Sorry to hear winter hit at your location. I'm still hoping it will bypass us
again here in south central Virginia. Way back in the last century I was a
semi-regular subscriber to the 220 Newsletter. I just trashed a stack of
them a few months ago. The ones I received were almost always printed on
yellow paper.
As far as a "new" newsletter, something online is the best bet. The
"@Groups.io" idea is ok but has limitations and would rarely capture new
operators unless someone passed the info on to them. I would think a more
successful track would be a Facebook group/community page. The admins could
limit how others participate and contribute and the graphics problem then goes
away. There are currently two 220 MHz Facebook groups I follow but most of
the activity is related to FM and local nets. Occasionally I catch "real
time" propagation reporting and band openings from a couple weak signal VHF/UHF
Facebook pages I follow.
If you do go forward with the "newsletter" idea, whatever route you decide, I
would be interested in subscribing.
de K3SK
FM07th
-----Original Message-----
From: David Olean <k1whs@metrocast.net>
Sent: Monday, December 27, 2021 9:52 AM
To: 222 >> 222Activity@groups.io <222Activity@groups.io>;
NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting@contesting.com
Subject: [VHFcontesting] 222 Activity Night
Hello 222 folks,
Well, I picked the right time to bow out of the Tuesday evening activity
periods. The weather has turned much in favor of winter here, and there have
been three ice storms and enough snow to make me realize that winter has
arrived for good. Everything is now ice encased and covered in white stuff.
Temps have plummeted. To make the trip to my shack, I need to strap on the
snow shoes and trudge uphill about 1/2 mile then shovel out the doors to the
shack, then nurse the diesel generator on and start the heating units to warm
up the room. The problem is that when the temps drop to single digits, heating
up such cold metal items as HV supplies, and transformers will cause water to
condense on the cold metal. HV arc overs and all sorts of failures can occur.
It is not smart to try and operate with such conditions.
Just before all the bad weather hit, I climbed the tower to lower the entire H
frame so that the main mast does not have to support a 300 lb antenna system
perched 4 ft above the tower top. Now the center of gravity is only about 18"
up. I think a 2" high strength steel mast with 1/4" wall will support that! In
the Spring I can raise it back up with a come along.
What I did not get done was to haul the K3, the transverter, and other
"delicate" electronics out of the shack. I really need the vehicle up there to
haul it all, and I missed that window! Unless we get some significant melting,
the truck cannot get up there. I might have to rescue them with a sled and
plastic bags!
It sounds like last Tuesday was a good evening, activity wise, and I hope it
continues thru the winter months and that I can join in again in the early
Spring when the temps moderate. In the meantime, I am researching how I can
keep a 222 station up there with heat. No heat is very bad as condensation
will ruin anything in short order. Big tube amps seem to take it if you don't
turn them on, but delicate circuit boards and teeny weeny coils tend to fare
much worse. (Been there...Done that!) I am looking into another propane vented
heater. The only problem is there is very little room for one in the cramped
shack!
I have been toying around with a few ideas for 222. One idea involves a new
meteor scatter antenna. I am hoping to stack a pair of 16 element yagis one
over the other on a side arm, to be partially rotatable from SW to NW. I tried
running two skeds with ND0B in N Dakota during the Geminids, but we did not
complete. The distance is a bit over 1400 miles. We heard each other but did
not have enough meteors to complete a contact. The signals were strong but very
scarce. I suspect my 4 yagi EME array is too sharp. The pair of 16's will be
over twice as wide in beamwidth, and probably have enough gain to make the
trip. I have been re furbing the yagis in my shop, and they are ready to go as
soon as I can get some decent weather.
I was also thinking about resurrecting the K5FF 220 Activity Newsletter.
She had a mimeographed newsletter that was mailed out to interested operators.
It had all the news of what the 220 MHz ops were doing back in the 1980's. The
time factor was better than seeing results in the QST VHF column. Today, one of
the good methods would be to have a website with chronological entries
maintained so they could be accessed at any time. I think Stan KA1ZE had a
similar page for promoting 144 MHz morning activity back a few years ago.
Another method might be a
222 Activity @Groups.io type e mail, but graphics would be a bit more
difficult. I don't have a website that I can use, but I have a feeling that a
222 Newsletter in some form would be a good activity builder. It might draw in
new 222 operators when they see what people are accomplishing on the band. What
do you think? Is this a good idea, or as K1OR tells me..... "You are NUTS!"
So plan to get on 222 this coming Tuesday evening. All you need is a 222 rig
and an antenna! I wish I could join you there.
73
Dave K1WHS
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