Hi Folks,
How is your contest planning coming along? The ARRL 2002 June VHF QSO Party
is just around the corner [
http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2002/June-VHF.pdf ] I'm planning my
longest Rove yet in hopes of scoring another personal best. It won't be
easy, I done pretty well last June. But this time out I'm adding two more
grids activated, to bring the total to 10, and hopefully a third band to the
setup! Here is my Rover Schedule:
Start the contest in EM88 @ 18:00Z [2:00pm local]
Near Mount Sterling KY [Judy, or Sharpsburg maybe]
Operate until 19:00z then move to EM87.
Near Mount Sterling KY
Operate until 20:00z then move to EM77.
Probably near Lexington, KY
Operate for about an hour then move to EM76.
Near Radcliff, KY
That would likely put me on in EM76 about 22:00z.
Operate for about an hour then move to my favorite spot up in EM78.
That would likely put me on the air from the top of firetower hill in Clark
State Forest at about 00:00z. Near Henryville, IN.
If the activity is there, I like to spend extra time on the hill for the
extra DX. I may also move over to EM68, near Salem IN, around 02:00z and
operate as long as
there are contacts to be made. Then slip over to Scottsburg and go to bed
for a few hours.
Bright and early, or as early as Roverly possible I'll head for my next
favorite spot in EM69, high up on firetower hill in Brown County state park,
near Nashville IN.
This is another spot that I like to spend extra time to pick up some good
DX. So around 1400z I'll head for the next grid EN60 up north of Indy around
Noblesville IN.
Operate there for an hour then slip over to EN70, the other side of
Noblesville IN. By then, I'll have gone through a couple of tanks of gas,
too many cheese burgers, my voice will be
about gone, and Rover fatigue will have set in so I'll point the Ranger back
toward Scottsburg. I'll gather up a few more FM QSO's on the way, and
possibly stop in EM79, probably near Columbus IN, for a few minutes. But
EM79 is as common as dirt, and I haven't really found a "good" location to
work from there, so I likely
won't stay long.
So that makes about 10 grids, in two states! With a good signal on
[hopefully] three bands. This should easily be my best outing yet.
Assuming I can avoid Mr. Murphy and such. It would really be cool if I
could pick up a 222 rig, even just FM, to add the band and some more mults.
But, oh well, maybe next year...There is a good possibility that I will have
psk31 and other digi modes available as well.
Basically as far as equipment
goes, I use an Icom 746 for 6 & 2. It is strapped to a small desk I made to
fit in the passenger seat of my Ford Ranger. I have two ways to power the
rig: A heavy cable to the truck battery, and a deep cycle battery that sits
in the floor board. Also on the desk is my old 386 laptop, used for
logging, the rotator control box, and a cassette tape recorder for logging
while in motion. I hope to also have a D.E.M. 432 transverter and a small
amp as well. The transverter is currently at D.E.M. being repaired, I'm
hoping it will make it back in time for the contest.
For antennas, I'm homebrewing a push-up mast. On the mast will be my
homebrew 6 meter Moxon Rectangle, or my 6 meter homebrew loop. The Moxon
needs some mods to make it "road-worthy" before I can use it. For 2 meters
I'll have my homebrew 8 element yagi, or my trusty old CushCraft 4 element.
I'll probably go for the 8 element this time out. This will be it's first
road trip:-) I also have an 11 element CC yagi for 432, if the transverter
makes it back in time.
Mounting the antennas is a different story. In the past I mounted an
Alliance U110 rotor to the tool box in the back of the truck. I then added
an 8' mast with the 6m loop and the 2m 4 element CC yagi. This setup done
an adequate job for 6 & 2. This time I'm going to try the push up mast.
Fully extended the mast should reach about 25'. To do this I need a little
more support than just the tool box. What I'm planning is adding a set of
ladder racks to the Ranger, and bracing the mast with the racks. At the
bottom will also be an AR40 Rotator secured to the bed of the truck.
Mounting the antennas has kind of gotten me behind in preparations this
contest. I still haven't found an affordable set of ladder racks for my
Ford Ranger... But with this setup collapsed to travel, I will have about
an 8' clearance. Stooped and extended should put the top antenna 25~27 '
Roving alone has made my prime concern ease of setup. I believe this will
give me a decent signal, and still be easy to setup.
73 all, and send me your plans to be included on The Rover Resource Page!
Dan
Dan Evans N9RLA
Scottsburg, IN 47170
{EM78}
IN-Ham list administrator
QRP-l #1269
1/2 of the N9RLA /R no budget Rover Team
Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
http://www.qsl.net/n9rla
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