[600MRG] 2200m Operations

[Larry Molitor]

Over the past few weeks I have been running FST4W beacon modes on 2200m. Given the increased daylight hours and higher QRN as we get into summer conditions, I have been amazed at the results. Daylight paths out to a 1000 miles were common. Night time transcontinental paths were also common. I have never been able to do this consistently using the old WSPR.
I have shut down the TX in preparation for rebuilding the 2200m TX antenna. This will take several weeks most likely. In the meantime, I have setup one of my little SDR's to monitor the band. Currently it is listening for WSPR, FST4W-120 and FST4W-300. If someone is using a different mode regularly, let me know so that I can setup another WSJTX instance and monitor.
The old antenna was a piece of #17 galvanized fence wire about 450 feet long. It ran from the base of the 160 vertical to one of my towers and then down to the front of the property. Think of it as an end fed inverted V, using the 160m radial system for ground. It was 65 feet at the highest point, so mostly horizontal. Best guess after accounting for all the losses both real and imagined, it had a gain of about -31 dBi plus or minus the usual 20 dB error.
The new antenna will be two parallel pieces of #9 aluminum fence wire running from the 160 vertical base to near the top of the big tower 170 feet away. Again the highest point will be about 65 feet. The loading coil will be much better with almost twice the Q of the previous coil. If all goes as the simulations and calculations predict, I should pick up nearly 3 dB in EIRP finally getting me up to the 1 Watt limit. In addition to the EIRP increase, the take off angle will be somewhat lower supposedly helping with the long haul paths. We will see what happens when and if I get it all together.
Thanks for all the reports from those that listened for me!
73,
Larry - W7IUVDN07dgcentral WA, in the Inland Northwest
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