Hi folks,
N1BUG was my first contact as well. He was very loud even off the back
of the antenna, so I turned the array NE and he peaked well over S9 at
about +20. I was surprised to work so many stations with some new ones
that made things very interesting. I don't have the log in front of me,
but worked KI2L and KI1P for new stations. I got a kick out of N1BUG
suffering from Qwertyitis. That is an affliction where you fall asleep
at the keyboard and the letters on the keyboard make an impression on
your forehead. I learned that from reading Dilbert cartoons.
I tried some FT8 with K3SK when I think he had his amplifier running,
but I did not hear anything and I was very disappointed. Yes, it is a
long haul, but I was hoping that we could be able to make a contact. As
many have noted, it was rainy and very wet. Conditions were not good and
deep QSB was quite evident. W9KXI varied from S8 to S3 on SSB. I did
work WA3EOQ for an over 500 mile path on CW, and while Howard was rather
steady, he was way down in the noise and barely copyable. It made me
very glad that I spent so much time & effort in fixing my receiver. I
never would have worked him without the extensive filtering. Digital TV
stations are really causing problems and the problem is front and center
if you have a good radio location. Both 222 and 432 required extensive
filtering before they started working as they should!
I don't have the list of stations worked, but my QSO tally was 19
stations worked and I missed John WW1Z in my backyard almost! That is
quite a number for a drizzly and rainy night. My only long haul
impossible sked was K3SK. I did not try any MS or midwest tropo shots
all evening. I guess the activity was too great for that, and that is a
good thing! I quit just B4 10 PM local time.
73
Dave K1WHS
On 9/7/2022 7:04 AM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
Hi Paul:
You were first in my log last night, with a great signal too.
I listened for K3SK in FM07 both on SSB and FT8 but no joy.
I've got a good shot that direction, but at 415 miles tough for 25 W.
WA3EOQ in FM09 was easy copy on CW.
Worked 11 others:
N1JEZ FN44, K1WHS FN43, WA3NUF FN20, K1PXE FN31,
W9KXI FN12, K1TEO FN31, N1SV FN42, W1GHZ FN34,
W1AIM FN34, WA1T FN43, and N1DPM FN32.
TNX for the QSO's. I'll be on 432 tonight 8 to 9 PM or so.
73 Ron WZ1V FN31RH
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul N1BUG FN55mf <paul@n1bug.com>
To: "NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net" <NEWSVHF@mailman.qth.net>, "vhfcontesting@contesting.com"
<vhfcontesting@contesting.com>, "222 >> 222Activity@groups.io" <222Activity@groups.io>
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2022 06:09:00 -0400
Subject: Re: [NEWSVHF] [222Activity] 222 MHz Activity Night
Hi 222ers and contesters,
I didn't dare say anything in advance as that always seems to be a
curse, but I managed to be on for the first few minutes last night. I
worked K1WHS, N1JEZ, WZ1V and K1TEO right off the bat on SSB, all with
great signals. K1WHS was nothing short of a massive signal as always. A
few minutes later N1SV answered my CQ on CW. I heard W9KXI working K1WHS
but when I turned the antenna his way he disappeared. That path over the
mountains can be weird. I heard K1PXE on SSB calling one of the other
FN31 stations I think (QRM), then later quite strong on CW working
someone up on 222.110 but he faded almost to zero at the end of that
QSO. Unfortunately I developed a case of QWERTYitis just 40 minutes (?)
into the activity. My day had started at 2 AM as it often does.
I had some time yesterday morning to make cables to run from the Trimble
Thunderbolt in the workshop down the rack to a floor bulkhead, under the
house from there to another floor bulkhead in the ham shack, and from
there up another rack to the Q5 Signal REF10-8 behind the transverters.
I used temporary cables that were laying around to connect the 222 and
432 transverters to the REF10-8 while I wait for some connectors I
ordered to make permanent ones for all three transverters. For now I
have to disconnect the Thunderbolt from the homebrew splitter feeding a
couple pieces of test equipment to route it over to the shack but
eventually I will get a Q5 Signal L10-4 or L10-8 to make everything
permanent.
The ~16 month old 432 transverter's internal standard TCXO is about 220
Hz off. 222 is about 80 Hz off. I haven't checked 144. Just for grins I
checked the internal reference in the REF10-8 and found the difference
between that and the Thunderbolt to be only 5 Hz on the 432 transverter.
I spent the afternoon working on weeding the antenna farm. I tackled a
70 foot oak that was very crooked, nearly V shaped, and leaning severely
toward one of the towers. I climbed up about 30 feet and attached a
safety cable to a very heavy duty comealong chained to a tree in what I
thought was a clear enough direction to drop the oak without hitting the
tower or guys. It had to be pulled in some direction or else it was
going to hit the tower for sure. Unfortunately the top branches of the
WUR (Weed Under Removal) got hung on the branches of massive 95 foot
pine tree! I spent hours trying to pull it this way or that to get it
free but no luck. The bottom ~25 feet is now leaning at a 40 degree
angle toward the pine, with the remaining ~45 feet nearly vertical. I've
got to figure a way to get it out of there.
If I am awake and quasi-functional, I will try to be on 432 this
evening. Uh-oh... the curse! I have a great antenna but only 25 watts on
432 so it will be tough going.
I plan to be on some in the contest on 144 (1300W, YU7EF 13 el at 120'),
222 (800W, K1FO-22 at 115'), and 432 (25W, K1FO-40 at 110'). No 6
meters. The 6 meter antenna is still down waiting for me to try adding
rope inside the elements to tame a serious vibration problem. I might or
might not make a serious effort of it. Contests have been very
disappointing since my return to VHF. If I work hard I can scare up 20
to 30 QSOs on 144, 8 or 10 on 222 and a few on 432. That's pretty darn
discouraging compared to the 90 I used to be able to get on 144 with an
inferior setup but I guess it is a sign of the times. VHF+ activity is
WAY down, especially big stations that can reach up here.
Somehow I am going to get my schedule sorted so I can be awake well into
the evening Saturday, but will be off the air for an hour or two after
0130 UTC to try listening for the DL0SHF beacon on 10 GHz EME. Now that
I have the LNB GPS locked and moved to 432 IF, the 432 transverter GPS
locked, and doppler tracking working it should be a lot easier than last
time with a drifting LNB and old non-TCXO RTL-SDR stick!
73,
Paul N1BUG
FN55mf
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