[AK-VHF] June VHF Rover Route

[Brandon Clark]

Good morning Ed & Shannon,

Operating: Thanks for all the input - you guys are a great help. With 
the advice I've picked up so far I'll be changing my gear plans and 
techniques considerably. Down south everything was horizontal for SSB 
and vertical for FM. Also, 6 M was basically the "money band" (all 
contacts start there and then move to other bands for points). It sounds 
like 2 M will be the center of activity here though, and there will be a 
lot more FM than SSB. Good to know. On the other hand, that makes it a 
lot easier for new contesters to get in on the game. Many more guys have 
FM gear than do SSB setups.

Locations: Anchorage will definitely be the center of things. Since 
rovers can re-contact the same operators from different locations I'm 
hoping to basically "circle" the Anchorage area as my main strategy. As 
I do I'll hopefully re-contact as many operators as possible. In theory, 
an Anchorage operator and I could get points for contacts from seven of 
my operating locations. (Every rover passing through is like adding 
another five to seven fixed stations to the event.) Like you guys 
mentioned though, promotion is the key. I'll have to light up the 
repeaters as I go to set up simplex contacts and use my APRS setup so 
fixed station operators can track me (both now allowed in the ARRL events).

Backpack Portable: What's wrong with lugging a ton of gear up a mountain 
. . . it keeps you young! (Says the SOTA operator, lol.) I'll probably 
be going backpack portable for the CQ WW VHF contest this year. One of 
the CQ WW VHF categories is basically for "backpack portable", rather 
than "put your gear in the truck and drive to the top of the hill 
portable". I've always done the latter for the ARRL events (pictures on 
my QRZ page). That's another email string though . . . .

Preamps: Ed, we will have to meet up some time to take a look at how 
those preamps work. I've never used them before, although I've heard of 
them being used for moonbounce work. I probably won't be able to 
incorporate them into the June event, but maybe for the 220+ Distance 
Contest. I'm a big fan of the logic that one gets much more performance 
for the dollar through antenna (and other reception improvements) than 
out of amplifiers. Amps are great tools, but only once the antenna setup 
is in good shape. If you can't hear 'em, you can't work 'em.

73,

Brandon