[VHFcontesting] 222 Activity night Summary

[David Olean]

Hello God Buddy Ron and 222 MHz operators,

I had a great time on Tuesday evening, but had a problem with high VSWR 
somewhere in my antenna system. The four yagis were showing elevated 
VSWR.  I dropped the power and just kept going. I brought up a memory 
stick to download my log from the hilltop shack.  True to form, I then 
forgot to remove the stick to bring it home. It is still up at the shack 
plugged in to a turned off computer.  The snow is melting and I had a 
simpler time walking up the hill. About 50% of the walk was on bare 
ground!  Temps were mild in the 50's.

I did make 25 QSOs that includes many who contacted GB Ron.  I did not 
find KA3FQS, K1TEO, N1LHP,and K1FSY. I did hear WA3NUF working W2KV, but 
straining to hear W2KV was not in the cards.  I could not detect Dave at 
all. So that makes five stations that I missed on 222 MHz. I never got 
to try FT8 at any time. I was way too busy jumping between EME and 
horizon stations.  I did run into W8ZN on CW early on, when I was 
looking for WA1RKS.  W8ZN is about 485 miles away.  Terry must have 
heard me calling WA1RKS and started calling me on CW.  It was very 
interesting as Elllis was in a deep fade toward the end and I started to 
hear W8ZN calling me on the same frequency. It got confusing but Terry 
kept calling when I signed with Ellis and I finally figured out that I 
had another caller!   Other stations worked included WA1T, N1ROZ, W5EME, 
N0AKC, and VE6TA. The last three calls were via the EME route. Late in 
the evening I saw that WA3EOQ showed up rather late, but by the time I 
saw his post and responded, he had apparently pulled the big switch.  I 
tried calling him for awhile, but did not hear him.

Signals peaked up quite nicely. I saw big signals from WW2Y, KC1V, 
WA3NUF, and WA1NLG.  W9KXI was also quite strong for quite a long 
stretch. We chatted on SSB with no problems.  I was quite surprised as 
the CCX beacon at 23:30 UT was not that good.  It was a good 10 dB below 
good summertime levels.

K1PXE wants a new vacation give-away awarded from the 222 MHz Activity 
Committee, and he wants GB Ron WZ1V to be the winner.  I guess Pete is 
getting hammered with QRM from WZ1V and wants Ron to go on a vacation.  
My remarks are that QRM is a good thing on 222 MHz.  Pete was suggesting 
destinations such as the Amazon basin or the Gobi Desert.   My take on 
the evening was that things were perking up and Spring is on the way. It 
won't be long before meteors are back up there in the evening, and 
quirky tropo paths will get active again. I want to look for the lower 
Great Lakes path from Northern New England to Indiana or Ohio. The best 
way to take advantage of such conditions is to improve your station. 
High antennas, antenna mtd preamps, and a bit more QRO will enable those 
fleeting contacts. Of course, making noise is important too!   CU all 
next Tuesday.

73

Dave K1WHS


On 3/11/2025 8:58 PM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
> Nice group on 222 tonight, fair conditions too. Worked:
> N1SV FN42, WW1Z FN42, KC1V FN31, W1AUV FN32,
> K1PXE FN31, WW2Y FN20, WA1RKS FN32, N1JEZ FN44,
> K1WHS FN43, WA2LTM FN20, W2KV FN20, WA3NUF FN20,
> KA3FQS FN20, K1TEO FN31, AA2SD FM29, KA1OJ FN42,
> W9KXI FN12, W1AIM FN34, W1GHZ FN34, N1LHP FN42,
> N1YCQ FN41, K1FSY FN31, WB2RVX FM29, WA1NLG FN41.
>
> 73 TNX QSOs, Ron WZ1V
>
>
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