John,
That is sort of a tough question to answer. I always asked myself
"What do I want to do now?" Usually it was geared to improving my
contest score, so a new band is the best bet, and pick a band that gives
the best bang for the buck. Now that was just me thinking in 1972. You
may want to have different goals.
At the moment, my goal is working on improving the orphan bands,
specifically 3456 MHz. I want to go on a contest mountaintop expedition
with a dynamite 3456 station. (Strange goal huh?) I just installed a
killer 5760 setup and am working on a quad array of humongous loopers
for 3456. It should develop over 30 dBi.
Let's get back to your premise and, since you have three bands only,
I think you would be looking to increase the scoring possibilities for
your station. Geography enters into the equation, but I would definitely
add 222 MHz. If I had $600 , I would get some old bucket of bolts rig
and put all my money into an antenna system. Get a transverter and build
up a linear amp. 222 has much less cosmic noise than 144. Line noise is
much less. You will get lotsa grids that you will not get on the higher
bands. As an example, here in Maine, the 222 grid total is usually a few
grids behind 432 in every contest. One year, (Sept 2001) 222 beat 432!
1296 is a great band, but it is far behind in grids and QSOs.
Of course, some people may like 1296 better than 222!! I like 2304
and 3456 better than 1296. I guess it is closer to the new frontier etc.
etc. If money was no object, I would still get on 222 first and just
add more bands and not skip the orphan bands! 222, 903, and 3456 and
5760 are all great bands with all sorts of possibilities. It is a shame
most people jump from 1296 or 2304 to 10 GHz in one jump. They miss a
lot.
73
Dave K1WHS
John Geiger wrote:
> I am interested in receiving comments on the following
> for my own interest, as well as for a possible VHF
> club newsletter item.
>
> If you were currently active on the "Big 3" VHF/UHF
> bands (6, 2, 70cm) running 100 watts on each band with
> moderate sized antennas-13 elements on 2 and 16
> elements on 432, what band would you add next:
>
> 1. If you were limited to $500-$600 for equipment and
> antennas
> 2. If money and space were no object.
>
> Or, would you be better off using the money to improve
> your existing setup and just staying on 6, 2 and 432?
>
> 73s John NE0P
>
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