[VHFcontesting] Activity Night on 222 MHz K1WHS

[David Olean]

Hello Ron and 222 VHFers,

Had a similar list of stations worked as WZ1V  on 222 MHz that included:

N1GLT FN42,  WZ1V FN31, WB2VVV FN41, WW1Z FN42, N1SV FN42,  W1XR FM19, 
WA1RKS FN32,,

K1PXE FN31, K1FSY FN31, VE2XX FN25,  VE3FN FN25,  WA3EOQ FM09, WA1T 
FN43,  N3RG F29, WB2RVX FM29,

WA3NUF FN20,  K1TEO FN31, W1AIM FN34, VE3DS FN03,  KO4YC FM17, WA2LTM  
FN20, N2SLO FN30,  WB2SIH FN31,

I missed with VE3MIX, nothing heard either way.    WA1T was running 100 
milliwatts to his 144 beam.

I saw that AJ6T and W5EME had a 470 mile contact using Q65 and AJ6T was 
running 25 watts. That is an impressive feat.  I listened for W5EME on 
meteors but heard nothing at 1460 miles. I found that most signals  were 
not as strong as normal, but VE3DS was quite loud, peaking 589 at one 
point and we switched to SSB for a nice QSO over a 430 mile path. KO4YC 
was copyable on SSB at 520 miles, but then faded way down.  WA3EOQ was 
pretty good and we worked quickly with nothing missed.  Signals were 
weak but audible on this end. I guess it all depends on the QSB fairy. 
Interesting that the best conditions for me seemed to be out West. The 
N-S paths were definitely not enjoying any enhancement. All in all it 
was a fun night.

I received the latest QST and turned immediately to the VHF column, 
hoping to read all about the aurora event but was disappointed to see 
that out of two pages allotted to the column editor, only 5 lines out of 
306 column lines were devoted to events above 54 MHz.  Those 5 lines 
were equally distributed between 144 and 222 MHz.  So send in your 
reports of what you are accomplishing on the VHF bands. Apparently we 
are not doing a good job of letting N0JK know what is going on on the 
higher VHF bands. Surely 144, 222, and 432 deserve more than 1.63% of 
the available column space!  How are we going to keep the higher bands 
populated if no one knows that they are even there?  I plan to be more 
active in reporting interesting QSOs in the future.

On the 222 MHZ Larcan amplifier project, I managed to get all of the LP 
filters tuned up with 12 ohm teflon coax capacitors. I purchased the 
bare teflon boards and ordered a chunk of the TC-12 coax and chopped up 
and trimmed about 33 pieces to make some 10 and 15 pf hi power caps. 
W1BOF came over to see what I was doing and helped in the tuning 
process. He seemed to have "The Knack" and pre adjusted the coils so 
that they were all just about perfect when checked on the network 
analyzer. George is an EE and worked for Collins Radio on the Apollo 
capsule project.  After the filters were all done, it was time to attack 
the metal work. (I hate metal work as it seems that nothing is happening 
until all the parts are done and then can be assembled.) Routing the RF 
from the amp output to the filter which sits on top of the heatsink 
requires a 16" length of 0.250" semi rigid hardline. To secure the 
hardline in place, I fabricated some brass compression clamp structures 
out of 3/8" X 1" brass stock. The coax goes thru the brass and the brass 
gets clamped tightly with some 8-32 machine screws. Lots of drilling and 
tapping involved.  There is also a 1/4" aluminum plate heatsink to mount 
the teflon LP filter board. A 0.063" thick aluminum plate is also needed 
to support all the components above the heatsink. That is yet to be cut 
up. I need 11 pieces at 10.375" X 4.5". Not sure how I will cut all of 
those. I might use a table saw! So work is progressing and I am hoping 
to bring all 11 1500 watt amps along with two 500 watt amps to Little 
Rock in July for distribution around the country.

So thanks to all who made noise and populated the 222 band for an 
evening. A big Thank you to K1TEO who appeared and stirred up some 
activity. Another big Thank you to the many hams who get on every 
Tuesday in parts of the country with very low activity. They are doing 
missionary work that is of the utmost value. W5EME, AJ6T, and others are 
there every week.  W5EME runs up his electric meter on the front of his 
house by calling CQ on meteor scatter. I always listen even though I am 
at an almost impossible distance of 1460 miles. For those within range 
(1200 miles or so) please take some time and do some listening or 
calling for him. His dedication is exemplary. K9MRI AA9MY and N8WNA and 
many others are all in there too. We need to entice more folks to get on 
in the hinterlands. Activity breeds activity.

73

Dave K1WHS

The Knack:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6HojLBsnw



On 5/16/2023 8:33 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
> Conditions just so-so but another good turnout on 222 tonight:
> W1XR FM19, N1GLT FN42, WB2VVV FN41, K1WHS FN43,
> WA1RKS FN32, WA3EOQ FM09, N1SV FN42, WA3NUF FN20,
> N2SLO FN30, K1FSY FN31, K1PXE FN31, VE2XX FN25,
> W9KXI FN12, K2RMX FN20, K1TEO FN31, KO4YC FM17,
> N3RG FM29, WB2RVX FM29, W1AIM FN34, WA2LTM FN20.
> TNX for the QSOs and let's keep the activity rolling.
>
> 73 Ron WZ1V FN31rh
>
>