[WSWSS] DM26-DM05vsDM03-CM98

[Ralph Bergman]

4 Aug.. 03

Ralph:

I take it back & apologize for being insistantly certain on the WSWSS 75M
Net on the distance from here to N6NB's contest site & urs to CM98.
Not knowing the DM05 or the CM98 6 letter grid locator, the grid
calculators show my path was 220 +/- 30 MI., while yours was 380 +/-
unknown miles.

The contest activity sucked here. Other than 2 Las Vegas 432 contacts on
SSB, the only other activity wkd within 165 mi.hr was K1VOW. All my other
activity was S. Calif. & guys like N6EQ which are likely given contacts,
didn't show for me. Everybody seemed to ask where the San Diego guys
were. K6CYS told me there has bewen a mass retreat from the weak signal
activity down there & he is seeing a lot of eqpt. now at tail gate & swap
meet sessions. I know that a certain station in Pinion Hills has caused a
lot of raucus, & most guys within his "saturation range" just plain stay
off the air. I remember when he used to go out on Rover activity, & he
was very elusive & sometimes hard to work  due to some plan or scheme he
used.--My 16 QSO's won't exactly make the record books! Things were not
quite as bad propagation wise as the June contest, but the down activity
was very noticable from last year. I would think it would be up with 6M
gradually scaling back in intensity.

The WSWSS Net on 75M is revealing. I have never even hrd of many of the
calls that check in. I know that many of the paths are difficult to Las
Vegas for most of the calls mentioned, but I think some of that has to do
with rotators being set in one spot, mostly South. I am not the
originator of this observation!

I mentioned that maybe next year, if I'm still active contest-wise, I may
go mostly digital. I know there's not a lot of this activity in the
contest(s) yet, but it is the "great equalizer" for guys like me out here
in the sticks. For one thing, you have an on-line schedule/proplogger
type site called "Ping Jockey," which is a real time indicator & most
activity is skeds. Not only can you arrrange skeds, but your can interact
& watch the progress as well. I don't see anything in the present (UHF
contest)rules that limits this type of liason. After all, the microwave
guys use a repeater link in Calif. to set up their locations and liason.

The one thing about digital that's so different, that's important to me.
I have already worked a number of N. Calif. grids on 222 & 432 that I
cannot hear using analog modes. Also, I can do it without increasing
power or changing the antennas. Most people don't know that yet!--W7CI &
I have tried CW/SSB on 432 to his QTH in DM41, & all we hear are M/S.
pings during showers, no tropo. He says he'll never submit his W.A.S.
award to ARRL with digital contacts as part of his QSL confirmations. To
him, digital is not "real ham rado." Maybe he'll get lucky with a
mountaintopper on SSB/CW.

Keep on truckin' Ralph!

Al Olcott in Las Vegas

k7icw@juno.com
k7icw@arrl.net

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