KC9BQA

   Please scroll down to the June 24th post if you want more detail.   
   All are welcome to listen along or say hello to these FM nets.   We’re also looking for DX-type check-ins, so light signals are welcome.   It really helps out activity levels if you pass the word on to those who might not know we’re on every Thursday.   If you’re DX and you want me to specifically look at you with my 10 el vertical beam up 75′, then email me for a sked.

    WB9LYH takes the 144.240 long-range net again this Wed.   Scroll down to the June 23rd post for more detail.

    Please scroll down to my June 21st post for 222 Tuesday details.

    Been updating Page 1 of this website with weekly activity you may be able to hear.     I’m not aware of any Fri/Sat. activity; if anyone has info, let me know and I’ll post it here.   

   Sundays have multiple options —   starts at 7pm with K9TMS SWOT net on 144.250 from far N side of Chicago.  
   Then there’s the NLRS nets out of MN.   I can hear K0SIX on 50.175 from 8:30-9pm central.   K0SIX is in EN35, about an hour NW of Minneapolis.    KA0PQW is in EN33, S MN, and he’s on 144.260 (yes, .260) starting at 9pm.   Both ‘PQW and ‘SIX enjoy hearing from distant check-ins, so don’t hesitate to say hello any Sunday night.   
   
   We’re not quite done with the Sunday lineup yet.   Also have 6m and 2m activity out of SW Michigan.  
    Sunday             8:00 P.M.      50.150 USB     N8QEM    (EN72au)
    Sunday             8:30 P.M.     144.155 USB    K8NFT     (EN62ws)
    Those times are also central.

    Had a nice net tonight.   Didn’t seem like conditions were enhanced, but did have good participation.   I’ll post the check-ins later — I’m looking around on 146.430 with the 10 element beam after the net (it’s 9:15pm) 
   9:45 — nothing found on 146.430, going SSW to NNE.   Did hear a fellow out in La Farge, Vernon Co. on 146.540, about S7, but didn’t feel like interrupting.   Still sort of looking around; I’m the curious type and I want to see what this 10 el vertical beam is capable of.  

   Our check-ins tonight were:
   KC9ISU, KM4G, WD9ITJ, N9NFB, K9VNM/m, W7FSS, KB9BJH, KB9VUP and W9GA all EN53.   KB9YXQ EN62 and KC9AOV EN52.

   N9JBW John from EN61, south side of Chicago wants everyone to know they are welcome to check into his friendly Q5 net on 144.220 SSB.    Look toward Chicago and say hello to John and the group.

    The 146.430 FM Simplex net is nearing 2 years of operation.   All the nets I’m involved with (or started) date back to late June/July of 2008 — save for 222 Tuesday, which was N8WNA and KC8QAE’s idea, dating back to Sept. 2009.  

     I’ve really enjoyed the FM simplex net.   I’m going to enjoy it even more now because of 2 things:  
    1)   WV9E has also started a similar net on 146.460 every Thursday at 8:30pm from Onalaska (La Crosse).   I hope that in time we can encourage other parts of WI to start FM simplex nets.    We already have statewide reach (easily) with WB9LYH and the 144.240 Wed. SSB net.   Now if we can get statewide reach via 4 or 5 FM nets, we’d really see activity expand.   There is a certain percentage of hams who will try a new mode, IF the payoff is there.   What’s the payoff?   It’s hearing signals you can work at least once a week.    Then when they experience the occasional band opening or hear how busy the bands are during a contest, they’re really hooked.  
    2)  I now have a rotatable 10 element beam for 146/147 FM and I’m pleasantly surprised at how well it gets out.   I look forward to the enhanced propagation we often have in summer and fall.    Guys who are outside of SE WI, if you want me to look your way, please email.   

     I imagine some weak-signal purists scoff at the notion of an FM net.   I’m a weak-signal guy, thru and thru, but I can tell you my experience has been very positive.    If I sat down and went thru my net logs from Week 1,  I could find at least 2-4 dozen guys who have tried or are now active on 2m SSB.    While this is not the primary goal of having an FM net, I’m not shy about mentioning band openings I’ve enjoyed on SSB and I always mention how much I enjoy the periodic V/UHF contests.    This website also helps because I can do educational-type posts that wouldn’t be practical on the air.   It all adds up over time.

    Even with storms plaguing the Chicago area, N IND and S MI, we had a very strong turnout tonight.  
   WB9LYH heard from:  
    KR8T EN72;  N8WNA EN82;  N9FRY, NT9E, K9KEU, KC9AOV, all EN52.   W9GA and WD9ITJ EN53;  K9KHW and KC9BQA EN63;  N9NDP EN62;  W9YZU EM69;  WA9BNZ EN40.   Our temporary detour to 144.250 for the St. Louis area found K0PFX in EM48.   Thanks for tuning in, Mel.    Tonight, the 144.250 call went out at 8:40, but it can be anytime from about 8:20-8:50pm  (We detour to 144.250 for a short call toward St. Louis because there’s often local activity on 144.240 in their area) 
    Once back on 144.240, we heard from K9AKS EN41;  WB0YWW and KG0SJ EN22;  W0ANH EN47;  W0HXL EN21;  N0WJY EN10;  KA0KYZ EN33;  K0SIX EN35; W9JN EN54 and N0IRS EM29.  

    Few highlights from tonight…   KR8T made his first QSO on 144 SSB tonight, the way I heard it.   He has 11 els up 110′, so he’s all set to go.  
   Very strong numbers from WI tonight.   I counted 9 WI check-ins.  
    Later, WB0YWW worked W0ANH up in EN47 on 144.230.   Think that might have been a new grid for ‘YWW, who’s been on 144 a long time.  
    KA0KYZ now has stacked beams from EN33, and he’s very loud.   He also volunteered to look away from WI during future nets, in an effort to reach Dakotas stations WB9LYH might not be able to contact directly.    The more we’re able to do this, the more stations we can include, even 500-700 miles away from WI.  
    In that vein, N0IRS advised that many KC-area stations were on tonight.   They also had good conditions to their south with a Dallas-area SWOT net on 144.250.   Timing was a little off, so we were sorry to miss the KC guys.   Hopefully we’ll have better (and earlier) coordination on future Weds.    I know WB9LYH enjoys working the DX, so we’ll make every effort to include anyone who’s listening.   There’s never any harm in sending me an email (I’m good at qrz.com) ahead of net time, or posting your interest to the on4kst.com chat, if you want a contact.   

    The on4kst.com chat room for 144-432 MHz (IARU Region 2) is not the be all and end all for VHF’ing.   Nothing replaces the actual on-air contact.   To me, the chat is simply a great tool for finding possibilities you wouldn’t otherwise know about.   I’ve yet to run into a VHF’er who tells me the bands are too crowded.   So increasing activity is key.   We can keep guys interested in V/UHF’ing with more activity.   Or we can lose them because they get tired of hearing white noise.   Which option do you prefer?

   WB9LYH is in EN54cl, or right in the middle of WI.   He starts out looking northeast, into the U.P. of MI at 0100Z/8pm central/9pm eastern.   From there, he moves clockwise with stacked 17B2’s and 500 watts.    He has 300-400 mile range under flat conditions.   St. Louis-area hams note that WB9LYH does QSY to 144.250 briefly when he calls toward STL.   This is to avoid local activity on 144.240 in the STL area.  

   We encourage net check-ins and any other 2m enthusiasts to look around on 144.230 and lower, in an effort to extend the activity farther away from WI.   The idea is to make Wed. night a “can’t-miss” event for 2m SSB across a wide part of the Central US.    This can be done if other stations call CQ and look around.

    We also encourage the use of the on4kst.com chat.   Choose the IARU Region 2 room for 144-432 MHz.   This chat is available anytime, but it comes alive mostly during evenings and band openings.   We’ve had good participation in there on Wed. nights for several months now.   Using this chat room helps you monitor who net control is working and which direction he’s pointing in.   Of course you can also use the chat to do  your own “looking around”.   Post which frequency and direction you are pointing in, along with who you’re hearing.

    The Central States VHF Society’s annual conference is just one month away.   On June 6th, I posted an announcement from WB9PNU John, who is one of the key organizers.   Here’s the link:   http://kc9bqa.com/?p=2819   Visit that link and see what CSVHFS has to offer. 

     Here’s updated info from WB9PNU:  

     Today (June 21) the problems with the Hotel Reservations have been fixed.   We are good to go at the $89.00 rate until June 29th.
    Please don’t wait to long to register with the Hotel.

   Additionally the Reservations for the Thursday evening Social River Boat Dinner Cruise is filling.   Don’t miss out on an enjoyable Cruise along with a great dinner.

   You can get to the Conference Home Page by using the Link below:
   http://www.csvhfs.org/conference/index.html

   Please contact me for any questions you might have, or to order the 2010 proceedings.

   Thanks,
  John, WB9PNU
  wb9pnu@charter.net