[VHFcontesting] 222 Sprint K1WHS

[David Olean]

Hello VHFers,

Conditions seemed quite bad during the 222 Sprint. We had a storm pull 
through earlier in the day that actually caused a fair amount of damage 
in the Southern New Hampshire area with fallen trees and power outages. 
There was wet snow just a bit North of my location, but at least I 
missed the white stuff. Apparently that vortex really messed up the 
tropospheric propagation and signals up in the North were quite a way 
down from normal. I monitored the K2DLL beacon  early on, and noted that 
it was barely audible at times. It barely reached 10 dB on the 
panadaptor.  Typical strength is 20-30.

When the Sprint began, it was pretty apparent that all the signals were 
struggling. W1XR in FM19 was OK on CW but weak. Usually he is SSB 
quality.  K1RZ was worked on FT8 and was not his usual good copy.   I 
tried to find a good spot up above 222.100 and make some noise. The 
callers were pretty fast and furious for the first hour, then things 
slowed down.  The poor conditions took their toll.  I ran with VE3DS and 
heard him fine for awhile, but he was not hearing me. The good news was 
that he was in sync with my calls, and eventually I thought I copied his 
grid. (heh heh)  I may have copied his grid, but he was not sending 
it!!  That was the kind of night it was. Very weak and watery signals 
with fast QSB that could mutilate any letter and spit out something 
else. We had to try a second time before Dana caught a slight peak and 
pulled me out.  The same thing happened with WA3EOQ in western MD but 
with worse results. Normally Howard and I can work most Tuesday 
evenings. Just last week, he peaked at 559 with his 95 watts, but this 
time, I think we ran four different times, all with the same result. I 
heard just bits and pieces of his signal. I think the best time was our 
first or 2nd attempt where full calls were copied just once.  Talk about 
frustrating. After four attempts, Howard and I gave up!

Somehow, I missed connecting with Al W9KXI.  He is a normal easy contact 
too, but this evening, we never found each other.  I never heard KR1ST 
either, and I am not sure why. I guess we never got lined up. That can 
happen in a sprint with limited time. I tried to use my wide beamwidth 
antenna as often as possible, but the very poor conditions usually meant 
that I had to rely on the sharp but rotatable yagis more often than I 
would have wanted. I guess it is what it is. I can go on and on. The 
night was resurrected when WA1T showed up at the shack and he was 
bringing gifts!!! He had a bag with a few nice locally brewed IPAs that 
were infused with some fruity stuff and we had a good time sipping the 
beers and complaining about how weak everything was! He walked up the 
hill, as the road had turned into a small river (actually two 
rivers...one in each wheel rut) and he decided to park and walk to 
preserve what little remains of the woods road bed.

Normally, the Maine contingent of N1BUG and K1DY are gud copy off the 
back of my LVA. Not this time. I had to turn the rotating antenna to the 
NE to work them. I did note that Paul was up way past his normal 
bedtime! Thanks for the effort, Paul. The Vermont guys (W1GHZ & W1AIM) 
were quite weak here. There must be a huge obstruction between us.  The 
Moose Mountains form a serious blockage here to the NW, and I do note 
that the path goes right through Mt. Moosilaukee in the White Mtns. 
Moosilaukee is a huge chunk of rock. Other notable contacts included 
VA3ELE, VE3FN, VE2XX,  N2JMH, KD2LGX, N2WK, W2BYP, and N2RC who was 
portable on a 1600 ft hill in FN21 running 10 watts!   The good news is 
that there is notable activity on 222 MHz. I figure that 39 QSOs & 19 
grids from Maine is a good effort, and only made possible by people 
getting on the air and digging for contacts. Thanks to all who tried!! 
Thanks to the sponsors for this activity builder too!

Dave K1WHS