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Re: Post June VHF Contest Lunch
Michael Daly
For Mike, N5SJ, Saturday I’ll be there
From: nmvhf@groups.io [mailto:nmvhf@groups.io] On Behalf Of Bruce Draper
Saturday is good for me.
On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 6:52 PM, James Duffey <JamesDuffey@...> wrote:
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June Contest Results
KC7QY
Nice write-ups from Duffey and Bill. Thanks. As everyone has mentioned Saturday was almost enough to make one hang it up. Sounded more like the January contest. Worked KK6MC as he roved, W5UHF on all three bands and several others around NM. Fortunately, Mark K5AM assured us that 6 would be open all day Sunday. He was nearly right on that prediction. Caught the opening to So Cal Sunday morning but it fizzled about the time I heard a call from CN89. Managed to log 6M Qs intermittently through the afternoon. Caught some double hop into FN grids and completed with VP9I on 6 CW. Somewhat like last year it appears that all the 8s and 9s were pointed to the northeast so they didn't hear much from the southwest and formed a pretty significant wall for a low power station out here trying to reach the double hop grids. I was pleased to see that, despite all the machinations about FT8, CW is still alive on 6M. I did come across a "new" local, Dennis WV5G who was operating 6M battery powered from Mt Withington, DM63. He said he hadn't been on VHF in quite a while but had resumed interest. I invited him to check out the NM VHF Society. My paltry score summary: Band Mode QSOs Pts Grd Pt/Q 50 CW 10 10 8 1.0 50 USB 30 30 19 1.0 144 CW 1 1 0 1.0 144 USB 5 5 5 1.0 420 USB 3 6 3 2.0 Total Both 49 52 35 1.1 Score : 1,820 Jim KC7QY
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Re: Post June VHF Contest Lunch
James Duffey
Thanks Bruce. See you Saturday. - Duffey
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James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
On Jun 13, 2018, at 20:15, Bruce Draper <bruceaa5b@...> wrote:
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Re: NMVHF Club Callsign W5UHF June Results
James Duffey
Congrats to KG5FHU, WB2FKO, W9RM, and W7QQ for putting the NMVHF Society call on the air for the June Contest and making a good showing of it despite poor conditions.
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Running a multi-multi operation is never easy and putting six bands on the air at a single time is never easy. Bill did a good job of this. Perhaps it was the conditions, but as a rover, I had no problems with passing W5UHF, including to 6M, which could be a problem with the heavy concentration on 6M digital modes. I think all the ops felt comfortable and supported by Bill. The only problems evident from my rover perspective were the 1296 amp kicking out on CW and the lack of 902 at my first stop. Putting in time, or butt in chair time, is critical to any contesting effort, and is very difficult in VHF contests. Hats off to Mike and Olivia for putting in the time on Meteor Scatter overnight to help with mults. That is a tough shift, but pays off as even a few mults on any band multiply QSO points on others. And W9RM brought his multi op VHF experience from the midwest and is probably responsible for the 6M station doing as well as it did. It is wonderful for Keith to share his experiences with us. And, I suspect that Reita deserves more than a hearty thanks for putting up with it all, graciously. All, thanks for the effort. Twenty percent of my contacts were with W5UHF, and given the 902 and 1296 QSOes more than that fraction of my score. I know that many in NM have W5UHF in their log on all the bands they have. That is worth a lot. Again thanks. - Duffey KK6MC James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
On Jun 13, 2018, at 19:08, Bill <bill4070@...> wrote:
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Re: Post June VHF Contest Lunch
Bruce Draper
Saturday is good for me.
On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 6:52 PM, James Duffey <JamesDuffey@...> wrote: It is always nice to get together after the contests to brag, complain, exchange ideas, and plan for the next contest. I have had problems coordinating lunch dates with everyone’s schedule, so there will be two lunches. You can go to one or the other, or both. I will be at both.
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Re: NMVHF Club Callsign W5UHF June Results
Michael Daly
Great results – due to lots of hard work and diligence. Mike, n5sj
From: nmvhf@groups.io [mailto:nmvhf@groups.io] On Behalf Of Bill
Hi VHF'rs,
Thought you might be interested in the results of the Multi-multi June contest effort for W5UHF Club Callsign of the New Mexico VHF Society. So here's the final talley.
Band Mode QSOs Pts Grd Pt/Q
This was a pretty good effort considering the propagation gods took a pass on New Mexico for the most part. Thanks to all who participated.
73 Bill W7QQ
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NMVHF Club Callsign W5UHF June Results
Bill
Hi VHF'rs, Thought you might be interested in the results of the Multi-multi June contest effort for W5UHF Club Callsign of the New Mexico VHF Society. So here's the final talley.
Band Mode QSOs Pts Grd Pt/Q 50 CW 8 8 2 1.0 50 FT8 40 40 23 1.0 50 MSK1 24 24 19 1.0 50 USB 195 195 75 1.0 144 MSK1 4 4 3 1.0 144 USB 31 31 15 1.0 222 FM 1 2 1 2.0 222 USB 9 18 6 2.0 420 CW 3 6 2 2.0 420 USB 15 30 8 2.0 902 USB 2 6 2 3.0 1240 USB 6 18 5 3.0 Total Both 338 382 161 1.1 Score: 61,502 1 Mult = 2.1 Q's This was a pretty good effort considering the propagation gods took a pass on New Mexico for the most part. Thanks to all who participated. 73 Bill W7QQ
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Post June VHF Contest Lunch
James Duffey
It is always nice to get together after the contests to brag, complain, exchange ideas, and plan for the next contest. I have had problems coordinating lunch dates with everyone’s schedule, so there will be two lunches. You can go to one or the other, or both. I will be at both.
Thursday we will meet for lunch 1230 at El Patio Harvard & Silver. Saturday we will meet for lunch 1130 at Que Huang, Central & Louisiana. Although not necessary, if you are planning on coming, let me know so I can figure out how big a table to get. Looking forward to seeing you at lunch. - Duffey KK6MC James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
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Re: KK6MC/r in the June VHF Contest
Mike WB2FKO
W5UHF had its share of problems, but the team put their collective heads together and calmly solved them as they came up. The chemistry was good. We worked the contest hard and because it was June -- made a considerable effort on 6m. W9RM had us running as many as THREE yagi beams simultaneously, pointing in various directions listening for any and all possible Es openings. Alas, most of the southwest had little to work with save for a decent double-hop into the FN and FM grids on Sunday afternoon. FT8 let us pick up multipliers from weak, patchy, short-lived 6m openings throughout the weekend. Otherwise it would have been pretty boring. FT8 is having some adoption issues in the VHF community, but the tech is solid and I am really sold on it for making QSOs using ultra-weak (ie. inaudible) signals. The late night meteors were not very good, but with nothing else going on we ran some long skeds with whoever was up for it. A highlight was working KB7ME in CN85 at 1100+ miles on 2m MSK144, despite the amplifier constantly overheating. KG5FHU was at the controls for that one -- the last ping was so loud it startled her at the keyboard. I think that was about 3 AM.
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Thanks to Bill and Reita for being gracious hosts at the contest QTH. WB2FKO
On 06/13/2018 05:14 PM, Bill wrote:
Jim,
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Re: KK6MC/r in the June VHF Contest
Bill
Jim, Nice report. I believe there was enhancement because I called CQ regularly to the west on 144 with no response. Late Saturday I worked WA7JTM and WA8ZGT and stations in DM43, 45, 46, 33, 34 and 54; all easy copy. Thinking these were not enhancement contacts I did not try to work the other bands until I had worked out the band on 2M. When I QSY'd to 432 I worked two stations. After calling on 432 for a few minutes I returned to 144 and everyone was gone. Never worked WA7XX although I called on his bearing several times and for 15 minutes at a time...... Nothing. I was thrilled to work WA5FBM in El Paso on 1296 phone but it looks likes that DX record didn't stand for more than a few hours before you took it over. Very Nice! I was using a bigger antenna and 80 watts....... I had all the advantages; good work. You had some great contacts and I'm envious. I couldn't reach anyone in EP on 222 even though we set it up on 144. Just didn't work. Never worked DM55 which was disappointing. We did have some nice long Qs on WSJT on 144 and 222. We easily worked Marshall on 144 in 5 minutes. Every station we had a sked with (about 25) we worked without struggling so that was very satisfying. Learned a lot; so much so I hope I can retain most of it. Lots of work and the station was pretty kluged. WSJT-x v 1.9.1 allowed that program and N1MM+ to be active on a single comm port at one time. Clicking on the "Log QSO" button placed the Q into N1MM+ reliably and with all needed Q info; all seamlessly. Getting it going on both radios required working til 3AM on Saturday and a little more at 8 AM Saturday after a little recharge but we got it done. Nothing failed outright but there were some compromises: The Kw amp on 144 overheated and shut down after half a dozen FT8 cycles probably due to the 40 watts of return power from the stacked antennas. It started by itsself after a few minutes of cooling. So we had to lighten up on that one. 5-600 watts still did FB on JT modes and running a full KW on SSB and CW was not a problem. Gotta correct the antenna SWR. The 222 amp ran at 1.1 kw without a problem on JT, SSB and CW. Keith's amp ran about 900 watts on 6M without a whimper. The shack was a mess with stuff taped in position and some components not accessible from the chair(s). I had lost so much sleep I kinda got used to it. The WX was hot and the ham shack got uncomfortable with all the gear and people. Didn't expect that. A big box fan pulling in air from the open window helped a lot. Are we meeting for lunch this week? 73 Bill W7QQ
On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 4:02 PM, James Duffey <JamesDuffey@...> wrote:
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KK6MC/r in the June VHF Contest
James Duffey
Thanks everyone for the QSOes in the contest.
Class: Rover LP QTH: NM Band QSOs Mults ------------------- 6: 74 21 2: 43 11 222: 7 2 432: 23 5 903: 2 1 1.2: 11 3 ------------------- Total: 160 51 Total Score = 11,016 Club: New Mexico VHF Society Mults include 8 for grids activated. 50MHz TS2000X 100W 2EL PAR Stressed Moxon 144MHz TS2000X 100W 8ft W7QQ Yagi 222MHz XV222 transverter 20W 8ft W7QQ Yagi 432MHz TS2000X 50W 8ft W7QQ Yagi 902MHz DEMI transverter 25W Surplus 4 ft Yagi 1296MHz TS2000X 10W 4ft loop Yagi 2010 Subaru Forester Despite conditions being flat, I had a good rove. There was no Es on Saturday, but the crowd in El Paso made up for it with QSOes on all the bands from 50MHz to 1296MHz, except for 902, for which El Paso is in the forbidden zone. There was good local NM 144MHz and 432MHz activity though, which helped. The W5UHF Multi-Multi was a big help to me and others in this contest and I worked them in most of the grids from most of the bands, except for 902MHz in the forbidden zone. They were on 24/7 and one of the first stations I heard when I made a stop. It is always nice to have a reliable indicator when one stops to setup in a new grid. Sunday morning I started out in DM61 again, this time from the west side of the Franklin Mountains. I had operated here several times in the past hoping to work AZ, but had no success. I didn’t think this year would be any better. Boy was I mistaken. I worked WA7XX on SSB on 144MHz, 432MHZ and CW on 1296 at a distance of 330m miles. Not bad for 10W on 1296! so that made the day for both of us. Later I snagged WA7JTM on the east rim of the Grand Canyon on 2M CW for a distance of over 400 miles. As far as I could tell, there were no enhanced conditions for these QSOes with relative humidity of 10% or less over the entire path. I tried with N1RWY in Phoenix, but he was blocked in my direction. I think I could have worked others in AZ with no local obstruction from here as well. In the future I will do better planning. Also 6M opened here to CA with modest Es and I stayed much later than I intended, mostly as I feared I would never be able to work 50MHz DX for the rest of the contest. I wasn’t too far off. I also had QSOes with WA7XX from DM72 and DM73, but signals were down a bit. Those were a bit longer than 300 miles. I had small Es openings from a couple of other grids, but never as good as it was in the morning. I was alone this trip, without a driver, so I missed the times that 6M may have been open between grid stops. I did stop in DM73 at the Valley of the Fires campground to hear some double hop from New England, but could never connect with anyone. Being honest, I paid my $1.50 day use fee, but it was good money chasing bad. I finished the contest in DM74 and DM75 with nice long haul QSOes to K5LA in El Paso and, for the first time in the contest, I was out of the forbidden zone and could work W5UHF on 902MHz. It was nice to hear K5WO on from DM66, a grid that has not been on in the contests for a long time. There is nothing worse than hearing two stations on 6M, far away, who are local to each other ragchewing about how great the opening was and how the band was dead now, and not being able to break them. James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
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Re: Roundtable reminder
KC7QY
Bruce, Not sure I'll make the roundtable tonight but will share that I managed to snag VP9I on cw during the contest Sunday. This weekend certainly accentuated the sporadic in sporadic Es. Saturday was the pits, could just as well have been the January test. Jim KC7QY From: Bruce Draper <bruceaa5b@...> To: nmbrc <nmbrc@groups.io>; nmvhf@groups.io; Michael King <makmak@...>; "Olewine, Michael C" <mcolewi@...> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 3:34 PM Subject: [nmvhf] Roundtable reminder Tuesday evening, 8 PM, 50.133 MHz. Contest and DX stories are encouraged! We had several W6/W7 stations join us last week. -Bruce AA5B
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Roundtable reminder
Bruce Draper
Tuesday evening, 8 PM, 50.133 MHz.
Contest and DX stories are encouraged! We had several W6/W7 stations join us last week. -Bruce AA5B
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Re: FT-817ND Microphone Issues and a Favor
Thanks Alan, good tip. I will expand my search. 73, Jon W0AMT
On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 7:37 PM Alan Shapiro via Groups.Io <nm5s=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
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Re: FT-817ND Microphone Issues and a Favor
Alan Shapiro <nm5s@...>
Hi Jon,
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I have a 817 and mike, but am up in Santa Fe. Also be aware that a mike from other Yaesu radios may work. Mine is interchangeable with the FT-450 that I had. Alan, NM5S On 6/11/2018 7:25 PM, Jonathan Fox
wrote:
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FT-817ND Microphone Issues and a Favor
My FT-817ND has developed a microphone issue. It's not generating any audio. On FM the carrier is there by no audio. On SSB the radio keys up but their is no modulation, no power on the meter, and no ALC action. The radio works fine via the data jack. I made several FT8 contacts on 6 meters during the contest using it. The reason I am bringing it up here is to ask if anyone has an FT-817 and microphone that I could use to test mine. I would like to connect a known good mic to my radio followed by connecting a known good radio to my mic. The goal being to isolate the cause of this issue. Thanks and 73, Jon, W0AMT
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Be sure to log /r for rovers
James Duffey
If you are logging rovers in the contest, be sure to log /r after their call. A rover can also submit a second log from a fixed station, so there is chance of confusion. The log checkers have been pretty forgiving of this in the past, but there are rumors that they may be getting more strict.
It is always good practice to log what is sent. - Duffey KK6MC James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
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Re: KK6MC/r Itinerary for June contest
James Duffey
OK Floyd, thanks for the note. I will be looking for you as well. We should try from my second stop on.
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I will operate on the east side Saturday evening and from the west side Sunday morning. Thanks for the reminder. - Duffey James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
On Jun 8, 2018, at 07:42, Floyd <k5la@...> wrote:
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Re: KK6MC/r Itinerary for June contest
Duffy I will be looking for you. You might stop on the East side of transmountain at the road side park.. That is where I worked Dick K5RHR Los Alamos on SSB 1296.1 I was pointing just at the edge of the mountain with a small directive systems yagi--the one with circles for the elements and 10 watts. On the West side I heard Steve W7CI on cw 1296.1.
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73, Floyd K5la dm61tv.
-----Original Message-----
From: nmvhf@groups.io <nmvhf@groups.io> On Behalf Of James Duffey Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2018 5:58 PM To: nmvhf@groups.io Subject: [nmvhf] KK6MC/r Itinerary for June contest Having recovered from working the polls, I have been able to plan my rove: Time in grid (UTC) Grid Time leaving (UTC) 06-10-18 1800 DM64OT 1915 I am starting west of Los Lunas on Hwy 6 so that I can work 902MHGz before I get to the exclusion zone. This is pretty much LOS to ABQ, so I should be able to work everyone there. 2015 DM64NA 2100 I am stopping a second time in DM64, this time at the Socorro fairgrounds, to have a better shot at the guys in the southern part of the state as well as the El Paso guys. No 902MHz from here though. 2115 DM63NX 2230 I am stopping as soon as I get to DM63 to work the guys in the north. I have not stopped at this site before, so I am not sure how it will work out. I am still in the 902MHz exclusion zone here. :^(= 2300 DM63IA 2345 I am stopping in the last grid in DM63 at the abandoned rest stop north of Caballo in case I can’t get enough guys in the southern part of the state from my first stop in DM63. Change of date UTC 6-10-18 still the same MDT 0000Z DM62IX 0115 This is the other end of the abandoned rest stop above. Nicely located. 0200Z DM62MN 0245Z I will not stop here if I have worked both N and S from the above stop. 0345Z DM61RV 0430Z This is the Transmountain Road scenic overlook on the west side. Should have good shot to the west if anyone in AZ is still up. Watch my APRS. Quit for night, overnight in El Paso. Sunday Morning MDT 1400Z DM61RV 1500Z I am going to start where I left off the night before to try to work the Sunday morning UHF crowd in AZ. 1600Z DM62QK 1630Z I will make a short stop on the Organ Mountain Pass to pick up people I may have missed the first time I was there. 1745Z DM72AW 1800Z This is the parking lot of the NM Space Museum. 1830Z DM73AA 1945Z This is as far up Mountain Meadow Road in the La Luz foothills as I can go before the road gets bad. 2030 DM63XH 2100 Near Oscura to give those who missed DM63 the day before an opportunity. 2130 DM73AQ 2245 Valley of Fire campground/picnic area west of Carrizozo 0115 DM75BA 0230 Rest Area 208, east of Moriarity 0245 DM74BX 0300Z Dump south of I-40. End of contest. I will be on APRS, so you should be able to get updates when I have coverage. Times are subject to change, if things are slow, I may leave early. There isn’t much slack to add time, but I may do that if the bands get good. I will have bands 50MHz to 1296MHz. Cell is (505) 228-5491. Text is best, but don’t necessarily expect an answer right away. Things get busy. You can call as well, but I really prefer text. I hope that everyone has a good contest. Listen for the weak ones. - Duffey KK6MC James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
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KK6MC/r Itinerary for June contest
James Duffey
Having recovered from working the polls, I have been able to plan my rove:
Time in grid (UTC) Grid Time leaving (UTC) 06-10-18 1800 DM64OT 1915 I am starting west of Los Lunas on Hwy 6 so that I can work 902MHGz before I get to the exclusion zone. This is pretty much LOS to ABQ, so I should be able to work everyone there. 2015 DM64NA 2100 I am stopping a second time in DM64, this time at the Socorro fairgrounds, to have a better shot at the guys in the southern part of the state as well as the El Paso guys. No 902MHz from here though. 2115 DM63NX 2230 I am stopping as soon as I get to DM63 to work the guys in the north. I have not stopped at this site before, so I am not sure how it will work out. I am still in the 902MHz exclusion zone here. :^(= 2300 DM63IA 2345 I am stopping in the last grid in DM63 at the abandoned rest stop north of Caballo in case I can’t get enough guys in the southern part of the state from my first stop in DM63. Change of date UTC 6-10-18 still the same MDT 0000Z DM62IX 0115 This is the other end of the abandoned rest stop above. Nicely located. 0200Z DM62MN 0245Z I will not stop here if I have worked both N and S from the above stop. 0345Z DM61RV 0430Z This is the Transmountain Road scenic overlook on the west side. Should have good shot to the west if anyone in AZ is still up. Watch my APRS. Quit for night, overnight in El Paso. Sunday Morning MDT 1400Z DM61RV 1500Z I am going to start where I left off the night before to try to work the Sunday morning UHF crowd in AZ. 1600Z DM62QK 1630Z I will make a short stop on the Organ Mountain Pass to pick up people I may have missed the first time I was there. 1745Z DM72AW 1800Z This is the parking lot of the NM Space Museum. 1830Z DM73AA 1945Z This is as far up Mountain Meadow Road in the La Luz foothills as I can go before the road gets bad. 2030 DM63XH 2100 Near Oscura to give those who missed DM63 the day before an opportunity. 2130 DM73AQ 2245 Valley of Fire campground/picnic area west of Carrizozo 0115 DM75BA 0230 Rest Area 208, east of Moriarity 0245 DM74BX 0300Z Dump south of I-40. End of contest. I will be on APRS, so you should be able to get updates when I have coverage. Times are subject to change, if things are slow, I may leave early. There isn’t much slack to add time, but I may do that if the bands get good. I will have bands 50MHz to 1296MHz. Cell is (505) 228-5491. Text is best, but don’t necessarily expect an answer right away. Things get busy. You can call as well, but I really prefer text. I hope that everyone has a good contest. Listen for the weak ones. - Duffey KK6MC James Duffey KK6MC Cedar Crest NM
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