*** Radio Check Schedule Update ***
Now that California Girl has volunteered to co-anchor the radio-check net from Oregon, we have an opportunity to try some longer-distance communications. The propagation forecasts indicate that SSB channel 8A should provide a good connection between San Francisco and Oregon / Washington. Here is the updated schedule:
Sunday, April 25th
2:00 PM : VALIS begins operations from San Francisco on channel 4A, California Girl opens on 8A. Give us a call. Try both channels.
2:10 PM : VALIS switches to 8A, California Girl switches to 4A. If you couldn't connect before, try again.
2:20 – 2:30 : Free-for-all, depending on who is on the air. We can spend time with anyone having equipment problems, etc.
VALIS will be monitoring 4A, 8A, and VHF channels 16 and 68. If there is interference, we may switch operations to 4B, 4C, or 8B.
Does anyone in Hawaii want to give this a try? It looks like we might be able to communicate on 12A/B/C/D. Let me know and we can attempt it.
Here are the channels and frequencies (all channels are Upper Side Band):
4A - 4146 KHz USB
4B - 4149
4C - 4417
8A - 8294
8B - 8297
12A - 12353
12B - 12356
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(Original Announcement)
On Sunday, April 25th, Pac Cup Communications Boat VALIS will be conducting a radio check for all Pac Cuppers interested in trying out their SSB transceiver or receiver installation. Singlehanded Transpac folks are also welcome to participate. Here's the plan:
Starting at 14:00PDT (2:00 PM) VALIS will begin radio operations from somewhere on San Francisco Bay on SSB channel 4A (4146 KHz, Upper Sideband). Our callsign is WDB2898, and will start with a short announcement so you receive-only doublehanders will be able to adjust your tuning.
We will also be monitoring VHF channels 16 and 68 -- give us a call if you need help or we can't connect on SSB.
We will continue radio operations until 14:30, or later if necessary. We will also be able to switch to channels 4C (4417 KHz) and 8A (8294 KHz) on request.
Sorry about chan 16 -- I had it on, but it was pretty hard to monitor it properly while I was working the SSB. Before the net I tried working Cal Gal on 8A, but there was some interference on that channel (I'm going to see if it's something on VALIS, or elsewhere). Channel 8B was much clearer, but the signal level from Portland, which was decent at 1:00PM became much weaker by 2:00.
At 2:00PM I announced the start of the net on 4A, and that California Girl would be monitoring 8B. She was also listening on 8A from time to time. A couple of boats were able to communicate on 8B with California Girl, but it was tough going. By 2:15 Cal Gal was lost in the noise, at least on my receiver.
I worked about a dozen boats on 4A, and a couple on 8B. Signal levels and clarity were generally very good. Strong signals are no surprise on a short-range connection (but they are certainly a good sign). What I was mostly listening for was signal clarity. Sometimes, especially if the transceiver is getting low voltage, or if the antenna/antenna tuner are not working properly the signal will be very garbled. I didn't hear any major problems, but there were a few questionable signals (which I mentioned during the contact).
If you couldn't hear VALIS on 4A, you should check that your radio is actually tuned to the correct frequency. On Saturday I had to talk a boat through the process of finding the correct dial setting -- what they had thought was 4A turned out to be a completely different frequency. Once we stumbled across the correct setting we had a very good contact -- so don't give up!
Do let me know if anyone is interested in another test. I am planning to repeat the radio test during the upcoming Spinnaker Cup (Mar 28/29), or possibly during my return (May 30/31 ?).
I am curious if any of the doublehanders tried out their receivers during the test, and if so, how it worked for them.
Finally, thanks to all the boats who participated today. I thought it was very valuable.