[VHFcontesting] Tuesday night IS 222 Night!

[David Olean]

I am flying high as I get to play "radio" tonight on 222 MHz. Most of my 
days are spent chainsawing and cleaning up branches. Tonight, I get to 
sit in the chair and try to work something new and exciting.   An added 
feature tonight will be another DX station from FM09 in the form of the 
"Six Million Dollar Man", W8ZN.   ("We have the technology. We can 
rebuild him!") It is great to have Terry back on the air and hearing his 
always great signals from no matter where he is.  I am looking forward 
to trying to make a 460 mile QSO between W8ZN in FM09 and me in FN43 
Mumbo Jumbo.

I am getting reports via N6ZE in CA about 222 activity there, and there 
is a very active VHF scene there with evening 222 activity! Pete sent me 
a list of stations who were on yesterday. Some familiar calls are in 
there.  Ralph, K6TSK is a sparkplug and gets things going and keeps the 
activity ramped up. I recognized Marty, N6VI in the list and there are 
many others who get on as well.

I know that the SE states have some great VHF activity. I hope a few are 
available this evening and are monitoring the chat pages. I know for a 
fact that N4SVC in EM80 is a killer station. I was there in April, and 
it was awesome. I sure would like to try some meteor skeds. That is a 
perfect way to spend a late evening.  It is also much fun to listen in 
on those skeds with others and then compare notes afterwards. You would 
be surprised at how variable meteor scatter can be. As they say: "One 
man's ceiling is another man's floor". I used to compare notes on meteor 
skeds with W1YTW in Kittery, ME. He was about 25 miles away from me. We 
were both trying to work K5BXG in Oklahoma, and it was amazing that we 
both heard entirely different meteors!

My plea is that, even if there is not much activity in your local area, 
your meteor scatter area of activity is a circle with an 1100 mile 
radius!  So get on and set up a sked this evening! Turn on that rig.  
Plug in that coax connector you pulled out in late May when the T-storm 
blew thru! Get on 222 this evening. The ON4KST page is a good spot to 
set up skeds. Ping Jockey is (I think) the standard place to go to set 
up meteor skeds.  Meteors work on 222 just fine.  I often hear meteor 
bursts on WA3EOQ while we are working on tropo scatter. He is 500 miles 
away, and at the point where meteors are starting to be effective. 900 
miles is a sweet spot! Lots of action at 900 miles!!

OK, enough blathering.... I'll be on 222.100 starting at about 2300 UT 
this evening!

73

Dave K1WHS