[VHFcontesting] Tuesday 222 Activity Night

[David Olean]

Last Tuesday I happened to look up at the microwave tower and saw 
something out of the ordinary.  Among other antennas up there, I have a 
quad loop yagi array for 903 MHz.  They are the long 47 element 
versions. It seems that one of the 47 el loop yagis had managed to break 
itself loose from the H frame. Apparently the hardware had worked loose 
and the antenna fell off. ( So much for my preventative maintenance 
abilities)  The looper was hanging by a kinked 1/2" hardline phasing 
cable.  I rescued the damaged antenna. Several elements were broken, but 
no real damage was done. I replaced a few of the broken loops and 
straightened things out. It looked pretty darn good when I was done. A 
quick check showed  30 dB return loss and it is ready to go back up. 
(I'll need to make a new phasing line and phase match it.)  When I am up 
there, I will test all of the loop yagis and do the PM work that I 
should have been doing up there all along.  I figure a day up at 130 ft 
and I can pinpoint any problems in any of the bands.

After all the tower work, Tuesday evening is the appointed time for 222 
Activity Night. I am itching to try some meteor scatter. Last week 
seemed to be fair for meteors and we are getting into the more 
productive part of the year for them. I know that the current term du 
jour is "rocks", but they are really grains of sandlike particles. I 
guess "sand" doesn't cut it when discussing conditions. " Geez, the sand 
was really bad last night" or  " The sand was really flying this 
morning."  Last week, everybody noticed that conditions generally, had 
improved and some neat QSOs were made in many parts of the country.  QSO 
totals in the northeast were high and some of the regulars were missing 
in action. If everybody gets on in New England and the mid Atlantic 
States, we could have contact totals up in the 50's for a few hours of 
operating.  As it is  Good Buddy Ron WZ1V worked about 25 stations. I 
did about the same. I think WA3EOQ in extreme western MD worked 14 
stations from his spot in FM09. That is impressive.

So fire up the rig on 222 tonight and make some noise. While you are at 
it, make a point to get on and celebrate the life of Lee Fish, K5FF, the 
God Mother of the 220 MHz band. Lee passed away on May 3rd. She was a 
true sparkplug and was responsible for keeping 220 MHz alive and 
fostering activity on the DX modes.  The fun starts after dinner around 
2300 UT on the East Coast and a bit later in the midwest.  I will 
hopefully be there shortly before 23:00 UT on 222.100 MHz.

73

Dave K1WHS