[2m] Skeds vs. Randoms .....

[Jason Wilborn]

  Meteorscatter schedules are often overlooked by many 144mhz operators who 
are just looking to make random SSB meteorscatter  QSOs. The truth is 
prearranged skeds are often much better during all but absolute peak shower 
times. The major advantages are that with skeds you already know whom you 
are trying to work and reports are often shorter than when working a random 
QSO {i.e. the use of S2 instead of your four-character grid square}.

  During the 2001 Geminid  shower  there were a lot of stations watching  
the calling frequency when the peak of the shower occurred , meteor bursts 
where loud but  sparse and far spaced. I had heard the same stations 
callsigns repeated over and over but no one was completing  QSOs because of 
these short bursts.

   Everyone was trying to work only random contacts and because of this a 
lot of good QSOs were lost, I had arranged one sked and we were able to 
complete our sked easily and a new grid was in the books.  Meanwhile, trying 
to set up other schedules someone mentioned that most operators wouldn�t 
make skeds due to the fact that they feared missing out on the random action 
during the peak. What action?!  HI! HI! . Now don�t get me wrong, I like 
random QSOs as much as any SSB scatter op., but in this case there would 
have been a lot more QSOs completed if prearranged schedules were made.

  During the 2001 Persids shower I had prearranged a handful of skeds the 
day before the predicted peak and I ended up completing all of the skeds 
except one {we ran on different frequencies for most of the sked HI!}. The 
next day I had over slept and missed almost all the shower�s peak, so I only 
worked one random QSO and considering  the time of day I was very lucky to 
get this one. If I had not worked the skeds from the previous day my QSO 
count would have been {1}, but due to the QSOs from the day before I had 
worked as many stations as most people who had just worked randoms during 
the peak time.

   Personally I have found the �arranged skeds� to be productive because of 
the previously mention reasons and the fact that you have the opportunity to 
�piece� the information from several bursts together to obtain enough 
information to complete a valid QSO. The callsigns are the hard one to get 
on a single burst because of the length of most of the bursts encountered 
during non-peak time skeds, but after you have received both callsigns the 
report and acknowledgment are often easy to get even in the shortest of SSB 
meteorbursts {i.e. �S2 � and  �Roger S2� are much easier to receive in a 
short ping than KG4BMH de xxxxxx!}.


   When running skeds with others agree on sked frequencies a long way from 
the call frequency or any frequencies that others in your area might operate 
on as another station on the same frequency can sure ruin a otherwise good 
sked {Trust me, this Happens!}. Also please only run your skeds during times 
of high probability when the is actually a good chance of completing a sked 
otherwise you are more than likely wasting you time, there is little point 
of arranging and running skeds when the radiant is below the horizon.
I often hear fellow MS operators wear themselves out calling randoms or 
working skeds hours before the radiant rises and then go to bed from lack of 
sleep just as the �Rocks� are start to heat up! The other thing that a lot 
of fellow operators make the mistake of doing is to arrange skeds that are 
to close for MS range to their own QTH {unless you are over 600 Kilometers 
apart you are probably are too close for MS forwardscatter!}.

  TNX everyone, and see you on the �Rocks �!
   Jason Wilborn  {KG4BMH} .








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