[VHFcontesting] Jan Contest Plans: FN00RG KM4KMU FM (SSB capable)

[nosigma at aol.com]

KM4KMU  FM Category (SSB capable)


Blue Knob FN00RG
3150 feet ASL
I expect to be on the air for the full contest except for a 4-5 hr break late Saturday night/Sunday morning.


100W & Beams on all 4 lower bands (FM & SSB)


Freqs:

6M FM         52.525 MHz   (QSY)
2M FM       146.520 MHz (calling CQ & monitoring, 146.535 if 146.520 is busy)
1.25M FM  223.500 MHz (monitoring full time, second radio)
70cm  FM  446.000 MHz  (QSY)
6M, 2M & 70cm SSB capable (QSY from 2M FM, you give me the freq)




After an initial FM Q I will be happy to QSY to SSB freqs (6M, 2M, 70cm) to provide you with points on bands where an FM Q is not possible.  I will have my beams set at 45 degrees to work both FM & SSB with a little bit of loss.   Hopefully I will be the only person doing that so we dont get orthogonal.


Based on previous results and FN00RG's lower altitude, my expected 2M & 1.25M FM ranges are 120-140 miles for omni's (~3dBi) & 200 miles for beams ~10dBi).  


FN00RG has a generally clear line of sight W, NW, NE, E, SE to 200mi +


Grids that I should be able to work.
Full Grids:  FN00, EN90, EN91, FN00, FN10, FN11,  FM19, FM18. 
Western FN21
Central & Western FN20 & FM29
Southern FN12 & FN02, FN02 cant be in a valley
FM09 & FM08 may need to be on a ridge line.
Eastern EM99 (cant be in a valley)


Cities I expect to reach  
Winchester VA
Pittsburgh PA
Cleveland Ohio
Erie PA
Elmira & Binghamton NY
Allentown PA 
Philadelphia PA 
Baltimore MD
Washington DC (Gaithersburg, Leesburg, DC proper etc)


Possible but very difficult:
NYC: no obstacles but its just under the horizon & at extreme range, 240mi with no ridges to diffract off of.
Columbus Ohio:  no obstacles but its just under the horizon & at extreme range, 235mi but with a nice ridge 26 mi from me to diffract off of.
Rochester NY (shadowed by a ridge so a weak diffracted signal is likely)

Buffalo NY (shadowed by a ridge so a weak diffracted signal is likely)


Good Luck to all, at least the east coast weather is looking good for comfort if not for propagation.
73
John
KM4KMU