[VHFcontesting] [NEWSVHF] 222 Activity night K1WHS

[Ray Golley]

Dave,
Sorry I wasn't on due to a bout with the flu but I did notice you worked AA2SD, Scott for the first time. You'll be interested to know he was running 35 watts from a rebuilt demi transverter and a home brew K1FO 12 yagi in his attic! 
That's amazing!
73 de
N3RayG
FM2ki


> On 11/29/2023 11:29 AM EST David Olean <k1whs at metrocast.net> wrote:
> 
>  
> Summary for 222 Night in Mumbo Jumbo Land....
> 
> When I went up the hill for 222 Activity Night, I was greeted by about 
> as bad a level of radio conditions as you could possibly encounter. That 
> did not stop me though.  As I drove up the hill I crossed over the new 
> culvert that my neighbor and I concocted. It is a marvel of engineering 
> excellence. Actually, I am fibbing again. It was a prime example of 
> shade tree engineering. We made due with what we had available. Anyway 
> there was water flowing through the culvert and all that water was not 
> washing away the road anymore.   My neighbor lives on a one acre lot 
> across the street from me, but he bought a medium sized back hoe just so 
> he could learn how to use it. It is his toy.  He practiced a bit by 
> digging the culvert trench.  The water seems to like it and is flowing 
> thru the pipes just fine. Another low dollar project!!
> 
> When I turned on the radio, I knew it would be tough. Signals from 
> everyone were weak and watery.  It was a good test of tropo scatter 
> theory.  I noted that the Philadelphia stations were about 15 dB weaker 
> than on a decent night. Phil WA3NUF was about S4 and normally he hits S6 
> or 7.  Same with W9KXI and many others.  On the 500 mile paths, the 
> signals were much steadier and while weak, were not that different from 
> a good night. Maybe just 2 or 3 dB for the most part. All very interesting.
> 
> I missed a few stations worked by Good Buddy Ron. N2SLO, W2TMA, K1FSY 
> and N1ROZ were absent from my log, but I added in N1LHP and WA1T. Then I 
> went and checked out the EME scene after about 01:45 UT.  Things were 
> hopping and it was great to see all the activity via the Moon route. I 
> worked N1AV in AZ and then W6TCP in CA right off.  Then I tried with 
> Grant VE6TA. The Moon was in the trees on his end, but it did not 
> matter. He had a big signal here too.   I tried working K3SK in FM07 and 
> we worked rather fast as well via the Moon.  It is interesting that the 
> path loss via the Moon is less than over the direct path to K3SK at 575 
> miles!  There was even more activity.  "Bippy", W2BYP, has his dish 
> running but is having hydraulic cylinder issues and is afraid to bring 
> the dish down to low elevations. He kept it above 60 degrees. I did not 
> try with John, but that would be another easy contact. KM0T was also on 
> with a big signal. Mike was busy running with new stations too. It was 
> very busy.  KC7OOY was also getting on right around when I pulled the 
> plug. N0AKC was there in spirit as his readouts malfunctioned and he 
> could not aim his array in the dark. Those four stations are all readily 
> workable, so there were at least eight stations all on 222 EME on a 
> Tuesday night right after the EME contest weekend.  I would rate that as 
> pretty darn impressive. A single long yagi with a good preamp will put 
> you on EME on 222 for an effective simple setup. (hint hint)  I quit 
> about 03:00 UT.  I removed my 432 PA and have it at the shop to 
> investigate a minor problem. It is a good time to clean out the airways 
> too. They can get blocked with debris over time.  I will set it up on 
> the workbench and give it a good check out. Some HV sensing resistors 
> seem to have changed value.  A quick check shows that 3000 VDC only 
> produces about 560 millivolts into the protection circuit. I think that 
> is too low.   Ham radio sure is fun!
> 
> I ended up with 24 stations worked. ON tropo, the 500 mile contacts 
> include KO4YC, W8ZN, and WA3EOQ.  The 300+ mile stations are KA3FQS, 
> WA3NUF, and W9KXI.  W1XR and the Toronto boys are in the 400+ mile 
> range, but none were QRV on Tuesday.  I missed VE3KG in FN24 too. He has 
> a new 500 watt FET amplifier and I am dying to hear how it sounds when 
> it gets hooked up!!     W3CMP is working on a 222 system in FN10 as 
> well. I just sent him a 500 watt amp. He should be on in a short time I 
> hope.
> 
> In summary, it was a great night with all sorts of activity including 
> stations way beyond my range in the midwest, central US, and the SE.  
> K9MRI, AJ6T, AA9MY N1GC, and a raft of others are all in there on 
> Tuesdays.  Conditions stunk, but it is good practice for perfecting ways 
> to work those stations in the January Contest.  Timed transmissions work 
> great on CW.  The timing helps on those digi contacts as we all know. 
> Interestingly, I never heard an FT8 signal last night. I know a few 
> contacts were made, but I must have missed any activity on the FT8 
> watering hole on 222.174.   The EME mode was Q65B-60.  My tropo contacts 
> were all CW or SSB.  Thanks to all who got on.
> 
> 73
> 
> Dave K1WHS   FN43MJ
> 
> 
> 
> On 11/28/2023 8:58 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
> > 222 conditions not so good, but there was great activity tonight:
> > K1WHS FN43, WB2VVV FN41, W2TMA FN30, KV1J FN42,
> > WA1PBU FN42, W9KXI FN12, N2SLO FN30, K1PXE FN31,
> > KO4YC FM17, WA3NUF FN20, KA3FQS FN20, WA1MBA FN51,
> > WA3EOQ FM09, WA1NLG FN41, W1GHZ FN34, K1FMS FN32,
> > N1ROZ FN32, W8ZN FM09, K3SK FM07, K1FSY FN31,
> > W1AIM FN34, AF1T FN43, and AA2SD FM29. TNX QSOs.
> >
> > 73 Ron WZ1V FN31rh
> >
> >
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