[AK-VHF] June VHF Rover Route

[Shannon Methe]

Hi Ed,

I want to apologize for not making myself clear. When I refer to “up on Flat Top,” I am referring to the parking lot area and working from my truck. (This is what I’m doing when I relay you and Dale in on Tuesday nights.) I never intended to suggest that one hike to the summit of Flat Top on foot with a lot of radio gear. HOWEVER…I have done that many times and had very good results. In fact, one doesn’t need to go to the summit, and one doesn’t need a lot of gear; one can hike up to the smaller hill, well below the summit (Blueberry Hill) and get good results. I’ve QSO’d with Talkeetna from up there using only a 5 watt HT connected to a portable/hand held 2m yogi, and I’ve QSO’d with both you and Dale from up there with the same set up. It’s a great spot if someone wanted to operate the contest in the low power, portable category, which is what I did for my very first contest. The buddipole mast and tripod added some weight, but it allowed me to have every antenna for every band up and ready to go-all I had to do was change coax connections to the radio. The real problem up there is the wind; sometimes I have to sit and hold the mast with one hand and work the radio with the other. (I used 5 gal water barrels as anchors for the mast when I’m working from the truck.)

-Shannon
> On Mar 11, 2018, at 9:39 AM, Edward R Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net> wrote:
> 
> Shannon,
> 
> Thanks for sharing your experience as rover.
> 
> At 03:07 AM 3/11/2018, Shannon Methe wrote:
>> For BP 50, 51, and 41, you’ll do fine with a mag mount.
> 
> That is working from within greater Anchorage/Valley area.  You are surrounded by the majority of hams in Alaska (30%  pop of  AK implies 30% of the hams  in AK; a radius of about 60-miles most of which is in BP51.  Definitely where you score the most contacts.  I would say 75% of the hams on VHF in this area do not have capability of working anyone outside that area (based on many years of operating on the Kenai Peninsula approx 60-75 MI south of them).  I generally hear them better than they hear me (I run four yagis with preamps on 2m and 150w, while so many in Anchorage only have a vertical and 10-25w FM rig.  The BIG SECRET is using low-noise preamps (it will be like adding 10-dB gain to your antenna in receive).  This usually means getting a switchable preamp that bypasses RF in transmit; otherwise you will need coax relays to do that.  A big plus is either radios with separate RX ant or transverters with sep Rx ant.  Eventually something you will need to consider if adding ext high power Tx amps.  I just installed a 100w 432 amp which had internal bypass relays.  I removed the bypass coax jumper and inserted my preamp there.  Something you can consider if getting ext. power amps that allow receiving thru the amp.  But one caution is that you need to key the amp from the radio and not rely on RF sensed switching. Momentary RF into a preamp will kill it - every time!
> 
> Outside this circle the VHF ham pop drops precipitously.  4-5 hams on 2m SSB on western Peninsula.  Working Seward will require a home-based big station and lots of patience or a super high location (best is Chugach SP parking lot (trail access to flat top) at 2200-feet and a good look south).  I can visually see that area from top of my 50-foot towers. 60 miles to the south.  Diamond Ridge Road (1100 foot elevation) had good views to north about 150 miles to Anch.  There probably are looks to south if trying to work Kodiak Island.  But there is a visitor overlook pull-out near top of hwy going into Homer with super view south and SW.  Also easy to work Homer hams from about 10-miles away.
> 
>> Up on flat top, you’ll hit the peninsula with a mag mount on 2, 70, and 1.25. with 25 w and up.
> 
> Serious climb carrying your gear; no road access.
> 
>> However, you’ll get a better signal using yagis on a portable mast.
> 
> Much easier to accomplish parked with vehicle in the parking lot.  Road access is up "Toilsome Road" - about 11% grade on gravel; very hazardous in winter.  My former employer had a repeater in the Glenn Alps subdivision that is half-mile beyond Chugach SP parking lot, so I am personally acquainted with that road.  Definitely lower gears coming down hill at 10mph.
> 
>> On 6m, a yagi is pretty much a requirement to hit the peninsula from flat top with less than 100 w. From BP42 (Talkeetna) and points north, you can get to Anchorage on 2m w 50 w from a lot of places, but you’re going to need a yogi for everything else. In the past, on rover trips like this, I’ve used a bud dipole mast with a tripod that gets my home made, 2 el 6m yagi up about 10 ft. then I attach smaller yagis all the way down the mast. Run your 6m horiz polarized and everything else vertical. While there are a few folks, ED KL7UW being one of them, who run horiz polarized 2 m antenna, the vast majority of folks up here run their vhf antenna vertical, whether at home or mobile.
> 
> I only have Hpol/Vpol switchable array on 2m.  Everything else is Vpol except my 6m antennas which are Hpol and only used in SSB part of the band.  Best to just have your rover antennas set up for vertical.  Easiest is a vertical mast with cross booms to mount antenna on - very different than how its done in lower-48 using Hpol antenna stacks.  I've used a small three foot TV tripod and mast.  If you mount the tripod to a plywood base make one side extend enough that you can put one wheel of your vehicle onto the plywood to hold everything upright.  Prepare for significant windy conditions at high altitudes.
> 
> Definitely need a lot of promotion before making a roving trip to get home stations excited to make contacts; this is needed before contests as well. I have been promoting VHF+ operating for over 40-years here in AK; still hard to stir up activity.  A rover DOES do that. if the ham pop is aware in advance.
> 
> Things I will be doing this spring and fall (gone on extended trip July/August):
> dual-6 element 6m yagi array at 35-foot with 1000w amp (ETA June); 600w SSB
> new solid state 1200w linear for 2m which will permit running SSB at 600w (eta fall)
> 10-GHz 1w CW beacon (Hpol) with selectable 7-dB omni or 17-dB horn (45w EIRP) pointed toward Anch (eta fall) at 48-foot level of one of my towers.
> http://www.kl7uw.com/Beacon.htm
> 
> I currently have:
> *6m: 80w to 3-element yagi fixed pointed SE to work lower-48; no 6m antennas for working north (at present)
> *2m: 150w to four 10-element H/V yagiis with 21-dB gain at 52-feet, or 25w to 10-dB vertical omni
> 223.50 FM: 30w/130w to two 11-element yagis at 60-foot
> *432 100w to 18-element yagi (16-dB gain) at 54-feet
> *927.50 FM: 50w to 33-element loop-yagi (18-dB gain) at 50-foot
> *1296 50w to 45-element loop-yagi (20-dB gain) at 50-foot
> *have low-noise preamps
> 
> Best chances are 2m-222-70cm for rovers; 6m & 900+ get much harder
> 
> 73, Ed
> Sorry this kind of turned into a tutorial thesis
> 
> 
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>  http://www.kl7uw.com
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