[VHFcontesting] 222 Activity Night Wrapup

[David Olean]

Thanks Howard

The contact with you was the high point of the evening. In fact it was 
even better than that.   I had checked the Hepburn map for Tuesday, and 
it looked like there might be a little help from the troposphere. I saw 
some color in Western NY extending southward. I think it indicated at 
least some stable air along the path. My friend Al WA1T was at the key 
when we  started, and I told him where to aim for you. After he called 
you, he was using the speaker rather than headphones, and he tunes for a 
CW note that is much higher than I would like, but I immediately heard 
you come back and you were perfectly Q5 in the speaker and steady for 
the entire QSO. It was one of the best sessions with you of the entire 
season.  Many were complaining about QSB. There was none on the path 
from FN43mj to FM09jo.

I have been working hard on optimizing the 222 setup, and feel that I am 
almost there. I added  a tower mounted preamp that is about 0.1 dB away 
from the power divider. It is a 0.5 dB DEMI preamp with a SAW filter on 
the output of the amp. The only problem is that it overloads when I aim 
at 219 degrees +/- 10 degrees due to excessive signal from a CH11 TV 
station that is 17 miles away, 316 KW,  and LOS.  I see the tower lights 
blinking. If I can get a front end that can handle that TV station, I 
will be happy. Fortunately, you are far enough away from 219 degrees 
that the tower mtd preamp is fine. KO4YC gets overloaded at 224 degrees, 
and I cannot use the preamp for him. The tower mtd preamp is obviously 
better even though I only have about 0.5 dB feedline loss between the 
antenna and the indoor preamp. I have 165 ft of 1 5/8" heliax plus a 
1/2" jumper on each end. The same antenna on the EME path works very 
well too, and I seem to be hearing very well there. Single yagi stations 
can peak up pretty loud. WQ0P had 190 watts at the antenna and a single 
long yagi. I could hear his JT65 tones in the speaker.

I did not get the antenna stowed this week, so I might be on 222 this 
coming Tuesday night, but I have a feeling that is the last chance for 
awhile. I really do have to lower the elevation mechanism and the H 
frame to eliminate strain on the main mast in high wind and icing 
situations. We have some snow on the ground too, so travel up the hill 
gets difficult.

73 and thanks for the nice note.

Dave K1WHS


On 12/18/2021 6:17 PM, Howard Reynolds wrote:
> Last Tuesday was awesome, Dave.  And tnx for digging me out of the noise
> other weeks when necessary.  You always seem to have the best ears and
> perseverance.  I've always said that 222 is the best kept secret.  Need
> more ops to "ping" me on ON4KST when I'm on even if they think I'm too far
> away.
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