2.5 watts from Omaha to Des Moines, IA on an HT?

[K0WVM]

It was as if this day was like any other and I was curious to see any normal morning chatting was going on a local repeater I frequent. I heard some chatter and then some calls on the local repeater I normally don't hear, or recognize. My curiosity got even bigger from what I heard next

I heard a ham calling mobile in NW Iowa from a repeater just south of Omaha, in Glenwood, Iowa. He was fading in and out and I then realized ducting must be good. I scanned around the 2m band and came across a wide coverage repeater near Des Moines, IA. What shocked me is the repeater there does not cover the W/SW part of Iowa & into Nebraska, but I was getting full quieting while a QSO was going on between a gentlemen in Des Moines and another in South Dakota.

I waited for the QSO to end and made contact with N0AN who was mobile near the Des Moines area and he said I was coming in slightly scratchy, but very readable. I told him I was running a Yaesu FT-51R with 2.5 watts off a ducky. He was amazed that I was able to accomplish that. We chatted for about 5 minutes before he had to handle his errands.

What amazed me is that repeater is over 100 miles E of here and it was like I was right there. The ducting currently going must be intense in order to get into a repeater that far away on 2.5 watts.

I have since heard calls on other 2m freq's where repeaters are and hearing them say they're from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri,or Illinois. I guess if the very warm and humid air holds up, there will be more of this tonight. Anyone else here in the midwest region (NE, IA, SD, KS & MO) experienced the same ducting I am talking about?

[KB9YCO]

There have been some amazing conditions in the midwest lately. The local repeater that I use in northeastern Illinois had people checking in from Michigan, Iowa, south and central Illinois, north and central Wisconsin on a couple of days last week, like they were local. The usual fading once in awhile, but otherwise it was consistent for a couple of hours at a time.
It still hasn't rivaled last year when we talked with Pennsylvania and British Columbia in the course of a couple of hours. I guess 6 meters has been pretty wide open lately as well; I haven't been there too much to find out, but from what I'm hearing it's been rockin'.

VHF, UHF tropo forecasts

[K0WVM]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KB9YCO @ July 20 2004,08:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">There have been some amazing conditions in the midwest lately. The local repeater that I use in northeastern Illinois had people checking in from Michigan, Iowa, south and central Illinois, north and central Wisconsin on a couple of days last week, like they were local. The usual fading once in awhile, but otherwise it was consistent for a couple of hours at a time.
It still hasn&#39;t rivaled last year when we talked with Pennsylvania and British Columbia in the course of a couple of hours. I guess 6 meters has been pretty wide open lately as well; I haven&#39;t been there too much to find out, but from what I&#39;m hearing it&#39;s been rockin&#39;.

VHF, UHF tropo forecasts[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
That&#39;s awesome&#33; I have been getting some consistent signals from repeaters out of Missouri and Kansas. Most of them are out of the KC area on 146.79 and 146.82. I can hear a machine also out of KC on 146.94 with a couple of guys talking. A lot of people have been talking about the bandconditions being pretty amazing of late. I really haven&#39;t seen anything like this since being back at home in Virginia near DC, over 12 years ago.

[WA2ZDY]

Just imagine if you had a good antenna up and there were folks on 52 simplex?

Wouldn&#39;t that be a whole lot more satisfying? Sure the repeater is 100 miles away and that&#39;s impressive, but still, it&#39;s a repeater. It&#39;s not a signal from your antenna to the other station&#39;s antenna. THAT is what it&#39;s all about.

[K0WVM]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (WA2ZDY @ July 20 2004,09:41)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Just imagine if you had a good antenna up and there were folks on 52 simplex? #

Wouldn&#39;t that be a whole lot more satisfying? #Sure the repeater is 100 miles away and that&#39;s impressive, but still, it&#39;s a repeater. #It&#39;s not a signal from your antenna to the other station&#39;s antenna. #THAT is what it&#39;s all about.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
True... But it&#39;s not accessable from where I am at and that was something not often done.

[kc0ebm]

Wanna know how to visually assess VHF propagation?

Go to your local NWS homepage. Click on local radar.

If you see ground clutter that nearly covers the state, crank up that VHF gear and have a ball.

Trust me, this is as reliable a VHF propagation indicator as there is.

It works every time.

The last week or more, Iowa has been covered by ground clutter on the Base Reflectivity Mode.

Whoppin good VHF conditions.

Last year at one time, Des Moines WFO radar KDMX showed ground clutter all the way south to just north of Jefferson City, MO, and all the way north to the Twin Cities. That night, I worked a VHF Skywarn net control operator near Brainard, MN with a 2 meter mobile rig driving a GP-6. I was full quieting and was able to assist the net by relaying NWS radar information to spotters in the field.

Don&#39;t believe me? Give it a try. It is the best VHF propagation indicator I know.

73

Tom

[KB9YCO]

Thanks Tom, good idea; I hope the band gets hopping again soon. 73 &amp; enjoy, Brett - KB9YCO

[W4HWD]

I arrived at Offutt in March &#39;95. Two months later I had a packet station set up in my barracks room in Bldg. 365 (Turner Hall). I was using an Icom 28A on low power, and a Ringo Ranger suspended upside down inside the third-floor window. One morning at about 6AM I got on 145.01 and turned on the monitor function on my TNC. After watching for a bit, I contacted a station in Nebraska City, which wasn&#39;t a big deal, since Nebraska City is only about 40 miles south. What was a big deal is shortly after that, I saw another &quot;0&quot; and tried to connect to him - I was successful - he was in Knob Knoster, MO, at least 200 miles to the southeast&#33; After that, I connected to a station in St. Joseph, MO. It continued on like that for about 90 minutes or so, then, just as quickly as the band opening came, it folded. Gotta love it&#33;

[K0WVM]

4--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (w4hwd @ July 20 2004,204)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I arrived at Offutt in March &#39;95. Two months later I had a packet station set up in my barracks room in Bldg. 365 (Turner Hall). I was using an Icom 28A on low power, and a Ringo Ranger suspended upside down inside the third-floor window. One morning at about 6AM I got on 145.01 and turned on the monitor function on my TNC. After watching for a bit, I contacted a station in Nebraska City, which wasn&#39;t a big deal, since Nebraska City is only about 40 miles south. What was a big deal is shortly after that, I saw another &quot;0&quot; and tried to connect to him - I was successful - he was in Knob Knoster, MO, at least 200 miles to the southeast&#33; After that, I connected to a station in St. Joseph, MO. It continued on like that for about 90 minutes or so, then, just as quickly as the band opening came, it folded. Gotta love it&#33;[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Ah yes... #365, 364, 324 and now 367 (brand spanking new dorm based on the 1+1 concept) just behind 324 have been a cesspool of trouble of late for people like me in the SP/SF career field, so I know exactly where you are talking about. #Get lots of calls for minor things that end up becoming underage drinking, fights (usually by people who are drunk) and many other things with gang activity increasing slowly of late. #What a joy&#33;

However, you were up on a hillside on the north end of base and that also helped. #When I hear of stories of how you had things setup, I get a little jealous of when I used to live in AF dorms at other bases. #I had a limited way of setting up things. #You obviously had some fun with those distant contacts. #

Just last night I heard some contacts with the ducting out of Wisconsin and also some down in Manhattan and Lawrence Kansas.

[K0WVM]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kc0ebm @ July 20 2004,14:21)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Wanna know how to visually assess VHF propagation?

Go to your local NWS homepage. #Click on local radar.

If you see ground clutter that nearly covers the state, crank up that VHF gear and have a ball.

Trust me, this is as reliable a VHF propagation indicator as there is.

It works every time.

The last week or more, Iowa has been covered by ground clutter on the Base Reflectivity Mode.

Whoppin good VHF conditions.

Last year at one time, Des Moines WFO radar KDMX showed ground clutter all the way south to just north of Jefferson City, MO, and all the way north to the Twin Cities. #That night, I worked a VHF Skywarn net control operator near Brainard, MN with a 2 meter mobile rig driving a GP-6. #I was full quieting and was able to assist the net by relaying NWS radar information to spotters in the field.

Don&#39;t believe me? #Give it a try. #It is the best VHF propagation indicator I know.

73

Tom[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Cool... Learning something new everyday. I will have to keep that in mind when I look for ducting locally.