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

[David Olean]

Hello Charlie and Matthew

Gee I was not thinking about EME this evening, but the Moon is 
positioned so that some contacts can be made across the US tonight. I 
will be busy with local tropo stuff until about 02:30 or so, but then I 
can turn the yagis skyward and look for stations via the lunar route.  I 
tried doing both a few times, and it sure got me confused. I would end 
up transmitting on the horizon antenna while thinking I was aimed at the 
Moon.  I guess I am easily confused if I have to deal with several 
buttons!  I will monitor HB9Q as well and hope the activity stays past 
02:30 or so. I can follow the Moon up to about 0400 Ut when it gets 
above 60 degrees here. My upper limit is about 63 degrees so I have to 
be careful and not snag elements on the guy wires!!

KC7OOY worked K5QE and me over the weekend and signals were pretty good 
once Matt got the settings correct with WSJT-X.  Once he did, he worked 
us both in rapid order.  I am sure he is raring to work some more from 
the West coast.

73

Dave K1WHS

On 11/28/2023 12:33 PM, Charlie Betz wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> It's going to be plenty busy around here tonight, but I'll try to get 
> on EME after dinner here - probably around 0100.
>
> Charlie, N0AKC
>
>
> On 11/28/2023 09:30 AM, David Olean wrote:
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>> Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.
>> View/Reply Online (#1795): https://groups.io/g/222Activity/message/1795
>> Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/102852329/3271570
>> Group Owner: 222Activity+owner at groups.io
>> Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/222Activity/unsub [cmbetz at charter.net]
>> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
>>
>>
>