[VHFcontesting] 222 MHz Nite Summary K1WHS
David Olean
k1whs at metrocast.net
Wed Aug 21 09:54:45 EDT 2024
Well, despite the condx, which were not at all good, a great time was
had in Mumbo Jumbo land. The evening started out well with a QSO with
KI2L just north of Troy, NY. I had not worked him since 2022 in the Sept
contest. I worked WA1MBA, but we both noted that signals seemed way
down. Next contact was Good Buddy Ron, WZ1V, who claims that his shovel
broke first time he used it while clearing October Mountain. I noted big
QSB on Ron. He was weak, then got strong. It was a QSB evening for sure.
You could make the contacts, but only if they were timed right! WA3NUF
was correct. There were pileups on and near 222.100. K1TEO was on
222.102 running a pileup of callers, and I heard K1DS through the
pileup. We went up the band and worked. His signal on SSB was pretty
good and 100% Q5 as he went portable to avoid the apartment window. It
made a huge difference!
A sked with WA3EOQ was quite difficult for me. Even when he peaked up,
copy was near ESP levels. I must have been in a QSB trough! Normally
Howard willpeak up and be near Q4 or so, but last night never had
anything like that. When he was sending RRs I could pick out the rhythm
which helped me decipher his CW. Yikes!! That was a squeaker. The Moon
rose during activity night at about 20:30 or so and Howard wanted to try
a rising Moon attempt starting at 01:00. Well, about 10 minutes before
our EME sked, PJ4MM showed up and wanted me to transmit so he could test
his 222 setup. So I started calling PJ4MM, and soon copied Martin from
Bonaire. We ended up with me calling PJ4MM but listening for both PJ4MM
and WA3EOQ. Howard, WA3EOQ did not copy me at all and I did not hear
his 100 watts. Interestingly, the night before, Howard was hearing me
great while I was in the middle of a T storm and had S-7 rain static.
When it got really bad I had to ske-daddle down off the hill. I had
some WSJT problems last night and had to restart WSJT to clear them up.
I never worked PJ4MM, but we both heard each other.
QSB peaks were evident. WA3DRC was good copy here, as was W1AUV and
VE3KG. Mnay others were weaker than normal. You had to be there all the
time to catch the good peaks I think.
Anyway, after 0100 UT, I was exclusively on EME and worked three
stations after my try with PJ4MM. The Moon rose in Louisian around
02:00 and W5RME came blasting in with just a single yagi on the horizon.
Soon after I worked Dave, K3SK in southern VA. I could not copy him via
tropo earlier in the evening. Last QSO was W7JW in Michigan via the EME
route. As the Moon got higher here, it was rising out West in Wyoming
and right on schedule W0VB was decoded at his Moonrise. Then Faraday
came into play. as W0VB faded out and when he faded here, I started
being heard in Wyoming. We had to wait a bit before I could copy Terry
again. We finally did complete and I believe that it is W0VB's first EME
contact from Wyoming. He has a single long yagi on the horizon and one
of the Larcan 1500 watt PAs. Terry, W0VB has 220MHz WAS #1.
Here is my log
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE TIME CALLSIGN LOCATOR TX RX BAND MODE
PRO.REMARKS QRB
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/20/2024 22:59 KI2L FN32ET 55 55 220 MHzSSB
TR 30 w FT-726R 226
08/20/2024 23:05 WA1MBA FN51AS 55 220 MHzSSB TR 198
08/20/2024 23:09 WZ1V FN31RH 55 220 MHzSSB TR 266
08/20/2024 23:09 WA3NUF FN2ØKE 55 220 MHzSSB
TR 496
08/20/2024 23:10 W1AIM FN34UJ 55 220 MHzSSB TR 154
08/20/2024 23:12 WB2VVV FN41CR 59 59 220 MHzSSB TR 197
08/20/2024 23:24 WA3EOQ FMØ9JO 55 220 MHzCW
TR very weak tonite. 805
08/20/2024 23:26 K1ZK FN34JJ 55 220 MHzSSB
TR 212
08/20/2024 23:34 WA1PBU FN42EK 55 220 MHzSSB
TR 120
08/20/2024 23:35 N1SV FN42BL 59 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 126
08/20/2024 23:36 K1PXE FN31KE 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 303
08/20/2024 23:41 K1DY FN54JQ 59 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 200
08/20/2024 23:42 W1AUV FN32II 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 223
08/20/2024 23:42 N1GLT FN42IW 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 58
08/20/2024 23:44 K2RMX FN2ØXP 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 398
08/20/2024 23:45 K1FMS FN32QB 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 201
08/20/2024 23:47 WA3DRC FM28AS 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 663
08/20/2024 23:55 WB2SIH FN31DD 579 220 MHzCW
TR 337
08/21/2024 00:04 K1TEO FN31JH 579 220 MHzSSB
TR 296
08/21/2024 00:09 K1DS FN2ØIE 579 220 MHzSSB
TR 506
08/21/2024 00:10 K3TUF FN1ØWE 579 220 MHzCW
TR 557
08/21/2024 00:12 KC2KAE FN2ØXX 579 220 MHzCW
TR 370
08/21/2024 00:13 W2TMA FN3ØHV 579 220 MHzCW
TR 342
08/21/2024 00:15 WA2LTM FN2ØRH 579 220 MHzSSB
TR 453
08/21/2024 00:22 W2BYP FN13IB 579 579 220 MHzCW
TR 514
08/21/2024 00:27 WA2VNV FN3ØKV 58 59 220 MHzSSB
TR 330
08/21/2024 00:31 VE3KG FN24AV 58 220 MHzSSB
TR 432
08/21/2024 00:45 WC2K FM29PT 59 59 220 MHzSSB
TR Loud 506
08/21/2024 01:59 W5EME EM32AI -22 -18 220 MHzQ65
EME 2350
08/21/2024 02:17 K3SK FMØ7TH -22 -29 220 MHzQ65
EME 922
08/21/2024 02:22 W7JW EN82FJ -18 -21 220 MHzQ65
EME 1030
08/21/2024 03:35 WØVB DN74OI -26 -21 220 MHzQ65
EME copied 02:50 calls 03:02 & 03:04 R-26 2694
08/21/2024 10:56 PJ4MM FK52VE -24 -29 220 MHzQ65
EME solid at start -25 to-23. heard all the time! 3479
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of QSO listed: 33
PJ4MM was on again in the morning for his Moonset. He has one 17 el yagi
and a 1000 watt amp. I heard him when the Moon was well over 20
degrees. We also had Faraday issues, but did manage to work. I heard
him great the entire time. We just had to wait so he could hear me.
After I worked Martin for my 3rd country on 222, W7JW started calling
PJ4MM, and they came close to a contact with signals heard both ways.
Talk about excitement. I also noted that AI5I showed up from New Mexico,
and he has a KW and an M2 5wl yagi. I did not get to try with him, but I
think he showed up as a result of all the 222 MHz promotion going on.
Who will be the next person to offer 222 MHz coffee mugs? Activity
seems to be growing and it is spreading around the country. I ended up
with 32 QSOs on activity night and a new country on 222 the following
morning!
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