[NLRS] Suggestions for rover frequency & CW speed

[Richard Clem]

We're getting our rover plans ready, and it looks like we will be activat=
ing
approximately 17 grids.  We'll be posting our complete plans later in the=

week, but we plan to start the contest near St. Cloud, pass through the T=
win
Cities on Saturday afternoon, and then head East through Eau Claire, Madi=
son,
and Milwaukee.  On Sunday, we'll head through the Chicago area, and then =
West
through the Quad Cities and Des Moines.  Then, we'll head back North, and=

probably arrive home after the contest ends.

One of the problems we had last time was attracting attention of stations=
 in
the Twin Cities.  We worked a number of 100+ mile QSOs, but none back to =
the
Twin Cities, as we were probably lost in the QRM of the calling frequenci=
es. =

This time, we'll publish our frequencies before the contest, which leads =
me to
the question of what frequency should we pick?  My inclination was to go =
just
a few kHz above the calling frequencies, but I noticed that many of the
January rovers were quite a bit higher.

Also, most of our DX QSO's were CW.  The best strategy from rural areas w=
as
just to call CQ using CW, and eventually someone heard us.  I had the key=
er
set quite slow, in hopes that more people would be able to copy us. =

Unfortunately, we lost a few because of that, since the propagation was g=
one
before all of the information was exchanged.  If we call CQ and exchange =
our
information at 20+ WPM (maybe slowing down for the grid square), will tha=
t be
a problem?  Also, since cross mode contacts are permitted, feel free to c=
all
us on SSB, and tell us to slow down if necessary.  Chances are, we will b=
e
able to hear you better than you can hear us.  The only catch is that our=

transmit frequency might change slightly when we come back to you, since =
we
might need to tune you in, and the RIT on this rig can sometimes be a has=
sle
to use.

TNX & 73,
Rick W0IS
Yippy KC0OIA