[VHFcontesting] K1WHS will be BACK
Bob, W3IDT
w3idt at comcast.net
Fri Jan 24 10:55:39 EST 2020
Dave
GREAT that you're coming back.
Our last chat was on 160 (160!) from W3LPL.
Bob, w3idt
6m at W3SO
160m at W3LPL
.............................
. Robert F. Teitel, W3IDT .
. .
. W3IDT at arrl.net .
. W3IDT at comcast.net .
.............................
On 1/23/2020 12:26 PM, David Olean wrote:
> Hi Chet & Ron
>
> The January VHF Contest is made for trouble. That is probably the reason
> it has been so popular over the years. That being said, I stopped
> getting on VHF in 2017 after 55 years of fun and bliss on 144 MHz. There
> were several reasons. Being retired, I found fly fishing to be a
> fantastic way to spend the day. I have been crawling all over the NH
> White Mountains looking for brook trout, Rainbows, and Salmon. I made
> the trek down to N3NGE this year and helped out in the January contest.
> We had an awful time with the weather. Saturday afternoon, it was
> sleeting, then turned to freezing rain. The antennas iced up. QSO rates
> plummeted and we were down to 5 or 6 per hour combined for all bands.
> The antenna patterns were reversed on each band. The power off the
> reflector was 6 or 8 dB better than what was available off the front of
> the antenna. On 222 & 432, I started running by aiming the reflector at
> the station we needed. It did not help much. Things only improved the
> following morning where the temps went above 32 and the Sun worked on
> the ice to make most of it fall off. We were fortunate that the ice
> finally did fall off!!
>
> I had been bummed out by the influx of the digi modes into VHF
> contesting and DXing in general. Our plan was to not work anyone on FT8
> so that we could run the bands later on. I guess it worked as we had no
> trouble making CW and SSB contacts with plenty of stations. I found the
> bands were not as desolate as I had imagined them to be, and resolved to
> re activate my dilapidated station up on that ridge of solid rock up in
> Maine. I am even rebuilding my 222 station. One of my yagis managed to
> snap in half due to high winds a few years ago. It is not repairable by
> myself as the H frame needs to be lowered as the broken boom is up on
> top on the left. I'll need some extra muscle to fix it.
>
> Anyway, my take on the January contest was that it was great and I had
> way too much fun working weak signals with iced up antennas. I am
> dusting off my VHF gear in hopes of getting active again (in between
> fishin' time)
>
> And Ron, ..... The Pack Rats are still talking about you. I saw
> several "Ron" Voodoo dolls with pins stuck in them while I was in PA.
>
> 73
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
> On 1/23/2020 2:10 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
>> Hi Chet: Spot on -
>> anyone's who's still VHF contesting as long as we have
>> are gluttons for punishment - bring on the pain we love it !
>> Lot's of good contacts made despite challenging condx.
>> -73 Ron WZ1V
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Chet S" <chetsubaccount at snet.net>
>> To: <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
>> Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 08:59:41 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January
>> VHF/UHF contest?
>>
>>> Hi John,
>>>
>>> I believe you are misinterpreting the reports from the contest. These
>>> may be bragging reports, not disgusted tirades. The January contest
>>> presents challenges and problems for many, but hams like to
>>> persevere, engineers like to solve problems, and all like to talk
>>> about it afterward.
>>>
>>> Think of it like sailors or fishermen having a few beers in the cozy
>>> pub after a big storm. Do they talk about how beautiful the storm
>>> clouds and sky were, or do they tell tales of how tough a time it was
>>> getting through it. Still had a kind of fun, maybe a man thing.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Chet, N8RA
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: VHFcontesting
>>> <vhfcontesting-bounces+chetsubaccount=snet.net at contesting.com> On
>>> Behalf Of John Young via VHFcontesting
>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 10:58 PM
>>> To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
>>> Subject: [VHFcontesting] Did anyone else have fun in the January
>>> VHF/UHF contest?
>>>
>>> So I have been reading the 3830 and ARRL Soapbox posts. The vast
>>> majority of posts include a lot of commentary on poor turnout, poor
>>> conditions, dead bands and weather difficulties. Some even question
>>> if its worth taking part in these contests. My experience and those
>>> of several others who worked FM in Northern VA or MD was very much
>>> the opposite. There was great activity from 2pm until 10pm Saturday
>>> and it wasn't what I would call slow (no 30 minute breaks between
>>> Q's) all the way up to 1 am. Even when I got back on the air at 0330
>>> Sunday there was activity to be had. I didn't work through to the
>>> bitter end (or should I say bitterly cold end) but from the private
>>> emails it appears it never got boring. Its not like we had great
>>> weather here by any stretch.
>>> What made it so much fun?
>>> Turn out and constant activity. Working hard to get a weak
>>> contact.Rag chewing with truckers all night to add points as they
>>> cross grids.Making scheds with FM and multi-band rovers along with
>>> big fixed stations at "long range".Passing contacts between stations
>>> to build each others scores.Making a Q with people who never imagined
>>> a 100 mile Q was possible on FM simplexHaving a paraplegic 15yr old
>>> build a tape measure yagi so he can make a QSO with you (2017).People
>>> dusting off rigs they have not used in years or going mobile to a
>>> nearby hill top to give you another contact or multi.
>>> A big part of what generated the activity was a coupe guys sending
>>> out a lot of emails to get people up on the air in our area. That
>>> has over time generated a lot of turn out, both casual operators, new
>>> fixed site contesters as well as regional FM or FM/SSB rovers.
>>>
>>> Was having fun this January just an FM thing? All our contacts are
>>> regional, propagation is not a big factor. There are no digital
>>> modes, clickety Q, clickety Q.Its just you, a microphone, a radio, a
>>> cable and an antenna. Pretty basic stuff.
>>>
>>> Did anyone else have a good time?Post something if you did. All that
>>> reading is pretty depressing right now.
>>> 73JohnKM4KMU
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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