Fridays and Saturdays have both 2m and 6m SSB activity out of Ohio. Click this link http://kc9bqa.com/?p=3916 for details.
Sunday evenings feature activity out of MI and MN. This link http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4774 has all the info.
Long-time readers have this info already. But I know we get newcomers all the time. Thursdays are a good night to enjoy activity.
On the FM side, you have a long-running Simplex net hosted by WV9E in EN43, just in Onalaska, WI, just north of La Crosse. This is a friendly ragchew net, and all are welcome. The freq. is 146.460 and they get started at 0130Z, or 8:30pm central. They do have a vertical beam they can put to use if they know ahead of time where to look. Contact Dave thru his website www.wv9e.net if you want them to look your way. They’ll be happy to help.
On the SSB side Thursday nights, you have two good, established nets you can count on.
N9JBW has been calling the friendly Q5 net on 144.220 for many years now. John starts up at 0000z or 7pm central from EN61, south side of Chicago. He starts out looking east and then goes clockwise from there.
AB8XG calls a SWOT net (SideWindersOnTwo — see www.swotrc.net) on 144.250 from EM89, SE Ohio. Kenny also starts at 0000Z, every Thursday evening.
That’s the short story. For those who enjoy more detail, click on this link: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4002
Help spread the word about these nets, and help create more RF on the bands. We can attract new weak-signal VHF ops if they know where and when to tune their rigs for activity.
As promised…
“Hello all:
If Delta does not call me for a trip,
KC9BQA EDITS with an update from Bruce…
“Well, when the employer says jump, I have to 
So the rove is off for tonight. I can do the same thing on Friday
or Sunday. I assume Sunday would be better for most.
In addition to Friday/Sunday, there will be more of these roves in
July.
73
Bruce Richardson W9FZ/R
and I’m saying “awwww shucks” because I really was looking forward
to tonight.”
I’ll keep Bruce’s earlier email here, in case it helps anyone get thinking about other activity this weekend. Just remember W9FZ is NOT ON for tonight — Thursday, June 16th.
“I intend to be out playing
radio again tonight. If your life allows you to be around the
shack, I hope you’ll stop by 144.190 and put out a call.
I see that Polk, Barron, Dunn, and St Croix all come together at
one point. While some of these are not that rare, the travel times
will be short between counties. I don’t intend to sit right on
the confluence but rather move within 5 miles of the corner to get
the best spot for getting RF out.
St Croix 0000Z
Dunn 0045Z
Barron 0130Z
Polk 0215Z
I’ll be glad to head back after 03Z to revisit any of the earlier
ones. I understand that on a nice summer night, coming into the
shack at 00Z may not work for you. But if you are around, let’s
have some activity.
I could use some spotting help on the ON4KST chatserver once we
get going. You are encouraged to work other stations you hear in
addition to me.
50.190
144.090 CQ’ing freq EDIT EDIT EDIT — We mean 144.190 here — 144.190.
222.090
432.090
902.100
1296.100
I know it’s a tough haul to Milwaukee. I have to say, I think CW
would help. Get a relay and we’ll keep banging away until we
catch a rise in conditions. I will be pointing at SE Wisc a fair
amount.
Last night I worked K0KFC, K0AWU, and KE3QY/R from the NRLS group.
I know not too many NLRS’ers are chasing Wisc counties, but these
4 counties are pretty close and easy.
73
Bruce Richardson W9FZ/R
http://www.wivuch.com
I was pleasantly surprised to hear so much activity on the bands last night. It wasn’t just our nets. W9FZ (as discussed in the post below this one) will be out activating NW WI counties for a few nights. If I get more plans from him via email, I’ll share them on this website. Keep checking back here, if you’re not already subscribed to the BC or NLRS email reflectors. (www.badgercontesters.org and www.nlrs.org)
I’D ALSO GET IN THE HABIT OF USING THE ON4KST.COM real-time VHF/UHF chat page. If you have a computer and internet near your rigs, this free chat can really enhance your time in the shack. If you have no idea what the ON4KST.com chat is all about, learn more at this link: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4411
W9FZ’s rover has long yagis on 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 and 2304. He does 6m with a dipole I think. The point is that on short notice, he sent out a few emails announcing his plans and really got things hopping last night. Guys kept finding him around 144.190 and by the time Bruce was done last night, he had worked 60 different Q’s with 13 unique callsigns. You’d have thought it was a regular contest! (Every time Bruce enters a new WI county, it’s like he’s in a new grid square. It’s all explained at www.wivuch.com.)
ON TO THE NET REPORTS… KA0KYZ had his best night ever. He had 21 check-ins on 144.230 @ 0200Z. AC0RA/P and W0MRZ/P kicked things off a little early as they were in the western part of EN41, looking to test some new 2m gear they’re getting set up. Good luck with the 2m EME plans, guys. Then KA0HKV also said hello from western EN41. All 3 are new check-ins, so Terry gets extra $ in his pay envelope. Probably at least a buck-two-eighty, lol. In fact, KD0BQK (listed below from EN22) is also a new all-time check-in.
The other 18 check-ins to the 144.230 net were: KD8IME EN71; WV9E and W9RPM EN43; KC0RQH EN35; KC9RJI EN41; KB0UCO, KC0AAB and KA0PQW EN33; N0IRS and KD0FEI EM29; WB0YWW, KD0BQK, KG0SJ and WB0YNA EN22; (Think about that a second — 4 nice signals on from EN22!) W0HXL EN21; KC9BQA EN63; KB9WZJ EM69 and N0MST EM27.
Great night for that 144.230 net. Nice going Terry and all the check-ins. Please keep spreading the word. Can’t wait until you guys get nights with tropo enhancement.
I counted 15 check-ins last night on 144.240. WB9LYH will be back in July; I plan to take the .240 net on June 22nd and 29th.
On a rainy, cool night, I heard from: N9OLT EN64; VE3LPY EN82; KD8IME and KC8ZJL EN71; KB9WZJ EM69; KC9HBO and KC9GMF EN53; N0IRS EM29; W9BBB EN61; KA9DVX EN51; W0HXL EN21; WB0YWW and KG0SJ EN22; WV9E EN43 and I’m pretty sure I had a new all-time check-in last night with N9ZWL in EN62, Racine, WI.
I know K8TQK was on 144.250 last night from EM89je and when I get his net report, I’ll add it here.
Remember that W9FZ/R will be activating more WI counties on multiple V/UHF bands tonight, perhaps Friday and Sunday, too. I’ll post his updates as I receive them.
I have some good news to share with the website. Let’s call this VHF BREAKING NEWS!! (just kidding) Then again it does concern extra activity you can enjoy on the air tonight.
W9FZ is a good VHF friend and a long-time rover. He still has everything set up from the contest this past weekend, so the next several nights, he’ll be heading out, looking to make contacts from various Wisconsin counties on (primary) 144.190, and also 50.190, 222.190 and 432.190 upon request. In fact, Bruce will even be able to try you on 902, 1296 and 2304 MHz, should you so desire. These counties will be in far west-central WI.
TONIGHT’S COUNTIES ARE: Pierce Co. from 0000-0100Z (7-8pm central); Pepin Co. from 0100-0200Z; and Buffalo Co. from 0200-0300Z. Other counties that he may activate on Thur., Fri. and perhaps Sunday evening could be Burnett, Washburn, Polk, Barron, Rusk, Sawyer, Douglas and Bayfield. That will really fill up some guys’ northwest WI maps.
I know some of you don’t know what WIVUCH is. It stands for Wisconsin VHF/UHF County Hunters award. W9FZ and I started this program a little over a year ago, with valuable input from WV9E. The website where you can read all about is www.wivuch.com. Bookmark that and come back to it from time to time.
Basically, we want to see hams earn wallpaper for working at least 20 different WI counties on any/all bands 50 MHz and above. We also want to see activity on V/UHF from counties where there hasn’t been much before. We rely on you helping to spread the word, and yes, we want you to get hams to do more V/UHF’ing. We also want to hear from rover or hilltopper or portable stations who will activate various counties when it’s convenient for them.
With the WIVUCH program, no repeaters may be used; it has to be direct 2-way communications. The contacts can be made at any time. General ragchews, band openings, contests, direct skeds, whenever. Both WI hams and out-of-staters are eligible to earn the award. The whole idea is to increase overall activity levels, everywhere in and near WI. I hope that in time, other states will create their own version of a counties VHF award. We’ve already awarded nice certificates to a handful of VHF’ers, and we’re ready to receive your application. Again, go to www.wivuch.com and learn about this fun program. Take a few minutes and start planning on how you will get your initial 20 counties (rovers only need to activate 10 counties for their initial award).
W9FZ is helping to jump start it tonight with his rover activity. If you want more info, here’s his announcement he made to the Badger Contesters email reflector an hour ago:
“Since I have the rover all set-up, I’m going to play radio Wed
night, Thur night, and probably Sun night. I’m “on call” for
Delta so these plans may get crumped. I’ll email the lists if my
plans change.
Tonight:
Pierce, Pepin, Buffalo Counties
144.190
Time: 0000Z Pierce, 0100Z Pepin, 0200Z Buffalo
I hope to reach out to Milwaukee and south where I know N9NFB and
I think WB9TFH (and possibly others) are collecting counties. I
need to contact at least three different stations while I’m in a
county for it to count as an activation for me. I hope there are
more than 3 stations around to work. I hope some NLRS stations
will get in on the fun and give me a call (and collect the
counties). Hey, it’s “activity” .
Planning on carrying guys to 222.090, 432.090 and 50.190. If
anyone wants those counties on 902, 1296, or 2304, we can go to
the .100 calling freq.
I’ll be on my cell at (deleted by KC9BQA, I’m not comfortable putting up anyone’s cell phone on this public website)
I hope you check into the nets on 144.230, 144.240, and 144.250.
See kc9bqa.com for description of the nets tonight. I bet the
http://www.on4kst.com/ chat utility will be humming during the
nets. (region 2 144/432)
And on Thursday, (possibly Friday), and Sunday evenings I’ll be
activating more counties like Burnett, Washburn, Polk, Barron.
Rusk, Sawyer, Douglas, and Bayfield are possiblities.
WIVUCH (pronounced wee-vooch) is described at http://wivuch.com
One operator already has over 50 of the 72 counties worked. Others
are in the 40′s. Two meters is the primary band of interest. But
there are increased challenges by collecting these counties on 6m,
222, and 432.
73
Bruce Richardson W9FZ/R
Tomorrow must be Wednesday because rain and thunderstorms are back in my forecast. :(
Yep, tomorrow’s Wednesday and once again, the WI net control will be a game-time decision. If I have lightning in the vicinity during the early evening, I will announce that I am OFF here on this website.
I’d really like to get tomorrow evening’s net in. I’m going to take over for WB9LYH for the next 3 weeks, and I’d like to hear some contest stories and say hello to guys I haven’t talked to in a few months. As long as I don’t have lightning around or my rain static isn’t 10 over S9, I’m going to be calling CQ on 144.240, starting at 0100Z/8pm central/9pm eastern. I start out looking north into the U.P. of MI before I slowly swing clockwise a full 360 over the next 60-90 minutes. I’m in EN63ao, 40 miles north of Milwaukee.
K8TQK will be on a half hour before me, with his 144.250 net from EM89je, in south-central OH. Bob gets on at 0030Z, and starts out looking north, then goes clockwise a full 360 over the next hour or so. He has a whopping signal and guys within 300-500 miles of him (farther during enhancements) should be aware he’s on. Help spread the word.
KA0KYZ will be on at 0200Z, with his 144.230 net from EN33qw, which is far southeast MN. Terry also gets out a long ways. I know this because he frequently works W8BYA in EN70. I hope that some of you MI/OH/IN/IL fellows will look west and northwest toward Terry. He starts out looking east, then soon goes clockwise. He’ll be more than happy to slow down if he gets more callers.
The purpose of having several net controls on different frequencies, times and states is to spread the RF as far as possible. All hams are welcome to listen along or say hello when they care to. Please help us spread the word. Often times, VHF’ers don’t know where and when to find on-air activity. That’s why we publicize heavily.
Wednesday has to be the busiest 2m night in the Eastern half of the USA. There are other nets called from
1) EN91kk, Cleveland OH, K8ZWY starting at 0100Z/9pm eastern on 144.230.
2) EL99ld, Daytona Beach FL, W2RAC/W1LVL, starting at 0000Z on 144.250.
3) EM13, near Ft. Worth, TX, W5FKN, starting at 0200Z on 144.250. Starts south, goes counter-clockwise.
KC9BQA.com promotes all known weak-signal VHF/UHF activity within several hundred miles of SE WI. If you’re a new visitor here, get in the habit of looking back several pages to get the full scoop. For instance, posts dated between March 31-April 2nd detail many nets on various bands. If you want to know what’s happening on Tuesday nights, click here: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4788
We encourage our net check-ins and all other VHF’ers to slide down the band after net control has passed them by, and to help create their own activity. Slide down to 144.220 and lower, and call CQ in various directions. If enough VHF’ers did this at any old time, it would do wonders for the bands.
Since I wasn’t on, I’m relaying the general impressions I’ve gotten from reading various reports to the SMC (www.w9smc.com), BC (www.badgercontesters.org) and NLRS (www.nlrs.org) reflectors, along with the nationwide VHF reflector (w6yx@stanford.edu, google them to find out how to subscribe). I also enjoy reading the reports that come into the ARRL soapbox (at http://www.arrl.org/soapbox, then use the dropdown menu to locate the contest you’re interested in).
From those sources, plus TV and FM broadcast band DX email lists, I know that the E skip switch turned on Friday afternoon/evening and basically stayed on most of the weekend. So 6m was really hot to most parts of the country and those who tried hard were rewarded with many Q’s and multipliers, and in some cases, even DX from the Caribbean.
I haven’t read much from the rovers, but they often need some time after an ARRL contest. It also can be frustrating to be a rover in June, if you don’t have much schmaltz on 6m. When the June contest becomes a 6m-fest, I know rovers can feel left out with their higher bands. If I were a rover, I’d slant my plans toward the July CQ WW VHF http://www.cqww-vhf.com/, the ARRL August UHF http://www.arrl.org/august-uhf and the ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf-qso-party The reasons being with the CQ WW VHF, the only bands in play are 6 and 2 meters, so it’s very easy to catch guys. You also only have two bands to worry about and moreover, 6 and 2m are the bread-and-butter bands for VHF’ers. Not a big deal at all for even a casual VHF’er to go out for half a day and get a taste of what roving’s about.
With the August UHF, a rover doesn’t have to sport a lot of aluminum because the lowest bands are 222 and 432. It’s fairly easy to keep even good-sized UHF and SHF yagis safe and manageable. If you’re inclined toward bands like 902/903, 1296, 2304, 3456, 5 gig or 10 gig, then you’ll love the August UHF. You’re also lucky because there’s above-average activity in/near the Great Lakes.
The rules and bands in the September contest are the same as June, except that 6m is usually not open. So September is a much fairer, more balanced test of a V/UHF station’s overall capabilities. If you have a 6m beam up high, with decent power, you can work other stations out to 200-400 miles via groundwave, but E skip openings in Sept. are uncommon. Where September (and August) can shine is with nice, steady tropo openings where stations in that 300-800 mile range come way up out of the noise. We often run into that during the evenings, overnights and early to mid-mornings.
The past several years, ARRL has noticed a drop-off in September logs submitted, while the June contest has been red hot. (And I’m sure from what I’ve been reading that June 2011 will surpass 2010). So I hope everyone here will get on the weekend after Labor Day, and enjoy the ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party. I’d think rovers would like that contest the most because 1) they won’t get left behind by 6 meter pileups and 2) the weather’s milder and usually more pleasant than mid-summer.
Now I’ll readily confess I love it when 6 is red-hot and I can work 40, 50, 80, 100 stations an hour. I can only hope that 6 is similarly hot for the next big VHF contest, the CQ WW VHF, which is from 1800 UTC on Sat., July 16 until 2100 UTC on Sun., July 17th. This contest is 6 and 2 meters only, and full info is here: http://www.cqww-vhf.com/
The July 2006 CQ WW VHF still remains the most fun I’ve had in a single contest. 6 was wide open for most of the time, and when it wasn’t, excellent tropo out to about 300-500 miles provided all-night fun. When I had played out everything that was available on SSB, I actually switched over to 2m FM about 1am, and worked guys on verticals from Terre Haute, IN, to Burlington, IA, to Minneapolis.
I did a real Jerry Lewis for that contest. I was on for all 27 hours, and when it ended at 4pm Sunday, I had sort of forgotten we were supposed to go help a friend celebrate a birthday with a band and uh… plenty of refreshments. My wife was fine with driving; I loaded up on caffeine, showered, stayed wet because it was 95 degrees out and off we went. I was fine as long as I didn’t sit down much. I even remember my wife complaining a little on the way home from the party. She couldn’t find a viable FM station to enjoy. I said, half-asleep, “that must be the tropo still — it’s so strong, it’s overwhelming the Green Bay and Milwaukee signals”. Always the radio guy, LOL.
Thanks to WB9LYH, K8TQK and KA0KYZ for always emailing me the net reports.
WB9LYH had a short, noisy net that was plagued by the large area of severe T-storms to his south and southeast. His 8 hardy check-ins were: N9OLT EN64; K8MM EN83; W9BBP and WA9BNZ EN40; KG0SJ EN22; N9CIQ EN44; WV9E EN43 and the DX award goes to N0PB in EM39.
WB9LYH IS NOT AVAILABLE ON 144.240 THE NEXT 3 WEEKS. I WILL FILL IN, SO LOOK FOR ME THE REST OF JUNE, 0100z START TIME.
K8TQK reported 9 check-ins to his 144.250 net. N8WNA and VE3LPY EN82; KD8OEK, KG8EK, AC8IS, W8WG and N8ERC EM89; WB8AUK EN80 and K8GDT EN91. We need to do a better job of getting the word out to a multi-state area about K8TQK’s net. He truly has 400-500 mile reach. Actually, all our net controls do.
KA0KYZ needed to redo some things in his shack last night. It got more involved than he anticipated and his 144.230 net was off as a result. Terry says hello to everyone and should be back on next Wednesday.
OK, about me and this contest. I won’t be on. If I were, I would have 2m, and 900 and 1296. That ain’t my idea of fun, having to tell 100 or more contesters that I don’t have 6m, 222 or 432. Besides that, I’ve little interest in doing a June contest without 6m. That’s where most of the fireworks are in June.
The good news is I now have great help with getting my station squared away. In fact, if we hadn’t had such constantly windy weather, we’d have the repairs done by now. But the weather didn’t cooperate so that’s that.
Sometime in the next few weeks, I should have the dead rotor (lightning strike) swapped out, and then I’ll be able to turn on 6, 222 and 432. I should also have the 7-element 6MJHV yagi repaired and back up on the 100′ tower (snapped in half during a December blizzard). Then we need to also repair my 432 stack, which was fixed last June and then unfixed itself up at the 110′ level sometime last July. We need a 120-130′ lift truck for this because the 432 and 222 stacks are way out on the ends of a very stout H-frame.
The only reason I can take 2m nets is because I have a 2nd yagi for 144, on a smaller tower. That rotor is fine, so I’m grateful for that.
I’m not really that sad about this weekend because I can see there’s going to be a very good turnout all across the region. That’s the main thing to me. It’s no longer how many Q’s I get in my own log; it’s more about seeing that overall activity levels are improving for everyone. It really is.
The Google Spreadsheet I’ve been promoting for several weeks https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvU0R8d2qq2DdE1vaFg4SW1wNDBLaXpKb2RROExlb1E&hl=en&authkey=CJqMlMcB#gid=1 has a rundown of many ops plans for this weekend. I wish everyone used this, but that’ll never happen. I can tell you there are at least 4 more rovers that will be out, that aren’t on that sheet yet. Check back for last-minute updates because rovers often wait until the last minute to firm up their plans.
The short of this is that NE8I and KF8QL will both be roving in W MI. They put out decent signals and should be easily workable into E WI and NE ILL. K0GEM will be trying to rove many grids in MN, IA and MO. There will be an enhanced rover push in the St. Louis region. K9ZA will be the one call that’s most likely to get out a few hundred miles. Also should be a few rovers on from the Chicago area, but K9JK and anyone else hasn’t formally posted plans yet. EDIT 4pm June 10th — I now have read via the Badger Contesters email reflector that W9SNR and W9XA will be roving in ILL.
You fellows also want to be aware of 6m activity in the far Northern Plains. If you are a devoted 6m op, you probably already belong to the FFMA Yahoo group. That group just rocks 6 meters! They are by far the most consistently active and enthusiastic bunch of VHF’ers I know of. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FFMA/ and get signed up, if you want to receive regular email with details about rare grid activations, how to be a smarter 6m operator and so on.
I would never attempt to post all the FFMA info here, but let me see if I can dig up the particulars about a few operations that will be within reach of some of you this weekend… Go here http://www.k9mu.com/k0w/ for details about EN38 and EN48 being activated from June 11-15th. Talking both 6m and 2m. Looks like they’ll try to activate the EN27/37/28/38 grid corner, too. Please visit that website and get the full scoop yourself — all the details are there.
NJ0W will also be activating EN38 and 48 during the contest. This is part of an amazing multi-week tour of grids that he’s been doing on 6m. His website is http://www.6t6kix.com/pages/ham/nj0w.htm and there’s plenty of detail there. Enjoy.
Obviously, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I ask that you send your comments and suggestions for increasing the number of VHF/UHF Contesters to your ARRL VUAC rep. A website link to a list of those VUAC reps is at the bottom of this post.
I’m not interested in starting any discussion here, because a) I don’t set policy and b) I enjoy that this site is free of politics and heated discussion.
EDIT — 7AM FRIDAY — please follow along to the bottom of this post for directions to join a reflector that may be of interest to those in the ARRL Central Division.
What follows is a request by the ARRL VUAC (V/UHF Advisory Committee).
ARRL VHF/UHF ADVISORY COMMITTEE SEEKS INPUT
06/01/2011
“The ARRL would like to encourage more participation in its several VHF/UHF contests held each year. Many of the HF transceivers sold in recent years include 50 MHz, and some also include the 144 and 432 MHz bands with multi-mode capabilities. The question at hand is how can we encourage more owners of such radios to utilize these bands and modes to participate in VHF/UHF contests?
The ARRL VHF/UHF Advisory Committee (VUAC) has been asked to consider this question, and to make recommendations to encourage, explore and expand the ARRL VHF and UHF contests and other operating activities by using the multi-band and multi-mode capabilities of modern transceivers and related equipment.
The VUAC would like to ask the Amateur Radio community to provide their comments and ideas for consideration.
Please send any comments or ideas you have on this matter to your ARRL VUAC Division representative no later than July 1, 2011.
A listing of each Division’s VUAC representative is at http://www.arrl.org/arrl-staff-vuac-cac ”
KC9BQA adds: make sure to scroll down to the bottom of that page for the VUAC reps.
You do not have to be an ARRL member to share your input.
Regarding the EDIT I added above – Here’s additional info that may be of interest to some of you. Again, this comes from Central Division VUAC rep W9GKA Kevin.
“Additionally, I would like the discussion on this and any other VUAC related topics to occur at the Central Division VUAC Reflector (“Centdivvhftopics”), as that reflector was set up for such discussions and really is the ideal place for VUAC related matters. To subscribe to the Centdivvhftopics Reflector – go to http://mail.w9fz.com/mailman/listinfo/centdivvhftopics_w9fz.com. Place your e-mail address in the appropriate place, select a password (or you can let the reflector pick a password for you) and wait for the Moderator (Bruce, W9FZ) to approve your subscription.”
1) The Hepburn Tropo Forecast Maps at http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html continue to show scattered areas of blue and green across much of the eastern US, thru the weekend and perhaps into next week. This doesn’t look like overwhelming potential, but it’s a ton better than weeks on end of black and faint blues that occurs during colder, nasty weather.
There was a good opening on Memorial Day, and W8BYA made the most of it. Here’s W8BYA’s report from EN70:
GM Stan. Had some nice propagation to the SW this AM. Managed to work a new 2m grid, EM06 for number 213. Stations worked over a 2.5 hour period were:
N0IRS – EM29SE – 507 miles
W0BLD – EM37JC – 503 miles
N4QWZ – EM66OK – 319 miles
K1RZ – FM19JH – 434 miles
N0MST – EM27QA – 574 miles
W5VTM – EM25JU – 649 miles
K5SM – EM03TT – 874 miles
KA0KYZ – EN33QW – 435 miles
KI0HA – EM38UN – 412 miles
KB0HH – EM06 – 753 miles
KC0PTM – EM29VN – 484 miles
KB5MR – EM25AV – 678 miles
K0AZ – EM37DC – 528 miles
W7QJQ – EM25NU – 632 miles
KD0FEI – EM29NC – 530 miles
KC8YJB – EN91BK – 175 miles
K5SW – EM25HR – 656 miles
KC0HML – EM17LL – 679 miles
K8TQK – EM89JE – 155 miles
WA0CNS – EM48RN – 326 miles
W0RT – EM27JG – 594 miles
VA3ZV – EN82WV – 208 miles
N0UWY – EM15IF – 766 miles
KB9WZJ – EM69TR – 120 miles
W9RM – EN52RB – 197 miles
Total miles this morning was 12188
73, Gedas W8BYA
Gallery at http://gedas.me
This info came as part of KA1ZE’s daily email about the 144.205 activity every morning, 7 days a week, starting at 1200Z. I’ve been talking about how great this is for several months now. This is easily the best thing going for 2m SSB/CW activity in the USA, outside of a contest or major band opening. If you want more info, click here: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=4582 This is an announcement from KA1ZE himself, explaining how it works. All are welcome, and Stan will be happy to add you to his daily email list. His info is contained in that link above. Or… you can also access KA1ZE’s updates via N0IRS’ KC VHF Grid Bandits website. The exact link is: http://www.kcvhfgridbandits.com/kc_vhf_grid_bandits_045.htm
2) The Mountainlake APRS maps (which depict real-time 2m VHF conditions) were down for a week or two. Today they appear to be back up with a new and improved format. The address to use now is: http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/map. What you should see is a Google map of the USA, with you having the ability to zoom in or out, and slide the map around. The colors that indicate the approximate distances APRS stations are being heard should populate on the map shortly. If you do not get color, here’s the fix: In Internet Explorer, go to your “Compatibility View” settings. I found this tab by accessing the “Page” drop-down menu in the upper right of any IE webpage. Once you’ve clicked on Compatibility View, make sure you do NOT have the aprs.mountainlake.k12 turned on. Once you’ve removed that from compability view, you should get the colors to show up.
3) Last topic for this long post – Very pleased to announce that this website had 2089 unique visitors in May 2011. The previous high was 1775 in April. We cracked the 1000 visitor mark in May of 2010 and haven’t looked back since. I appreciate everyone who is helping to spread the word. I am quietly confident that my ramblings here help VHF/UHF activity levels. That’s the goal.