[AK-VHF] June Rover Route

[Brandon Clark]

Hi Paul,

that is a great point about the 6-meter band. When I was contesting down
south, 6 meters was the primary band for all activity. You can reach
further with it, everyone who has even an HF rig has 6 meter SSB
capability, and there is always the chance of enhanced propagation. appear
there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in 6 meters, which is a shame.
Even for simple FM operations, you wouldn't believe the kind of coverage
that a 6 meter repeater has until you try it, or how clear simplex is when
mobile.

I will have a vertical antenna with me on the truck, but eventually I do
want to have a beam that I can set up quickly. I'm working on a design for
a 50 ohm direct feed beam similar to what I used to use for portable
operations. The trick is making it foldable so I can quick deploy it at
rover sites, reserving the vertical antenna for when I'm I'm motion.
Hopefully for September, but for next weekend the vertical will have to do.
73,
Brandon

On Sat, Jun 1, 2019, 07:45 Paul Kiesel <k7cw at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Guys,
>
> A reminder -
>
> We are now into the yearly sporadic-E season. 50 MHz could open at any
> time towards the lower 48 and to other places, as well. Yesterday, KL7HBK
> worked into Hawaii on six. This is just to suggest that folks should use as
> large an antenna as possible. The higher the gain, the better the results.
> This includes rovers. A three element horizontally polarized yagi can
> produce significantly better results than a single vertical. For a rover,
> this would likely mean that he/she would need to spend more time at each
> location in order to get the yagi up and take it down. And, if the band
> were to open, the probability of working distsnt stations during an E
> opening would be much, much better.
>
> I will be looking towards Alaska a lot on 50 MHz during the E season. Keep
> an eye for us down here.
>
> Please have fun in the contest!
>
> 73, Paul K7CW
> AVG Contest Guy
>
> On Saturday, June 1, 2019, 7:06:40 AM UTC, Edward R Cole <
> kl7uw at acsalaska.net> wrote:
>
>
> Brandon.
>
> Sounds good.  If you refine your roving schedule with est times
> please pass that along.  The June VHF Contest begins at 10am on June
> 8 and ends at 7pm June 9 (in AKDST).
> https://www.qsl.net/a/ak-vhf//Contests/
>
> I should be QRV 144.200/223.50/432.200/927.50/1296.100 from home on
> Saturday and Sunday.  Possible that the 6m dual-yagi array will be
> functional if I can schedule a bucket truck to work on installing new
> rotator.
>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>
> At 02:40 PM 5/31/2019, Brandon Clark wrote:
> >Good afternoon group,
> >
> >It's that time again. The June VHF contest is next weekend, starting at 10
> >a.m. local time. After an absence from radio during winter and spring I
> >will be roving again during the event.
> >
> >I am doing a slightly different route this year, and will start the event
> >in the Susitna North area. My second grid square is nearby on the Parks
> >Highway, and then I will be traveling south through Wasilla and back to
> >Eagle River. I will be operating from the Mount Baldy trailhead in Eagle
> >River, which allows me to pick up everything from Wasilla down to the
> >Kenai. to will head down to Anchorage for my next grid square. The last
> >stop for Saturday will be near Indian, on Turnagain Arm.
> >
> >the plan for Sunday is to start out on Diamond Ridge Road near Homer, and
> >then work my way back towards Anchorage. That activates a few more grids,
> >and with my bean antennas I expect I should be able to pick up Anchorage
> >stations pretty easily along that route.
> >
> >I will have truck mounted yagi antennas for 2 meters and 70 cm. On 6
> meters
> >I have a loaded vertical on the vehicle which also works well. I will
> >mainly operate FM near/on the calling frequencies, but will be doing some
> >SSB operation as well. I had hoped to set up 1.25 meter capability for the
> >contest, but ran out of time.
> >
> >Please spread the word that I'll be out there calling for contacts. Also
> >let any new technicians out there know that this is a great contest to
> >develop their skills and have some fun. If anyone is curious about how to
> >participate feel free to contact me and I'll get you pointed in the right
> >direction. If you have a handheld radio and a decent location then you
> have
> >what you need to have some fun next weekend.
> >73,
> >Brandon
> >______________________________________________________________
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> >
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> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>   http://www.kl7uw.com
> Dubus-NA Business mail:
>   dubususa at gmail.com
>
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