[NLRS] Tropo & Rovermania ... can it happen ?

[jcplatt1 at mmm.com]

Those who know me know that I like to follow the weather ... a hobby within
a hobby.   Those who are knowledgeable about VHF & UHF and who have been
around for a couple of seasons know that August & September are THE months
for tropo here in the upper Midwest.

Over the last couple of days I've seen that shift in our weather pattern
(via the NWS) that are typical for August & September and that signals the
start of our tropo season.    Weather fronts become a bit more undefined as
patterns get sluggish and the dew points start to go into the upper 60's
and 70's.   Water vapor is an important element for tropo propagation so
with the increase in humidity comes the increase chances for tropo.

We can see the Hepburn Index reflecting these changes .... check out Sat,
Sunday, and especially Monday's tropo forecast for us at
http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo.html  .... pretty nice looking huh.

Is it possible that we could have good tropo conditions for Rovermania,
.... YES.   Is it guaranteed, NO.   If it does shows up, do you want to be
the one to miss it, NO.

Rich will recall being active from Buck Hill as a small multi-op during the
UHF contest and working W8's and W4's on 1296 with 10 watts.   Two or three
years ago we had some excellent "local" enhancement on the bands and we all
had a ball.

My point here is to make you all aware that the probability for good
propagation during Rovermania is there .... will it happen, don't know, but
the trends are good and the time of year is right.    Do you want to be
left out of the fun if we indeed have a major tropo event during Rovermania
when so many are active ?

As this is the last weekend before the contest, check out that 222 and up
equipment and make sure its working.   Also lets hear from some of the
fixed stations if you are going to be on or not and what bands you may have
..... we haven't heard anything from the EN44 group (for instance).   How
about activity from the tundra belt; VE4MA, K0AWU, KB0CIM, W0PHD, NT0V ?
Several of the rovers are going to be doing a 24 hr operation; will there
be fixed stations to work ?

I am planning a rover systems check this Sat. morning around 9:00 AM with
W0GHZ, most likely from just across the Cheddar line in Wisc (EN34).
Look for me on 222.150 and 432.150.

73, Jon
W0ZQ

PS:  There is a possibility that we may try to pull together a Rovermania
article so please make sure to take a couple pictures and document your
activities so that we can pull this together later.   ALL INPUT WELCOMED.
In addition, posting to the ARRL's contest soapbox website is very very
easy, lots of fun, and is a great way for us to publish our activities.
If you haven't done this before, give it a thought for Rovermania whether
your a fix station or a rover.