KC9BQA

   6:15pm Tuesday —

   Want everyone to know the long-range nets will be on as usual tomorrow night.  
   First up is WB9LYH in EN54cl, right in the middle of WI.  Mark gets on 144.240 starting at 0100Z/7pm central.  He starts out calling CQ to his northeast and then moves clockwise a full 360 over the next 60-90 minutes. 
   There’s also K8TQK in EM89je, south-central OH.  Bob gets on 144.250 starting at 0130Z/8:30pm eastern.  He starts out calling CQ to his north and then moves clockwise a full 360 over the next hour or so. 
   The nets are informal.  The goal is to encourage more activity on 2m SSB.  All are welcome to listen along or say hello.  DX is especially welcome and both these net controls have the stations to make 300, 400, 500 mile contacts, even with flat band conditions.  Please help us spread the word, and help keep 2m SSB active.  

   If you’re new to this website, or would like more info about the Wed. night nets, click here:   http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5412  There are several details worth reading about in that post.  

   If you’d like a detailed listing of long-range V/UHF activity and nets across a wide area of the Midwest and Great Lakes, click here:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5017  There are nets available 7 days a week, plus listings for activity on other bands like 50 and 432 MHz.

   Looking ahead to December, I’ve heard from both WB9LYH and K8TQK and right now, it looks like both the 144.240 and 144.250 nets will be ON every Wed. in December.   Shouldn’t have any conflict with Christmas and New Year’s since they fall on the weekends.

   8:45pm central —
   Turns out the band is in even better shape than the Hepburn maps forecasted.  Lots of strong signals being worked out to 300-500 miles tonight across much of the Midwest.  The ON4KST.com chat room was fairly active tonight, and plenty of good contacts were being posted. 
   Given this weather pattern, I suspect tomorrow morning right on into Friday will also have good propagation.  If you have some time to play radio during the holiday, get on and call CQ.  
  
   K8TQK’s 28 check-ins tonight were:  N8WNA, K8JA and VE3LPY EN82;  KC8ZJL EN71;  N8HMY, KD8FHY, NF8O AND K8GDT EN91;  KF8MW, KI8CA, WT8E AND W8WG EM89;  N8XQM EN80;  N8DJB EN81;  WA3TTS EN90;  W2UAD FN13;  AC3L/M FN00;  KE4LGL EM77;  N4PPG EM76;  W4TMW EM84;  K1KC EM73;  WA4REE EM65;  KI4ROF EM55;  KB9TDA EN70;  N9NEI EM79;  W9YZU EM69;  N0PB EM39;  WB9LYH EN54.

   Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

This post was made on Nov. 22, 2011.   (There is an edit made Jan. 17, 2017 at the bottom of this post.)
It explains a fun program that rewards V/UHF’ers for making more contacts.
Again, this post is about WIVUCH (pronounce it like this — Wee-Vooch)

WIVUCH is the Wisconsin VHF/UHF County Hunters Award.  WIVUCH was created at the start of 2010.  This award program is to encourage more signals on 50MHz and above, in and near Wisconsin.  Hams (both WI and hams from other states are eligible) earn their initial certificate by working at least 20 different WI counties (WI has 72 counties total) on any combination of bands, 50 MHz and above.  Rovers/hilltoppers/portable stations earn their initial certificate by activating at least 10 WI counties.  All contacts made on/after Jan. 1, 2010 are eligible.  (Repeater and satellite contacts are not eligible)  WIVUCH-eligible contacts can occur at any time.  Random CQ’ing, ragchews, contest contacts, out-of-state stations working 6m openings, tropo openings on the higher bands —  are all encouraged.

W9FZ put together a great website to promote WIVUCH.  The website is at www.wivuch.com.  I suggest you take 5-10 minutes and enjoy the content there.  There are full rules, sample awards, entry forms, county maps of WI, the whole 9 yards.   Everything is explained.   I hope other VHF’ers will find ways to craft award programs or competitions that will increase activity in their own states or regions.   A smaller state or a less-populated one could even make the goal to work various cities, landmarks, whatever.
That’s the short story.  For those who enjoy more detail, read on.

WIVUCH had very exciting news recently.   W9RPM John has won the first handsome plaque for contacting all 72 WI counties on mixed bands and on 144 MHz only.  In fact, I just picked up the plaque from the trophy maker and John’s going to receive it by Friday at the latest.  The plaque looks great and John’s accomplishment continues to astound me.  Congrats to the 1st WIVUCH winner, John, W9RPM.  The full story about that is here, http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5171, in a post I made on Sept. 5, 2011, the same morning that we got word W9RPM had worked his 72nd and last WI county.

More about WIVUCH… These are my personal thoughts as creator of the WIVUCH program.

1)  I never dreamed that someone would work all 72 WI counties inside of 2 years.  W9RPM did it with an amazing amount of determination.   His contacts occurred in roughly the following manner:   1/3 random operating, 1/3 counties activated by W9FZ in his rover and 1/3 counties earned the hard way, by emailing hundreds of hams in needed counties for specific schedules.   What’s especially stunning about W9RPM winning the first WIVUCH plaque is that his QTH is in a Mississippi River valley hole and he’s also on the extreme western end of WI, in EN43.  So geography did him no favors, and he still managed to work all 72 WI counties.

2)  Besides W9RPM, I can see a day where we might award a few more plaques.  I think W9FZ will make it someday, by activating all 72 WI counties from his rover.  Bruce already has put 30-40 counties on the air that way.  It may take him a few summers, but Bruce’ll do it, I bet.    WV9E, another fixed station from EN43, is well over halfway to the 72 county mark.

3)  After nearly two years of WIVUCH being up and running, I’m amazed we don’t have more certificate winners.  Currently, we have less than 10 total.  And nobody new has applied for their initial 20-county certificate in at least 6-9 months.  So overall, the program is really stagnant.  I’m not sure why this is.
WIVUCH should have plenty of awareness.  I include the following  “www.wivuch.com  WI VHF/UHF County Hunters Award” in the signature tag of every piece of ham email I send out.  And seeing as I send weekly ham email to at least a few thousand per week, the word is definitely being spread in a multi-state area.   Perhaps in 2012, we’ll see more interest.  If all WIVUCH does is get a half-dozen guys on the air a little more often, then it’s falling far short of its potential.
I know VHF’ers who are gaga about getting VUCC from ARRL.  (Work at least 100 grid squares on 6m, 2m, etc.)  To me, breaking V/UHF down into county-sized increments builds on VUCC by creating exponentially more targets to work.  I was amazed to find that other states haven’t done this yet (I guess northern California might have some sort of V/UHF-based county award)  Sure, there are plenty of counties where hams aren’t regularly on V/UHF.  So that’s when you start encouraging rovers, or encouraging hams in needed counties to become popular by getting on 6m, 2m, 70cm, whatever.   It’s a great opportunity to recruit more ops and get more signals on the air.

Like I said above, I hope that in time, other states will consider doing their own version of WIVUCH.

EDIT — Jan 17, 2017.  I should have made this edit years ago; better late than never.
WIVUCH has seen no new activity since the summer of 2011.  I knew by 2013-14 that it was a dead issue.  WIVUCH had a great start and W9RPM working all 72 WI counties on 2 meters was an amazing accomplishment.  We also had a core of 5-10 guys who for a time, were enthusiastic about putting different counties on the air, etc.  I thought things were going places.  But I wasn’t willing to keep beating the drum, year-after-year, if everybody else was losing interest.
I still think WIVUCH was a dynamite idea.  I have a spare empty plaque in a closet, all kinds of award stickers for various levels of progress, you name it.  I was willing to run with this for years, if we could have developed more of an activity base.   Plus W9FZ not only created a nifty website and spent hours refining the concept with me, but Bruce went out and activated a ton of WI counties, so thanks again Bruce, you’re the best.  Congrats to you and Janice!

   As mentioned in the post below, the 144.240 net will be quiet this week, due to holiday plans. 

    Everyone can listen Wed. night for K8TQK in EM89je, south-central OH.  Bob will be on with his 144.250 net, which starts at 8:30pm eastern, or 0130Z.  K8TQK enjoys check-ins from a wide area; everyone is welcome to say hello and DX is encouraged.  Bob starts out looking north, then calls CQ in a clockwise circle (NE, then E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) over the next 45-60 minutes.   Help us spread the word and create more activity on 2m SSB. 
   I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some band enhancement, especially from OH to the south, southwest and west.    The Hepburn Tropo Forecast Maps look pretty decent for late November.   Here’s the link I’m referring to:  http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

   If you’re new to this website, or would like more info about the Wed. night nets, click here:   http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5412  There are several details worth reading about in that post.  

   If you’d like a detailed listing of long-range V/UHF activity and nets across a wide area of the Midwest and Great Lakes, click here:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5017  There are nets available 7 days a week, plus listings for activity on other bands like 50 and 432 MHz.

   5am  Thursday.

   Thanks again to WB9LYH and K8TQK for running the nets and providing me with their list of check-ins.   
   Last night, WB9LYH’s 19 check-ins to the 144.240 net (7pm central, called from EN54cl — middle of WI) were:  N9OLT EN64;  K9CCL EN61;  KC8ZJL EN71;  N7MB EN50;  W9YZU EM69;  K9ALT and N9NYA EN43;  N9UDO EN53;  KA9DVX EN51;  W9BBP EN40;  K0TPP EM48;  K0DPL EN42;  WB0YWW and W0WOI EN22;  N0IRS EM29;  W0HXL EN21; N9KOR AND N9QWH EN44 and KD0PNP EN35.   
   New check-ins last night on 144.240 are K0DPL and KD0PNP.  Welcome.  It’s always great to know more and more stations are capable of getting on 2m SSB.  Hope they are getting on and calling their own CQ’s at other times.  Weak-signal VHF needs more activity, that’s for sure.   I knew that K0DPL call looked familiar and now I remember… he’s part of a Cedar Rapids, IA area group that enjoys using 223.500 MHz  FM Simplex.  I hope they are still doing that.  

   K8TQK’s 16 check-ins to the 144.250 net (7:30pm central/8:30pm eastern, from EM89je, south-central OH) were:  N8WNA EN82;  N1YAK, W8WG and WT8E EM89;  W2UAD FN13;  AC3L/M FN00;  K4XXX EM97;  KC8FOG EM88;  W4MTW EM84;  WA4REE EM65;  KI4ROF EM55;  N8RTH EM79;  W9YZU EM69;  KC8ZJL EN71; N9OLT EN64 and WB9LYH EN54. 
   I know we also get new check-ins to K8TQK’s net.  Thanks for helping to increase activity and helping us spread the word.   Just going off the top of my head, EM88 looks like a grid that’s not often heard from. 

   **  Early Thanksgiving Schedule —  
   K8TQK will be ON 144.250 next Wednesday, as usual. 
   WB9LYH will be OFF 144.240 next Wednesday.  144.240 will be quiet next Wed. 
   Everyone look toward K8TQK on 144.250 next Wednesday.**

    I will repeat this info next week.

  9:25 pm central Monday –

   Nets should be on as usual this Wednesday. 
   1)  WB9LYH on 144.240 from EN54cl (middle of WI) starting at 7pm central.  Mark starts out looking NE into the U.P. of MI then goes clockwise a full 360 over the next 60-90 minutes.  Meaning E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and back to N. 
   2)  K8TQK on 144.250 from EM89je (south-central OH) starting at 8:30pm eastern.  Bob starts out looking N and then goes clockwise a full 360 over the next hour or so. 

   All are welcome; and DX is encouraged.  Thanks for helping us spread the word, and keeping 2m SSB active.  

   If you’d like more info, look down the front page for the Nov. 1st announcement.  

   If you’d like a longer list of nets I know to be active, within a wide area of the Midwest and western Great Lakes, visit this link:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5017  That  covers all 7 days of the week, and includes activity on multiple bands.  Check it out and get involved.

      7:45am Friday —

     Happy Veteran’s Day to everyone who has served our country.   Thank you.  

    I promoted 222 Tuesday hard from Sept. 2009 to April 2011.  It wasn’t my idea; the credit goes to N8WNA (EN82) and K8GDT (EN91) plus others who tried hard before them.  (K8TQK EM89 and K4TO EM77 for many years, ending about 2007-2008)  Where I put most of my energy was toward … you guessed it — PROMOTION!   How the heck is anyone going to get on 222 if they don’t know where and when to find regular activity?   I emailed everyone that I had in my 222 logs, plus all Midwest V/UHF contest groups, a nationwide VHF list and the 222 MHz Propagation Logger every week.  Told them that 222 Tuesday was the nationwide activity night.    No net control, no single area of focus.  Everybody get on in the evening, call CQ, swing your beams and make noise. 

   It worked for a time.  There were nights where I’d work 8-10 contacts, and I would get email and feedback from other parts of the country that said they enjoyed the activity too.  One area that really tried hard was the Southern Plains.  K5SW in EM25 helped spread the word and there would be regular activity from OK and TX. 
    After about 8-10 months, the activity dropped off greatly.  The supportive email I would get was always from the same 4 or 5 guys.   222 Tuesday needed dozens of guys getting on from various states to make it work.  One guy here, one guy there wasn’t going to cut it. 
   I kept promoting until late March, early April of 2011.  The last two meaningful posts I made about 222 Tuesday were this http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4351 and this http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4480.  If you care about 222 MHz, read those posts and see if you can somehow make a difference.  There *REALLY* should be some way to promote more frequent 222 activity.  I’m not sure what it would take to cut thru the apathy, but I hope someday, someone can figure it out.  
   My understanding is that you may still hear some 222.100 activity out of MI and OH on Tuesday evenings.  N8WNA and K8GDT would be the focus, I’d imagine. 
    

     222 MHz is just an excellent band.  It’s quieter and has better propagation.  I always get out a few S-units stronger on 222, vs. 144, with the same antennas and power.  The yagis aren’t as pointy as those on 432 and higher bands, so you tend to hear at least some strong stations off the side. 
    Problem with 222 is there’s a real lack of commercially-available SSB gear.  Most guys go the transverter route and if you have any tech skills, you should too.  A transverter should have better sensitivity.  Or you have appliance operators like me (it’s true) who prefer to use vintage Yaesu FT736R’s that have the optional 222 band module installed.  Yaesu FT726R’s are also an option.    There’s also the highly-prized Icom 375 series, but those rigs have become very overpriced.  
    Because there’s so few 222 rig options, there’s a huge lack of activity on the band.  When will you hear a 222 signal?  In a strong band opening, there might be some activity, as guys liasion on 2m or 432 to make contacts on 222.  The one time you’ll hear signals on 222 MHz  is in an all-band V/UHF contest.  If you enjoy the V/UHF contests, make sure you get 222 up and running someday.

   If all goes well, I should make 3-7 posts like this over the next week or so.  If I get particularly focused, it may happen in just a few days.  It’s like the weather — hard to predict.    Some of these posts may get revised, once I see them on the website and scrutinize them.  I can be that way.   

   The first post in this series was about the history of the Wed. SSB nets.  The link is here:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5363

   Shortly after I got the SSB net(s) up and running, I knew I also wanted to see what the FM simplex side of things was like.  I figured we could get more signals on the air that way, and that perhaps some would be attracted to a) SSB and b) V/UHF contesting if I promoted it occasionally, in a friendly way.   We did get a few to experiment, but mostly, I just learned to enjoy the company and try to keep my promotional agenda in check. 

   The first Thursday FM Simplex net I called was on Aug. 21, 2008, on 146.490 MHz.  It moved to 146.430 shortly after and that’s where we stayed for the next 26 months.  That first week, we actually had 17 check-ins.  Why so many, right off the bat?  Promotion!   I knew the only way I’d keep my interest up is if I emailed the heck out of various groups and let a lot of hams know when and where they could find the activity.  You’d be amazed how many guys will show up, with a few friendly reminders.   Plus you have to keep at it and be dependable. 

   I know of weak-signal VHF purists who will scoff at anything having to do with the FM side.   I’m not sure that these days, we can afford to be too snooty.  The activity levels are so low that we need to reach out.  That’s what the FM Simplex net was originally designed to do.  
   The Simplex net was a lot of fun.  Honestly, it was more fun than I had thought it could be.  I enjoyed the fidelity, not having to use headphones all the time, and I also enjoyed not having to swing a beam, and calling CQ about 30 times around the compass.  I did the large majority of the FM nets with a Diamond dual-band vertical up about 90′, using about 150w.  I never got enough DX check-ins for my tastes, but usually I could work a guy with at least a rooftop antenna out to 50-100 miles.   In time, I did find a way to rotate a 10-element yagi, and I advertised hard for guys out 100-200 miles away to try and check in.  I thought this would be a hit, but it never caught on.  I was disappointed by that.  I’m sure there are guys who have vertical beams and enjoy some DX work.  Wish I could have tapped into that.   Then again, the SSB nets have gone well the entire time, so it’s not like I’m starved for DX. 

   The bulk of our check-ins were in SE WI.  Some nights we had as many as 20 or 25.  We did get occasional activity from N ILL and W MI.  History buffs can go back thru the website and check out the net reports.  Any net I’ve ever called has a net report on this website, starting from April 1, 2009 onward.  
   The FM net  had quite a few regulars and we had a lot of fun going back and forth.  Because so many of the FM’ers can hear everyone else, it feels a lot cozier, compared to a longer-range SSB net.   I haven’t thought about these guys in a while and I’m smiling right now.   Lots of good memories and enjoyable personalities. 

   By summer 2010, the net numbers were dwindling.   I didn’t help matters any.  In August and September 2010, we had a mix of weeks where I was away or we had thunderstorms.  Consistency was lacking — let’s put it that way.  I always had a goal of putting on a big push of new publicity and somehow getting the net back to 10-15 check-ins, but then I quit smoking (Nov. 18, 2010) and quite honestly, I didn’t want to be near the radios for some time, because hamming was one of the places I enjoyed smoking most.   It was great having a separate shed with windows and a screened-in overhead garage door.   

   Long story short, the last FM Simplex net was on Nov. 4, 2010.  I kept holding out hope thru the winter of 2010-11 that I’d get motivated again, but I didn’t and I let the whole thing fade away.  It also was a time where I wanted to focus on the things that were working well, and the Wed. SSB nets continued to thrive so I put my energy into that.

   Not long after I started the Thursday FM Simplex Net, another FM net in Western WI got started.  It’s still on the air and I’ll happily refer you to it.  WV9E in Onalaska, (just a bit north of La Crosse, EN43) is on 146.460 every Thursday at 8:30pm central time.  Dave’s website is wv9e.net.  I know they run a friendly net and they will always welcome a newcomer, or DX.

   8am Thursday — 
   Let’s get the net report posted before the markets open up.
   WB9LYH reported good propagation to the east last night with his 144.240 net.   Activity was low in that direction, and I would think weather was a factor.  Much of WI had its first shoveling snowfall yesterday and areas to the east had a hard, windy rain.  At my QTH, we’ve had 1.9″ of liquid precip the past 36 hours. 
   Mark’s 17 check-ins with the 144.240 net were:  N9OLT EN64;  N8WNA EN82;  KC8ZJL EN71;  K9CCL EN61;  W9YZU EM69;  W1JWS EN50;  K0TPP EM48;  WA9BNZ and W9BBP EN40;  KD0FEI EM29;  WB9SLI EN43;  WD9CPY EN54;  W0HXL EN21;  N0DQS AND KG0SJ EN22;  N9KOR EN44 AND KC9AOV EN52. 
   WB9SLI is a new check-in from Richland Center.  Welcome, and thanks for giving 2m SSB more activity.  Plenty of high spots in SW WI; good territory for being a V/UHF’er.  
   K0TPP makes it two weeks in a row where we’ve reached into MO (outside of our loyal KC-metro check-ins).  Hopefully the word will continue to spread. 
   We are always looking for *more*.  More check-ins, more DX, more signals on the air.  More folks who are willing to spread the word and promote weak-signal V/UHF. 

   On 144.250, Bob K8TQK in EM89je (south-central OH) also had 17 check-ins.  They were:  N8WNA EN82;  N8DJB EN81;  KD8FHY, K8GDT AND NF8O EN91;  W2KV FN20;  W8WG, WT8E AND KD8DJE EM89;  WA8CXI EM99;  W3BFC FM18;  K4YA EM86;  W4MTW EM84;  WA4REE EM65;  KI4ROF EM55;  KB8TDA EM70;  WB9LYH EN54.   

   I hope to make some different posts over the next few days.   I want to follow up on the items I listed in a Nov. 1st post.

   8:30 pm central Monday —

   Nets should be on as usual this Wednesday. 
   1)  WB9LYH on 144.240 from EN54cl (middle of WI) starting at 7pm central.  Mark starts out looking NE into the U.P. of MI then goes clockwise a full 360 over the next 60-90 minutes.  Meaning E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and back to N. 
   2)  K8TQK on 144.250 from EM89je (south-central OH) starting at 8:30pm eastern.  Bob starts out looking N and then goes clockwise a full 360 over the next hour or so. 

   All are welcome; and DX is encouraged.  Thanks for helping us spread the word, and keeping 2m SSB active.  

   If you’d like more info, look down 2 posts for last week’s net announcment.  

   If you’d like a longer list of nets I know to be active, within a wide area of the Midwest and western Great Lakes, visit this link:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5017  That  covers all 7 days of the week, and includes activity on multiple bands.  Check it out and get involved.