10pm Tues.
WB9LYH reports that he will be unable to call the 144.240 long-range net tomorrow night. The weather has not been conducive for doing antenna work.
Please check back next week for an update.
We appreciate your patience and understanding.
8:45am Monday
A lot has happened the past week. My brick amps and rigs have really sold well — it’s a great feeling.
I’ve now sold a 575H, and apparently have buyers for my 275H, one of my 736R’s, plus my 902 and 2304 transverters. (Several have asked about 1296 gear — the only 1296 I had was an optional band module in my IC-910H, which I sold two weekends ago.)
One item that is left (as of now) is a Yaesu FT-736R with the 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz band modules. Price is $1100. I’ve had about a half-dozen tire kickers on the 736R’s, so if you’re serious, I’d make your move this week.
There will be a few accessories for sale, as well. I’m not ready to start cataloging those yet. Some nice day I’ll have to open up the shed, and really start digging around. Talking things like wattmeters, power supplies, coax jumpers, spare antenna rotors and control boxes, plus an ARR 432 MHz mast-mount preamp that never got out of the box.
There will also be some other rigs for sale someday. These are rigs that need repairs. In fact, if anyone can suggest a rock-solid repair person for a Kenwood TS-850 and and an Icom 475H, I am all ears. My thought right now is to use WA9FVP Jack out of New Lenox, IL. But I’d listen to other options, too. In any event, those rigs wouldn’t be available until sometime in summer or fall.
Also for sale…
I have two towers, one is 100′ and the other is 70′. ( I suppose HF’ers might be interested in these towers, too) Both my towers are Rohn SSV and self-supporting. No guy wires needed. Antennas on the towers are single long yagis for 28 and 50 MHz, and stacked yagis for 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 MHz. There are also custom H-frames for balancing the 902/1296 stacks on 70′ tower and another very robust H-frame for balancing the 222/432 stacks on the 100′ tower. Along with stout 20′ mast pipes, and all phasing harnesses/power dividers.
Besides the towers and yagis, there’s hundreds of feet of coax on those towers. Rough guess is 400-500′ of 1″ hardline (in 4 separate runs), 250-300′ of 1.5″ hardline(in 4 separate runs) and several hundred feet of 9913.
I should add that there’s no real deadline to the tower takedown. The tower takedown process may stretch out to 2015. (I explained the reasons why I’m selling everything in a series of posts dated March 15th.)
I gratefully acknowledge no less than 5 individuals who have offered to do some tower work in exchange for some of the items up in the air. The tricky part is figuring out the timing and details. This may take some time. How quickly the towers/yagis/rotors and feedline come down will be determined by how motivated a buyer is. And how well they can streamline the process.
8:45am Monday
Want to remind V/UHF’ers that the 70cm Spring Sprint is this Wed. night, from 7-11pm local time.
I’ve been talking up the sprints since March at kc9bqa.com. Here’s the post with all the info you need: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=7654
Next post will be an update to my For Sale list.
8am Monday
Hope everyone had a nice Easter.
WB9LYH has emailed to say that due to high SWR problems up at his antenna, he will be unable to call the 144.240 Wed. net this week.
Mark will need to take the tower down plus he’ll need a day where he’s home and the weather is reasonable. When he’s able to make repairs, the net will be back on. The weather has been mostly lousy in the Upper Midwest, and more of the same is in the forecast.
Please check back next week for an update.
In the meantime, anyone is welcome to make a little noise on Wed. night. Call around and see who’s out there.
I will make two more posts shortly…
9am Tues.
Just got email from WB9LYH and he still has antenna problems, so the 144.240 net from WI will be OFF again this Wed.
Check back next week for an update.
REMINDER —
The 222 MHz Spring Sprint is *tonight*. Runs from 7-11pm in your local time zone. Need complete info about the Spring Sprints? Visit this post: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=7654
7am Friday
WB9LYH had a severe SWR problem when he fired things up on Wed. night. As a result, he couldn’t call the 144.240 net this week. I will advise about the net for April 16th and beyond when I hear more from Mark.
Please remember that the 144.240 Wed. net from WI (EN54cl) is now on summer hours. That means we start at 8pm central/9pm eastern until at least October.
Remember that the 222 MHz sprint is next Tuesday night, April 15th. Then the 432 sprint would be Wed., April 22nd.
All the sprint info is right on the front page here at kc9bqa.com. Scroll down to a March 31st post or click here: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=7654 for the Spring VHF/UHF Sprints information.
I should have an update to my For Sale page sometime this weekend. The latest change is that it looks like my IC 575H is now SOLD. A pair of Yaesu FT736R’s with 50/144/222/432 MHz all installed and ready to go are available. Also an Icom IC-275H. Scroll down to a March 26 post or click here: http://kc9bqa.com/?p=7641 for more details on my gear currently for sale.
Later in April, I will post details of my towers, antennas, feedline and rotors and control boxes for sale. I have two towers, one is 100′ and the other is 70′. ( I suppose HF’ers might be interested in these towers, too) Both my towers are Rohn SSV and self-supporting. No guy wires needed. Antennas on the towers are single long yagis for 28 and 50 MHz, and stacked yagis for 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 MHz. There are also custom H-frames for balancing the 902/1296 stacks on 70′ tower and another very robust H-frame for balancing the 222/432 stacks on the 100′ tower. Along with stout 20′ mast pipes, and all phasing harnesses/power dividers.
Besides the towers and yagis, there’s hundreds of feet of coax that will be available at some point. Rough guess is 400-500′ of 1″ (in 4 separate runs), 250-300′ of 1.5″ (in 4 separate runs) and several hundred feet of 9913.
I will also have 902 and 2304 transverters for sale soon. (My 1296 was an optional band module with the Icom IC910H which is already sold)
As I say in my March 26th update, if someone wants to buy a turnkey, multi-band VHF/UHF station, I have what you need. We should talk.
6am Thur.
If you are looking for my updated “For Sale” list, scroll down 3 posts.
On to the net reports…
Last night was the first 8pm central/9pm eastern start for the 144.240 net called on Wed. night by WB9LYH in EN54cl, Central WI. We do this time change every year to “follow the sun”. We’ve learned that we can get more check-ins by starting the net later, closer to sunset. Plus we often get a nice bump in propagation as band conditions improve into the night.
Again, the 144.240 Wed. net from WI will be starting at 8pm central/9pm eastern until at least October.
Please help us spread the word — we don’t want anyone left out. Antenna pattern from Central WI is NE to start, then E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and N over the next 45-60 minutes.
On March 26th, WB9LYH emailed to say that the net had “mostly difficult propagation and few stations on the air”. Checkins were N8WNA EN82; W9BBP EN40; W1JWS EN50; W0WOI and WB0YWW EN22; KG9QT EN61 and KA9VDU EN53. Glad to report that KA9DVU is a new callsign to the net. Welcome.
Last night, WB9LYH’s emailed to say, “The band was somewhat better and the later hour is apparently more convenient” Check-ins were: W9EWZ EN52; W0VB EN34; K9LQZ EM68; KA9VDU EN53; K9CCL EN61; WB0DGF EN63; WM8I EN80; N8WNA EN82; WA9BNZ EN40; N9XKH EN52 and KG0SJ and WB0YNA in EN22. See another new call to this net last night — N9XKH — welcome.
I also have the net reports for K8TQK’s 144.252 Monday net from EM89je, south-central OH. This net starts at 8:30pm eastern, 52 weeks a year and its range is superb. Antenna pattern is first N, then NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, and NW over the next 45-60 minutes.
On Mar. 24th, K8TQK’s check-in list showed N8AIA NE82; KD8JQ EN91; KB8GUE, KC8QDQ and W8PU EM89; W4IMD and W4LES EM84; WB7PMP EM88; N3ASE FN00; KB9RDS EM79 and WB9LYH EN54.
On Mar. 31st, Bob had 17 check-ins: N8WNA EN82; KD8JQ, NF8O and K8GDT EN91; W2UAD FN13; WD8CHR EN90; W4LES and WA4NJP EM84; N4TLL EM87; KY4MRG EM77; KI4ROF EM55; WA7PMP EM88; K9ZF EM78; N8XA EM79; WB0DGF EN63; KC8QDQ EM89 and VE3YCU FN02.
There are many nets and/or activity nights on bands like 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz. You can read all about them at posts dated Oct. 13, 15, and 17, 2013 at kc9bqa.com. All 7 nights of the week are covered in those posts. You are free to spread that info everywhere. Get on the air and say hello. Also, help support the bands by calling your own CQ’s at any time. So many guys are “just listening”, but the solution for low activity levels is to call CQ occasionally.