ARRL 222-And-Up Distance Contest 2024
category: MULTI-OPERATOR, FIXED
contest region 11 (MI, OH, VE3, NNY, WNY, WPA)
callsign: N2SLN
OPERATORS
Lu N2SLN -- 222 / 223.5 / 432 equipment supplier
Jon W2BDN -- 902 / 1296 equipment supplier
ANTENNA SYSTEM
- 222: Directive Systems 10 element "rover special" yagi, horizontally polarized, used for both SSB/CW and FM
- 432: pair of Directive Systems 15-element K1FO Yagis
- 902: single Directive Systems 19-el Loop Yagi
- 1296: single Directive Systems 25-el Loop Yagi
RADIO EQUIPMENT
222:
driver side Icom IC-7000
DownEast Microwave transverter
Advanced Receiver Research RF-sensed preamp
DCI bandpass filter
TE Systems amplifier at 200 watts
432:
passenger side Icom IC-7000
commercial bandpass filter
TE Systems amplifier at 60 watts with built-in preamp
van 2:
902:
IF Radio: Icom IC-706
DEMI transverter, 25 watts
homebrew sequencer
VHF Design preamp
1296:
same IF radio
DEMI transverter, 25 watts
DESCRIPTION
Wow, our 38 contacts was more than the 36 in the CQ WW VHF Contest. I never thought I'd see that happen, and we really got revenge on last year's bad luck
which makes it even better. As I was climbing the access road to our hilltop Saturday I heard 6m open to Alabama, and then later heard a Mexican beacon out
of EL39. Let's see, should I try working 6m DX on my rooftop loop, or focus on the 222-And-Up? After a fair amount of driving in an uncomfortable cargo
van, I wouldn't want to waste that effort, so I began assembling the 222/432 antennas in order to be on the air at the start. We had wanted to bring the
pair of 17' Yagis for 432, but due to the uncertain wx, the shorter 8' Yagis would allow a quicker getaway (lightning static crashes were being heard on 6m).
At first I thought I would have to tear down immediately and head home, but suddenly I noticed that I wasn't hearing lightning static anymore (and never
heard thunder), so I continued operating. I walked away with 26 contacts for a surprisingly good day. The pulsating noise on 432 was not there anymore; it
must have disappeared when the temporary installation was removed from the hilltop sometime after 2017 when I used to see it there. The bad news is that the
noise on 222 is still S9 and potentially causes me to miss weaker signals. It's not TVI. It's data transmissions from one of the permanent installations on
the hilltop less than 2 MHz below 222.100 MHz. It might be time for a pair of Telewave bandpass filters that can be installed whenever we use this location.
There was no rain Saturday which was supposed to be the worse day. Sunday I got up there at 8 AM and rain was coming down (but no lightning static crashes).
Jon arrived with the good news that the rain would stop in the 10:00 hour and he turned out to be right. We both installed our antennas in the rain anyway
so that we could get started without waiting for clear skies. I made 12 more contacts on the bottom 2 bands and there were several attempts at microwave
contacts, but microwave propagation was poor and there is no line of sight available at this site, so no microwave contacts were made. There was good rover
activity, though, which accounted for 10 of our QSOs and our only use of FM simplex. Best DX on 222 was W1XR FM19hx (356 km / 221 miles). Best DX on 432 was
VA2IW FN25bk (353 km / 219 miles). Neither of those distances is very impressive, but the Hepburn tropo index did show a gnarled troposphere. Strangely, no
activity was heard to the west. We were located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in eastern FN22.
POINTS SUMMARY
Band QSOs total distance (km) band factor total points
---------------------------------------------------------------
222 20 3901.4 2 7802.8
432 18 3603.5 1 3603.5
902 0 0 4 0
1296 0 0 2 0
---------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS 38 7504.9 11,406
all distances are calculated with the Grid Distance Calculator
LOG
START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CALLSIGN: N2SLN
CONTEST: ARRL-222
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: MULTI-OP
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH
CLAIMED-SCORE: 11406
LOCATION: WNY
CREATED-BY: hand
NAME:
ADDRESS:
ADDRESS-CITY:
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE:
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE:
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA
OPERATORS: W2BDN N2SLN @N2SLN/P
SOAPBOX: contest region 11 (MI-OH-VE3-NNY-WNY-WPA)
QSO: 222 CW 2024-08-03 1802 N2SLN FN22qj K1ZK FN34jj
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1814 N2SLN FN22qj K1ZK FN34jj
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1825 N2SLN FN22qj W1XR FM19hx
QSO: 432 CW 2024-08-03 1843 N2SLN FN22qj VA2IW FN25bk
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1900 N2SLN FN22qj N1SV FN42bl
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1901 N2SLN FN22qj KJ1K/R FN32kp
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1917 N2SLN FN22qj W1AUV FN32ii
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1920 N2SLN FN22qj W1AUV FN32ii
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1921 N2SLN FN22qj N1SV FN42bl
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1924 N2SLN FN22qj WZ1V FN31rh
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1925 N2SLN FN22qj WZ1V FN31rh
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1934 N2SLN FN22qj WW2Y FN24vr
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 1937 N2SLN FN22qj WW2Y FN24vr
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1940 N2SLN FN22qj KB2YCC FN12nf
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 1949 N2SLN FN22qj WB2VVV FN41cr
QSO: 432 CW 2024-08-03 1954 N2SLN FN22qj WB2VVV FN41cr
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 2016 N2SLN FN22qj W2SZ FN22xu
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 2023 N2SLN FN22qj W2SZ FN22xu
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 2046 N2SLN FN22qj WA1RKS FN32in
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 2120 N2SLN FN22qj KJ1K/R FN32kp
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 2121 N2SLN FN22qj AF1T FN43cd
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 2123 N2SLN FN22qj AF1T FN43cd
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-03 2148 N2SLN FN22qj VE3KG FN24av
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 2150 N2SLN FN22qj VE3KG FN24av
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-03 2213 N2SLN FN22qj W1RGA/R FN32kp
QSO: 222 FM 2024-08-03 2215 N2SLN FN22qj W1RGA/R FN32kp
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-04 1501 N2SLN FN22qj K1WHS FN43mj
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-04 1502 N2SLN FN22qj K1WHS FN43mj
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-04 1535 N2SLN FN22qj W1RGA/R FN33kd
QSO: 222 FM 2024-08-04 1602 N2SLN FN22qj W1RGA/R FN33kd
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-04 1622 N2SLN FN22qj W1GHZ FN34uj
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-04 1627 N2SLN FN22qj WB2SIH/R FN33dk
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-04 1628 N2SLN FN22qj WB2SIH/R FN33dk
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-04 1716 N2SLN FN22qj KR1ST FN21fk
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-04 1717 N2SLN FN22qj KR1ST FN21fk
QSO: 432 PH 2024-08-04 1721 N2SLN FN22qj KJ1K/R FN22xp
QSO: 222 PH 2024-08-04 1724 N2SLN FN22qj KJ1K/R FN22xp
QSO: 432 CW 2024-08-04 1731 N2SLN FN22qj W1GHZ FN34uj
END-OF-LOG: