[NLRS] Freqs during contests

[John Hoaglun]

It was pretty interesting working the contest as a rover and listening to
see where people would operate.

During the contest we tried several different methods.

1. Sit on 144.230 and manually call CQ or to use the computer as a voice
keyer. (I know that is a different freq than what I had posted before the
contest.... things happen.... people make changes on the fly. I will do
better next now that I have some better experience to draw upon.)

2. Listen to 144.200 for new calls.... then try to move them to 144.230 as
much as possible.

3. Hold 144.230 as my calling freq.... once in a while jump down to the
calling freq make a little announcement then QSY back to 144.230.

4. Check 223.500FM


In Iowa we exercised options 1, 2, and 3. Given there was next to no one on
the air, frankly it really didn't matter. We ended up talking to the
cornfield which for some reason don't respond very well, we listen and
listen, some for KM0T, call CQ wit the voice keyer... then listen some more
for KM0T is one of three stations that were actually on the air in Iowa
besides all the rovers. (There must have been a rover for every cornfield in
Central Iowa.)

In Minnesota after trying all of the above options at some point during the
weekend we ended up using options 3 and 4. Even for the last two hours on
Sunday sitting on an overpass from Brooklyn Park about 3 miles from my house
options 3 and 4 seemed to work while.... granted it was a little slow. But I
probably averaged about 30's per hour. Not a great rate but we called cq...
very little search and pounce by Sunday night. I was there to hand out
points.

I was a little disappointed that people would sit and run on 144.200 for
10-20 minutes at a time.  I can see making a quick q if it was really
slow.... I can see making a quick little announcement and then qsy up or
down the dial a few KHz.

I can honestly say that I heard sometimes as much as 4 layers of stations
trying to complete q's at 144.200.

By the end of the weekend I had pretty much sworn off the calling the
freq... even listening to it... About every 20-30 minutes I would jump
down... make my little announcement and then qsy back to 144.230 and hold my
freq. If people wanted my contact they need to spin the VFO a little and
move up the dial. (Considering that I exceeded my contest goals a few times
I decided that the calling freq wasn't that important.)

As a rover station it is pretty obvious when people are not moving up the
dial. I am always a little nervous sitting 30 KHz up the dial since many
stations would not check that high.

KT80 was fun to listen to... Eric knew that w0amt/r was running at 144.240
and that I was running from 144.230. I heard Eric grab a potential q and
then move stations up to 144.250 to make sure that he was in the clear.

It was also kind of funny when someone new would stop by 144.230, we would
complete a q and then some of the other locals would jump in to get the new
call sign. That happened more than a few times.

I found that my best 2m DX occurred when I stayed at 144.230. I was able to
work EN44, EN45, EN53 Sunday evening. It was quiet enough at 144.230 that
adjacent channels were not too much of an issue washing out the longer
paths.

I don't know what other people think of voice keys.... but I am sold. It was
pleasant break during certain portions of the contest.

73


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