[NLRS] Contest planning & 10gigs (LONG)

[Baker, Donn B]

Nothing decided yet on either June, Rovermania, or the September contests.

As for 10GHz, 

>  For working Sisseton, I'd consider trying a route 
> closer to the twin cities.  I think Highway 15 will work if some of the farmers 
> plant beans, and will allow for rapid-fire QSOs, while also providing views 
> back to the twin cities.  Those who didn't want to travel to Sisseton or run 
> the highways could find a park with a view and liesurely work the group in the middle.
> 
> Glen, kc0iyt
> 

I agree with Glen regarding Central MN... its not only Hwy 15, either.  SW MN has LOTS of places where its "pull over, make the Q, move on" (not a political reference !).  

In general, draw a line:
>From Sisseton to west of Willmar (175 km), to Gaylord (250 km), to Madelia (250+ km), to Windom (250 km), to Worthington (250 km), to Pipestone (200 km) to Sisseton.  Almost ANYWHERE in this space, pull a safe distance off the road, aim at Sisseton, and make the Q.  This area includes (from east to west): Hwy 15, Hwy 4, US 71, Hwy 23, US 59, and US 75 all running N-S or NE/SW.  There are MANY county roads paralleling these that could be better due to lesser traffic loads.

Looking north from Sisseton, the RRV offers I-29 and, from Fargo north, US 75 as more or less parallel and >= 10 miles apart.  Again, LOTS of places to stop, point S, and make the Q.

There is a significant problem, though, of "dilution of effort" when there are too many stations in different places.  The stations in the center are always (ALWAYS!) pointed in the wrong direction.  This is exacerbated when Qs are "hard," and more and more time is necessary to make one Q.  The "worst case" would be with "Sisseton" as the center and BOTH the Red River Valley and Central/Western MN having Rovers (and maybe the Twin Cities to boot).

The Q rate on the North Shore has been very high for several reasons.  
First, the Qs (generally) are easy, or at least not hard... even the DX ones. 
 
Second, the UP stations are always pointed in the correct direction. With the good signals, even being off a fair number of degrees hasn't mattered: we could hear stations calling us.  This would NOT be true when there's a 90 to 140 degree (or more!) difference in headings!

Third, there's been excellent discipline at both ends aimed at making as many Qs in as short a time as possible.  We need to discover a way to maintain this when we move to Central MN.  We won't be able to do as well, because of the more "spread-out" nature of stations in Central MN.  But we have to try !

Whatever reduces any of these factors (and others ?), will make things counter-productive, and we need to think about it very carefully.

All that said, although I'm willing to go back to the UP for the first weekend, I think we should really look at the MN option(s).  I'm willing to go to Sisseton, or Rove, or both. Either or both weekends.  UP first weekend, MN second weekend.  Both weekends in MN.

73 Donn
WA2VOI/0