[VHFcontesting] Tuesday Night 222 Activity Night Summary K1WHS

[David Olean]

I am not sure, but the K1PXE curse seems to be real. To be fair, Pete, 
K1PXE did not directly administer the curse, but I am afraid that his 
comments about it raining on Tuesdays has become true on an all too 
regular schedule.  Last night had some awful storm action from 
Philadelphia to NYC and over to the CT shoreline, RI and southern 
Massachusetts.  There was also much rain minus the lightning in New York 
state and northern New England.  All that pyrotechnic activity sure 
dampened the activity. Being so close to the 222 and Up Contest also 
meant many VHFers were slightly burned out from all the activity over 
the weekend.  I was not highly motivated as it was threatening to rain 
as I drove the truck up to the shack. WA3NUF was my first contact and 
Phil was worried about all the storms around.  Of course I got to 
thinking on how this series of events would affect propagation for the 
evening. I am working on my VHF propagation Merit Badge for Cub Scouts, 
so the thought was front and center in my mind.   There were wide swings 
with QSB on everyone beyond the local area. The storms were definitely 
having an effect. Phil was up and down, but peaking at a normal 
strength.  W9KXI would also go from S7 to about S3 on SSB on a 500 km 
path. WC2K was loud but still had the QSB effect.

I tried to contact K3SK on CW, FT8, and Q65 with no luck in either 
direction.  I tried CW out to the West and there was nothing there. I am 
sure that the Lake enhancement was not in play last night with all the 
rainfall there.  Meteors seemed a bit paltry as well. While there were a 
few nice ones, the total number was down and no easy 10 or 15 minute 
contacts resulted with the likes of K9MRI and W7JW.  We did try some MS 
attempts.   Around 0100, W7JW was trying an MS sked with K1ZK in VT. I 
copied one burst from W7JW as I was shutting down the station. I am not 
sure how that sked turned out. It was raining then and I turned off the 
big diesel and it got very dark. I had no flashlight so I started out to 
go find my truck in the dark. I eventually found it but only after I 
found a nice mud puddle with my leather sandals. That was much fun in 
the dark.

K1DY was on from FN54 and Bill was there on 222 working stations, so 
that was a nice plus.  Howard, WA3EOQ was also on the band and I was 
interested to see how his signal would fare with all the storms at mid 
path. A closer look at the map showed that his path was just west of the 
big T storms, but still went thru some rainy areas. The midpoint (The 
scattering area) was located NW of Port Jervis in NY and just North of 
Lake Wallenpaupack in PA.  I was really surprised to hear him peak up at 
the end of the QSO to the strongest that I have ever heard him on a 
Tuesday night. The S meter was actually moving a bit. It was actually 
blinking LEDS, but you get the picture...he was loud for 100 watts at 
500 miles. I was quite worried that some towering T storms might ruin 
tropo scatter.  In the past, I have observed that quite often. Long haul 
signals can fade with big T-storms.  I think GB Ron WZ1V was well 
situated to observe that, being on the East side of a line of storms. I 
think he was having much trouble as a result. Rain static is no fun.

My list for the evening is below. I worked 18 hardy souls. Thanks to all 
who got on and made noise and let's hope that next week is quieter on 
the weather front!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    DATE     TIME CALLSIGN        LOCATOR TX       RX       BAND MODE 
PRO.REMARKS      QRB (km)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/06/2024 23:02 WA3NUF          FN2ØKE  55       55       220 MHzSSB  
TR               496
08/06/2024 23:08 WC2K                FM29PT  `                 220 
MHzSSB  TR               506
08/06/2024 23:08 K1PXE                FN31KE  ` 220 MHzSSB  
TR               303
08/06/2024 23:15 WA1MBA          FN51AS  `                 220 MHzSSB  
TR               198
08/06/2024 23:16 WA1NLG          FN41XS  59       59       220 MHzSSB  
TR               196
08/06/2024 23:20 N1GLT           FN42IW  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR                58
08/06/2024 23:23 N3RG            FM29KI  559      579      220 MHzCW   
TR               568
08/06/2024 23:25 N1ROZ           FN32TF  559               220 MHzCW   
TR               174
08/06/2024 23:29 WW1Z            FN42ET  59       59       220 MHzSSB  
TR                84
08/06/2024 23:33 N1LHP           FN42KM  59       57       220 MHzSSB  
TR                98
08/06/2024 23:43 K2AEP           FN32OW  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               157
08/06/2024 23:43 K1DY            FN54JQ  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               200
08/06/2024 23:51 W9KXI           FN12NE  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               501
08/06/2024 23:55 WZ1V            FN31RH  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               266
08/07/2024 00:00 KA1OJ           FN42EH  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               132
08/07/2024 00:02 K1ZK            FN34JJ  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               212
08/07/2024 00:25 WA3EOQ    FMØ9JO  539            220 MHzCW 
TR               805
08/07/2024 00:37 K1FMS        FN32QB  59                220 MHzSSB  
TR               201
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of QSO listed: 18

73

Dave K1WHS