yagis had managed to break itself loose from the H frame. Apparently
the hardware had worked loose and the antenna fell off. ( So much for my
preventative maintenance
abilities) The looper was hanging by a kinked 1/2" hardline phasing cable. I
rescued the damaged antenna. Several elements were broken, but no real damage
was done. I replaced a few of the broken loops and straightened things out. It
looked pretty darn good when I was done. A quick check showed 30 dB return
loss and it is ready to go back up.
(I'll need to make a new phasing line and phase match it.) When I am up there,
I will test all of the loop yagis and do the PM work that I should have been
doing up there all along. I figure a day up at 130 ft and I can pinpoint any
problems in any of the bands.
After all the tower work, Tuesday evening is the appointed time for 222
Activity Night. I am itching to try some meteor scatter. Last week seemed to be
fair for meteors and we are getting into the more productive part of the year
for them. I know that the current term du jour is "rocks", but they are really
grains of sandlike particles. I guess "sand" doesn't cut it when discussing
conditions. " Geez, the sand was really bad last night" or " The sand was
really flying this morning." Last week, everybody noticed that conditions
generally, had improved and some neat QSOs were made in many parts of the
country. QSO totals in the northeast were high and some of the regulars were
missing in action. If everybody gets on in New England and the mid Atlantic
States, we could have contact totals up in the 50's for a few hours of
operating. As it is Good Buddy Ron WZ1V worked about 25 stations. I did about
the same. I think WA3EOQ in extreme western MD worked 14 stations from his spot
in F
M09. That is impressive.
So fire up the rig on 222 tonight and make some noise. While you are at it,
make a point to get on and celebrate the life of Lee Fish, K5FF, the God Mother
of the 220 MHz band. Lee passed away on May 3rd. She was a true sparkplug and
was responsible for keeping 220 MHz alive and fostering activity on the DX
modes. The fun starts after dinner around
2300 UT on the East Coast and a bit later in the midwest. I will hopefully be
there shortly before 23:00 UT on 222.100 MHz.
73
Dave K1WHS
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