[VHFcontesting] Early Warning announcement for 222 Night and a plea

[David Olean]

Hi VHFers

Forgive me. I made the mistake of thinking about our VHF bands last 
night and came up with some observations. You also get a poetry lesson 
thrown in for the same price.


  The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-frost>
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


In thinking about this poem, I can draw parallels with VHF ham radio.  I 
was observing the meteor shower this past weekend, and was amazed to see 
how much activity there was on 50 MHz MS.  144 paled in comparison, and 
222 and 432 were almost non existent. Having a bit of experience with 
meteors in the dim past,  I would say that meteor scatter on 222 MHz 
with FSK441 or MSK144 is better than the equivalent of trying meteor 
scatter back in the 1990s with SSB or CW on 144.  I have some tape 
recordings of 144 MHz meteor scatter signals from the 1960's.  That was 
when receivers had 10 dB noise figures. actual frequencies were a 
mystery, Feedlines were lossy, and antennas were designed with snake 
oil. Today, the possibility of a 222 ms contact is so much easier than 
back in those days.  So here we are in 2023 at the peak of the meteor 
activity in August and we are all sitting on 50 MHz and commenting on 
the size of the "rox" or rocks.  How lame is that?

John K1OR, achieved 222 MHz WAS last year. Along the way, he made some 
pretty neat long haul MS contacts on 222 MHz. He is still at it, pushing 
the distances in an effort to see what can be done on the 222 band. He 
just made a 1462 mile contact with K5QE in Texas. I never did that on 
144 MHz on SSB or CW!! Besides congratulating John, we should all look 
at each other in the mirror and ask ourselves What in Hell are we doing 
just sitting on our asses and working 50 MHz or even 144 MHz at these times?

In the last 222 and Up contest, I actually heard a few meteor bursts on 
432. Some of them had wicked doppler. They almost sounded like 
screeches, but others were fairly stable and could be used. Who is going 
to try some 432 scatter?

I am getting ready for 222 Activity Night on Tuesday. I am hoping the wx 
is better as last time, I had S8 rain static and had to quit early.  The 
rain this summer has been a big impediment.  Mark your calendar for 
Tuesday and see if you can work some stations on 222!

Dave K1WHS