[NLRS] Meteor scatter on 222 MHz while roving?

[Bill Ockert - ND0B]

Good morning David,

With 100W and either 6 or 8 elements you will have a credible effort at 222 
meteor scatter using FSK441.   I would certainly be looking for you in any 
grids you care to activate.... not to mention states, WI and IA are both on 
my want list in that part of the country (OK, MI too but I doubt you will be 
roving that far).

What I have found in the several months on 222 is that it is actually a 
pretty good band for meteor scatter with FSK441.   The pings are definitely 
fewer and shorter so patience and diligence are virtues but contacts can be 
made with not too much more effort than 2m.  I have logged 20 states and 27 
grids with a fairly modest station since getting on in September of 2012. 
All but a very of the contacts have been meteor scatter.

Two things...

1. If you If you are unfamiliar with FSK441 operation (I do not have you 
logged and your QRZ page does not say) it would be good to get very familiar 
with it before hitting the road.   There are a number of folks including 
myself on the Ping Jockey web site who would be more than happy to help you 
get going if you have not done this before.  You might want to start from 
home on 6m or 2m just because there are more folks and the contacts are a 
bit easier.

2.  Transverters are frequency agile and subject to drift as they warm up. 
It would be very good to know the characteristics of your transverter before 
you hit the road so you can compensate.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help, it would be great to have 
you and KC9JTL active both from home and on the road.

73 de Bill ND0B








-----Original Message----- 
From: David Palm
Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2013 9:43 AM
To: NLRS List ; Badger Contesters List
Subject: [NLRS] Meteor scatter on 222 MHz while roving?



I realize that the focus right now is on the upcoming June contest, but my
attention is out a little further to August.  KC9JTL has graduated from
high school and we're hoping to get one more father/son rove in before he
heads off to college.  So we're putting together what we hope will be a
full-blown roving schedule for August 3-4.  More to come on that.

I'm wondering about the feasibility of doing some meteor scatter skeds on
the Saturday evening of the UHF contest.  Obviously 222 MHz would be the
band of choice and roving brings some additional limitations.  We would be
in suburban Chicago that evening (Lakemoor, IL, EN52 to be precise).

Thanks to KC9BQA we have an Elecraft transverter on 222, so it's a good
low-noise receiver and I can run 100 watts out.  I typically use a
6-element WA5VJB yagi for roving.  But I also have an 8-element N9NB quagi
on a considerably longer boom that I could potentially bring along just for
an evening MS set-up.  Either way, though, these antennas are only going to
be about 10 feet off the ground.

So, the $64K question is whether this is worth gearing up for?  Is the
necessary learning curve worth tackling between now and then, or is it
unlikely realistically to net any significant contacts, even if the
operator is ready to do his part?  I'm just looking for feedback from those
who have some experience in this mode, on this band.

Thanks and 73,

David  W9HQ
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