Since I'm a newbie here who pretty well fits the following description, I
thought I would jump in:
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But wait, there is a HUGE
untapped population of would-be VHFers on HPACK, the FT817 Yahoo Group,
Adventure Radio Societyt and QRP-L!! These guys must be shown the WA5JVB
cheappie beams and how to find good QTHs. If just 10% of the these 6000+
guys on the lists that have 6 or 2 would work a couple hours apiece, welll
the math is OBVIOUS! You wouldn't be able to find a font big enough to
spell SUCCESS.
Just my $0.02 es 73,
Mark K2QO
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I agree! After being essentially off the air for quite a while, I got back on
with a 40-meter QRP rig a couple of years ago, and Mrs. Claus just gave me a
new FT-817 for Christmas.
My last (non-FM) VHF QSO was with a Gonset Communicator, so it was a lot of
fun to fire up the 817 on 6 meters and 432 and check into a couple of local
nets (using my HF dipoles!)
I plan on doing my first VHF contest for the January VHF SS as a rover. I'll
be combining it with a trip visiting some relatives, so I'll probably be
starting the contest near Madison, WI, and passing through or near the Chicago
and Indianapolis areas during the contest.
I subscribe to the QRP-L list, and also occasionally check the Yahoo FT-817
group, and I agree that there would be a lot of interest by the people on
these lists in VHF mountaintopping or portable operations. A large sub-group
of the QRP groups is interested in ham radio while backpacking and camping,
and running QRP on VHF sounds like a lot of fun.
As my plans emerge, I'll submit them to the Rover Resource page, but I would
appreciate thoughts on how successful the following kind of operation will be:
Since I will be combining this with another trip, I'll be doing most of my
operating while mobile, and I will be passing through 3 metro areas. For a
cheap and easy antenna, what I'm thinking of doing is just mounting three
dipoles (fed with the same coax) on top of a short section of PVC pipe mounted
to the top of the car. The elements for 2 and 432 would be made out of some
kind of metal rod, and the six-meter elements would be made out of wire,
inverted-vee style, running from the PVC mast down to somewhere on the car.
Since I'll be operating mobile, I figure this is the best compromise between
having dedicated antennas for each band and having to switch cables.
I'll also probably have a 3-element 2-meter beam with me for occasional use
while stopped, although I plan to do most of the operation while in motion.
I'll also have another radio monitoring 2 meter FM (I assume 146.55 is the
best frequency) from a vertical antenna.
My XYL is also a ham, so she'll be helping out with both the driving and the
operating.
If anyone has any ideas about what I'm doing wrong, please let me know!
(Which reminds me, I better get to the hardware store for my PVC pipe!)
73,
Rick W0IS
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