KC9BQA

  It’s about 9am and I was up early this morning.   
  Saw the APRS prop map at http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ham/aprs/path.cgi?map=na and saw plenty of orange/red to my NW/W/SW.   Figured on a Sat. morning in August, there’d be activity.   Well I was mostly wrong.   Been calling CQ in those directions multiple times for over an hour and raised one fellow in EN52 N ILL and another in EN45, NW WI.   The EN45 station was surprisingly tough copy, so I’m not sure if the APRS map is right or not.  
   There’s hardly any activity on the 144 Prop Logger http://dxworld.com/144prop.html and the on4kst.com chat is basically dead, too. 
   Next contest is the ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party on Sept. 11-12th.   It starts at 1800Z on the 11th and goes until 0300Z on the 13th (late Sunday evening).   33 hours of widespread activity on all VHF/UHF bands from 50 MHz on up.   Play as much or as little as you care to.   http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf-qso-party  
   I’m typing a reminder to myself to talk more about the Sept. contest.   It gets good participation and this year will have a few added treats.   One is a group of guys activating EN86, Drummond Island in the far N part of Lake Huron, or the far E part of the U.P. of MI.   They’ll be on 6, 2 and 432.   The other will be MidwestMania! which W9FZ and a bunch of Great Plains ops made the most of last September.   See http://www.w9fz.com/midwestmania09/ for details about last September’s fun.   
   It’s time to start talking up the Sept. contest.  Especially to newer guys or those who are putting off station improvements.   Still have 4 weekends to get better antennas up higher, improve feedlines, add bands.

    EDIT:   9:30am    Now seeing some tropo spots come in to the cluster.   DM98 working into EN34 and EN22.   EM06 working EN22.   Now that a few brave souls are on, watch– it’ll lead to more widespread activity.

    Tonight’s FM net was like that deal where the clowns just keep coming out of the compact car.   Called for SE WI counties and heard nobody.   Thought maybe something was wrong with the rig, and then a new check-in from Sturgeon Bay got the ball rolling.   Ended up with several from EN64, including KS8B in Manistee, MI.   Then heard a number of SE WI stations.   Then heard a very light signal from EN61, Mishawaka, IN and finally a mobile station from EN62, heading east toward Kalamazoo, MI.  
   Upshot of all this is we went until 9:30pm, guys were making plenty of contacts with each other, and they may still be on 146.430 talking around.  
   Tonight’s check-ins were:
   K9HAH, KB9VXJ and K9KJM all Door Co. EN64.   K9HAH’s first time to the net and Howie has plans for a tower and to add other bands.   Looking forward to hearing more from K9HAH.   Also had N9SVE Grafton, EN63;  KS8B Manistee, MI EN64;  WB9TFH, WD9ITJ, W9GA, KM4G, W9REL and KX9N all EN53.   W9REL’s first time to the net, good to hear from Skip.   Then W9JFM Algoma, EN64;  N9WAJ Mishawaka, IN EN61 and NK8X/M traveling east from Grand Haven, MI.
   The fellows up north and in NW MI were all super loud.   Switched to them on the beam, and none were less than 20 over.   This happens often with stations near Lake MI, esp in the summer and fall.   Called multiple times toward the U.P. or NE WI and nothing heard.

   As usual, I call the 146.430 FM Simplex net every Thursday at 8pm.    On FM, I call with a Diamond vertical up 90′ and 150w.   Going to need the fan on that amp tomorrow night — supposed to be one of the warmest days of the summer.   We’ve had plenty of humidity, too.
   I call from 8-8:10-15pm with the vertical for 1st) local SE WI counties and then 2) for “anybody, anywhere”.   We get a list and give everyone a chance to say hello to the net.   Run the net as an individual who tries to stir up more activity on less-used portions of 2 meters.   All are welcome, please spread the word.  

   I also have a 10 element vertical beam up 75′.   I can get out 100-200 miles with that IF I know where to point it.   If you’re DX and would like a try after about 8:20-8:30pm, send me an email before the net and I’ll be happy to try.    Would love to find more simplex activity outside of SE WI.   

   Remember that WV9E in EN43, Onalaska has his FM Simplex net every Thursday on 146.460, starting at 8:30pm.  
   If there are other simplex nets in WI, I’d like to know about them.   Please advise.

   For me, it’s not really about the total # of check-ins.    Yes, I want activity, no doubt.    Glad for it.   But what I’m enjoying most about tonight is being able to see in on4kst.com chat the amount of other activity occurring on 144.230 and lower.   If we had this kind of activity any old night, we wouldn’t need nets to stir things up.   You give me a choice between a) me working 30 guys once a week or b) knowing a few dozen are calling CQ from multiple states and I’ll take option b every time.   Let’s keep working on ways to expand the activity.   We’re heading into the season with best propagation and more guys will be at the rigs, now that days are getting shorter and outside distractions taper off.  

    Tonight I heard from:
    W0HXL EN21 (pre-net);  N8PUM EN66;  KS8B EN64;  KD8CQC EN73;  VE3LPY and W8RU EN82;  KD8BIG EN63;  N8DJB EN81;  N8JDO EN62;  W8BYA EN70;  N8DRC EN72;  W9YZU and N9CUE EM69;  W9DZ EN61;  NT9E, N9NMS and W9RM EN52;  WB9TFH, N9HR and WD9ITJ EN53;  N0IRS EM29;  NOLL EM09;  WB0YWW EN22;  NX0P and KA0KYZ EN33;  WV9E EN43;  K0MHC EN26;  W0ANH EN47;  WB9LYH EN54;  WD9P EN52 and KI8UM EN63.    K0SIX EN35 checked in with WB9LYH after 9:30pm.   (WB9LYH’s rotor took a lightning hit late last night and he’s stuck pointed SE)  
    Highlights:   Making it to EN21 pre-net with W0HXL.   Not strong at all, but in there.  
                       Being able to give N8DRC his 1st-ever Q on 144 SSB.   Love that!   
                       Obviously, hearing N0LL in EM09, north-central KS.   I don’t believe Larry and I have worked before, or at least in several years.    As soon as I signed with N0IRS, I asked for anyone else, and clearly heard N0LL.   Then I turned it back to Larry and nothing.   Fished around 10-20 degrees with the rotor and called at least 4 times more.   Nope, not a ping.   But he’s in the all-time net log — great stuff.   Tnx for listening Larry and also to W0HXL for emailing him and letting us know we’re up here.   I imagine WB9LYH would have worked Larry, no problem tonight.  
               Was also wonderful to see how much 144.230 and lower was being used as guys looked around and created their own activity.   One example was W8BYA completing with W0HXL on CW, over a 520 mile path.   You think that would happen unless they knew to look at each other?   This was the best on4kst chat-related night I’ve seen yet.   Why 50-100 guys aren’t in that room regularly, I’ll never know.   Perhaps it’ll catch on in time.   It’s free, no BS, and available to all USA/VE/XE hams 24 hours a day.  

     Conditions honestly weren’t very good.   Lots of QSB.   N8PUM was S9 to S1.   Detroit and VE contacts were very light.   Indy stations were S1 at best.   N0IRS was just above the noise, which is not typical.   WB0YWW was light, as was K0MHC and W0ANH.   But if you get enough guys on, good things happen.   I way prefer many guys on with avg prop compared to a wide open band with only a few signals.

     1:45pm Wed. 
    Just got email from WB9LYH with bad news.  
“ Todd — I cannot do the net tonite.  Both rotors got hit by lightning last nite.  Our phone and internet are out at home. Will keep you updated.  Is there someone who fixed rotors?
Mark” 

    So look for me with the net tonight on 144.240, starting at 0100Z.   I’ll start out looking N into the U.P. and then swing NE, E, SE, S and SW.     For what it’s worth, WB9LYH advises that, “Rotor is Ham IV, other one is Ham III.  The Ham IV control is ok but the rotor itself is damaged.  I will do the resistance checks tonite.”   So if anyone can offer Mark help tonight, he’s all ears.   

      I will probably have both KA0KYZ EN33 and WB0YWW EN22 who can get out a lot farther to the west than I can.   Then again, if the band is *really up* for some reason, I’ll probably just see who I can reach directly.    Either way, at some point we’ll probably have those guys out west see who they can find.   It might even be on 144.230 at 8pm, while I’m working east on 144.240.   That’s what I’d really like to see long-term, is 2 widely-spaced net controls, on 2 diff. freqs.   That way we’d have great range.   Just a brainstorm right now.   
      Tonight is another night where having on4kst.com chat will help you stay up to speed.

      If I were SW, W, or NW of WI, I’d have my ears open toward N IA or S MN on 144.230 as early as possibly 8pm.  
     Otherwise, it will be me or WB0YWW or KA0KYZ on 144.240 toward 8:45-9pm.

    http://www.arrl.org/news/view/dark-time-is-the-right-time-for-the-perseids is good reading if you have an interest in astronomy or how meteors can potentially help you make VHF contacts.    I’ve personally done little with meteor scatter, but I’m sure that the clickable “meteor scatter” link within this article will help anyone who wants to go further with it.

     There will be some T-storms around the Midwest/Lakes Wed. night.   No idea (at 6:45am Tues. morning) exactly where and how widespread they’ll be.   So plan on WB9LYH taking the net, after having a few weeks off.   I did talk last night with Mark (actually, 144 was pretty busy) and he reports the station is behaving nicely.  

     If you want to know more about the 144.240 Long-Range net, visit http://kc9bqa.com/?p=3227   Please remember — if you are more than 300-400 miles away from WI, don’t necessarily give up.   We’re finding more stations all the time that are willing to look *away* from us, and keep spreading the RF in wider circles.   This tends to happen on 144.230.  
     Three Weds. ago, I worked EN33 and then EN33 worked EN18 and EN26.   Two Weds. ago, I worked EN10 and then EN10 worked EM06.   Last Wed. it got even better.   K0HL in DN96 went mobile and with a little email coordination, he was able to find activity in EN18 and EN26.   Now K0HL has the bug to activate multiple grids in W ND.   Stay tuned for the latest news.

     Or just sign up for that free real-time VHF/UHF chat at on4kst.com.   We get dozens in there on Wed. nights and if you don’t see the obvious benefits after trying it out, and just observing, then so be it.   When you do get registered (short process), then choose the IARU Region 2 chat for 144-432 MHz.    Don’t overlook their very popular 50 MHz room, too.   That one really comes alive.
     Using the on4kst.com chat on Wednesdays really helps you understand what we’re trying to do, with spreading RF across multiple states.   If you want more activity and more options, on4kst.com chat can really help.

http://kc9bqa.com/?p=3213   that link explains what 222 Tuesday is.  
It refers you to last week’s 222 Tuesday notice.   Funny thing — guess the sun’s been acting up again, so the aurora info is still valid.   May be plenty of extra activity on the bands tonight — guys who didn’t work AU last week will want some.   If you’re new and want basic aurora info, then http://kc9bqa.com/?p=3217 that post is a start.

    Got on at 10:15 this morning and did work several on 222 to my east.   Tried most of them on 432 and heard nothing.   I know 432’s sharper than 222, so being stuck east wasn’t good enough (with what sounds like pretty poor CX’s on 222) to hear Detroit on 432.   Couldn’t even hear K2YAZ or KF8QL on 432.  
    Oh yeah, W0UC up in EN44 has nice ears.   He caught me on 222.   He and N9LB were the only ones that heard me to the west.   N9LB has a nice station and good 1296 signal from just south of Madison, EN52
    Glad to find that 432 at least works because I did work local W9GA there.   But 432 was flaky in the June contest, so I still doubts.   I’ll know more when I can rotate again. 

    Did find WB8BZK/R in EN51 on 1296.   Mike was a loud S5 there.   Later worked 3 bands with W9SNR/R in EN62.  I am able to point on 900 and 1296; that’s a separate tower.   But the odds of finding random Q’s on those bands — hah hah.  

    Like I said, at least I’ll be submitting a log.   Few more Q’s and I’ll be over 500 pts, woohoo!   (It’s almost noon, got an hour left)

    UPDATE 1:15pm.   Well I limped my way to a claimed score of 2268.    Log will be submitted to ARRL with Badger Contesters as my club affiliation.  
   Several guys told me there was more activity toward the end.   I know much of WI had t-storms this morning.   We cleared out here after about 8-9am.   
   Here’s the stats: 
   222   15 Q’s in 10 grids
   432    1Q with W9GA — something ain’t right with 432.
   902/3   4 Q’s in 4 grids
  1296   6 Q’s in 6 grids.   
   I *was* able to point on 900 and 1296, so snagged a few there.

  If you have any contest stories or stats, feel free to share them here using the “comment” feature.   Always curious to read about what was happening.

    Just got email via the Badger Contesters reflector from W9FZ Bruce.   He’ll be on the air tonight, as he travels from Minneapolis toward Hillsboro, WI, and he’ll be CQ’ing looking to hand out WIVUCH counties on 2m at least.  
   Here’s Bruce’s email, just came in at 6:30pm

   “I’ll be mobile with the rover rack from the Twin Cities to Hillsboro barreling down I-94.  Some of those miles will have the beam facing towards Milwaukee. I’ll CQ occasionally on 144.220. If I need to get off at the next exit and point your way harder, I will. This will be from 7 or 7:30pm till about 10pm tonight.

   And during the UHF, if you work me on Saturday, you will be getting Iowa county.  And if you work me on Sunday, you will be getting Marathon county.

  I’ve been advised that the weather may be WET on Sunday up in the Wausau area. Hope it doesn’t trash the bands too badly.
  For some other reasons, I ended up sticking with my original schedule for the UHF contest, despite the weather.

  73,
  Bruce W9FZ/R

    So there you go — find some west-central WI Co’s via W9FZ tonight.  
   The link to WIVUCH is at www.wivuch.com.