[VHFcontesting] CQ frequency advice?

Chet S chetsubaccount at snet.net
Mon Sep 23 16:41:41 EDT 2019


Paul,

Yes, geography! We are 312 miles apart, but perhaps more importantly, in my direction there is a hill only a mile and a half from you that is almost 150' higher than your ground level. That makes it a tough path on vhf and uhf for us, and we've never had a contact. You may be blocked in other directions too. 

QRM here in CT is not wall to wall, there is plenty of clear space between stations . 
(That was not always my experience when I first got on 2M with an FT897 with its awful front end, but an Elecraft transverter to a different radio cleared that problem up nicely.)

73,
Chet, N8RA, FN31tl



-----Original Message-----
From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of N1BUG
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2019 6:03 AM
To: newsvhf at mailman.qth.net; VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>; VHF <vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] CQ frequency advice?

There were many replies. Thanks to all! The below response from Gedas probably sums up as well as any.

My CQs in the 144.190 to 144.230 range go unanswered while if I tune around I hear plenty of search and pounce stations working others down in the NE corridor. I can only assume those stations don't call me because they don't hear me. I strongly suspect I have a large power advantage over many of them so if they're not hearing me I must believe it is a matter of QRM. Every contest I hear 3x the number of stations I work. I just haven't found a way to connect with them.

It is important to consider the geography. I am way up here in FN55.
Other than 3 or 4 "locals" in Maine, it is some 200 miles to the edge of the activity. The vast majority of workable stations are at
200 to 500 miles. I suspect QRM is far worse than I could ever imagine, and I'm so far away I am not able to compete with it.

I've said before, going back 35 years, and I will say again: It would be very helpful to those of us in outlying areas if there were an informal list of known recurring big gun run frequencies so we could at least avoid those. I know where some stations like W2SZ run because I can hear them. However there are many big stations just beyond my range at 500-700 miles that I never hear. I'm told some of them have run frequencies they use every contest but I have no way of knowing what those frequencies are. Those stations could be a major source of QRM for my 300-500 mile QSOs.

I'm going to pick a frequency well removed from 144.200 and try to be there every contest. My hope is that eventually word will get around and people will know where to look. The only question is where. If I go too far from 144.200, people tuning the band will probably not find me. Even those with pan displays may not be looking high enough. I'm leaning toward 144.237 as a compromise between QRM and being findable. If anyone is aware of a problem with that PLEASE speak up so I can pick something else.

One last thing. If some of you will help spread the word that would be appreciated. I'm not your competition. I will never win a contest from up here. I'm there to have some fun and to give YOU a multiplier on as many bands as possible.

I will announce my CQ frequency and times (a portion of each hour) prior to every contest as a reminder. For tonight's Sprint I will call CQ on 144.237 for 10 minutes starting at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. If I am getting callers I will continue past 10 minutes, otherwise will go to search and pounce for the remainder of the time. I have to put in a long work day so I will probably only be on for the first two hours unless conditions are really special.

73,
Paul N1BUG FN55MF



On 9/22/19 12:26 AM, Gedas wrote:
> Hi Paul. Just one ops opinion/observations here. In my area, which 
> cannot be anything like what it is like in the super congested east 
> coast or NE corridor, a lot of times I will simply stay off of a band 
> like 2m when say a club station withing 20-30 miles of me decides to 
> park on 200 and put out endless CQ's for several days. 59+30signals 
> wipe out my receiver to the point where unless your signal is very 
> strong I will never hear you unless you are very well removed from the 
> calling frequency. Bless their hearts they are trying their best to 
> stir up activity and keep the bands busy but it doesn't work well for 
> all other stations within a grids radius. It's truly a double-edged sword situation.
> 
> I like to hunt around and look for stations calling CQ so I can help 
> them get a distant grid and a Q they would not normally get. I love 
> doing that and the challenges that go along with making 400-600 mile 
> "brute force" CW/SSB QSO's.
> 
> Also, it seems, to me anyway, just like many of the big gun EME ops, 
> the big gun regular contest stations all seem to have their favorite 
> frequencies and stick with them year after year. On one hand it's 
> kinda bad when freq 144.xxx is a particular ops "frequency" etc. But 
> on the other hand if I am looking for that station I know where to look.
> Again, it's good and it's kinda bad.  And, all the other big guns seem 
> to realize this and respect it as they too have "there own" favorite 
> frequency. Of course they will tune around also from time to time but 
> you know what I mean.
> 
> Given a choice to find a weaker more distant station I will always 
> find you MUCH easier if you are _well_ removed from 200. Being only 
> 100 miles away from Detroit, Chicago, Indy, Dayton, etc you would not 
> believe what
> 200 can sound like if you have a well equipped station.
> 
> Also keep in mind that more and more ops these days have pan displays 
> for receive (like I do on my old Flex) and can see the entire SSB 
> portion of the band. As long as our antennas are pointing at each 
> other and we have propagation I will see you and tune to your 
> frequency so my vote is to stay away from 200.I keep a sharp eye on my 
> pan display from
> 150 to 250. In the olden days I would simply tune back and forth for 
> countless hours until my fingers were numb hunting for stations.
> 
> Gedas, W8BYA
> 
> Gallery at http://w8bya.com
> Light travels faster than sound....
> This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
> 
> On 9/21/2019 10:21 PM, N1BUG via VHF wrote:
>> I'm been giving a lot of thought to ways I might increase QSOs in 
>> future contests and especially find people to run higher bands with.
>>  From this far north I will never be a competitor. I do this for fun 
>> and a big part of that fun is making QSOs on bands above 2 meters.
>>
>> Since my return to VHF three years ago, I have had zero luck calling 
>> CQ on 2 meters. I can easily work stations to 450 or 500 miles doing 
>> search and pounce when I catch them pointed this way, but my CQs go 
>> unanswered. One obvious problem is that I am so far from the 
>> population centers I can only hear most stations when they are 
>> looking this way. That means I cannot tell what frequencies might be 
>> clear enough in or near those population centers for people to hear me.
>>
>> My thinking is that for future contests I would announce a CQ 
>> frequency and times in advance, for example "This contest I will call 
>> CQ on 144.xxx for the first 15 minutes of every hour". My question 
>> is, can those of you in the more populated areas offer any advice on 
>> choosing a frequency? Am I better off staying fairly close to 144.200 
>> or moving up out of the usual range? I think I have a better chance 
>> of avoiding QRM if I move further up, but then stations tuning the 
>> band probably won't find me. I'm not sure how many of the people I 
>> keep missing read these forums and would see a pre-contest 
>> announcement. I know many of them don't use the internet chat sites. 
>> If I stay lower in the band perhaps I have a better chance of people 
>> finding me while tuning but higher risk of not being heard at all due 
>> to QRM. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
>>
>> How many of you would make a point of looking for me if you knew when 
>> and where to find me?
>>
>> I'm carrying on with renewed resolve and looking forward to several 
>> station improvements over the winter.
>>
>> 73,
>> Paul N1BUG FN55MF
>> 6, 2, 222 QRO
>> 432 moderate power and building
>> 903, 1296, 10G hopeful
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