[VHFcontesting] Hold onto your hats! It's 222 Night

[David Olean]

Hello 222 denizens,

It is a good bet that most everyone is worn out from all the excitement 
over the weekend. Between the CQWW CW and the EME Contest, things got 
pretty hectic. If you also operated in the ICWC Medium Speed Contest 
this weekend then you must have been maxed out for sure.  I tend to skip 
the ICWC Medium Speed Contest as I am more of a slow speed or no speed 
kind of guy.  But time marches on, and it is Tuesday and time for the 
222 Activity night, where you can sweep the old french fries and gravy 
off your rig and spark it up in an effort to maybe make a few contacts 
on the 222 MHz band.  The plan is simple. Just get on the band after 
dinner. On the East Coast the fun starts around 00:00 UT or 7 PM. I will 
be on 222.100 about that time looking for a QSO.  A check with the 
Hepburn map shows absolutely nothing anywhere except Florida.  There 
will be no thousand mile contacts tonight with your mag mount stuck 
sideways on a garbage can.  (That actually happened and was reported in 
the latest QST VHF column.)

Most folks use the ON4KST Chat page for liaison and it is quite useful 
to alert folks that you are QRV on 222 if you are a bit off the beaten 
track.   So try to get on even if for only a few minutes. The more 
people that show up, the more fun is had by all.  A bunch of 500 and 
1500 watt amplifiers have been distributed around. I am hoping that they 
start appearing in greater numbers soon.  There is nothing better than a 
rare station showing up with a pounding signal!!  KM0T has a big signal 
with his.

Speaking of pounding signals, I did a bit of listening and calling on 
432 on my rising and setting Moon. There are some big stations to be 
heard even if you have a single yagi.  I had lots of equipment problems 
that would divert my attention. My 432 amp was acting up. It seems to be 
a HV issue or lack thereof.  Low HV is causing my HV protection circuit 
to start to drop out. My power output dropped way down and the 
protection relay started to chatter. Power dropped under 1000 watts but 
that did bother anything. So now I have to get out the HV probe and 
check a bunch of resistors. It's always sumthin!  I can't imagine that 
the HV supply is delivering much less volts. Otherwise I would be seeing 
billowing plumes of smoke and ash!  One station worked on 432 was KD2LGX 
in New York. I did a double take and saw that he was delayed about 2.6 
seconds so his signal was coming directly from the Moon. Talk about the 
long way around!  Maybe I can work KD2LGX on 222 this evening and 
compare signal strengths!

I'll be on 222 a bit before 00:00 UT.  I hope to catch a lot of activity 
this evening in between the snow flurries.  CU on 222.

Dave K1WHS