Hello Joe,
I noted the same problem in discussions with Fred, N1DPM about maximizing
our contest scores. Fred was behind the NC1I MM in the 90s. They had great
results from Western MA as a limited multi on 50 thru 432.. It all boiled
down to the problems associated with finding another station in the minimum
amount of time. I likened it to the Drake equation in astronomy for finding
extra terrestrial life. Frank Drake was a pioneer in SETI among other
things. His equation in a simplified form:
N = N* Fp*Ne*Fi*Fl*Fc*FL
N = number of hams you will QSO in any contest.
N* = The number of hams who were or will be ever QRV.
Fp = The fraction of N who have VHF gear.
Ne = The fraction of hams who have non FM VHF gear
Fl = The fraction of Ne who got on in the VHF contests.
Fi = The fraction of Fl who made their stuff actually work!
Fc = The fraction of Fl who point their sharp array at you. This includes
your sharp array too!!
FL = The fraction of all hams who happen to be alive at the moment.
You can also throw in the number of bands you have, and time spent with
unforseen problems. All serve to limit your success at hearing a certain
station. The "two ships passing in the night effect"!!
It is a daunting problem. Throw in a wild 50 MHz band, and the single ops
are knocking off multipliers rather than searching out anything else!!! A
better way to visualize this problem with a quiet 50 MHz band, is to think
about the beamwidth of a single op station's antenna system. Assuming that
he rotates it equally over 360 degrees, you will only hear him for BW/360
as a percentage for each hour. Now think about your pattern. If it is not
omni directional, then you have to factor in youir own aiming habits.
Multiplying two fractions together makes for an even smaller fraction.
YIKES!!! That makes the problem worse!! I came to the conclusion that the
only way you would work some stations was to stay at one spot for the entire
contest. Only then will the odds start to go in your favor to work a
particular single op station. It is the same problem I always note in a VHF
sprint. Because I am not in a prime direction where most casual users will
be aiming, (NYC or PHILLY) I cannot work many stations that are in range and
fully capable of making a contact with me. In four hours of the Sprint, the
chances of our beams lining up are somewhat meager. That is why I made a
very broad yagi array to cover more territory. The solution for a rover is
to rove in NYC or Philadelphia, (heh heh) or try to develop a strategy to
maximize your signal to a wider geographic area. Some combination of omni
and switchable small yagis can help, but there are so many constarints in a
rover-mobile, that you just have to live with it. Operating skill comes in
real handy here. You need to know where the serious guys are (beam heading
wise) and beat the bushes to drag them out. I think September is a better
contest for rovers, as single ops will be paying more attention to local
grids as 50 Mhz typically does not produce huge grid totals. The rover
become very important.
73
Dave K1WHS
Someone needs to develop a zoom lens yagi for VHF!!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shupienis, Joseph" <jshupienis@ccac.edu>
To: <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 5:28 AM
Subject: [VHFcontesting] Limited Roving - Worth the Effort?
>
> WARNING! LONG-WINDED RANTING FOLLOWS! WARNING!
>
> Rovers expend a lot of resources to put "relatively rare" grids on the air
> for everyone to enjoy. The enjoyment we get is to work as many stations as
> we can from those rare-ish grids. It's a bit of a let-down to use up $60
> of gas to go to a nice mountaintop in a much-wanted grid, only to make a
> grand total of 11 Qs, even though I can hear lots of stations working the
> big boys. Then, after working only the big signals, it seems the multitude
> turn their beams away, never to be heard again until I reach the next grid
> and the cycle of frustration begins anew.
>
> Of course I can work the big guns with ease, but it seems that no one else
> besides them bothers to look for weak signals in the "weak signal" part of
> the band. Sometimes it seems that the only signals that get people's
> attention are those directly on the calling frequencies that jump out of
> the speaker, run up, and slap the operator in the face! And after they
> have worked all 10 of those in the first hour or so, it seems a lot of ops
> turn off their radios for the rest of the contest to go watch some
> ballgame on TV and drink beer. No matter which grid I start in, it is
> always the most productive. So I guess I should start at the most wanted
> grid, huh?
>
> I can call CQ on 144.210 or .180 for hours with nary an answer, and then
> someone 200 miles away stumbles across me and honestly (I hope) informs me
> that I'm S7 or 10 over S9 on his S-meter. Then they profusely thank me for
> the grid multiplier from FN11 or FN01, or wherever I am, and we walk up
> the bands. Then it's back to my "run" frequency for more fruitless CQing
> (if someone else who's S9+30 hasn't jumped on it the second I went to
> 432 -- and that same someone "can't hear" me when I try to work him!)
>
> I don't get it.
>
> If I can easily hear another station who is running the same power level I
> am, why can't they seem hear me? I've had to resort to strictly S&P, and
> can usually work everyone I can hear, and can work them again on the other
> bands. So I know I can be heard. It's just getting kind of frustrating to
> realize that maybe a lot of people don't know I exist, or just don't want
> to bother looking for me.
>
> But then if they accidentally find me, they profusely thank me for the new
> multipliers I give them and ask where I'm going next.
>
> And then, of course, at the next grids I'll never hear from them again,
> unless it's their half-hour ragchew with one of their buddies. Why is it
> that they are both S9 plus on my receiver, but when they say their fond
> farewells and 73s and 88s and get back to contesting, neither one can hear
> me call them, and then turn their beams away and tune off frequency?
>
> I don't get it.
>
> Then I see rover scores from other rovers who claimed to work the same
> grids I work from. I have yet to hear a single one of them on the air. And
> their scores are usually 50-100 times my pathetic numbers. They must have
> rates of 100-200 QPH... somehow...
>
> I don't get it.
>
> I would like to add 222 to my lineup. I've tried to save up for it, but so
> far I've wasted all the money on $4.00/gallon gas to make, what? 1,000
> points?
>
> There are many good contesters out there. I have worked every one I can
> hear, and handed out as many multipliers as I can to every station that is
> willing to make the effort to work me. It just seems that lately, more
> stations are "getting away" and must be looking for easier stations to
> work than my weak rover signals (and weak bank account) allow.
>
> Oh wait -- I think I'm starting to get it now... Nobody told them I'm
> there or that they might have to listen carefully to dig out my piddly,
> weak, little signal...
>
> - RANTING COMPLETE -
>
> Thanks for listening, I feel better getting that off my chest.
>
> See you on 6 and 2 in the CQ WW VHF test!
>
> 73 de Joe W3BC
>
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> VHFcontesting@contesting.com
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