50MHz - 23cm Weak Sig
If as a Amateur Radio Operator you have never experienced the thrill of making that first weak signal contact on VHF and higher then you are missing out on a great aspect of the hobby and an entire frontier of Amateur radio. Words can not express the thrill the first time you experience making a contact on VHF or UHF that is 200, 500, 600 or a 1000 miles away. If you are used to operating FM on 2 meters and up and are used to the limitations of only communicating 15 to 20 miles with out a repeater, then you will be pleasantly surprised when you step into Single Side Band and find contacts 100, 150, 200 miles daily are the norm, and with propagation 500 to 1000 are not uncommon.
If as a Amateur Radio Operator you have never experienced the thrill of making that first weak signal contact on VHF and higher then you are missing out on a great aspect of the hobby and an entire frontier of Amateur radio. Words can not express the thrill the first time you experience making a contact on VHF or UHF that is 200, 500, 600 or a 1000 miles away. If you are used to operating FM on 2 meters and up and are used to the limitations of only communicating 15 to 20 miles with out a repeater, then you will be pleasantly surprised when you step into Single Side Band and find contacts 100, 150, 200 miles daily are the norm, and with propagation 500 to 1000 are not uncommon.
| What is Weak Signal Operating? • Weak signal operating refers to long distance communications that requires an unusual combination of luck, skill, and equipment on the VHF and up amateur frequencies. When everything clicks, it is possible to span distances in excess of 1,400 miles on all bands up to 23cm. Taking advantage of a phenomena known as tropospheric ducting, also known as "tropo.“ 300 to 400 mile contacts are possible. More reliable are contacts made with tropospheric scattering--a good station may have a typical range on the order of 200 miles, much farther than range of most FM repeaters. • Weak signal VHF/UHF work can be one of the most addictive, rewarding and frustrating aspects of amateur radio. It is addictive because the thrill of making a contact right at the noise level, by reflecting your signal off the ionized trail of a meteor, catching a sporadic E opening or by bouncing your signal off the moon just can't be beat. • The reward can range just from the satisfaction of working a new station/grid/state/country, from earning one of the many rewards, or from seeing that new piece of equipment you spent countless hours designing, scrounging and building finally on the air and making contacts. And frustrating too after spending hour after hour listening to noise wondering if the other stations aren't all just parked in front of the TV watching football. • Weak Signal Operating is not as many believe QRP, Stations can be operating any where from 25 watts to 1,500 watts. What defines weak signal is working stations that are right above the noise floor of your station. • Weak Signal Operating is made up of many modes, and many forms of communications on VHF/UHF/SHF and includes Microwave operating as well. Note: The HAMsters focus on 50MHz to 1296MHz. •Modes:CW, SSB Phone, a Multitude of Digital modes such as WSJT, PSK31, JT65. Activities: Tropospheric, Sporadic E-Skip, Meteor Scatter and EME | |||||||||
Nets & HAMster SSB Frequencies
Nets:Sunday @ 7pm - 144.180 SSB
Thursday @ 7pm - 50.180 SSB
Primary Single Side Band Frequencies
144.180 Upper Side Band
144.200 Upper Side Band
Beacon - 144.289 - EL-09
Beacon - 432.360 - EL-09
Beacon - 1296.424 - EL-09
HAMster Training Pages
Introduction to Weak Signal
Is your coax charging you tax
Recommended Links
N5XO Station Tour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eTkmojOAk&t=210s
N5XO 2013 June Contest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k8w_txcmbo&t=78s
K5TRA Attic Antenna Tour:
http://k5tra.net/TechFiles/K5TRA_attic_antenna_farm_Jan2020.zip
AWCAR 2015 June VHF Contest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KBEh0N6MLU
2M VHF 144 DX Propagation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE08k3yyHrM&t=114s