222 MHz Spring Sprint
Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS
Station: K1WHS
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: FN43mj
Operating Time (hrs): 3
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 45 Mults = 19 Tot Dist(km) = 1 Total Score = 855
Club: North East Weak Signal Group
Comments:
I had not put any RF out on 222 MHz since last Fall. After all the damage to
other antennas this past winter, I worried that there would be some horrific
problem with 222 as well. I just installed a new radio for 222, another K3 with
no options save for a CW filter. By the time I got it hooked up and running, it
was 22:30 and I could hear nothing on the band. Not a good sign. No beacons and
no signals. I normally hear W3CCX/b and the FN23 beacon. I never heard either of
them. As 23:00 rolled around there were still no signals and I started to
panic. When I finally started hearing people, everyone was just very weak.
First station worked was K3TUF and instead of his usual S7 or S8 signal, I
heard him at about S3. All other stations were about the same....way down in
strength. So now I am thinking that I have a bad coax relay, or there is water
in some power divider, or a pelican ate my driven element. All sorts of bad
scenarios popped into my head.
I had no internet at my operating position. (It is in another room, gotta
fix that!) I did not have a logging computer either. That was not good as my
hands shake so bad now, I can't read my own writing. My Sprint log looks like
Salavdor Dali wrote it. I stuck with it until 10 PM, hoping things would get
better. It seems that many stations were worked on QSB peaks or not at all. I
spent much time looking west but had a difficult time working FN12. I had heard
KA2LIM early on being called by W1GHZ in FN34. They both peaked their antennas
and I lost em both! I worked Paul GHZ shortly after, but never heard Ken again
until after 0100 UT. I finally worked him, but it was a minor struggle. Later
on a bit after 0200 UT as I was turning stuff off, I heard KA2LIM ragchewing on
SSB with another station who I did not recognize in the noise. It might have
been W9KXI (who I never worked) I heard a few stations down to the South
working the big guys, but never managed to hook up with them even with lots of
SSB and CW CQing in that direction. In short it was like pulling teeth up here
in FN43mj48rr. One problem might be that my 222 rotator might be out of whack
from the high winds. It seems that pointing was a problem for me. I'll check
that out in the next few days along with all my other work projects. Maybe that
is why I never heard VA3ELE/r in EN93. Maybe I was aimed wrong?
There was some good news. At 0100, I heard K8ZES in FN02 on my fixed
antenna (on SSB no less.) He is on the edge of the pattern, so I felt lucky
considering how poor the signals were. I tried working VE3DS to no avail (I
might have had the beam in the wrong place) only to turn the beam a few degrees
to the south and then working VE3ZN and VE3DS with great signals on CW. My last
QSO after VE3DS was with W3IP for my only FM19 contact. Signals were weak but
an easy contact. I figured it was a good time to quit. I counted up 45 QSOs in
19 grids. I tabulated the Qs per grid. FN42 was the most popular at 10 stations
worked followed by FN31, then FN20 and FM29 tied for third. FN30 was the fourth
most worked grid with three stations worked.
fn10 1
fn32 1
fn43 2
fn30 3
fn31 5
fn22 2
fn42 10
fn20 4
fn34 2
fn25 2
fn41 2
fm29 4
fn11 1
fn35 1
fn02 1
fn12 1
en92 1
fn03 1
fm19 1
Missed grids within range were many. FN33, FN53, FN54, and FN44 all border my
grid! There was nothing worked to my east at all. To my West the usual FN24,
FN23, FN15 and FN14 were joined by FN21 and FM18 in the "missing"
column. The lack of any activity to the East is a real problem for me. If I can
work into Ontario and EN92, I can also work eastward to Nova Scotia and FN95
etc. It seems that things are getting bleaker. I missed Stan WA2BAH, a fixture
on VHF since I was a kid. Stan became a silent key this winter. Another
familiar call goes silent.
Thanks to the sponsors and all who braved the poor conditions on 222! I will
probably miss the 432 Sprint as the 432 array has serious mechanical issues and
may not be working by next week.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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