[NLRS] Rover plans for W0JT in September VHF Contest

[John P. Toscano]

Hello, all!

Things are looking pretty good for me to be ready and able to play in
the September VHF contest this weekend as a rover.  This will be a
whole new rover configuration for me, so there may be unforseen
problems.  But at the moment, here is what I plan to run for the
rover station, including my preferred working frequency when running
the bands:

  50.220  100 watts into 18' 6M5X yagi (9.4 dBd)
 144.220  160 watts into 19.5' 2M12 yagi (12.8 dBd)
 222.220  100 watts into the rear 13' or so of a 222-5WL
 432.220  100 watts into the rear 13' or so of a 432-9WL
 902.220   10 watts into 3333LYK 12' loop yagi (16.1 dBd)
1296.220   36 watts into 2345LYK 12' loop yagi (17.6 dBd)
2304.220   15 watts into 1376LYK 12' loop yagi (21.0 dBd)

The antennas for 50-432 are "borrowed" from my home antenna collection
while the higher bands are "rover" antennas.  The antennas I had
planned to use for the 4 lower bands are still up in the air, and so
I am using what is on the ground, and in 2 cases they were just too
large and unwieldy for roving in their full length.  Hopefully they
will "play" ok in shortened form.  I have no information on their
performance with the front section or two removed.

I plan to activate 9 grids, some of which don't sound like they will
be visited by anyone else I know of.  Best estimate of my schedule,
all dates and times are in UTC:

Sat 1800 - 1930  EN15xx
Sat 1930 - 2100  EN25ax
Sat 2100 - 2230  EN26aa
Sat 2230 - 0000  EN16xa

Sun 0000 - 0300  minimal teardown, drive to Monticello, minimal setup

Sun 0300 - 0430  EN35cg  (planning to use the 10 GHz site)

Sun 0430 - 2000  minimal teardown, drive home, sleep, get up, eat, go
                 to church services, change clothes, pack up the van,
                 drive to St. Charles, minimal setup

Sun 2000 - 2130  EN33xx
Sun 2130 - 2300  EN43ax
Sun 2300 - 0030  EN44aa
Mon 0030 - 0200  EN34xa
Mon 0200 - 0300  last call for these 4 grids, or else start driving
                 the 94 miles to home if no one else wants me here.

Setup will mainly consist of rotating the 6M5X from vertical to
horizontal (it's too wide for the open road when horizontal), and
unfolding the reflector and directors.  (The driven element can't
easily be folded, hence the rotation while on the move.)  Teardown
is the reverse.  I am VERY UNLIKELY to try to work anyone while
mobile, as I will be alone, and driving plus talking plus logging
is more than my feeble mind can handle, and besides, all the "good"
radios will be in the back of the van.  I might go ahead and have
verticals on 146.55/58, 223.5, and 446 FM for while I'm in motion
(those radios are up front where I normally operate them in non-
rover day-to-day mode), and maybe log with a tape recorder or
something less dangerous than trying to write or work a laptop.
But the verticals have to come down for the beams to rotate.

In spite of my new call, I receive CW pretty slowly, so I will try
to work as much SSB as I can.  If I need CW to complete a contact,
PLEASE QRS QRS!  I can send much faster than I can receive.  Sending
me in Farnsworth mode (normal speed characters with a longer delay
between characters than normal) will help.  I know that practice
will help me, but I get so little "air time" most weeks that the
time to practice is just not there.  Sorry about that.  Someday, I
will find the time.  I just may have to retire first (8-10 years from
now).  :)

Good luck all of you, and please (a) wish me luck, and (b) work
me on as many bands in as many grids as you can!  My hope is to
give you fixed stations a fairly loud signal from some fairly quiet
grids on a lot of bands.

73 de W0JT
(ex-KB0ZEV, hope I don't forget that too many times this weekend, I
only got the new call 5 days ago and it takes some practice to make
the new one second nature!)