Hi Mr. N1BUG!
I know what you are saying about 144 MHz. That has always been my
favorite band from the time I heard my first signal while standing on a
branch in our apple tree. My brother and I were using a walki talki kit
that had a 19" whip and a 3A5 in a super regen receiver. That was in
1961. Lately 144 MHz has taken a big hit in activity. Part of this is
that the old crew of VHFers is dying off. These were the guys who made
big antennas and homebrew KWs in an effort to push the limits and really
learn about the propagation. Sam Harris was a prime example. Others were
W4HHK, K2UK/ KH6UK, W8PT, W5RCI, K4IXC, W8KAY, W2AZL, and hundreds just
like them. They are all dead now and times have changed. Add in the
digital phenom and the band is not the same. My hat is off to KA1ZE for
keeping the flame alive.
I am quite upset about the FT8 situation. I could be wrong, but it is
looking like a race to the bottom as far as I can tell. It is a way to
play with no understanding of CW, so it opens up potential DX to those
with none of the skills that make a good VHFer. The activity then
attracts others because that is where the action is. I am quickly
losing interest in VHF with all the digital modes as it disconnects me
from hearing the actual propagation. I lost EME and meteor scatter and
now I am losing troposcatter. I went to 160 meters in hopes of finding
a new challenge, but FT-8 is taking over there as well.
I got two bands back up and running with help from AA1VL and K1BX. Art
operated mostly on six. I made a few contacts on 144, and we did not do
any digital mode activity at all. He was strictly CW and SSB and loved
every minute of it. He lamented that many DX grids were only on FT8 and
he was shut out as a result. We did hook up an FT8 setup beforehand,
and got it working but decided not to bother with it in the contest.
I am rapidly losing interest in VHF and it breaks my heart.
Dave K1WHS
On 6/13/2018 12:20 PM, N1BUG wrote:
Made only 19 QSOs in 11 grids on 2m. Conditions were variable
Saturday but good peaks with signals from FN20/21 running S7 to S9
for several minutes at a time.
Activity seemed very low. I listened several times Sunday and heard
no more than one or two stations which I had already worked Saturday.
Was activity really this low or was it that people were spending a
lot of time on digital?
I'm now going to wait and see where we are before adding more bands.
If SSB/CW activity in contests has taken a big hit, I see no point
in adding 222/432. Those bands would have been useless this time as
it would have been impossible to find stations to run bands with.
I remain interested in getting on 1296 regardless, since that is
unexplored territory for me. But that is still one to three years
away. I have the transverter and amplifier but need antenna, preamp,
and better feedline.
I find myself more and more disillusioned with operating and am
becoming more of an experimenter and explorer.
73,
Paul N1BUG
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