9:15am Thursday
This will be the last post for today. Make sure you visit the Michigan VHF-UHF Society’s website at http://mivus.org/ if you haven’t already. Made a separate post about them 20 minutes ago, just scroll down the page. In fact, I made an updated post about all the VHF/UHF Clubs in WI, MN and IL.
Last night, WB9LYH in EN54cl had another well-attended 144.240 net. Mark reported “usual winter band conditions”. There were 17 check-ins: K8RS EN72; W8IO EN63; K8CRD EN73; KB9PSE and KC9CLM/M EN52; K9CCL and N9JBW EN61; W8SOL EN71; W9SBE and KA9DVX EN51; W9BBP and WB0SWQ EN40; KC9RJI and KC9OVD EN41; WB9TAE EN53; WB0YWW EN22 and K0SIX EN35.
I see we have a new all-time check-in to the net last night. Welcome to W9SBE and thanks for stopping by, Sandy.
WB9LYH expects to be on 144.240 next Wed. at the usual time of 8pm central/9pm eastern.
The 144.240 net is called every Wed. by WB9LYH in EN54cl (Central WI, near WI Rapids) at 8pm central/9pm eastern. The net now starts at the same time year-round. All licensed amateurs are welcome. The net is informal and the purpose is to increase activity on 2m SSB. We appreciate you helping us spread the word. Antenna pattern from Central WI is NE to start, then E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and N over the next 45-60 minutes.
WB9LYH gets out 300-400+ miles with his big signal. He is always looking to push the propagation limits, so DX is welcome to give the net a try. If you have a decent long yagi up in the clear, fed with low-loss coax and you use at least 50-100w output, you can also work stations beyond 150-200 miles, even with flat band conditions. This is not science fiction; it’s been happening going back to the 1940’s and 50’s on the SSB and CW portions of VHF/UHF bands.
We also encourage hams to start their own activity. Don’t fall into the rut of checking in with a net, then turning off the rig until the next net. Start calling CQ on your own, at various time, in different directions. This is the recipe for a truly healthy band. We need more CQ’ers. Too many hams are “just listening”. If everyone is “just listening” all the time, then NO signals will be heard.
K8TQK calls an active, well-attended net on 144.252 MHz every Monday at 8:30pm eastern from EM89je, south-central OH. Bob also has a whopping signal. His QTH is 391 miles from mine ( I live 40 miles north of Milwaukee) and when I was on the air, I was able to work him armchair copy at least 90% of the time via SSB, provided our antennas were pointed at each other.
K8TQK had 19 check-ins this week from many different states and grid squares: VE3ZV EN92; VA3ELE/M FN03; W2UAD FN13; AC3L/M FN00; KB3TNZ FN11; K4SAN FM05; KD8DJE and W8PU EM89; N1GC EM95; WB4IXU EM86; WA4NJP, W4VAS and W4IMD EM84; KA2KQM EM74; WB7PMP EM88; KB9RDS, N8XA and WB8ART EM79 and K8CRD EN73.
Bob’s net is also informal and all licensed amateurs are welcome. His antenna pattern from south-central OH is N to start, then NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and N.
There are many fine nets and activity periods on bands like 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz. To find out your options in and around the Great Lakes, consult posts dated Oct 13, 15 and 17, 2013 at kc9bqa.com. And as always, spread the word to other hams.