[AK-VHF] AK rove

Thu Mar 15 14:31:35 EDT 2018

Ed, (and everyone else)

I don’t doubt your knowledge, but I might put a caveat on your statements about Kenai stations reaching into Anchorage. Yes you guys have what I consider to be a lot of power (300w for example) and significant antenna systems, however…

On the Tuesday night Simplex Nets I’ve noticed that very very few stations in Anchorage can hear you and almost none can hear KL7XJ. KL4E and myself are the only two who can hear you with any kind of reliability (week after week) and we’re both really high up. From what Dale (KL7XJ) has told me it is very difficult for him to get into the net if I’m not on Flat Top. (KL4E is the only other Anchorage station that can usually hear him.) I’ve not heard the new Anchor Point station yet, but look forward to it. So I just wanted to add that, yes you can hear some Anchorage stations, but they’re all high altitude stations. I don’t believe Dale is hearing any of them. And even then, we often have difficulty between me on the mountain and you and Dale. (Especially on anything other than 2m and 1.25m-In fact, I believe the only 70cm and 6m contacts between me and Dale have been during the June contest and I was using a 10 el yagi on 70cm and a 2 el yagi on 6, and I was up in the parking lot at Flat Top.)

Again, I don’t wish to completely refute what you’re saying, but I wanted to add a word to clarify that the Anchorage to Peninsula connection typically requires a lot of altitude on the part of at least one party.

-Shannon
> On Mar 15, 2018, at 12:12 AM, Edward R Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net> wrote:
> 
> Ken,
> 
> Thanks for the comments.  Should be useful to Brandon (or anyone) considering roving.  I should mention that Tom-NL7OW is no longer active on VHF so we have lost one of the "anchors" for the contests.  We have a new station AL7LX in Anchor Point operating with 300w on 2m (think its only on FM) but put good enough signal into the back end of my yagi array to be heard (about 80-mile path).  KL7JD (Nikiski) is on 2m with yagi at 85-feet and KL7GRM in Soldotna.  Both have a good signal to reach Anchorage.  KL7XJ (Kenai) and I hold down the fort most every weekend on the net.
> 
> I will be active in the June VHF Contest but probably still be on the road coming back from lower-48 for the Sept. VHF Contest.  Will reach Palmer in evening of Sept. 8 staying in RV park and driving around Turnagain Arm on Sunday heading home.  I will have 150w 2m-SSB in the mobile plus 80w on 6m-SSB and 50w on 70cm (FM only).  Mobile can simultaneously monitor all three bands.  I hope to have APRS going on 144.390, so might be able to track us part of the way.
> http://www.kl7uw.com/Mobile.htm <http://www.kl7uw.com/Mobile.htm>
> 
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
> Unless someone else wants to take over as NC, the net will be off-air in July and August while we are traveling in lower-48.
> 
> At 09:19 PM 3/14/2018, Ken K via ak-vhf wrote:
>> Hi Brandon, Just saw the threads with you,Ed, Shannon, etc. so thought I'd add my 2 cents. In 2010 and 2011, I roved for the January VHF contests, from Homer to Fairbanks. By far, most of the weekend activity was from Ed and the VHF-Up group. Things really quieted down as I drove north from Willow Saturday night. There were 5 or 6 hams in Healy, where I lived at the time, so I worked them on my way north to Fairbanks Sun morning. Larry/Two Rivers Contest Club KL2R in Fairbanks followed me through BP53, BP54, BP64 and BP65. It was ALOT of driving for a few contacts north of BP51.Â  The hams in Healy have all left, and I don't know what the local VHF activity is here in Fbks now during VHF contests. So I'd agree that your best bet for maximum activity is to stay south.Â
>> Roving suggestions: As Ed mentioned, Diamond Ridge Road north of Homer was a good spot. In addition to BP40, I worked BO37 (Kodiak Island) from there. Just as you cross into BP50 from BP40, stop at the Russian River campground. Lots of terrain, butÂ Ed, Tom NL7OW, and Mike KL6M in Anchorage (SSB) found me there. In Anchorage: if you drive out to Kincaid Park at the very end of Raspberry Road, you're in BP41.Â  If you drive up to Talkeetna, slightly higher elevation just to the east of town. Find the gravel roads on GE; you should be able to work from both BP42 and BP52 there.
>> Also saw your SOTA comments. For the 2016 Fall VHF contest, I hiked up the Little Coal Creek trail in Denali State Park up to the Kesugi Ridge. About a 10 mile roundtrip, but the scenery on a sunny fall day (Denali and the entire Alaska Range) was fantastic. I hauled up an Icom 706MKIIg, as well as a small yagi and portable mast for 144 & 432, and a 6 m dipole. Imagine my wife's surprise when we got to the top and I pulled a 12v gel cell out of her backpack....Up there I worked Ed, Mike and a few others. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the ridge, it was 2-3 pm, so alot of guys had already signed off. Next time, I'd leave earlier or hike up Friday night.Â  I'd definitely recommend that hike for a contest (if the WX is good).Â
>> The June contest is tough; people are out fishing, camping, etc. Sept contest competes with moose season and football. January is January.... The trick is to let everyone know and post your schedule. SSB/CW are helpful once you're out of town in terrain. I've gone down to the Pacific Northwest to do 2 Sept roves with my brother Tim AL1VE. LOTS more action, more intense. But the fun part about VHF contests in Alaska is being able to have a QSO, not just a contact. Ed, Mike, Tom, Larry, and a few others really made the efforts worthwhile.
>> GL, and keep us posted as your plans develop.
>> 73,KenNL7B
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> 73, Ed - KL7UW
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