Volume 5 Issue 10 May 1998

ARLB032 Call to action on LMCC
League calls members to action on 70cm petition The ARRL says the recent
Land
Mobile
Communications
Council petition seeking access to 70
cm is ''incompatible with continued
amateur use of the band'' and urges
members to comment in opposition-not only to the FCC but to the LMCC's
members. The LMCC has petitioned
the FCC for immediate reallocation of
420 to 430 MHz and 440 to 450 MHz
from the federal government to the
Private Mobile Radio Service.
Amateur Radio enjoys the use of 70
cm on a secondary basis. The LMCC
has proposed to share the two
subbands with Amateur Radio, but has
not said how sharing would be
possible. The LMCC also seeks
additional UHF reallocations in the
intermediate and long term.
For those planning to file comments,
specific
information
and
recommendations plus a copy of the
LMCC petition and a list of LMCC
members are available on the ARRL
Web page at http://www.arrl.org/news/
bandthreat. Commentators should
explain how the loss of access to 420
to 430 and 440 to 450 MHz would
affect them personally and how it
would affect the ability of hams to
provide needed public service. ''Even
if you do not use these segments
yourself, it is likely that loss of access
would result in more crowding and
interference in the part of the band, or
in another band, that you do use,'' said
ARRL Executive Vice President David
Sumner, K1ZZ. ''Don't overlook the fact
that if you use linked voice or packet
systems, it is quite likely that some of the
links you rely on are in either or both of
these segments.'' Amateurs involved in
public service communication can ask the
government and non-government agencies
they assist for written statements of
support. Hams also should urge Amateur
Radio organizations, specially those with
interests in the 420 to 450 MHz band, to
comment as well.
The LMCC, a nonprofit association,
includes several well-known organizations
such as the American Automobile
Association, the American Petroleum
Institute, the International Association of
Fire Chiefs, and the Association of Public
Safety
Communications
OfficialsInternational (APCO), a frequent Amateur
Radio supporter. The League suggests that
ARRL members who also belong to one of
the LMCC member organizations consider
writing to inform the organization that the
LMCC is acting contrary to your interests
and requesting them to disavow the LMCC
petition insofar as it affects Amateur
Radio.
Sumner said ARRL members should not
complain to members of Congress nor
write angry letters to the FCC. ''The
LMCC petition is a private-sector
initiative, not a government proposal,'' he
said. ''By law, the FCC has to put the
petition on public notice and invite
comment. That's all the FCC has done with
it.'' Sumner says that criticizing the FCC at
this stage would be ''inappropriate and
counterproductive.''
The primary occupant of the bands in
question is military radio-location
(radar). ''Before the FCC can take the
next step to reallocate this spectrum, it
must get the federal government to
agree,'' Sumner explained. Then, the
FCC would have to issue a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making and solicit public
comments on its proposal. ''In other
words, nothing is going to happen
overnight, and there will be at least one
more opportunity for public comment.''
The FCC is accepting only written
comments in response to RM-9267.
Comments are due by June 1, and reply
comments are due by June 15. Address
comments to RM-9267, Secretary,
Federal Communications Commission,
1919 M St NW, Washington, DC 20554.
Formal comments must be submitted in
quadruplicate.
PAGE 2
RMVHF+ May 1998
Wyoming Expedition
W7HAH Shep
[email protected]
Flash Message: I received on 6 meters and
in the mail that AB7UQ will be in
Wyoming from May 11th to Sept. 25th. He
will be operating portable in many of the
Wyoming grids on 6 meters. The following
grids he plans on operating from are DN41,
42, 43, 51, 52, 53, 61, 62 and 63. No
specified frequencies were given to me at
this time. He will be also looking for
meteor skeds. His address will be Mr. Tom
Weber Bureau of Land Management 100
Atlantic City Road Atlantic City, WY
82520. Equipment will be a 4-el yagi and
100 watts on 6 meters. Frequency to set up
schedules is 7268.5kcs. Tom's call is
AB7UQ. His main grid will be DN52. Tom
will let me know what different grids he
will be operating from.
updates and sked lists!
http://www.qsl.net/dh8naa
or
homepage.main-echo.net/dh8naa
FL14 Operation
Ed N5JEH/C6A
[email protected]
I will be on 6 meters and HF from Tarpum
Bay Eleuthera Island,Bahamas May 24
through June 1 1998.,GRID FL14vx. Will
have a Icom 706 Mk2 and 3 elements at 30
feet. On HF using the Alpha Delta Outpost
ground mounted antenna. Will monitor
28.885 when 10m is open.
Have you been busy with a technical
project? Have you been out grid hopping,
hill topping, or world bopping with your
VHF+ equipment? Do you have
information to share on propagation,
equipment, operating techniques for 6m
through light (or even beyond)? Do you
have some building skills to share with
others? The 50MHz and Up Group of
Northern California, Inc. and the Western
States Weak Signal Society will be holding
the annual WSWSS VHF+ Conference on
October 3rd, 1998 at the Sunnyvale Hilton
in Sunnyvale, California. The conference
will have 2 presentation paths, one for
general interest and one for technical
specialties, which will run from 9AM to
5PM. Papers or presentations may be of
general VHF+ interest or detailed technical
content.
Please submit a paragraph
outlining content by June 1, 1998 to: Jim
Moss, 862 Somerset Drive, Sunnyvale, CA,
94087 or email to: [email protected].
Selected papers will be notified no later
than June 15, 1998. Full papers must be
submitted by July 20, 1998 for inclusion
FL16 Operation
Kevin Bishop N8ZJN/C6AKL
[email protected]
Hi 6M fans...I will be going to Abaco
Island, Bahamas on June 18-25 1998. I will
be on vacation, but will be on the 6M most
of time. The grid will be FL16, Treasure
Cay Bay. Look for me in the SMIRK
Contest June 20-21st call will be C6AKL
Smirk # 5954.I will also monitor 28.885 for
activity. Hope to work as much DX as
possible on 6M, hope for some great
conditions. When 6M is dead I will work
some HF, if you’re looking for IOTA
numbers it is NA 080. QSL route is N8ZJN
w/return postage. Also looking forward to
the return trip in December for the ARRL
10M contest this year with WZ8D/C6AIE
and the Group. 73 C6AKL
SV9 Operation
Udo, dh8naa
We will now start taking skeds for the SV9expedition in KM35bd. First time for EME
will be Friday, 29. May, from 07.00 until
11.00 UT and from 16.00 till 20.30 UT. 2nd
day for EME will be Sat., 30. May, from
16.00 UT until 21.30 UT. We will start
working MS on Monday, 25. May.
Send your proposals either to [email protected] or to [email protected]. See "THE
DH8NAA VHF-PAGE" with expedition-
http://
VP2V British Virgin Islands
Jon N0JK
[email protected]
Look for operators Tom/K6CT, Terry/
N6CW and Fred/K9VV to be active as
VP2VDX in the CQWW WPX CW
Contest. The group will be there May 27th
through June 2nd. Activity outside the
WPX contest will be on WARC and 6
meters. QSL via K6CT. Terry, N6CW is an
experienced 6M DX op - I worked him at
N6CW/NP2 on 6M several year ago.
Should be a good opportunity this group on
Es. Note Terry prefers CW.
WSWSS '98 CALL FOR PAPERS AND
PRESENTATIONS!
in the proceedings.
Editor
Wayne N0POH
Publisher
Joan KB0YRX
Heinen
All articles,
comments and
other
contributions may
be sent to:
Rocky Mountain
VHF+
PO Box 473411
Aurora, CO
80047-3411
Email:
[email protected]
Packet
N0POH@KTOH.#NECO.CO.USA
(303) 699-6335 before 8PM MST
SUBCRIPTIONS RATES BY
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Coming next issue
A NEW LOOK to the
Colorado Awards.
UNITED STATES $16.00 PER
YEAR
CANADA $18.00 PER YEAR
RMVHF+ May 1998
Subsciber Contest Plans Included!
Bill K0RP DM88
[email protected]
My plans for the contest, at this time,
anyway, is to work as a rover in DM
88 78 77 and 87. I think I will plan to
be out overnight in the RV in 88,
Saturday evening, then Sunday go
over into 78 and 77. Maybe stay
around 77 till about noon then into 87
for the afternoon. In case it looks like
it might be stormy in the afternoon, I
might try to get out of 87 earlier, and
work more in 77 then back to 88,
closer to home. I think I will try to
have 6 meters, 432 and 2 meters.
Richard KA0DXM DM79
We plan to operate from Sugarloaf
Mountain,
DN70,
at
8000-ft
elevation, west of Boulder. We will
use call W0IA, the club call of the
Rocky Mountain VHF Society. We
will probably be on only Saturday
afternoon, and should have 2M, 6M,
and probably one or two other bands.
Ron N0IVN DM79
[email protected]
As you can probably tell from my
absence from the Monday night 2meter nets, I've had a rather busy
year so far. I missed the January
contest because of a multi-week trip
to Asia, and since then have been
away on several domestic and
international trips. When I am home,
there doesn't seem to be much time
for ham radio except for a little
mobile operation to and from the
office. However, the schedule looks
good for the June contest, and I'm
planning to set up again at Daniel’s
Park and operate in the QRP Portable
category. This year I've assembled a
collection of monoband antennas for
6 meters, 2 meters, 1.25 meters, 70
centimeters and 23 centimeters. Last
year I was using a Create log periodic
for almost all of the same bands, and
while it provided great multiband
coverage, it was certainly a
compromise considering the QRP
power limitation.
Besides the
previously mentioned bands, I'll also
have 33 centimeters (902.1 MHz)
and 10 GHz wideband.
PAGE 3
Phil N0KE DM69
[email protected]
Memorial Day Weekend I expect to be at
KA0BAD and ND0E's QTH in DM57 along
with K0CL and others. We will be active on 6,
2, 222, 432 and 1296 (10W) and at least 100170 watt bricks on the other bands. They only
live 1\4 mile from DM58 so hope to operate
from there as well. No E mail there but phone
usually works 970-864-3307. K0DU lives in
DM58 near Glade Park. He has a 2m all mode
and brick and will be ordering a 2m beam soon.
He has a 6m yagi and I will loan him the Icom
505 and Mirage brick until he gets his own rig
for 6m. E-mail Jerry at <[email protected]>. I
was at his QTH and he has a good shot to the
Front Range but not so good to the SE. All
other directions are good. During the 2m sprint
12 of my 14 QSO’s were not on 144.200 from
DM69. I worked 5 grids but could not even get
my own grid on FM! Your signal was one of
the better ones. The only out of state contact
was N0KQY who was stronger than most of
the Front Range stations but now I know why!
He runs 600w to a M2 at 100+ ft. One
suggestion is to run a list of E-mail addresses
for Rocky Mountain VHF+ subscribers in one
of the issues.
432 SPRINT After 30 minutes of CQ’ing and
tuning the band I finally had N0KQY answer
from DM98 who told me that 6m was open but
of course I'd left the 6m beam at home. At 0200
there was a surge of activity, including
WD0BQM DN81 and at 0230 I couldn't stand
all the excitement anymore and was freezing
my butt off at 9,000 ft on Bellyache Ridge so I
QRT. It was a good trial run of the newly
acquired Portapole and Big Foot and first time
using the FT736R of 12VDC. Condx were poor
as stations QSBed quickly in and out. At least I
was able to work my own grid, which I couldn't
do in the 2m sprint. I also worked 3 states, KS,
NE and CO. Best DX, 275 miles. Equipment
FT736R, RF Concepts 100w brick and KLM
32 el. Final tally, 9 QSO’s, 5 grids = 45 points
which is better than we did in many a June
contest. A group of us are tentatively planing to
operate in DN80 as W1XE again. I may Rover
a bunch of nearby normally unoccupied grids
for theirs and other's benefit. K0CL, N0IO and
others are talking about operating from Abajo
Peak west of Montecello Utah in DM57
Wayne N0POH DM79op
[email protected]
Things are returning to normal, whatever that
is! Missed the big Aurora and one good
opening on 6. I was doing my on air swap
during the 6 opening I missed. I had 9 Q’s in 5
grids during the 432 sprint the usual
Front Range crowd. 15 Q’s and 8
grids during the 6m Sprint. I don’t
consider either really bad as both
bands are 10 watts to mediocre
antennas. The 6m opening during the
sprint was nice. I had left the rig on,
pumped through the stereo and we
started a Scrabble game. The game
was suspended when I heard
“CM98” open the squelch about
0220. Lasted about 40 minutes here
mostly CA and OR. Grid count on 6
is now 63 heard and 50 QSL’d. On 2
I did manage to replace the 4
element yagi with the 13B, most
reports have indicated a better signal
all around. I’ve notice a big
improvement on receive too. We had
a decent opening 5/18 to the east on
6, I QSL’d to 2m for the RMVHF+
net and it was pretty much gone
when the net was done. 5/19 had 6m
open to DM04, 13 and 14 after I got
home from work. It pretty much
petered out by 0100. The contest will
find us operating from home, should
be on a good portion of the time. See
you on the bands.
Jesse N0SWV DM79
Howdy all, Things have been kinda
slow and activity low on 2 meters.
The 432 sprint was marked by less
than stellar activity. Remember, if
we don't use the bands then someone
may decide that we don't need them.
Enough preaching - My scores for
the sprints: 2M 27 contacts and 8
grids 70 CM 13 contacts and 5 grids
I was surprised by the number of
people running vertical during the
432 sprint but they were still plenty
readable from Fort Collins to south
of Denver.
I highly encourage
everyone to get on for the
902/1296/2304 sprint if possible and
especially for the 6M sprint. I'll be
working from Daniel’s Park for the 6
-M sprint, running a 5-element beam
and 150+ watts - on top my car!
Lou N9KC/0 DM79/EN52
[email protected]
I'll be flying to Chicago for the June
VHF contest, this will be 15 years in
a row with the AA9D group west of
Chicago in grid EN52. We are on a
great hill at about 923 feet above sea
level. That's about 300 feet above
RMVHF+ May 1998
FOR SALE - 16’ Aluminum
Dish Antenna Offer, Clegg
99er Offer, Heathkit Station
Monitor $125
Cliff Young W0TGY
P.O. Box 1263
Conifer, CO 80433
303-838-6139
average terrain, a commanding
location in the Midwest. I'd like to
offer schedules to any serious stations
on 6M, 2M, and 222 MHz wanting
meteor scatter skeds. The 6M station
runs 1 kW and 7 elements, 2M will be
running 1.5 kW to two M^2 antennas.
222 runs 800W to two KLM
something or others. On 432, 700W to
two 30lbx's. We will also have (as
usual) 100W on 903 and 1296 and 2,
3, 5, 10, 24 GHz on the air also.
Anyone northeast of Denver might be
a candidate for tropo skeds early
Sunday morning also Please call or email N9KC/0 in Parker CO to discuss
schedules. My home phone is 303-805
-8079 -or- e-mail me.
Ron NN5DX/0 DM79
[email protected]
Went to the Colorado Springs hamfest
yesterday morning, didn't see anything
there for RMVHF+. Was gonna sign
in, if nothing else. :-) (Sorry, Couldn’t
make that one and we won’t make
Loveland on 5/30, other commitments
are in the way – N0POH) Just to pass
word along K5LLL (currently /YS0)
will, assuming he's not out of country,
will be up here to run June VHF with
me. That being the case, we will be
QRV on all bands 6m through 1296
with big watts (for a portable station)
and long yagis. The plan right now is
to go up either Pike's Peak or Mount
Evans, but probably not both.
Depends on what happens come June.
Finally got the IC706 back in the van,
so I'm back on 2m again.
Dave W6OAL DM79
[email protected]
Well Gang, I hope you all had more
action that what I had out here in
Colorado for the 222 Sprint. The
distances were good but there just
weren't a heck of a lot of folks on. We
PAGE 4
worked four states (CO, WY, KS, and NM).
Even then after the first two hours it was all
over here. So we wound up with 8 QSO's in 6
grids. The station here is a FT-736 and an
AM-6154 running about 500 watts output to a
HB 6 element loop yagi up at 25'. Out here
the antenna doesn't have to be too terribly high
since I'm already at 6500' and see the horizon
for more than 250 degrees. The other 110
degrees are occupied by the Rocky Mountains
at 35 miles to the foothills and 50 miles to any
significant peaks at the closest point. They
really don't seem to give me any problem on
HF or VHF/UHF. Enjoyed it.
Well now wasn't that fun (and funny). As
soon as I turned off the 6m rig and got on 70
cm at 7 PM local the 6M band opened. Oh the
decisions, of course, I didn't know that the 6M
band had opened until two hours into the
Sprint. One of the locals came up on 432 and
told us!!! Well out here in the wilds of
Colorado everyone that is going to be worked
is probably worked in the first half-hour
anyway. Kept looking east for N0LL, then I
heard W9RM on 6M working him. I jumped
in and asked Jay to ask Larry to get on 432.
The relay back was "OK as soon as the feed
line gets hooked up." Back to 432, inform all
that were around 432.1 that Larry was on his
way up. We called and called but to no avail.
Oh well, I had 15 Q's in 6 grids - better than
222 but what the heck, it was fun
I was just about to turn the 6M rig off last nite
5/4about 0500 and go to bed. Found that I'd
turned the volume down earlier for some
reason. Was hearing a little something while
standing near the rig so I turned up the volume
and there was all this; brrr bep brrr bep brrr
brrr bep brrr. Well I didn't get away from the
radio room for about the next 2 hours. I have
been licensed since '52 and this was my first
experience working aurora. Either due to
location, equipment or inclination or a
combination of all three, I just never got in on
any of it. Well, I can't say that anymore! It
was neat to make AU skeds on 6M for 2M and
then go and do it. The NW was just pounding
in to the Denver Area (DM79ql) also Montana
and an occasional mid west was worked.
Really a neat evening. Being an old retired
'tin eared airborne Navy radioman', I think I
can copy AU CW better than a normal CW
signal (hihi
Things are looking up! 5/3 a little after 8:30
PM MDT (0230 Z), I was on our Wed. 432
net listening to the guys in Boulder and Fort
Collins when the S-meter on the FT-650
began to move. Well you guessed it 432
looses. There was Fred - N2LXD (FN02)
calling CQ, and so it went for about an hour;
OH, MI, PA, NY, ONT. Thanks guys and
gals for being there. I think this was the first
opening this year for me or maybe for DM79
into FN02. Even got to work a 'homeboy' near
Cleveland, OH as I was reared in Akron, OH
and was doing 6M back there in the early '50's
The Microwave Sprint wasn't as glorious as
the rest out here in the west as the others
were, for what they were. I was ready
though; a 47 element Loop Yagi and 10
watts on 902, 2 X 55 element Loop Yagis
and 100 watts on 1296 and 2 X 45 element
Loop Yagis and 5 watts on 2304. I made 6
contacts on 1296 in 3 grids, that was it. We
were able to Elmer a couple of folks new to
1296 on how to use the Front Range of the
Rocky Mountains as a reflector to put their
signal where ever they wanted from
Cheyenne to Colorado Springs. I'm sure
June will be better
That was a lot of fun Monday evening (0518-98). Here in DM79 I worked mostly to
the East and Southeast. I have never seen
the band so loaded, yes there were folks
actually QSY’ing to other parts of the band
rather than hold their QSO on the Calling
Frequency. Maybe things are sinking in. I
had some really nice QSO's with folks, other
than just the normal - "You're 5 X 9 in _ _ _
_, repeat your Name Call and Grid, QSL via
the Bureau". Tried to work everyone that
called but with the QSB and QRM made it
just impossible. I kept taking people off the
Calling Frequency and up band but landing
on others - sorry 'bout that to those I landed
on and QSY’d again. Prior to one QSO a
YL and I had to QSY five times before we
found a clear spot. Got some queries as to
where were all the DM79 folks. There were
about a half dozen of us up and down the
Front Range available. We'll have to do this
again sometime
GEORGIA
Steve K4RF EM84dj
[email protected]
222 Sprint score- 13 Q's x 8 grids = 104
Poor conditions with much rain static early only the usual suspects on. On 5/4 worked
WA8RJF in EN91 on 222. Strong AU
signals into GA (EM84dj) from 1's, 3's, 8's
and 9's on 6m and 2m.
Kansas
Gary N0KQY DM98
I’ll be operating the contest from the home
QTH on 6, 2, 432 and HSMS
Larry N0LL EM09
[email protected] (Larry Lambert)
We got some tropo Wed. when I came home
at 0231Z on the 14th and found W5UWB
EL17 and we worked on 2, 222, 432 but
only a one way on 1296. Then K5IUA in
EL29 on 2, 222 and 432 This was followed
by a string of EM11, EM24, EM00, EM25
then at 0308Z we had a 1296 CW QSO 5-19. At 0335Z W5UWB was peaking 5/3/9 on
1296 for another new grid. This was as far
south as I've ever worked on 2m or on a
RMVHF+ May 1998
UHF band. I’ve worked farther South
on E's on 2m in Fl. before. I got home
too late or might have worked XE2KK
DL96 and XE2OR DL98. N0KQY
DM98 heard CO2OJ at 0420Z but
K5CM got the QSO. W0EKZ and
N0JK in Wichita EM17 worked
CO2OJ on 2. The weather was weird
as the wind was blowing anyway
15mph from the South and had been all
day, which brought up air of high
humidity. Very rare for May, rare
anytime. Usually that brings thunder
boomers but it wasn’t until today Fri.
we got them. The N0LL 2m
propagation beacon was S8 in
Houston. We had a little tropo the next
day but not much. I plan on operating
from the home QTH in the June
contest, EM09.
IDAHO
Bob K7TM
K7TM and N7LKA will be operating
from DN25 during the June VHF
Contest. 73' Bob
MISSOURI
LARRY JOE KC0AUY EM27
Every Thursday at 0200 UTC (9:00
PM CDT) Joplin, Missouri holds a
52.5250 MHz Net. We encourage
check-ins from all over.
MONTANA
Shep W7HAH
Shep may be a rover in DN25, 35, 26,
36, 27 and 28 6, 2 and 432
(WCVHFer)
NEVADA
K7XC/R
I am returning to Mt. Moses in DN10
and hopefully this year, Mother Nature
won't throw me off the mountain
again! QRV on 50, 144 and 432 SSB/
CW and 222 FM. Tim K7XC/R
NEW MEXICO
Dick K5RHR DM65
[email protected]
I must comment on the sidebar that
discussed tolerances in Bird Wattmeter
measurements. The example selected,
using a 100 W element to measure a 40
W power level, may have misled a few
users. It is also true that if the user
selected a 50 W element the maximum
probable error is only 2 1/2 W. There
is a good reason for Bird to make so
many elements for various power
PAGE 5
levels and frequency bands.
Here is a list of stations in this area that plan to
operate in the June 1998 QSO Party arranged by
Grid Square and bands: DM65K5RHR A,B,C,D;
KC5JBO A,B,C,D,E; KC5RIK A,B; KC5SFV
A,B,D; KC5SFW B; K5WJY A,B,C,D,E;
KC5YXB A,B; KD6TDF A,B,D; KK5YY
A,B,C,D,E; KK7V B; N5XZM A,B,C,D,E;
N9KUW A,B,D; WB5YYX A,B,D; WB9ERE
A,B,C,D,E; DM76 N0IPL A,B,C,D;W5IXR
A,B,C,D; DM82 W5WOX B,C,D; W5DB B,D;
SOUTH DAKOTA
Arliss W7XU EN17lm
There hasn't been much in the way of vhf activity
here in EN13, South Dakota. I've caught only two
6m Es openings so far in April. 18 April -- I
worked KK4MO/MM in the Gulf of Mexico,
EL27, at 1806Z, followed by W5EUB in the
Houston area at 1826Z. Almost no other signals
heard during that time. On 22 April -- Twelve
stations worked in Arizona, California, Nevada
and Utah: DM04, 05, 06, 13, 14, 26, 27, 34 and 43
(I don't know the grid square of N7MKK in Utah).
The opening lasted for just over an hour starting at
1920Z. 4 May Aurora! I didn't get home from
work last night until midnight local time (0500 Z),
so I think I missed out on some good action on 6
and 2m. On 2m, I worked EN63, EM79, DN74
(new grid for me), and DM79. There didn't seem
to be a lot of activity on 2m at the late hours I was
on. I spent most of my time on 6m, where I
worked the following stations via auroral-E:
0538Z W7EW CN84, 0539 VE7ILD CO90, 0542
VE7HCE CN99, 0545 VE7XF CN89, 0547
VE7BDQ CN89, 0555. Heard the VE8BY beacon
in FP53rs 0625 K7KX CN87, and 0627 K7CW
CN87. Other grids worked via aurora on 6m
included: FN00, FN03, EM48, EM99, EN70,
EN72, and EN82. I wonder what I missed due to
getting home so late! 18 May -- The TI2NA
beacon was heard here beginning at 2352Z.
Signals peaked 539, and were last heard at about
0050Z on the 19th. Repeated CQ's on 50.110
yielded no DX QSO's. No other DX stations/
beacons were heard. Stateside, 6m was open to
Texas, Louisiana, and the SE US during the time I
was hearing the TI2 beacon. As I write this
(0150Z) the band is still open, but seems to be on
the way out. Stations heard now are primarily
from Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
FROM THE REFLECTOR
222 Sprint NI6G San Joaquin Valley DM06 26
QSO's x 11 Multipliers = 286 points total Grids
worked: CM89 CM96 CM97 CM98 CM99 DM03
DM04 DM06 DM12 DM13 DM14 20 QSO's were
made using SSB Mode; 5 QSO's on FM, and 1
QSO on CW.
K6FV 222 Sprint score (in last place?)- 5 QSO’s
(3 on SSB, 2 on FM) X 1 grid = 5 Grid was
CM98, I'm in CM87. Heard K6MYC in DM06,
but wasn't able to complete, so guess I need some
QRO.
222 Sprint results N6AJ SJV DM06 29
Q'S 13 Grids CM87 CM89 CM96 CM97
CM98 CM99 DMO3 DM04 DM05
DM06 DM12 DM13 DM14 Jerry
222 Mhz Sprint Results for N6ZE/6 28
QSO x 7 GRIDS = 196 Points Grids/
QSO worked CM97(1);DM03(6),04
(13),06(4),12(2),13(1),14(1)
23 SSB QSO & 5 FM QSO Best DX:
W6WE/6 (CM97) at 17 Minutes into
Sprint.
Great summer Wx: T-shirts and minimal
bugs ‘til we went QRT @ 9PM PDT.
TNX to W3SE/6 for trying to get us
hooked up with N6SMU (DM05) on FM.
Where were N6NB/N6XQ/K6YAZ?
N6ZE/6 (+ N7WLC & KK6UE)
operated from Triunfo Peak, Santa
Monica Mts. Rig FT-736+ 9 el M2.
222 sprint results Conditions were
average but where was everyone? I only
worked stations that were east of me
(em79, em89, fn02, en72). I heard very
little to the west. I aimed my beam at the
Chicago and Milwaukee area, which
usually is productive for me during the
January, June and September contests,
and there was nothing to be heard - even
on fm. Oh well. Score = 7 QSO's x 4
grids = 28 points Dave, WA1MKE/9
222 sprint 28 QSO’s x 7 grids = 196
points Best DX W6WE in CM97. Heard
but missed CM98. Thanks to all for the
signal reports. The latest configuration
appears to be transmitting well. 2 x 7wl
spaced 10 1/2 feet vertically, bottom
antenna at 60ft fed with 1/2-inch heliax.
Preamp at the antenna, ran 400w pep.
Obviously transmitted better than I could
hear. Had lots of noise but dsp helped a
lot Gary, K6CYS San Diego, DM12
N0HJZ 222 Sprint (EN34fv) It was nice
to not be out roving (bathroom upstairs,
cold beer, no driving, etc). Local activity
in the Minneapolis St.Paul area was
great! Thanks to W0ZQ, WA2VOI &
K0PG for going out roving and giving
me some unique grids. Didn't hear
anything out of Green Bay, Milwaukee
and Chicago. I don't think conditions
were that good. I only operated until
10:00. I did catch a few guys on 223.5
FM. The final score was 28 Q's and 12
mults for a score of 336 points. Rich
N0HJZ
This is my first year on 222 and had
loads of fun. Same people, as on 2m but
NO QRM, is that a pleasure. Worked all
heard except one in San Diego K6CYS
DM12 next time I will listen with a
softer ear. Q 19 Grids 8. 152 score 200-w
22-ele ele 55 ft Sacramento, Ca CM98
BILL KA6VQV
SIX TO EUROPE A Small opening to
PAGE 6
RMVHF+ May 1998
Europe this afternoon on 50MHZ.
Work EH3ADW, SP6GZZ and
SP6ASD at 1930z. What a pleasure
to work Poland after many years.
Heard many other stations but they
didn’t copy me. PETER PY5CC
GRID GG54re
SA into EM 21 on 6 Mtrs A little
action finally got this far north. Lots
of QSB on the band. Heard a CX4?
Worked 4-23-98: 2144Z LU6DRV
GF05 2149Z LU5EJU GF05 2152Z
LU9AEA GF05 Better than a poke in
the eye! Pete WA5JCI EM21
W1LP/MM is calling CQ NOW
(25/4/98 at 23:15 Z) in 50.110 from
FK00, north of Panama Canal Oscar,
CO2OJ, EL83
6 Meter Opening Worked TI5KD in
EJ79 and hearing Clint, W1LP in
EK90 from my QTH in EL87 Lowell
W0VHF
WORKED W1LP ON 50.125 50
MILES NORTH OF THE PANAMA
CANAL IN FK00 AT 22:54 4-25-98
FM06 INTO EL87rh WORKED
K4QI ON 144.200 AT 13:08 4-26-98
SAMUEL KD4ESV EL87RH
Clint is now operating out of EK95
(off the coast of Honduras) and is 59
here in EL87 at 1839. He is working
a very wide range of stations from
Florida to Arkansas. Lowell,
W0VHF
4-26-98, 50.125, 1755Z worked
W1LP EK94. At 1820Z, worked
W1LP EL 95. He's working 4s and
5s. QSB on the band, he drops out
and then comes back up. Pete
WA5JCI EM21
Six Open EM55 North at 0238 30
Apr 98 Steve N4JQQ
432 Sprint Results NI6G San Joaquin
Valley DM06bt 31 QSOs x 12
Mults=
372 Points Total Grids Worked: CM:
87, 89, 96, 97, 98, 99 DM: 03, 04, 06,
07, 13, 14 Equipment: Kenwood TM455A 80' LMR-400 M2 440-21SSB
@ 35' Yaesu FT-7400H 5/8 over 5/8
@ 25'[Only 1 FM QSO]
(CM97) 432 Sprint Results K6SIX
San Joaquin Valley CM97qa 14
QSOs x 5 Mults=70 Points Total
Grids Worked:CM: 97, 98,DM: 06,
07, 14 Equipment: Yaesu FT-790R II
- 25 watts output M2 420-450-11 @
45 Ft.
Antenna is end mounted on the side
of my tower and fixed to the south.
Had fun Rick, K6SIX
432 Sprint results I got started late
and had to quit early dues to storms,
but I enjoyed the 50 minutes I was able to
operate. Results: 11 QSO’s, 6 Grids. Grids
worked were EM64, EM76, EM79, EM83,
EM84, and EM89. I made no skeds. I thought
band conditions weren't too bad for the time
that I was on. Dave, K4TO
432 Sprint Results EM55 IC-475H, CC 719B,
SSB preamp @ 80' fed with 7/8" Heliax. Not a
signal heard! However...We did have a nice
opening on six meters and I worked four new
grids DN99, EN19, 29 & 37. I guess the 432
Sprint is good for something! Steve, N4JQQ/
C6AFP, EM55, Memphis, TN
432MHz sprint results the new cRushcraft
729B seems to play very well (compared to the
Jaybeam MBM48XY it replaced!). I've been
saying it for several years but I finally did
replace that piece of junk, and I think the
results were at least fair. I only ran 8 watts
from the MMT432/28 but at least one station
reported (not too close either) that I was much
stronger than one of the other locals that was
running 100 watts. Admittedly, that was the
exception however...N0UK EN34JV 8 watts
into 29 ele yagi at 9 magl 9 Grids by 25 QSO's
for a total of 225 points. Thanks very much to
the rovers (Bruce, Tim, and John) for activating
otherwise unreachable grids
432 Sprint: Q's 36 Grid's 12 Score 432 Jerry
N6AJ DM06
KQ6QW 432 Sprint Results - DM04 40 QSO’s
= 5 grids = 200 The usual result at my usual
spot - lots of Qs few Ms. Pleased (and a bit
surprised) to have worked everything I heard
with the new 430 all mode rig barefoot with 18
element yagi, but heard nothing to the north.
Will find a new spot for 6m sprint. Good
activity level on all modes in Southern Cal.
Brian
N6ZE (DM04): 70 Cm Sprint Results 30 QSO
6 Grids 180 Points Grids worked: DM03,
04,06,12,13,14 N6ZE/6 + KK6UE operated
"The 1998 ARRL 70 Cm Sprint" from Saddle
Peak (approximately 2500 ft) in the Santa
Monica Mts. Equipment used was an FT-736R
+ 21 element F9FT yagi. Although conditions
had been better earlier in the day, we seemed to
be above any enhanced UHF propagation. NO
stations north of Fresno (DM06) were heard.
RF feedback and grotesquely loud signals on
the calling frequency troubled us. However,
weather was great and an S-9 +20 dB sunset
was observed!)
432 SPRINT Band was good except power line
noise. These sprints are a fun 4hr sprint 38 Q
DM 03 04 06 07 08 13 14 Grids CM 88 89 97
98 99
CN80 80w 33ele @ 55ft CM 98 Sacramento
Bill KA6VQV
432 sprint W6GYD CM87 Got on late but
worked most of what I heard. Most activity is
no longer in the bay area; it is over in the
central valleys and down south. Used to be a lot
of VHF guys on in the Santa Clara
valley but no longer. Prob all
working in electronics during the day
and not interested in radio when not
working. At least that’s my theory.
Only NU6S Tim and my self and
WA6UAP Pat were on from Santa
Clara Valley that I heard. I was at
home in Saratoga for this Sprint.
100 W out to a KLM 14el up 60 ft.
Mast mtd pre-amp crapped out so
used one in the power amp. FOO I
made 16 contacts in 6 grids. Not bad
but not good either. Best DX was
N6RMJ in DM14. NU6S worked a
fellow in DM03. Could not hear the
fellows up in Oregon. Too Bad.
Lots of people helping others make
contacts, that’s very nice. Don
Es Now (May 1st 00:00Z) from
DO33 Hearing and working stations
now from DM14 and DM26 into
DO33. Good signals too Barry
Bergstrom VE6MK DO33im
W9FZ/Rover 432 Sprint Results.
Had
fun
and
it
was
a
BEEEEUUUUTIFUL evening in
Southern Minnesota! Activity was a
little lower than I hoped. Also, I was
disappointed that stations I worked
from one grid weren't around to
work from my next grid. Equipment
was TR-851 25w to 8 ele Quagi EN33 12 x 3 = 36 EN-23 10 x 4 = 40
EN-24 11 x 4 = 44 EN-34 8 x 3 = 24
But look, I got 41 Q's for my 4
hours, so I'm happy Bruce
5/1/98 WD4KPD FM15 @ 1640z
and a few FM29 stations @ 1700z
from EM54, Oxford, Ms. 50.125
MHz. 73 KC5UDM Ian
6 meters is open to 4 and 5 land from
DM-78
in
Colorado.
01:58
UTC.5/2/98 W0LD Colorado
WORKED GUYS IN TEXAS ON 2
AND 70CM AND HEARD GUYS
GOING TO 1.2 GHz AT 14:00
ZULU
05-02-98
SAMUEL
KD4ESV EL87RH
Aurora into CN85 1430z May 2.
Derek K7XD
WOW---if you were active on 6 or
2m at approx. 1335 through 1350z
Saturday
morning.5/2.you
just
experienced an IMPACT of the
recent explosions of the SUN. Was
in QSO on 144.190 with WA2AEY
in Waterton, NY FN23 (my QTH:
FN13) and noticed the 6 meter Smeter slowly climb to s3 / s4 then S9
+. Thought was power-line noise,
turned on the HF radio 28 & 21 MHz
also S9. Antenna direction made
RMVHF+ May 1998
SB PROP ARL ARLP021
ARLP021 Propagation de K7VVV
First thing to report this week is
that geomagnetic or space weather
conditions probably had nothing to
do with the failure of the Galaxy 4
satellite.
Geomagnetic indices have settled
over the last two weeks. Solar flux
and sunspot numbers have also
been generally down, but last week
the average sunspot number was
up about ten points while the
average solar flux was off almost
six points.
Until the end of the month the
solar flux should rise, past 120 by
May 25, and then up to 128 around
May 29 and 30. Solar flux should
drop down below 120 around June
2 or 3, below 110 around June 6,
and below 100 after June 13. Look
for unsettled conditions around
May 23, and May 30 through June
2. Stable conditions are forecast
around June 11 and 12.
On the VHF front, W1LP from
Massachusetts reported good 6
meter openings into W3, W4, W0,
New Brunswick and Cuba around a
week ago. W1JJM reported EA7
and CT3 signals on 6 meters into
Rhode Island on May 14, along
with more contacts from the
Northeast into the Southeast and
the Caribbean on 2 meters. W9JJ
reported a 432 MHz Delaware to
Florida QSO.
Sunspot Numbers for May 14
through 20 were 94, 101, 92, 89,
92, 77 and 58 with a mean of 86.1.
10.7 cm flux was 117.2, 116, 117.7,
110, 102.2, 99.7 and 91.9, with a
mean of 107.8, and estimated
planetary A indices were 5, 8, 12, 9,
11, 8, and 9, with a mean of 8.9.
PAGE 7
little, if any difference in the signal level peak
The 2m & HF on common rotator (headed
NE), but, 6m on it's own (NW). Many reports
on other reflectors confirmed this observation.
Even from NM (N5JHV) through southern &
western US states. Also---to note that Europe
having a ball, AU from SM / OH completing
Q's to EA etc. 6m through 70cm with BIG
signals. This may be a BIG ONE...I wouldn't
get far from your rigs or you will miss a
MAJOR ONE by all accounts at this point.
DAYTIME "AU" for
Certain! AL K2SPO FN13
BIG noisy flare at 0738Z a tremendous burst
of white noise came off the sun. Just by
coincidence I had the 4 yagis pointed at the
sun which was about 20 degrees above the
horizon. It registered about 20 over nine here
and there was a second peak about 5 minutes
later. This is the first flare with a radio sweep
that I have heard this cycle. I just checked the
Space Environment Center page and it looks
like it was at least an X class flare. Depending
on which region it originated from; it looks
like it might have been in good geo-effective
position. I think we could expect great aurora
and maybe TE when the plasma hits the earth
in about 36 to 48 hours. Wow, things are
really heating up. Dave, N5JHV
Good 6m opening.5/2 Worked stations in EM
and FM Grids. I was only running 100
milliwatts (due TVI ) and most of the reports
were 59!!.Hope that my vacations on 6m
ended at last. HI Oscar, co2oj, EL83
AU CN85 5/2 Finally have something to
report on from out here in the Pacific
Northwest. From the listings I saw in the
OH2BUA Web cluster earlier in the
afternoon, I was expecting signals from the
south instead of AU. I got on around 0300Z,
although I was informed that the AU was in
for about 2hrs at that point. First station
worked was VE7SKA 56A @ 0310Z. The
only 2M AU contact was K7IEY (CN88) 51A
at 0320Z. I did hear K7KX on 2M AU at
0502Z, but n/c. Worked W7PQE (CN96) 51A
@ 0327Z, K7CW (CN87) 55A @ 0333Z &
WB7DHC (CN97) 52A @ 0342Z. Conditions
faded down ‘til 0410 when W7GJ (DN27)
came roaring in 55A. Bill, N0XX (CN84)
was very strong on AU with 59A at 0442Z.
Heard and tried to work VE6PY (DO20)
around 0540Z, but he faded down and never
came back up de Dave, N7DB (CN85)
More Au E. KL7NO into CN85 5-4 0612z
Derek K7XD CN85
Au Central CA, DM07
Finally my first aurora! Starting at 0420z on 4
May on 6m 0420z KC7YVZ DN13 52A
incomplete 0443z N7DB CN85 55a complete
0447z WX7P CN84 51a complete 0450z
K7INU CN85 53a complete 0450z K6MYC
DM06 59a heard ~05z 2 meters open for
about 10 min but unable to copy the SSB
signals on
144.200 Things faded out then heard on 6m
0530z W7SZ CN?? 51a heard
0547z K7RWT CN85 55a (worked
K6MYC and N6AJ, both DM06) 0556z
N9JIM CM87 53a All signals peaking
~15 degrees true. Robert N7STU/
YB2ARO DM07aa
I was too tired to type last night, I guess.
;) Here is the corrected listing. It was
great! I heard some folks in the 10th call
area working some in the 7th. I could not
pull out the signals from the far end. I
worked 2 new states, Arkansas, and
Georgia, that I never expected to work on
AU. The opening seemed to fizzle out a
bit after about 2:30 A.M. local time.
Judging from my posting, so did I!
It was cloudy, so I was not able to see if
there was a visible display.
On 2 meters, I worked: N2JH FN02
N0UK EN34 VE3EZP EN93 VE3SRE
FN03 VA3FIN FN04 WA4HEI EN65
WA0RLY EN33 WJ0M EN36 KG5S
EM45 K8RYU EM99 WS3C FM19
N3FA FN21 K4RF EM84 WA8RJF
EN91 W1RNA FN34 NB0Z EM29
KA0RYT EN34 and WA1MKE EN 70.
We started at about 0400 GMT on May
5. At first we heard some Minneapolis
stations on SSB with readable audio, and
some Aurora distortion. All the above
stations were worked on CW. Steve
WA9JML
AU report CN85 5/4Z WOW. This was
one of those openings to get into the log.
This
was one
of those rare
transcontinental AU-E to to talk about.
This was the second or third one I have
seen since '72. I could see the AU
mapping from NOAA and could tell it
was getting close. Around 0345Z I could
hear the warble on WWV and by the top
of the hour there was the good stuff.
K1RQG (FN54) 5/4 @ 0406Z, VE1IW
(FN84) 5/4 @ 0407Z, W2FE (FN13) 5/5
@ 0416Z and VE3SRE (FN03) 5/4 @
0417Z. 2M was still quiet at 0420Z. As I
have seen on other AU's, the curtain went
south and so I worked N7STU (DM07)
52A @ 0442Z, WA6KLK (CM89) 53A
@ 0443Z. Finally something interesting
on 2M with K6YK (CM97) 52A @
0452Z & KG7WC (DN17) 55A @
0506Z. Shep, W7HAH (DN26) was a
very strong 59A+ @ 0513Z, then worked
VE7HCE (CN99) 59A @ 0525Z. Back
to 2M, worked W6YK (CM97) 51A @
0540Z, a little tough, but pulled him
through. Then worked W6YM on 6
(CM98) 55A @ 0550Z. Other station/
beacons heard: I did hear W6OAL
(DM79) @ 0530Z, but n/c. Heardthe
W7HAH/b & W7WKR/b on AU around
0518Z. Turned the beam north and heard
VE8WD/b @ 0522Z. One other beacon
heard tonight was VE4VHF/b @ 0528Z
de Dave, N7DB (CN85)
Last night's aurora was one of the best
ever. I worked about 25 stations. I was
PAGE 8
RMVHF+ May 1998
even able to work one on 2m SSB and
one on 222 CW! I wish more stations
had thought of taking a look at the
higher frequencies as I suspect
contacts could have been made on
432. Dave, WA1MKE/9 EN70gh
Well for once, the West Coast didn't
get skunked on a little Aurora action! I
may have missed some of it, in fact
I'm sure I did. Maybe someone else
will report. I was fooling around on
432 and not paying attention until it
was almost over. At 0450Z May 4, I
heard N7DB in CN85 via Aurora and
we had an easy QSO on 2 meters. No
other stations heard. At about 0455 I
heard K7RAT also in CN85 working
W6YM in CM98, then K7RAT called
CQ a few times with no answer but
me. He couldn't hear me. K6YK--CM97
Just a short note that might be of
interest I worked VE3JJX EN26 @
0519 55A then I worked K6QXY
CM88 @ 2228 55A and the CA station
told be I was being heard 59 in DM04
but did not work any one from that
grid. Also at times some stations most
notably W7HAH DN26 and W7XU
EN13 were20+. I was in CN99 @
1000 feet using a 3 ele beam and a
575@ 100 watts pointed Northeast.
Not sure exact heading as I was in my
4X4 and forgot my compass. Glen
VE7HCE
6 M open from DM04 (Los Angeles)
to DN26/36/45, etc (MT) 2000-2300Z
05MAY98. N6ZE
Had a nice opening on and off here
from DM04rk on 5/5. Worked AB7CE
in DN36 around 12:25 PDT also
W7HAH DN26 at 13:15 WA0ROW
DM79 KG7CN DN23 N7ML DN45.
This opening was neat that it would
fade in then out almost on the hour.
Dave KC6WFS DM04rk
OPEN CM87 to DN60 5/05 02:121Z
worked N0PEH Don WA6GYD
Hearing Texas em00, em10, em11,
em12 worked about 5 grids so far on 2
meters at 12:00Z 05-07-98 SAMUEL
KD4ESV EL87RH
A fantastic 2m tropo opening last night
(5/8/98) 0100UTC and today early
morning, 1100 UTC on. In the
morning worked stations in S. Florida
(of course!) and K5EMD, EM30;
KE4YYD, EL79, W5BK, EM11;
WD5DJT, EM12; EM00; W5VAS,
EM60; WD4SBV, EM61 and K5VH.
Best DX was XE2OR on DL98 (some
kind of record?), new grid and country
for me from my QTH. Other stations
worked K5IUA, W5AAW AND
WB5PWG on EL29; W5VY, W5WC and
KI5GF on EL09. This last station was the
stronger I heard, a 59+++ signal all the
morning Oscar, co2oj, EL83
6M has been open for several hours on and off
tonight. Been working K5WXN DM61
KB5SMO DM95 KB9MFQ EM36 W5JME
EM15 K0UO EM07 It's 05:46 5/12/98... the
latest it's been open in a long time! Dave Booth
KC6WFS DM04rk
Vhf/uhf tropo - It has been a while since we
had a decent opening. Contacts on 2m and
70cm this morning between northern AL, TN
and central/northern TX. Anyone along the
path might give a call this evening; it might
still be with us (nothing seen on 23 or 13cm).
Robert K4MRW EM64pw
Well the band has been open for the last
several hours. Working stations to the north.
W7sz cn85 wa7tue cn89 ve6ska cn96 wi6z
cn84
It's still very much open! 5/13/98 04:12 UTC
Dave KC6WFS DM04rk
2 meter tropo. On 5/13 Worked W1GUD EL87
(Tampa area) and KD4ESV EL87 at 1015z on
144.200 USB. Both stations running 5x2 - 5x3.
Also working well back to the West and
Northwest from here (EM23-Texarkana)at this
hour. Jim KM5PO
2m opening late Wed evening from 0300z0400z from EN34oa (southern MN) worked
EM13 (W5FKN) and EL17 W5UWB John
(1145 miles) on CW. Also heard W5UWB on
SSB! W0OHU Ed Kasson, MN EN34oa
Cuba into Midwest on 2M Tropo Oscar,
CO2OJ worked into the heartland May 14
UTC around 0400 - 0430z on 144.200 MHz
tropo. Large pileup of 5s and zeros calling him
sounded more like 20 meters than 2M.
W0RRY EM26 and W0EKZ EM17 made the
grade. I packed my 2M gear - a TR-751A and
a 4-el yagi in the car and drove out to a clear
rise a couple of miles east of Wichita. Oscar
was solid copy at 0420 and gave him a 5/5
report at 0422 UTC. This is around a 1400mile path. Earlier worked W5UWB EL17.Jon
N0JK Wichita, KS EM17
Great Plains to SW Florida on 2m Heard S.
Dakota station on 144.200 about 0415z here in
Naples Florida this morning. Signal was about
4x1. Don't have the call hr at the office (forgot
it this am). Have worked Minneapolis from
this QTH, at what appears to be near limits of
double hop Es. This one would have been
about same distance. 80 watts/15 el/40 feet
wouldn't quite punch through from here.
Maybe next time. N0YQK (?) in KS also heard
about 5x1...also not worked as band dipped a
bit. Will be back in there tonight. Gary Arnold,
WB2WPA
Another fantastic 2m opening yesterday night
(14/5/98 from 0230 UTC on) Party started with
N7JJS, Randy, in EM60 with a tremendous
59++ signal. Later at 0400 worked KB4VHW
and KD4AKE also in EM60; K5CM and
N5KW in EM25; W0RY in EM26 and
my best DX, W0EZZ in EM17. 1315
miles
or the same, 2117 kms away!!!!! Signals
were not strong, some were 44 and less.
An interesting thing W4AMJ, Frank, in
EL86 was on the frequency making me
some "marketing". There were stations
in Oklahoma that I worked perfectly and
Frank didn’t even hear. Today in the
morning, 1300 UTC, N7JJS told me he
worked a couple of stations at EN13 on
144.230 MHz but I heard nothing.
Almost a week of tropo on 2m!!! I
haven't seen anything like that in the last
3 years. South Florida TV Channels are
local here. My last big opening in 2m
was in 1995. I had no opening into
Texas, etc on 1996 and 1997 (and I'm
almost always listening) so, Do you
thing this week of tropo has some
relation with "El Niño"? That is
something to think and discuss about.
Oscar, co2oj, el83
2M open Cape Cod > FL 5/15 I woke up
to Florida stations all 59 Clint W1LP
CO2OJ IN FN41 ON 2M finally worked
Oscar at 1030LT on 2M with signals
peaking 53. EL83ST > FN41SR 2350
KM Boy, I'm glad I missed all the good
deals at Dayton!!! Clint W1LP
6 OPEN OHIO TO LOUISIANA
5/16/98 QSO FROM EN80 TO EM30
2139 Z NORM N8RGR
6m TRUE dx QSO 5/16 I worked cx6dh
on 6m (ssb/50.115MHz) at 2158Z while
rig was scanning. Not another peep
heard from anyone or any beacons. Very
weak, but didn't care! A new one, and
first F-related DX QSO since Feb 1992. I
later connected to cluster and saw LU's
into \VE1, but never heard a thing here.
Did work 2 W4's in em83 about an hour
later on Es. MIKE VE9AA
6 Meters open 5/17 from CN86 to grids
in Arizona and New Mexico with double
hop from EL 17 in Texas. Began around
0230Z and still open. Loren WA7SKT
CN86
6M SS CN85 5/16 PM
This was a slow contest until the last
hour or so up here in the Pacific
Northwest. One interesting spot was
hearing a KD4??? in EL88 about 0030Z
on 50.125. I was set up for CW at that
moment and couldn't switch things over
quick enough to work or write down the
complete call, although I did hear it. So
there was a brief double hop link up this
way. N3EG/7 was set up on a hill about
60mi NW of here around 2000' ASL.
Earl was able to work a VE6 on weak
AU. Nothing down here. N5JHV came
RMVHF+ May 1998
in here at 0152Z with a decent signal
and was around til after the Sprint. No
one else was around til 0208Z with
N5HHS in DM72. The rest of the
Sprint was mainly into AZ & NM.
W5UWB (EL17) was in @ 0234Z
with also a very good signal.
KA0BAD (DM57) @ 0245Z. Worked
3 stations in DM14 and heard N6RMJ
but n/c with Pat. Wound up with
~42Q/17G. Band stayed open to AZ
for about another hour with decent
signal levels Dave, N7DB (CN85)
6m Sprint results - Great conditions in
South Texas!
216 Q’s, 85 Grids,
Score 18360 Rig: 1kw, 6 elements at
50' AGL John W5UWB EL17ax
6m opened to EL83 on 5/17 from
1300 to 1430 UTC. Worked 23
stations mainly in Texas, Mississippi
and Arkansas. Signals were good but
with QSB.
After QSO on 6m,
WB5XND, EM30, and me tried and
made a 2m contact. Tropo seems to be
ended but nevertheless we exchange a
33 report on 144.250 MHz. Heard 2
beacons: Six Club Beacon on 50.062,
5/5 and WB7GZ (?) in DM40 4/3.
Band was open, but not too much
activity. Talked with several new
comers to the "magic bands". That's is
good! Oscar, co2oj
6 Meter Sprint Results from DM-79
87 QSO’s and 27 grids...the band
opened for the last 1.5 hours of the
Sprint. Equipment: IC-756, 1 kW, and
6 elements at 85'. Lauren W0LD
2 meters open 5/17 Working N0KQY
DM98 with Q5 signal. Been chit
chatting for 30 minutes. 144.220 USB
Jim KM5PO
Last Week’s Tropo
For those who like statistics, here are
some "numbers" of the "one in ten
years" week of tropo on 2m, from and
to Habana >EL83. CO2OJ's station:
100w and 9 ele homebrew yagi, 12
feet over the roof. 65 QSO's x 36
Grids worked - EL's... 09, 29, 49, 59,
79, 86, 87, 88, 89, 94, 95, 96 and 98 EM's... 00, 05, 10, 11, 12, 17, 25, 26,
30, 31, 32, 35, 40, 50, 51, 60, 61, 70,
71 and 90 - FM03, FN41 and DL98 Best distances. DL98, EM17 and
FN41. - Best days, 8 and 15/may. Best
time, after 0300 UTC. Oscar, CO2OJ,
EL83
PAGE 9
Six Open In All Directions from EM55
5/18 It started with a strong opening into
the NE and moved to the west. Along the
way, it included the Midwest and just a
few minutes ago, I was working
Wyoming and got a call from a station in
EL88 on the back of my beam! To give
one an idea, here are the new grids I
picked up: DN52, DN72, DN60, EN85,
EN90, EN89, EL39 and EL88! Steve,
N4JQQ, EM55 Worked AB7CE in DN36
S9 0210Z 5/19 W1GUD EL87
OTHER CONTEST PLANS
We will be on Signal Peak in Grid Square
CM99 at 8000'. Call used will be
KA6NBC. We will be on 6M, 2M, 222,
432, and 1296. Possibly 10 GHz wide
Band FM. We will be running BIG
stations on all but 10 GHz. Ops will be
KA6NBC,
WA5YWC,
KC6TEU,
KC6BWO, and WA6TMJ. Location may
change due to weather conditions in
June. Ken KC6TEU
WA6KLK will be operating from
DN12nr, Owyhee County, Idaho. Will be
on 6-2-432-1296 with moderate power
and antennas. The mountain is called
South Mountain, and has a beautiful shot
in 360 azimuth, with an elevation of 8,000
feet. WA6KLK Len
DM54 K5AM 50, 144, 222, 432 from
Horse Mountain; on Rattlesnake Ridge at
7900 feet in Catron county, NM. This is a
permanent contest site with cabin, towers,
and generator power. Please QSL to call
book QTH; replies may be delayed until I
return home in October.
I plan to be at 9000' on top of Monte
Cristo, 40 mi. NE of Ogden in DN41.
Will operate on 50, 144, & 432 SSB and
223.5 FM. Charlie N7SFT
I'll be Rover in grids DM12, DM13,
DM03, DM04, DM15, DM05, CM95, and
CM94. I'll be on the following bands. 6M
SSB and FM AND "AM" 150W. KB6KQ
loop. 2M SSB and FM 350W KB6KQ
loop 220 SSB? Only FM 10w only for
now. 440 SSB and FM 100w KB6KQ
loop. Dave Booth KC6WFS DM04rk
Am looking at trying at least a moderate
rover schedule in June in eastern Kansas
on 6 2 222 432 & 1296. Still working out
details on itinerary. Bill N3KKM
We'll be M/M as usual from EN44
(Wisconsin), 6-2304. Paul Husby, W0UC
Mark, WB0OAJ, and Myron, WV0H will
CONTEST PLANS
be operating K0ND from DN85 in
(Continued Page 11)
PAGE 10
RMVHF+ May 1998
By Letter - By Phone - By Email - BY Packet -On the Air
Reader’s Comments -
(Rover Continued from Back Cover)
and Oklahoma. I did this partly because
our former "world class" rovers, N0LRJ
and many others have refused to rove
because of the "W3EP rules" and the
hardly better "modified" rover rules
instituted by the CAC three years ago.
Without rovers, VHF contests here are
exceedingly dull as virtually all fixed
stations within 400 miles are located in
just 10 grids and can be worked in just a
few hours. Rovers activated the other
30+ grids, where there is no fixed
operation, before the rule changes which
penalized- scorewise- activating rare
grids. A rover can now do MUCH better
scorewise by sitting atop of Pikes Peak
DM78 (our second most active grid) day
one and sitting atop of Mount Evans
DM79 (our most active grid) day 2. A
similar scoring situation holds true in all
parts of the country, but areas like our
own where there is no fixed activity in
most grids are hurt the worse when there
is little or no rover activity. With almost
no rover activity, contest activity here
has been dismal the past three years.
When several of us pointed this out three
years ago, we were put down and
insulted on the VHF reflector and, in my
case, also the CAC reflector by several
east coast hams including the former
CAC chairman and Emil, W3EP. Of
course, that did not endear me to ARRL
VHF contesting and, while operating a
few hours and working virtually
everyone within 400 miles, I have not
submitted my results since the rover
rules change. Our other Colorado Big
Guns have also maintained a low profile
the past three years.
After my enthusiasm in January at the
time of my rover operation and
subsequent displeasure two weeks later
when
the
Membership
Services
Committee vetoed the CAC vote, I
remain on the sidelines except for this
one letter to you. Your concern about
the missing logs is possibly a ray of hope
that you will also be concerned about this
very bad rover situation which has
profoundly hurt VHF weak signal
operation in many parts of the country.
After spending so much of my time and
energy promoting weak signal VHF
activity in this region for 10 years, only to
have seen that effort undermined by the
W3EP and modified rover rules, I am a
very disappointed and angry ARRL
member.
I did not send in my rover score from the
January contest and do not plan to rove
again until the ARRL responds to its
members wishes as reflected by the recent
CAC vote.
Sincerely,
Doug Allen W0AH ex-W2CRS WAS on
144 MHz and active on VHF since 1956.
As we go to press the Tropo that is
affecting the Midwest and south is still
continuing, I’ve tried to include the
highlights of the Es, Aurora and Tropo in
“From The Reflector” and would
encourage reader feedback on what
you’d like to see. As the Es become more
frequent and hopefully F2 starts on 6m I
feel I’ll need to balance this a little more.
I have a few things on hold for next issue
and I’m following the “Battle of the
Bands” situations also. I’d like to urge
everyone to ACT fast on the Land Mobile
Services request to gain access to OUR
70-CM band. If developments warrant
over the next few weeks we may add a
“LUCKY 13”. If needed. We’re also
following the “Band Plan” rulemaking
requested by the ARRL, so far it seems
“wishy-washy” from what we’ve read.
More as it happens and hope to work
everybody in the June Contest. 73 W&J
NETS
Saturday Morning
9:45 AM Mountain Time
50.130 MHz Denver area SIN
Local Net
SUNDAY MORNING
8:30 AM MOUNTAIN TIME
WSWSS on 3.940mhz , net control
is KB6KQ in Carson City Nevada,
MONDAY NIGHTS
7 PM Mountain Time - Weak
signal VHF Group 3843 kHz
7 PM Mountain Time - The
Colorado ARES NET meets on
144.220.
7:30 PM Mountain Time - The
New Mexico NET meets on
144.200
7:30 PM Mountain Time “Friends on Two” net meets
Colorado Front Range Horizontal
and Verticle. Rag Chew and local
info. Dave W6OAL Net Control
8 PM Mountain Time - Rocky
Mountain VHF+ meets on 144.220
N0POH - K0RP - KE0CO and
others
0200 UTC - 3.843 kHz VHF
Group Net.
Wednesday Nights
7:00 PM Mountain time
50.130 MHz Denver area local
SIN net.
ACTIVITY NIGHTS
Tuesday 8 PM Local - 222.1
Wednesday 8 PM Local - 432.1
Thursday 8 PM Local - 1296.1
RMVHF+ May 1998
PAGE 11
1998 VHF+ Events Calendar+
Times listed as AM/PM are local time. Our thanks to Pierre Jolin VE2PIJ for posting the Contests on the VHF Reflector. Please send
corrections to RMVHF+ and [email protected]. Meteor data from Gary Kronk http://medinfo.wusti.edu/~kronkg/
MAY 30
8 AM Local
Hamfest Larimer County CO
Fairgrounds
JUN 13-15
1800z-0300z
ARRL June VHF QSO Party
50MHz & up
JUN 20-21
0000z-2400z
SMIRK 6 Meter Contest
50MHz
JUL 1
0000z-2359z
RAC Canada Day Contest
50MHz
JUL 6
7 PM-10PM L
NLRS Summer All-Band Sprint
50MHz & up
JUL 11-12
1800z-2100z
CQ World-Wide VHF Contest
50MHz & up
JUL 11-12
1800z-2400z
Internet 6m DX Contest
50MHz
Central States VHF Society
Kansas City, MO
222MHz & up
JUL 23-26
AUG 01-02
1800z-1800z
ARRL August UHF Contest
Aug 12
0600-1800
Perseids Peak time
AUG 15 &16
8 AM-8 PM L
ARRL 10-GHz Cumulative Contest
10GHz & up
AUG 29 - 30
All Day
MARC Campfest CO Lion’s
Campground Don 719-687-3692
Woodland Park, CO
AUG sept
7 PM-11PM L
Annual WSWSS VHF Sprint
50MHz & up
SEP 12-14
1800z-0300z
ARRL September VHF QSO Party
50MHz & up
SEP 19 & 20
8 AM-8 PM L
ARRL 10-GHz Cumulative Contest
10GHz & up
Oct 15 -18
See Sked Feb Issue Microwave Update 98 (See Feb 98
Page 12
page 12 for info.
More Details to follow
OCT
0000z-2400z
ARRL International EME
50MHz & up
NOV
0000z-2400z
ARRL International EME
50MHz & up
DEC 7
7PM -10PM L
NLRS Winter All-Band Sprint
50MHz & up
DEC 27
0000z-2359z
RAC Canada Winter Contest
50MHz,144MHz, HF
Northwestern South Dakota for the June
VHF contest. They will be on 6,2,222,432,
Limited Multi-op. They are looking for
schedules. Please contact me to set up
schedules and I will pass on to them. Todd,
WD0T [email protected]
Shawn N7LQ will be DN01 6, 2, 432, 1296
and 2304 EME on 432. Legal limit on all
except 1296 and 2304. (WCVHFer)
N7TUA/R Jennifer hopes to rover most
grids in Northern Nevada 6, 2, 432 and
222 FM (WCVHFer)
WA6ODH Jim w/N6RMJ Pat, WA6DJS
Ed, and K6KWG Dick plan to be on Mt.
Frazer in DM04. QRV on 6, 2, 222, and
432 (WCVHFer)
N7RDZ Don will be on from home DM45
6 and 2 (WCVHFer)
W6IJZ/7 Bob QRV DM44 on 6 and 2
(WCVHFer)
N6MA Paul QRV from DM45 6 and 2
from 7000’ (WCVHFer)
KB6KQ DN09 6, 2, 223 and 432
(WCVHFer)
N6NB DM05 6 through 1296 (WCVHFer)
N9LAG Bald Knob Mtn 6 – 1296 skeds
[email protected] (WCVHFer)
N6HKF DM14 6, 2 and 432 (WCVHFer)
The KF9US rover-mobile will be roaming
the lower Great Lakes region again this
time, starting in the Chicago area on
Saturday June 13, and moving across
Indiana and Michigan, into the Detroit area
at the conclusion on Sunday evening. The
grids to be covered will be: EN51, 52,61
and 62 on Saturday EN61, 71,72,83 and 82
on Sunday 6, 2, 222, 432, 903, 1296, 10
GHz
Six Club Beacon
http://6mt.com/club.htm
The Six Club has put up a beacon on
50.062 CW, which use to be ka0nno/
n0eoq beacon frequency. It IDs this
way: six club em24 de n0eoq This
beacon is being transmitted by a MFJ
6mt TX, 10 watts to a 3 ring Saturn 6
halo at 2100 feet.
RF Programs Available
Ron Klimas WZ1V
I've
made
available
at
http://
www.connix.com/~wz1v/vhf-soft.html
Software recommended by Ed Hare
W1RFI of the ARRL for evaluating FCC
RF Exposure Regulations compliance: 1:
An updated version of Wayne Overbecks'
RFSAFETY.ZIP
(now
includes
RFX.EXE). This will suffice for most
people. 2: For those that really want more,
pick up the 1.3M RFSAFE.ZIP archive.
This collection includes the full NEC2S
program (w/ antennas and docs), K6STI's
NF (Near Field, w/ antennas), and the
RFSAFETY software described above.
Additional information:
http://www.arrl.org/news/rfsafety/ - RF
Exposure Regulations News
http://www.arrl.org/catalog/6621/ - RF
Exposure and You
"RF Exposure and You" by Ed Hare
W1RFI is available via the ARRL
Bookstore.
PAGE 12
RMVHF+ May 1998
Guest Editorial - Where Are Our Rover Rules?
by Doug W0AH
On the heels of the news that NN5DX/
R, K7XC, KJ6KO and possibly others
had their January Contest scores
“Lost” by the ARRL, even though they
had received confirmation of receipt emails in return. RMVHF+ has received
a copy of a letter from Doug W0AH to
a Membership Services Committee
member that addresses a concern of
RMVHF readers. (N0POH)
I'm pleased by your concern and effort,
as an appointed Membership Services
Committee member and fellow
VHF’er, to rectify the missing log
situation. My EME test and SS logs (I
operated both, one of the weekends!)
were both sent by snail-mail, received,
and published so I am not affected. I
have resisted sending my logs by email
because of the glitches that remain. But I
have other concerns that have harmed the
ARRL and weak signal VHF operation to
a much greater degree that the missing
logs problem.
I continue to be very concerned, upset,
and angry by the rover situation, which
has profoundly hurt weak signal VHF
activity in our part of the country. I will
not go into the long, unpleasant history of
my involvement in the rover situation
except to say that it very nearly caused
me and some others here to cancel out
ARRL membership.
However, I've
always thought it preferable to work
within the system IF the system is
democratic. With the recent 11-3 vote
by the CAC to return to original rules
(with a provision to forbid grid circling)
and the veto of it by the Membership
Services Committee, I wonder how
democratic our ARRL is.
In anticipation and celebration of the
return to the original rover rules- it was
widely predicted in January that the CAC
was overwhelmingly ready to vote that
way- I operated as a rover during the
January test, operating from 11 grids in
four states, Colorado, New Mexico,
Texas,
(Continued Inside Page 10)