[ADXA] Congrats to Joel!

Fri Jan 14 06:04:39 EST 2022

Thanks Rick and everyone for your kind comments. Its been an 
interesting, intriguing and exciting journey (even though those three 
words don't actually go together in the same sentence!!!!). It was a 
team effort of the 7 of us who were close to completing and it looks 
like the last two of the 7 will complete sometime in February.

You all know I can speak for at least an hour on any topic, I could 
speak at least two hours on this effort and then working NH6Y in Hawaii 
for my last state came close to the excitement (and fear) of my first 
contact as a Novice! During the entire sequence, once we started hearing 
each other, I was on pins and needles, scared to death something was 
going to blow up and I would lose my chance!! Fortunately it didn't. I 
spent Christmas day out in the fog and drizzle tweaking the antenna 
array because the previous two attempts with NH6Y failed. Thank God we 
didn't have a white Christmas and zero degree weather, at least on the 
ground!

The article mentioned at the end of the news story that I am writing 
along with Charlie and Al contains some excellent history as well as 
details of the current activity and propagation modes used. They were 
not all on EME, in fact most were not! The article is about 80% complete 
and I may distribute it here when finished.

73 Joel W5ZN

On 2022-01-13 14:15, Rick Roderick - K5UR - aol address via ADXA wrote:

> Growing Number of Operators Completing WAS on 222 MHz
> Until very recently, it had been some 35 years since the most recent 
> Worked All States (WAS) was awarded on 1.25 meters. Former ARRL 
> President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, in Arkansas; Marshall Williams, K5QE, in 
> Texas, and John Swiniarski, K1OR, in New Hampshire stand at the 
> vanguard of a new generation of VHF enthusiasts aiming at earning the 
> Worked All States (WAS) Award on 222 MHz (1.25 meters). Harrison was 
> issued WAS #11 on 1.25 meters on December 27, 2021, while Williams was 
> issued WAS #12 on January 11, 2022, and Swiniarski was issued WAS #13 
> on January 12.
> "Since the 1980s, a combination of the old guard and a new group have 
> been pursuing this quest," ARRL Radiosport Manager Bart
> 
> W5ZN's 220 MHz array. [Joel Harrison, W5ZN, photo]
> 
> Jahnke, W9JJ, said. Harrison worked Tom Worthington, NH6Y, in Hawaii, 
> for his 50th state, while Williams followed close behind, working James 
> Colson, K7KQA, operating EME portable from Oregon, for his 50th state.
> Jahnke said the honor of being the very first 1.25-meter WAS recipient 
> went to Terry Van Benschoten, W0VB, in 1983, earning what was then "220 
> MHz WAS." Nine others joined the ranks [1] between then and 1987.
> "In recent years, several stations have been working hard toward 
> joining the ranks of WAS holders on this ITU Region 2-only band," 
> Jahnke said. Other stations that have recently worked 50 states and 
> waiting on the last confirmations include K1WHS and WA4NJP. N9HF and 
> N0AKC are nipping at their heels. No activity on 1.25 meters was 
> available in some of the last few needed states, and portable 
> operations by KA6U, KB7Q, K7KQA, and N7GP made contacts possible.
> "Congratulations to [the recent award recipients], and to all those 
> VHF+ state chasers -- and to the many activators of rare 222 MHz states 
> -- on their achievements in this continuing quest for 222 MHz Worked 
> All States," Jahnke said.
> In 1988, when the FCC reallocated the lower portion (220 - 222 MHz) of 
> the 1.25-meter band to the federal government and Land Mobile Service, 
> amateur activity on the band stalled, while adjustments were made to 
> equipment and band plans. During the past several years, so-called 
> "weak-signal" activity, especially EME, has increased on the band with 
> a renewed interest from existing and new band users.
> Amateurs interested in staying abreast of 222 MHz activity can follow 
> the fun on the 222 MHz Activity Reflector [2].
> Harrison, Charlie Betz, N0AKC, and Al Ward, W5LUA, have written an 
> article, "The Quest for 222 MHz WAS," which contains tables, maps, and 
> details on the propagation, locations, and equipment that made their 
> operations possible. Ward was among the initial 10 WAS recipients for 
> 1.25 meters. Plans call for the paper to be presented and published by 
> the Central States VHF Society Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin, July 
> 29 - 30 and at other conferences. Harrison said, the paper also has 
> "lots of history in it about the 1.25-meter band, the original 10, and 
> the group now in the hunt along with ongoing 'roving' efforts of KB7Q 
> and KA6U."
> 
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Links:
------
[1] http://www.arrl.org/50-mhz-and-up-was-lists
[2] https://groups.io/g/222Activity
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