Hey, it's Tuesday!! That means a fun evening frolicking on one of the
best VHF bands we have allocated in North America. That is the 222 MHz
band BTW. I am all fired up because we had about 2 days warmish of
melting and a lot of ice and snow has disappeared. I am thinking that
the ham shack may be accessible very soon. Of course, with our nation's
fuel supply, diesel fuel prices have gone through the roof and I will
cringe every time I hit the start switch on my 20 KW generator. Then
there is the base cost of electricity in Maine. I am not sure what
happened, but I am now paying $0.0249 per kilowatt hour! All this makes
me want to go QRP!
Still, I am hopeful that I can get back on the band soon. I am already
planning to rig up the big rope on the 222 tower so I can haul up some
gear to raise the 222 H frame again and make the setup operational. I
just hope all is well up there. We had simply awful winds last night. I
rate the wind as being bad when I feel the house shake, and it was
shaking last night after the weather front came through. I think it was
the worst of the winter so far.
If you have 222 gear, why not dust it off and see what you can hear this
evening on the CW and SSB frequencies around 222.100. Don't forget FT8
if you are so inclined. 222.174 is the FT8 frequency. ON4KST Chat page
(Region 2 144/432MHz) is one of the liaison spots for the northeast. You
might also try HB9Q Logger and select the 222 page there. It gets
heavily used for 222 EME but most times it has very low traffic. Action
starts around 6 PM local time and typically goes past 9 PM or 0200 UT.
I have been working slowly on my 222 solid state KW. It is almost
finished. Most of the wiring has been done. I am now building a current
shunt for my 150 amp DC meter. I have installed a bunch of ferrite cores
on all the control and measurement wiring. I used 43 material, figuring
it would work fine on 222. A few more days, and I will be ready for the
smoke test. The amp has been tested, but I need to calibrate the VSWR
protection circuits, and calibrate the RF output meter and the DC
current meter. I am using a W6PQL control board and so the temperature
settings need calibration too. I am using the control board to run my
array of box fans. (4 X 12 volt DC fans) I need to adjust fan speeds
for proper cooling.
So don't forget to post how you did on 222 for the evening. It is a
great way to let folks know what they are missing if they don't have 222
gear to enjoy.
73
Dave K1WHS
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|