[AK-VHF] June VHF Rover Route

Sun Mar 11 16:38:01 EDT 2018

Thus thread may go on forever, he he!

Thanks to Brandon bringing energy into the VHF-weak signal 
group.  Someone new brings fresh interests and asks the questions 
that describe the reality we live in up here in the "frozen 
north".  Not too long ago Shannon was that person and obviously has a 
lot to contribute of "lessons learned".

Good that you initiated this with questions so may help you design 
for operating up here.  I especially want to thank those who have 
gone to "new" places to operate (e.g rovers).

Brandon properly understands when he states "2m being the center of 
activity".  Six meter openings happen much less often in our northern 
latitude vs those further south.  Of course if 6m opens, it does 
become a "money band" for grids worked and contact totals.

By far more VHF FM than SSB/CW operators.  Fortunately for the ARRL 
Contests the addition of FM categories work for more participation 
from FM-only stations; we who VHF contest need to spread the word of 
that.  Advertising really helps numbers in contests.  It also helps 
"weak-signal" activity the rest of the time. This the reason we hold 
the AK VHF-Up Net on FM simplex once per month.  The Tuesday night 
"Simplex Net" does this to a wider extent.

Backpack portable definitely "fits" Alaska with much fewer roads to 
high places.  Unfortunately many of us are beyond that in age and 
ability.  I would also suggest ATV mobile as a great way to access 
off-road locations.  An ATV with small trailer can haul just about as 
much as a normal mobile (even a generator).

"Circling Anchorage" is a good approach, even though not exactly 
possible in certain quadrants where there are mountains and no 
roads.  But there is a lot of untried regions to try-out.

Preamps may not be necessary for high altitude locations where near 
line-of-sight conditions exist.  But it definitely will improve the 
home station where antenna cables may be long.  Antenna loss is 
directly added as noise figure to receivers.  Have a 1-dB NF Rx and 
add 3-dB coax loss and Rx NF becomes 4 dB (that's worse then state of 
technology from 1960). Actual NF of commercial VHF radios is about 6 
to 12 dB.  A 0.5 dB NF preamp improves sensitivity in ten's of 
dB's.  As you say "can't work stations you cannot hear".  A trick is 
to locate the preamp close to the antenna to minimize loss (NF). But 
you need relays to connect the antenna for transmit.

One other lesson from eme is trying to use too small an 
antenna.  Sure you can be heard by running a big amplifier, but still 
need enough antenna gain to hear the other station.  For home at 
least 10-elements.

73, Ed

At 11:19 AM 3/11/2018, Brandon Clark wrote:
>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
>
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73, Ed - KL7UW
   http://www.kl7uw.com
Dubus-NA Business mail:
   dubususa at gmail.com 