KC9BQA

8:15am Tuesday —

Been on the road last several days.  We’ve now seen the Moody Blues in concert for the first time and what a great concert it was last night.

About the nets tomorrow night…
I’ve gotten email from K8TQK.  His rotor for 144/222 is down and he will be unable to rotate on those bands for some time.  So his 144.252 net is OFF for tomorrow night and perhaps for a few weeks after that.  When Bob knows more, he’ll let us know.
So everyone turn your yagis toward Central WI (EN54cl) tomorrow night.   WB9LYH will be back as the 144.240 net control, with his stacked 17B2’s and 500 watts from a ridgetop QTH.   Mark starts at 7pm central, looks NE, then E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and N over the next 45-60 minutes, depending on how busy things are.

   9:30am Thursday
   Nice Wednesday night activity again.  K8TQK continues to reach out to hams in a very wide circle surrounding EM89, south-central OH.  Just think about his circle last night… check-ins from WI to Toronto, to GA, and Western TN.  All on 144 MHz, which is “supposedly” a local communications band.  What a shame more hams don’t know how to work 200, 300 miles or more on 2m, using a higher gain horizontally-polarized yagi, plus an all-mode rig.   Those of you who have been helping to spread the word — THANKS.  🙂 

    N9OLT kicked things off last night with the 144.240 net from WI.  N9OLT’s QTH is EN64am, Green Bay, WI.  John’s 9 check-ins last night were:  KF8QL EN72;  N8WNA EN82;  W8BYA EN70;  KC8YJB EN91;  KD8IME and W8SOL EN71;  KC9CLM EN52;  N9NYA EN43;  K0SIX EN35.  John had a lot of QRN in various directions last night and he knows he missed at least a few callers.   I want to thank John for pitching in the last two weeks. 
    **NOTE**  WB9LYH EN54cl will be back with the 144.240 net on both Dec. 12th and Dec. 19th.  7pm central/8pm eastern start.   Mark’s QTH is right in the middle of WI, about an hour and a half north of Madison and a similar distance west of Green Bay. 
   
   K8TQK’s 29 check-ins last night were:  N8WNA, N8AIA and K8JA EN82;  N8IDS EM79;  KD8IME, W8SOL and N9YK EN71;  W8BYA and W9SR EN70;  WB8AUK EN80;  KC8YJB, KD8FHY, NF8O and K8GDT EN91;  KC8TRL EN81;  VE3XTM EN91;  VA3WU FN03;  W2UAD FN13;  AC3L/M FN00;  W8WG and WT8E EM89;  WD4NMV EM85;  AA4DD EM86;  W4TMW EM84;  N4PPG EM76;  KA4D EM75;  WA4REE EM65;  KI4ROF EM55 and KC9CLM EN52.

   Expect K8TQK to call the 144.252 net at 8:30pm eastern on Dec. 12th and Dec. 19th.

   7:30am Sunday —

   The SSB portion of the 2m band had activity from many states and grid squares Wed. night.  I don’t think conditions were enhanced much; but the overall turnout was very strong. 
   N9OLT took the 144.240 net from EN64, Green Bay, WI.  John will also be net control this Wed., Dec 5th.  Start time 7pm central.   WB9LYH plans on being back for Dec. 12th and 19th.   
   
   N9OLT’s 14 check-ins on Wed. night were:  KR8T and KF8QL EN72;  KD8IME and W8SOL EN71;  N8WNA and K8JA EN82;  KC9BQA EN63;  KF9US EN55;  KC9CLM EN52;  KY9E EN53;  N9NDP EN62;  N9NYA EN43;  N9KOR EN44 and K0SIX EN35.  

   K8TQK had a big night with his 144.252 net from EM89je, south-central OH.  Bob’s 30 check-ins included:  N8WNA, N8AIA and K8JA EN82;  KC8TRL EN81;  KD8IME and W8SOL EN71;  WB8AUK and K9MRI EN70;  VE3SG EN92;  VE3VII and VA3WU FN03;  KC8YJB and KD8FHY EN91;  W2UAD FN13;  AC3L/M FN00;  K8KGM, KC8QDQ, WT8E, W8WG and W8PU EM89;  WB0NPN and W8XTC EM79, AA4DD EM86;  WD4NMV EM85;  KF8QL EN72;  KY4MRG EM77;  WA4REE EM65;  KI4ROF EM55;  W9YZU EM69 and KC9CLM EN52.  

    Thanks to everyone for getting on and making the airwaves come alive. 
    Remember to do some CQ’ing of your own after net control has passed you by.  The recipe for a truly healthy VHF or UHF band includes many stations spreading out, calling CQ, increasing activity on their own.  It’s nice when 30-40 hams will show up to say hello to a few minutes to a net control.  But it’s way better when many of those hams will look in different directions and spread the activity.   

     Again, the Wed. net control schedule for the next 3 weeks is:
    144.240    7pm central                               144.252   8:30pm eastern
    Dec. 5th    N9OLT EN64am                         K8TQK   EM89je
    Dec. 12th  WB9LYH  EN54cl                        K8TQK   EM89je
    Dec.  19th  WB9LYH  EN54cl                       K8TQK   EM89je

     When I learn what the plans are for Wed., Dec. 26th, I’ll post them here. 

     I should have a variety of updates here over the next several days.  Read thru the post below if you want to know the topics I’ll be covering.