[VHFcontesting] 222 Activity Night RADIOS

[David Olean]

Marshall, I had the same problem here. All the low VHF band s used 28 
MHz as the IF, while the bands above 432 (all seven of them) used 144 as 
the IF.  Having a M/M setup with an 8877 pumping out 1500 watts on 
144.185 caused big problems with the IFs. We migrated all the MW IFs to 
145 MHz to avoid the problem. We also changed the low IF to 29 MHz for 
the same reason. You could hear the 28 MHz IF signal from another band 
when all of them were running at once. We even moved the 144 tower from 
10 feet away from the building to 250 ft away, just to reduce the rock 
crushing level of the fundamental signal. It is so much easier when you 
are a single operator!

I have stowed the 222 array for the winter.  Hopefully, it will still be 
in place come Springtime!

Dave K1WHS

On 12/22/2021 10:02 PM, Marshall-K5QE wrote:
> Hello to all VHF ops....I have 5 stations all using the 28MHz IF 
> frequency.  In the Sept contest, when everyone was on FT8, the IF 
> radios were all on 28.174MHz.....AAAAAAaaaaaaaRGH!  We try very hard 
> to keep everything on second sequence, but sometimes you just can't do 
> that.
>
> When I sent my 222 MHz transverter in to Q5, I asked if it would be 
> possible to change the IF to 21MHz.  They did not see any great 
> problems, so they did just that.  Now, the 222 station does not 
> interact with the other stations....most especially the 2M station.  
> We have a very low duty cycle on 432, so the interference between 2M 
> and 432 is minimal.  My solution may not be for others, but it seems 
> to have stopped a lot of problems here.
>
> Everyone is REQUIRED to have a great holiday season....
>
> See you all in Jan.....
>
> 73 Marshall K5QE
>
>
> On 12/22/2021 9:44 AM, Terry Price wrote:
>> Hi Mike,
>>
>> We ALL WISH someone would make a 222 multimode rig but no one does 
>> anymore.
>> Yaesu had the FT736R which had a 222 module for it and it worked 
>> decently.
>> Icom had their IC-375 which matched their 575, 275 and 475 but *IF* 
>> you van
>> find one they are stupid expensive. Your best bet still is a DEMI
>> (Q5Signal) transverter which requires a 10M IF. I believe they still 
>> have a
>> high power version which is 50ish watts. There are Larcan 222 kw amps 
>> still
>> floating around.
>>
>> Terry Price - W8ZN
>> Directive Systems and Engineering
>> 703-754-3876
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 22, 2021 at 10:18 AM Mike Smith VE9AA<ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca>  
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I asked this question probably close to a year ago but didn't get 
>>> much of a
>>> reply..or at least to my recollection not a whole lot I could use.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What are you guys using for radios + amps on 222?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Antenna is no problem. I can build (or even buy) a small 222 yagi.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Rig is a little tougher.  I'd rather not go to a qrp transverter for a
>>> couple reasons:
>>>
>>> Messy. Ties up a lot of desk space.  Still would need an amp. Where 
>>> do I
>>> put
>>> it?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ties up an HF radio and my shack is REALLY small...I already have 2 
>>> radios
>>> +
>>> 2 amps for HF (SO2R) and a separate
>>>
>>> backup radio for same, which performs double duty on 2m (IC-746). 
>>> Also an
>>> amp for 6m.  See my qrz.com profile
>>>
>>> and know that I really don't have much real estate.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Does anyone make a 50w-100w 222 radio? (Ideally this is what I
>>> need)..better
>>> still a 144/222/432/1.2 gig 100w Rig.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Probably what I need does not exist !
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I do like reading all these 222 msg's though.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Keep up the good work fellas.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 270miles NE of FN43.."at the edge of the VHF/UHF universe, even 
>>> compared to
>>> Dave/Paul/Bill in Maine"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mike VE9AA FN66na ~660'ASL
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mike, Coreen & Corey
>>>
>>> Keswick Ridge, NB
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> VHFcontesting mailing list
>>> VHFcontesting at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
>>>
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