[NLRS] kc0lbt/kc0itq rover outing

[John Hoaglun]

Ok folks... I am finally narrowing down our plans for this weekend. I just
spend 2 hours working through grids, maps, and stop timings.  I am not real
happy with the plan yet, but I figure that I should put something out there.

Ian (kc0itq) will be riding shotgun and keeping an eye on the maps and
radios.

Here is a link to the map for the trip. This is my revised map.
http://www.hoaglun.com/ham/contest/rove_idea_2.htm

We will leave Mpls early Saturday morning to drive to the SE corner of EN44
for the start of the contest.

Stops 1,2,3 (EN44, EN43, EN54) are scheduled for 30 minutes each. But I
don't expect to hear much out there with the hills and high trees. We will
work from these three grids until about 3:15pm.

Stop 4 is the Madison area. 4:30pm-5:30pm EN53
Stop 5 is Rockford 7:00pm to 8:00pm EN52
Stop 6 is near Sterling 9:00pm to 9:30pm EN51
Stop 7 is between Iowa City and Daven Port 10:45 - 11:15pm EN41

We will find a hotel in Iowa City or Cedar Rapids.

Sunday morning
Stop 8 is Cedar Rapids 8:00am to 8:30am EN42
Stop 9 is near Norway/Toledo 9:30am to 10:00am EN31
Stop 10 is Marshal Town 11:15am to 11:30am EN32
Stop 11 is Clear Lake  1:45pm to 2:15pm EN33
Stop 12 is Owatonna 3:30pm to 4:00pm EN34
Stop 13 is my house around 5:30pm EN35

This version of my plan would cover 13 grids and 749 miles during the
contest. (About 170 miles before the contest.)

With a trip this large a lot is subject to change. I have a couple of
goals....
1. Work the Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford, and Chicago bedroom communities.
2. Work the Des Moines area.
3. Work my area of Minneapolis.

Most of our time will be spent  working on these three population bases. It
also happens that there are quite a few grid corners  for those communities.

We will vary our stop timing depending on how many Q's are available. Our
setup and breakdown time is about 5 minutes each. (Assuming that everything
holds together.)

We have 6m, 2m, 70cm, and 222FM with a horizontal beam.
We will try to start out each grid/stop on the following freqs:
432.065,   50.165,   144.165

I would guess that folks in Minnesota will not hear us until we get into
central Iowa where things get really flat.

That is my over ambitious plan assuming that the weather is going to be
good. In the event that weather looks questionable I will post an alternate
and MUCH easier plan.

Thoughts and suggetions are welcome!

JH

John Hoaglun - MCSE
KC0LBT - EN35
http://www.hoaglun.com