My only vehicle now is a Toyota Corolla. Difficult to rove with it unless I
do some major constructions to mount the antennas on the car (which I
haven't).
I enjoy the QRP Portable Single-Op category because I can go to a hill which
gives much better performance than any station I have at home, and with the
antennas up only 20 feet on a temporary mast. My favorite hill is the
highest point in several counties in this area. It does take over an hour to
set up 10 bands, though.
I did try Roving in CQWW VHF a couple years ago. Lots of fun and I only had
to set up two bands each time I stopped. I'd like to do more of it some day
when I have a vehicle set up for it. WA9O showed me an interesting setup he
has for Roving using pvc pipes mounted on his car.
73, Zack W9SZ
On Tue, 9, Dec, 2008 17:10:17 -0000, Glen Overby <goverby@charter.net>
wrote:
>
>
> James Duffey asked:
>
> > So, if you are an active VHF contester, particularly for a long time,
> > why don't you rove? Why don't you try roving?
>
>
> I'm going to turn this question around for my answer: Why DO you rove?
>
> I rove because I made two mistakes in 2002: I purchased a townhouse in a
> hole.
> Had I found the vhf weak-signal world, I wouldn't have done that. So,
> instead
> I rove.
>
> Roving is a lot of work. It usually starts Thursday evening with the
> stacks
> of transverters and radios and going in the car, and doesn't end until late
> Sunday. I know some rovers who have a second vehicle, but I'm not that
> dedicated :)
>
> Last July, for the first time in many years, I worked a "stationary"
> station
> for the CQWWVHF contest. A multiop, in fact. It was really relaxing; when
> 6m
> was dead, we went and did other stuff. I was running on AC power and had
> no
> battery sag. I had fun!
>
>
> > How much do rovers add to your VHF contesting experience?
>
>
> A lot! I've worked contests where I was the only rover in the area and
> while
> my filling in the open grids was great for everyone else, I didn't get many
> mults.
>
>
> > If you have roved and stopped, why did you stop?
>
>
> I haven't stopped, but twice in every contest (usually during Friday
> evening
> prep and Sunday evening teardown) I swear I'm not going to do THAT again.
> Usually by the 'next' contest I've forgotten that and put the antennas back
> on
> the car.
>
>
> > I find roving rewarding, envigorating, challenging, educational, and
> > for the life of me don't understand why everyone doesn't try it at
> > least once. - Duffey
>
>
> I find the stations who've roved are much more patient when I'm not quite
> on
> schedule or have to fix the Next problem :)
>
>
> Glen
>
>
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