[VHFcontesting] [NEWSVHF] 222 Sprint

Wed Sep 28 13:34:15 EDT 2022

Hey Pete,

Good going last night pulling W3ICC out... was there listening and yes QSB was rather severe!
W3ICC was operational from the rover last night (stationary) running 100 W to 10 elements at 35ft.  Decent but not a great shot in your direction.  Thanks for hanging in there!

73, Paul

________________________________
From: newsvhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net <newsvhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Peter Motyl <cs735171012 at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 12:58 PM
To: Paul N1BUG FN55mf <paul at n1bug.com>; NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net <newsvhf at mailman.qth.net>; vhfcontesting at contesting.com <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [NEWSVHF] 222 Sprint

I almost fell off the chair when I heard you answer my cq with something like s5 ssb.  I replied on ssb but then I heard nothing so as quick as I could, I switched to cw and we made the contact with no problem.  It is good to have a good station but it really helps when you are a damn good op as you certainly are.  I was confident we would make the contact.

I agree with you and Dave, poor conditions and lots of qsb.  The worst station I worked with severe qsb was W3ICC.  I kept hearing him go from strong to a weak but readable signal.  He seemed to be having receive problems.  He only heard me when he was quite strong here.  It took four or maybe five tries before we made the contact.

18 qsos and 10 grids and I sure missed Ron.  He had a family activity I believe.

The finger is getting better and it sure nice to be able to type again.

73, Pete K1PXE

From: Paul N1BUG FN55mf
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 5:21 AM
To: NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [NEWSVHF] 222 Sprint

Conditions were extremely variable! I got 13 QSOs in 9 grids, all
SSB/CW. Not too bad considering where I'm located but it sure gets slow
after the first hour.

At the start everyone was weak! I had to resort to CW to work N1JEZ and
K1TEO! Then I got N2SLN in FN22 on SSB with a good signal, somewhat
surprising considering that WSW direction has always been hard from here.

Around 0100 someone found the propagation switch and moved it to the ON
position. I heard K1PXE calling on SSB. Pete was 55 which may be the
strongest I've ever heard him but he quickly faded. We switched to CW,
easily completing the QSO. Pete was peaking close to S5 again at the
end. A moment later K1TEO was up to S9+. What a change from an hour earlier!

Best distance was N2JMH at 470 miles on SSB with a great signal. I
copied a few good solid CW transmissions from W1XR at 560 miles but Jim
couldn't hear me.

Some "easy" ones were missed because I never heard them calling in this
direction. That's normal.

There was a bunch of us waiting for K1DY like cats by a mouse hole! I
didn't hang around long after working Bill as I hadn't had any other
QSOs in over an hour and I needed more sleep. I hope he had fun working
the gang.

I managed to get the clump of dirt and vegetation debris out of the 6
meter driven element and rope run through three elements yesterday. I
came in to take a break and fell asleep, so still have four elements to
do. I am able to pull the 1/4" rope through where there is only a 3/16"
gap on either side of the U bolts holding the element to the boom by
running a stiff wire through the element, tapering the end of the rope
and taping it to the wire. It took some trial and error to figure out
how to tape it so it stays on but will still squeeze through. This is
one application where the ultra-cheap ultra-thin vinyl tape actually
works better than the good stuff! The ropes are wedged in pretty tight
at the center of the elements and shouldn't move. That's good because I
am thinking about not capping the ends of the elements. They have never
been capped before. I know water gets in around the U bolt and if it
can't run out the end I could have elements filling with water.

73,
Paul N1BUG
FN55mf
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________________________________
From: newsvhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net <newsvhf-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Peter Motyl <cs735171012 at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 12:58 PM
To: Paul N1BUG FN55mf <paul at n1bug.com>; NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net <newsvhf at mailman.qth.net>; vhfcontesting at contesting.com <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [NEWSVHF] 222 Sprint

I almost fell off the chair when I heard you answer my cq with something like s5 ssb.  I replied on ssb but then I heard nothing so as quick as I could, I switched to cw and we made the contact with no problem.  It is good to have a good station but it really helps when you are a damn good op as you certainly are.  I was confident we would make the contact.

I agree with you and Dave, poor conditions and lots of qsb.  The worst station I worked with severe qsb was W3ICC.  I kept hearing him go from strong to a weak but readable signal.  He seemed to be having receive problems.  He only heard me when he was quite strong here.  It took four or maybe five tries before we made the contact.

18 qsos and 10 grids and I sure missed Ron.  He had a family activity I believe.

The finger is getting better and it sure nice to be able to type again.

73, Pete K1PXE

From: Paul N1BUG FN55mf
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 5:21 AM
To: NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net; vhfcontesting at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [NEWSVHF] 222 Sprint

Conditions were extremely variable! I got 13 QSOs in 9 grids, all
SSB/CW. Not too bad considering where I'm located but it sure gets slow
after the first hour.

At the start everyone was weak! I had to resort to CW to work N1JEZ and
K1TEO! Then I got N2SLN in FN22 on SSB with a good signal, somewhat
surprising considering that WSW direction has always been hard from here.

Around 0100 someone found the propagation switch and moved it to the ON
position. I heard K1PXE calling on SSB. Pete was 55 which may be the
strongest I've ever heard him but he quickly faded. We switched to CW,
easily completing the QSO. Pete was peaking close to S5 again at the
end. A moment later K1TEO was up to S9+. What a change from an hour earlier!

Best distance was N2JMH at 470 miles on SSB with a great signal. I
copied a few good solid CW transmissions from W1XR at 560 miles but Jim
couldn't hear me.

Some "easy" ones were missed because I never heard them calling in this
direction. That's normal.

There was a bunch of us waiting for K1DY like cats by a mouse hole! I
didn't hang around long after working Bill as I hadn't had any other
QSOs in over an hour and I needed more sleep. I hope he had fun working
the gang.

I managed to get the clump of dirt and vegetation debris out of the 6
meter driven element and rope run through three elements yesterday. I
came in to take a break and fell asleep, so still have four elements to
do. I am able to pull the 1/4" rope through where there is only a 3/16"
gap on either side of the U bolts holding the element to the boom by
running a stiff wire through the element, tapering the end of the rope
and taping it to the wire. It took some trial and error to figure out
how to tape it so it stays on but will still squeeze through. This is
one application where the ultra-cheap ultra-thin vinyl tape actually
works better than the good stuff! The ropes are wedged in pretty tight
at the center of the elements and shouldn't move. That's good because I
am thinking about not capping the ends of the elements. They have never
been capped before. I know water gets in around the U bolt and if it
can't run out the end I could have elements filling with water.

73,
Paul N1BUG
FN55mf
______________________________________________________________
NEWSVHF mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/newsvhf
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

______________________________________________________________
NEWSVHF mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/newsvhf
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:NEWSVHF at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html