[AK-VHF] So close, yet so far

[Brandon Clark]

Ed,

How much meteor scatter activity is there during the VHF contests? I've 
never tried it out at all before, but if it gives a way to reach out of 
Alaska then it might be something worth looking into. It seems like that 
would be a good way to operate during the night when local activity dies 
down, picking up some more grids along the way.

Brandon


On 11/27/18 12:34 PM, Edward R Cole wrote:
> Paul,
>
> Thanks for the promotion of meteor scatter (ms).  I've been trying to 
> interest northern hams in this mode as a way to do some serious VHF 
> DX.  One hop ms will reach out about 1300 miles which is northern 
> Vancouver Is. for hams in south central AK (Anchorage/Kenai 
> Pen./Mat-Su Valley).
>
> Barrow, Nome, Kotzebue, Bethel, Fairbanks, Whitehorse and SE Alaska 
> are all easily reached from Anchorage via ms
>
> MS works best on 6m and one can do it with 100w and a small yagi. Next 
> is 2m which takes a little more antenna and power.  MS has been done 
> up to 432 (with serious stations).  I worked Paul using KL7FF on 
> Prince of Wales Island (CO35RQ - 760mi) on June 9, 2007 on 2m with 
> 150w running ms:
> http://www.kl7uw.com/mslog.htm
>
> I will have my dual-seven element yagi array up possibly by the 
> weekend.  I have 1000w on 6m.  That is enough to do eme as well as 
> ms.  Obviously will make a big presence in a 6m opening.  I have a 
> four yagi array on 2m with 1200w (soon).
>
> Just need stations to get on the air!
>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>
> At 09:49 AM 11/27/2018, Paul Kiesel via ak-vhf wrote:
>> Way to go, Brandon!
>>
>> You will get it done... and more. Identify what you
>> need to concentrate your attention on. Hint:
>> In remote areas and valleys, use meteor scatter
>> by reflecting your signal off distant peaks.
>> MSK144 mode in WSJTx is very effective in doing
>> this. Of course you would have to have a computer
>> along with you to use that mode and also the
>> the stations you want to contact need to have it, too.
>> FT8 is effective if you have continuous propagation
>> but weak signals. MSK144 needs only very short
>> pieces of signal to get information across. That's
>> why it is effective for meteor scatter. Just a
>> suggestion.
>>
>> Keep working at it.
>>
>> I moderate a Distance Scoreboard for members of the
>> Pacific Northwest VHF Society whose member
>> area includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
>> British Columbia. We keep track of distance records
>> within our area. You can get an idea of what is possible
>> by studying the scoreboard. Look here:
>>
>> https://www.qsl.net/k7cw/pnwvhfs/distancescoreboard.html .
>>
>> Meteor scatter contacts can be made at distances as
>> short as 200 miles or even less. Maybe you have
>> already tried it.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> Paul, K7CW
>> AVG Contest Guy
>> --------------------------------------------
>> On Mon, 11/26/18, Brandon Clark <kl7bsc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Subject: [AK-VHF] So close, yet so far
>>  To: "AK VHF+ Group" <ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net>
>>  Date: Monday, November 26, 2018, 10:02 PM
>>
>>  I finally got around to looking at my QST
>>  magazine and saw that the June
>>  VHF results are in. I looked up my call
>>  and found I managed 550 points. Not
>>  bad for my first time ever roving, and
>>  especially in a place where "there's
>>  no VHF activity up here".
>>
>>  The butt kicker though . . . If I had
>>  only another 11 points I would have
>>  made it into QST for the West Coast
>>  Region. (Done that twice before
>>  operating SOP.)
>>
>>  Eleven points! So close, and yet so
>>  far, lol.
>>
>>  Brandon
>>
>>  Ps: Looking forward to the August
>>  contest results. I was able to activate
>>  another two grids in that contest, so I
>>  think I did better than in June.
>>  Fingers crossed.
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>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>   http://www.kl7uw.com
> Dubus-NA Business mail:
>   dubususa at gmail.com