At 02:41 PM 1/21/02 +0000, W4XP wrote:
>Reflector Mates:
>
>The Delmarva VHF and Microwave Society's Grid Pirates Contest Group,
>K8GP had a good time operating from the Prince William County
>(Virginia) Landfill, FM18gp. As usual, the Rovers really added
>significantly to the contest fun; GREAT JOB, and THANK YOU to all
>those hearty souls!
Chuck,
Congrats on another great K8GP score! I agree that the rovers add
to the contest fun and to all of our scores but...
Unfortunately, I didn't have the success with the rovers that K8GP did.
I had printed out the itineraries of many of the rovers and had them handy
at my operating table but had a devil of a time finding them (or them finding
me). Usually my log is filled with ND3F/R and W3IY/R but this contest I only
worked ND3F from one grid (4 qso's) and W3IY from 3 grids (8 qso's).
Part of the problem for us single-ops is that the rovers don't know where
to find us.
Most multi's have run freqs on at least 6 and 2 meters where the rovers know
that they can find you - I heard one rover call in on your 2 meter run freq
twice and
get qsy'd to run the bands. As a single-op I do try to establish a 6 and 2
meter run
frequency (and a qsy to freq on the higher bands - in my case I used .140)
but as
I leave my 6 or 2 meter run freq to "run the bands" with another station I
often come back to that freq to find it occupied by another station. Then
after a little
S & P I will find a quiet spot to squeeze into to call CQ again. If a
rover had
found me on the first run freq and went back to that freq when in a new
grid they often
find a different station there. The second problem is that we often don't
know where
to find the rovers - even if there is a liaison freq the rovers are seldom
there
because they are busy running the bands with other stations.
I'd be interested in what the readers of this reflector do (especially
single-ops)
to find rovers and be found by rovers. I attribute much of the increase in
my scores
thru the years to rover activity but have noted that my scores have hit a
plateau in the
past couple of years as I have had more trouble finding and being found by
rovers.
BTW; 624 qso's, 165 grids, 148170 points - single-op, high power, from FM19.
73,
Ed K3DNE
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