Thanks to yesterdays’ tropo conditions I was able to complete QSO’s with OE3NHW in JN88 and SP6RGB in JO71. Both QSO’s are confirmed today via Logbook of the World (LoTW) and now I’ve got my 100 Maidenhead squares confirmed on 144 MHz. It was tough! It took me about 2 years to achieve this one.
Scoring a DXCC is easy. During the bigger contest you can do it in one weekend on HF with the right antenna and equipment. A VUCC award on 50 MHz can be done in one Sporadic-E season (may-aug). But on 144 MHz you really need time to complete it. Sporadic-E is very rare on this band. Meteor Scatter can help you, but there are only a few big showers a year.
In total I worked 133 Maidenhead squares so far, of which 100 are confirmed via LoTW. I don’t do paper QSL. Now I continue to work on VUCC for 432 MHz (50 squares) and 1296 MHz (25 squares) but this seems to be easier. The squares are already there, only the conformations via LoTW aren’t.
I’d like to thank all stations active on 144 MHz SSB *and* FT8. Yes. FT8 really brought a lot of activity back on 144 MHz tropo stations. And in particular for the FT8 stations in Europe: Also be active on 432.174 MHz.
2 comments
Hello! I’m very glad that my station have helped you to achieve 100 VUCC Award. Hope to meet you again on 2m/70cm bands. Best wishes from Poland. Robert SP6RGB
Hello Randy. I have read some articles on your page, I saw that you have a Moxon 28/50, does this antenna work well? I work 144/50 / 28 it was a good antenna 28/50 for the winter it is small it supports the winds well, can you give me some information about this moxon if it is worth it because the wimo has a moxon 28/50 of 2 + 3 elements.
I currently work with 5 yagi dk7zb elements at 50 mhz and 144 8 dk7zb elements.
Thanks for your time Randy.
73, CU1EZ