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G0FTD > 50MHZ 23.01.05 18:52l 126 Lines 5635 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 3C9373G0FTD
Read: GUEST DC5JQ DH6JL DG5YMS
Subj: Sick Metres - the tragic band.
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Sent: 050123/1524Z @:GB7SXE.#38.GBR.EU #:20063 [Hastings] FBB7.00i $:3C9373G0FT
From: G0FTD@GB7SXE.#38.GBR.EU
To : 50MHZ@WW
Sick Metres - The Tragic Band - by Jim, KH2D
There are, I must say, a few bands that amateurs are allowed to operate
on that are not included in the list of 'my favorite bands'.
One Sixty, for example. The 'Gentlemens Band'. Yeah, rite. Somewhere I
heard 'Gentlemen prefer blondes'. These gentlemen prefer noise. Should be
called the 'Static Crash Band'. All you need for 160 meters is about 400
miles of radials and beverages, a couple kilowatts, and you can work
anybody who lives in the same state as you do.
But my MOST UN-favorite band has to be Sick Meters. Some people call it
the
'Magic Band'. Why, I dunno. I think it should be called 'The Tragic Band'.
Why? That's easy to explain. I think it's tragic that some hams have
nothing better to do than sit around and talk to each other for six months
on ten meters so that they can talk to each other for two minutes on sic
meters.
Sound silly? Well that's the way it works .....
So what do you need to operate on sick meters? Well, the first thing you
need is a personality that is not type A. Then you need patience, a ten
meter radio and antenna, a sick meter radio and antenna, and a baby
monitor.
You also need to know what TV sync signals sound like. And you have to
know what grid squares are and what your grid square number is.
28.885 is the 'coordination frequency' for sic meters. Why, you might ask,
would any ham band need a coordination frequency on another band? Well,
basically, because sick meters is never OPEN. And when it does open, it
might only stay that way for fifteen minutes.
So you have to find something to do while you are waiting. What you do is
listen to 28.885 on your ten meter radio, make friends with all the other
sick meter operators you'll find there, tell them how much you'd really
like to work them on sick meters, and every now and then, just for
practice, go to 50.110 and call CQ or call one of the other guys you talk
to every day on 28.885.
What's the baby monitor for? Well, like I said, sick meters isn't open
much
and when it is, it doesn't stay that way long. If you leave the room, you
don't want to miss any openings, so you sit the baby monitor in front of
the speaker on the sick meter radio, clip the pager part to your pants,and
then you can listen to sick meters no matter where you go in the house..
If you hear a noise, immediately flush, drop dinner, stop what you are
doing and RUN, don't walk, back to the shack.
Why do you need to know what TV sync signals sound like? To the seasoned
sick meter operator, TV sync signals are the same as the Bible is to a
Born Again Christian. TV sync signals give sick meter operators something
they all desperately need - HOPE.
If they hear TV sync signals on 49 mhz, then they HOPE ham signals on 50
Mhz will follow shortly. I imagine the average TV station runs a bit more
power than the average sick meter ham operator, but what the heck, where
would we all be without HOPE ?
The other thing about TV sync signals is that your knowledge of them makes
you sound technical - you can announce on 28.885 'I'm hearing 49mhz video
from WRAT in Houston' and impress the other sick meter operators with your
technical expertise.
What's this bit about grid squares? Well, for most of the ham bands, we
divide the world up into zones and countries. But working other zones and
countries on sick meters take YEARS of patience. So in the mean time, we
divided the world up into little tiny squares, so you'll have something to
shoot for until a biggy like another zone or country comes along. Plus it
gives you something to impress other hams with on the local DX cluster.
You can put out spots like 'DX DE KH2JU 50.125 KH2D QK23JK > QK23JL'.
Most of the guys on the packet cluster don't have the slightest idea how
far it is from grid QK23JK to grid QK23JL, so they think you are a six
meter DX'er when you are really only talking to the guy six miles up the
road.
What else can you do while you wait for sic meters to open? Well, sic
meters is an excellent band to monitor color burst crystals, the birdies
from your computer, etc. You can swing your antenna around and listen to
weird squeals and howls emitting from electronic devices all over your
neighborhood. If you have a neighbor you don't like who doesn't have cable
TV, it's also an excellent band to cause TVI, so you can practice your
CQ's
and QRM the neighbors TV.
OK, so what DO you do when sick meters finally does open? First, get
really,really excited. This shouldn't be hard to do, because you probably
haven't heard another ham signal on sick meters in six months, unless your
friend up the street is a sick meter operator too. Second, go immediately
to 28.885, and tell all the guys you have been talking to for six months
'THE BAND IS OPEN !!'. Then pick a frequency, call your friends on 28.885
one at a time, tell them what frequency on sic meters you are calling them
on, and then if you hear them on sick meters, give them a signal report
and
quickly move on to the next guy - you never know how long sick meters is
gonna STAY open..
Well, what's the difference between talking to your friends on sick meters
or on 28.885 on ten meters?
I don't know, I haven't figured that part out yet.
If you ever go on a DX-pedition, please don't make the mistake of taking
along only a sick meter radio. Sick meter DX-pedition operators have been
know to die from boredom on tropical islands in many parts of the world.
Anyway, is it MAGIC or is it TRAGIC ? You tell me....
73, Jim KH2D
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