[VHFcontesting] The upcoming 222 MHz Activity Night

[Dave Olean]

Hello 222 ops,

The Moon will be rising right in the middle of the 222 MHz Activity 
Night. My Moonrise here in Maine is at 0000 UT or 8 PM local time. Condx 
are about as good as it gets with very low degradation from cosmic noise 
and the moon is getting very close to Earth, so path attenuation is 
less.  I will be on 222.085 running Q65B-60 2nd sequence calling CQ.  I 
will be monitoring the HB9Q 222 MHz Chat page. I anyone is at all 
interested in seeing if EME is possible for them, now is the time to 
try.  Local activity dries up at about 0100 UT or 9 PM local time on the 
East Coast. I will start calling on EME right around that time. The Moon 
will be rising across Indiqana and Illinois then. The Moon rises for 
KF0M in EM17ho near Wichita KS at 0145 UT. If you are interested, please 
let me know on the HB9Q Chat page on Tuesday evening. Faraday rotation 
can mess things up, but it will be possible to be heard here with as 
little as 200 watts or less depending on how much loss you have in your 
feedline. I have worked a  100 watt station, but it is difficult and 
requires things to be lined up. Tuesday night will make things easier 
for sure.  If you are on the West Coast, your Moonrise will be around 
0330 UT. I might not last that long if I do not know you are going to be 
there. All the more reason to check in on HB9Q 222 MHz. A good heading 
for the midwest is 78 degrees for Moonrise. WSJTx will give you accurate 
headings in the astronomical data. I am sure there will be a few EME 
stations active. W7JW has a big signal, and K3SK is sounding much louder 
now that he swapped out his old array for a K1FO array. The difference 
is very noticeable.

I looked at the tropo scene and Tuesday night does not look good. There 
is some enhancement along the East Coast in spots, with the best area in 
the SE USA. Inland paths will be without any enhancement.  In other 
news, I managed to contact  the power company and they have started 
fixing some bad power line noise that was bothering me on 222 MHz. It 
peaked at 270 and 295 degrees, with a weaker source at 225 degrees. The 
big offender was a 3 phase lightning arrestor. When they pulled that off 
line, the noise dropped a bunch. They promise to fix the rest in the 
next week or so. I have my fingers crossed.

So make plans for Tuesday evening. Send the XYL shopping. Put bowser in 
his crate, and chain any little kids tight in the cellar so you have no 
distractions.

73

Dave K1WHS