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I have been reading with great interest the several threads
involving the roving "thing"...
And a thought crossed my mind... Since rovers are only in
score competition with other rovers, why in heck are fixed
and portable stations even remotely concerned about how a
rover "gets points"??????
Granted, I know lots of fixed/portable operators, single
and multi, who get frustrated with all the rovers running
out to rare grids, grids they NEED for VUCC, etc.. these
rovers only having enough EIRP to work each other, and
maybe nearby stations... really close in nearby stations,
ones lucky enough to be within 20-50 miles of a QRP rover
pack.
But, maybe these "non-rover" stations may need to improve
their stations to the point where they can hear a flea
sneeze 500 miles away? Except nearby "noise sources" make
this impractical???
Some of us out on the NorthLeft Coast have been figgering
out ways to maximize the gain/power RX sensetivity of a
"practical" rover station, to the point of straining
automotive and rotator technology to the breaking point and
beyond. Currently one of my rover stations is limited to
6 and 2 meters and low gain antennas, and the rig is an FT
817, with only a brick available for 2 meters. It appears
much happier now without 600 lbs. of amplifiers,
transverters, IF rigs, band-specific radios, batteries and
antenna supports/ antennas and feedline.
The new rover rig is a bit bigger, nearly 1/5 the square
footage of my house! Plenty of room for kilowatt
amplifiers, huge battery banks capable of running 100W+
stations for a whole contest weekend without recharge...
Diesel power keeps the internally generated RF noise down
(still need headphones when working the weak ones with the
engine running;-)
The vehicle length is sufficient for 12 foot long Yagis on
the front mast, and 16 foot Yagis on the rear mast. Height
is an issue, I have only 3 or so feet between rooftop and
the underside of bridges and such to play with. Antennas
are necessarily close together.
Still, there is plenty of room for a full crew of
operators and drivers. It can serve equally well as an
unlimited multi on a mountaintop for a whole contest, or
travel amongst several grid squares, with a smaller crew
onboard (unless another rule change takes effect;-).
Can you imagine a rolling Unlimited Multi, 10 band VHF+
station?
Yes, I could put a soup kitchen in there if I want, but, I
prefer to use the space for electronics!!!
There are a couple picture of this beastie on the ARRL
website, posted in the ARRL UHF test soapbox section, as
well as a couple floating around the www.pnwvhfs.org site.
And I still have room to improve, grow, expand... gonna be
lots of fun the next few years, unless Diesel keeps going
up in price...
Eric
KB7DQH
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