The snow killed most of the fun here Saturday--we decided to just stay in
FN20 and operate whatever we could--Spent 9 hrs out in the continuous snow,
and interestingly enough had all bands working for about 400 QSOs total
during that time, making QSOs with KA1ZE up at the DE water Gap area on
5&10G, and laser with NE3I/R. Getting home was a bear, as the roads were
still full of snow, and had the polish to a glaze of ice from the plows.
Luckily, we were less than 5 miles from home.
Sunday we got to FM29 for a few hrs and got everything going, only to be
chased off the site because "the snow plows were coming"---but they never
came! So we continued to make the rounds, make another 400+ QSOs but never
had any big multipliers. Arrived home exhausted at about 10PM, Leon was
bushed, and I spent the last hr filling in a few more contacts on the hi
bands, despite the fact we took the dishes down, and the home QTH is really
not suitable for VHF. Apologies to the two folks we promised skeds to but
were too beat to make Sunday nite. All in all, it was a great exercise,
learned a lot, got to spend another bonding weekend with my son, "...watch
for that ice patch dad....take it real slow here, that's not
plowed...wow...I worked FM07 on 2m!...I have 10 pages logged...that's more
than the last 2 contests combined....those chips have 8 grams of fat per
serving...I told ya they'd let us use the bathrooms at the fire
station...(and my all time favorite, when we started out in 2" of snow with
a forecast of 8")...so I guess God is not a Packrat!!"
As far as comments about strategies to maximize rover contacts, it's real
hard to predict, since we as rovers have multiple systems to control, the
weather and travel often being the most difficult in January, at least in
Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. There hasn't been one contest in recent memory
that I haven't cursed the weather conditions in January. And staying warm as
a rover in winter is another challenge--even with the car/van heater
running, the inactivity in cramped quarters lets the hands and feet grow
very cold...not as if we can get up and stretch every 30-60 mins...you can't
stand up in the car, and if you want to stretch, you go outside to face the
elements. Our antennas tend to be lower, power levels reduced, and ease of
QSO control is troublesome, however there are some who are expert in
coaching the rover on what to do and how to do it, like knowing their strong
bands, giving them beam headings and reciprocals, sending a string of dashes
to find them on micros, and then recognizing when it's time to give it up
and move on. Although I laud the efforts of the multis, they often make the
non-captive rovers line up and wait..."the op's busy on 903--let's sked in
20 mins..."....you know that's a problem for rovers. He'll run someone else
from 903 to 10G, miss your sked, etc...One thing that does seem to work the
best is 223.5 FM---hooking up there and then running the bands---as it is a
common freq to almost all, and you don't have to remember where someone is
usually hanging out--like .260 or .237 etc....because we're often so busy
chasing folks, we're rarely really calling CQ. The key is "sharing" that
freq and being patient and allowing folks to do their exchanges, and move up
to coordinate.
Well, that's all for tonite--be glad to share additional experiences, but
saving some for the Packrats' "Crying Towel" meeting next month....73, Rick
K1DS/R and Leon N1XKT/R
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