Hi Ed,
I were out there roving during the recent VHF contest. I have the same
complaint as you but in reverse. I drove through your grid but we never made
contacts. As an independent Rover team we are looking for all the points we can
get, so I want to find all the stations I can. I propose that we come up with a
frequency high up in the 2 meter band like 144.295 or something and try and get
stations and Rovers to adhere to keeping it clear except for announcements.
That way we could all monitor the freq and You and I would hear each other
announce our presence and what freq we are presently working. Every 15 or 30
minutes on the quarter or half hour marks we could try and let our presence be
known. Even guys without spare radios to constantly monitor the freq could try
tuning in every 15 or 30 minutes and check to see if any one is near by. What
do you think? I also saw a posting a Gentleman made mentioning that he uses
223.5 MHz FM I love this frequency as I have an older HT that I could use to
monitor with! This would be fine with me as well. If either the idea or freqs
have merit how could we come to a consensus? If just a few begin the process
others will hopefully join.I would love to hear what others think......
73, Dave
> 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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