Steve - I have enjoyed this thread. Thanks for a first hand glimpse of
typical roving in the northeast. Things are different in the west,
where VHF/UHF activity is low and the number of rovers even fewer.
Simply put, a rover frequency would not work out here. The calling
frequency pretty much serves that function not only for rovers, but
for fixed stations as well. Here is what happens at my typical rover
stop:
I stop and swap out the mobile antennas for longer boom Yagis. I point
the antennas towards the area with the most activity, usually
Albuquerque when I am in the north part of NM. I fire up on the two
meter calling frequency. Usually there is no one on. I call CQ, work
a couple of people who have been looking for me and a couple more who
have been monitoring the calling frequency. I then move as many as
want to go to 432.2 MHz and work them. Then those that have the
capability to the 222 MHz calling frequency. I return to 144.2 MHz to
work any newcomers or any I worked on UHF bands but not on 144 MHz.
Then I move everybody to 6M and work them. If 6M is open, someone has
usually told me and we go to a frequency other than the calling
frequency, like 50.158. If 6M isn't open, this all gets done on the
calling frequency and I pick a couple more stations that have 6M
capabilities only. Then I go back to 2M, tune the band, usually
finding nothing. Usually during this process I pick up stations in
directions other than Albuquerque and point the beam towards them and
work them. Depending on the activity, this takes anywhere from 5 to 1
minutes. I then point the beam to other major activity areas or where
I know there should be stations that I can work and call CQ. If I know
where other rovers will be, like W5ZF in DM55 or W3DHJ in eastern
Colorado, I point the beam there and call. I check 6M often and call
CQ there each time. On a good stop through this process I work 2 or
three stations on all 4 bands, another 2 or three on 2 bands, and
another 2 or 3 on a single band. It is not unusual for me to work just
one or two stations on two or three bands. I rotate the beam a couple
of times through the compass and call several CQs at each stop on both
2M and 6M. I usually pack up and move after a half hour or 45 minutes
at which time I have usually worked the bands dry. Like everybody
else, if 6 is open I stay there.
The UHF QSO points are worth more, so I try to move people there
first, rather than to 6M first. That way if I lose them in the
subsequent moves, I have gotten the high point QSOs first.
If the calling frequency gets busy and others show up want to call CQ,
I announce that I am moving up 10 kHz from the calling frequency and
calling CQ. I get a few takers, but it is not too productive. Just
setting up on 144.210 kHz and calling CQ usually doesn't result in
much response. People don't tune if there isn't much activity.
Then I change the antennas to the mobile configuration and move on to
the next grid. If I have a driver, I operate while mobile, calling CQ
on two every minute or so; monitoring and calling on 6M every couple
of minutes. Operating in motion helped my scores a lot as it pretty
much puts you on the air whenever someone who is only casually
interested in the contest listens. Also, usually by the time I have
gotten to a spot in a grid to setup, I have worked several of the
regulars from that grid already, which cuts down on the time I need to
spend in a grid. Operating while driving can be dangerous, so if I am
alone, I usually monitor the calling frequency, call CQ occasionally
and pull off the road to work someone. For mobile antennas I use a
homebrew square loop on 6M and 3 element WA5VJB cheap yagis on 2M, 222
MHz and 432 MHz. The short Yagis work great; they significantly boost
your signal over a loop. One is usually traveling away from a high
activity area or towards one, so I usually point the Yagi accordingly
to the front or back.
As to working other rovers, there aren't many others to work. I did
manage about 10 contacts with 3 other rovers in the CQ-Contest last
summer, but that was my best effort.
This is all a long way to say that I don't think that a rover
frequency would help much here, and would probably hurt my score. On
the other hand, coupled with a time, something like coming up on a
specified frequency every 30 minutes after the hour might concentrate
activity and be useful, much like QSYing to 10M and 15M on teh hour
and half hour for activity during sunspot lulls is for HF contests.
It is interesting to look at the activity map included with the UHF
writeup in February QST, now available on the web. As you can see most
of the activity is concentrated east of the Missouri river (Ok maybe
the big Sioux), and much of the activity in the western states is from
rovers. As an example, as a river, I was the only op in 6 NM grids,
half or more the total activated.
The choice of a rover frequency is very much geographically dependent.
It may help where you are, Bruce seems to have a good system for the
upper midwest, but I think out here it would not be too useful. - Duffey
--
KK6MC
James Duffey
Cedar Crest NM
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|