KC9BQA

10am Thur.

WB9LYH reported poor propagation last night (no surprise, given the cold, lousy weather)  and a short list to the east, but better numbers of check-ins to the south.
Mark’s 12 check-ins last night were:  N8WNA EN82;  K8CRD EN73;  N9JBW and K9CCL EN61;  W9BBP and WB0SWQ EN40;  W1JWS EN50;  KA9DVX EN51;  K0SIX EN35;  KC9CLM EN52 and WB0YWW and WB0YNA EN22.

*ANNOUNCEMENT*
WB9LYH will be *OFF* until Wed., Dec. 17th.
No 144.240 net from WI on Nov. 26th, Dec. 3rd or Dec. 10th.
Next 144.240 net from WI (WB9LYH net control in EN54cl) will be on Wed., Dec. 17th at the usual start time of 8pm central/9pm eastern.

IF someone wants to step up and make noise on 144.240 the next 3 Weds. by all means, do so.  I’m sure many would appreciate it.

I saw no mention of K8TQK’s 144.252 net this past Monday night.  I consulted the ON4KST.com ham chat archives (talking the IARU Region 2 Chat for 144-432 MHz) and saw nothing.  Imagine something came up, or perhaps a weather problem.

If you need more info about either of these nets, or about a variety of nets and/or activity periods, consult the post directly below this one, dated Nov. 13, 2014 at kc9bqa.com.

   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.

   9am Thursday

   Last made this post on June 11, 2014.  What follows is a repost, with the addition of the new weak-signal VHF/UHF club out of Michigan — http://mivus.org/  

   As of November 2014, I now know of 5 VHF/UHF clubs in and near WI.  When I say “VHF/UHF Club”, I’m talking about clubs where the emphasis is on SSB/CW/Digital modes on bands like 50, 144, 222, 432 MHz, clear on up to microwave bands like 902, 1296, 2304, 3456 MHz, and even into 5 and 10 Gig and beyond. 
   If you are even a casual VHF’er, but would like your contest scores to go toward a club total, consider joining any of these clubs.  All the info you need to get started is below. 
   

   1)  My club is the Badger Contesters.  Their website is at www.badgercontesters.org.  If you are within 175 miles of Oshkosh, WI, you are in the BC circle.  A graphic showing our territory is available at:  http://www.badgercontesters.org/club_area.html  The BC’ers are a low-key, low-stress, no-dues club.  If you want more info, go to the website or contact me.  
   2)  NLRS stands for Northern Lights Radio Society, which covers MN, and probably adjacent parts of W and NW WI and N IA.  Their website is at www.nlrs.org. 
   3)  SMC stands for Society of Midwest Contesters, based in IL and parts of adjacent states.  SMC is a very active HF club, with a decent number of V/UHF contesters, too.  Their website is at www.w9smc.com   SMC has done some amazing things, getting their HF contesters to try 6 meters in the June ARRL contest (when sporadic E skip usually opens up 6m across the country) 
   4)  CVVHF stands for Chippewa Valley VHF and they are pretty much centered on EN44.  I’m sure their territory covers most of NW WI and plenty of the U.P. of MI.  CVVHF’s website is at www.k9cvc.org. 
   5)  As of late summer, 2014, Michigan is now represented here.  Several motivated guys got together and have created the Michigan VHF-UHF Society or MIVUS.  Their website is at http://mivus.org/  Check them out. 

   If you enjoy V/UHF contesting, these clubs would like very much for you to join and then submit your contest scores as part of the club’s  aggregate score. 

  I am not aware of any active V/UHF clubs in IN, OH or IA.  If I’m mistaken, someone set me straight.

   9am Thursday

   Happy to report there’s a new VHF/UHF club out of MI.  
   The Michigan VHF-UHF Society has a website here:  http://mivus.org/   They have a nice, clean website with various links to info.  Take a few minutes and check it out.     
  Very glad there’s now a weak-signal VHF/UHF club in MI.   Well done, gentlemen.

  Click on this link for my current for sale list:   http://kc9bqa.com/?p=7852   Within that link is 2 towers, multiple long yagis for 50 thru 2304 MHz, separate runs of hardline for each band, plus several rotors and control boxes.  It’s all explained in that link above.   Take some time and read all about it. 
  Actually, all the info in that post from June 27th is still current, as of Nov. 5, 2014.  
  Contact me directly if you’re interested.   My email is good at qrz.com.  If you can’t access it that way, you can also use my alternate email address of wi.todd (at) yahoo (dot) com   I don’t check Yahoo as often, but it works.

   If you know of someone who would be interested, by all means, forward the info to them.

    12:15pm Thur.

    With the 144.240 Wed. net from WI, WB9LYH reported great propagation to his east last night.   Mark had 14 check-ins:  AC8GD EN71;  N8WNA EN82;  K8CRD EN73;  KB9PSE EN52;  W8SOL and KC8ZJL EN71;  WB9TFH EN53;  K9CCL and K9ILU EN61;  N9XKH and KC9CLM/M EN52;  WB0SWQ EN40 and N0DQS and WB0YWW EN22.  
   Had 2 new callsigns to the net last night.  Want to welcome AC8GD and K8CRD, both from MI.  Thanks for stopping by, Larry and Paul. 

    The 144.240 Wed. net from WI is at 8pm central/9pm eastern.  Net control is WB9LYH EN54cl, right in the middle of WI, near WI Rapids.  Mark has stacked 17B2’s (horizontally polarized) and 500 watts from a ridgetop QTH.  His big signal and can easily reach out 300-400+ miles to similarly equipped stations.   WB9LYH loves DX so help us spread the word beyond the normal 200-400 mile range on 2m SSB. 
    WB9LYH starts out the net looking NE, then is soon pointing E, then SE, S, SW, W, NW and N over the next 45-60 minutes.   All licensed amateurs are welcome.   The net is informal and the purpose is to increase activity on 2m SSB. 

    The 144.240 Wed. net was started by me back in June of 2008.  Things have evolved over time and if you are interested in the history, visit this link:  http://kc9bqa.com/?p=5363  Even though I am in the process of selling my station, I plan on continuing kc9bqa.com well into 2015. 

     K8TQK calls another excellent, long-range net every Monday night on 144.252 at 8:30pm eastern.  Bob’s QTH is on a small mountaintop in EM89je, which is far south-central OH.  His antenna pattern is N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, and NW over the next 45-60 minutes.  K8TQK has a huge signal and also enjoys working everyone, local or DX.  Because K8TQK was on board with us on Wed. nights for several years, I still publish his net reports.   He has also been a consistently positive force for more activity on bands from 50 MHz clear on up thru the microwaves for decades.  Look Bob’s way on Wed. nights and say hello. 

    K8TQK had 17 check-ins Monday night:  K8CRD EN73;  KC8ZJL EN71;  KC8RRT EN81;  AC3L/M FN00;  VE3ZV EN92;  W2UAD FN13;  W3IP FM19;  W8WG EM89;  K4SAN FM05;  WD4NMV EM85;  WB4IXU EM86;  W4LES, W4IMD and WA4NJP EM84;  KY4MRG EM77 and WM8I and WB8AUK EN80. 

    There are many other fine nets and activity periods on bands like 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz.   Visit posts dated Oct. 13, 15, and 17th, 2013 at kc9bqa.com to read about many options, all 7 nights of the week.  If you have new info, or need to revise something that is no longer accurate, please email me directly.  My email is good at qrz.com.