[NLRS] UHF/Rovermania III

[WB0LJCGary at aol.com]

HI all,

I planned to be a local rover in  EN34 and EN35 near Ridgeway Park and across 
the freeway.

I started at  Ridgeway on Saturday and made 44 contacts. I was having some 
problems  with
the equipment on a few of the higher bands as well as some operator  
problems. As a result 
there were a number of missed Q's. Sorry  guys.

During the move to EN34 I violated rover rule #1 and lost some of  the 
antennas and the mast to a low branch. About half of the FO-22 elements now  need to 
be replaced. The 222 VJB didn't bend any elements but the wood boom  snapped 
right at the driven element. Later inspection showed the 902 and 1296  VJB 
antennas to have broken solder joints on the grounds. As a result operation  in 
EN34 from across the freeway was scrubbed. I went home dropped off the now  
excess equipment and took out my old 8 el Quagi for 432. I was on for the 8PM  
activity hour from the land bridge by Minnehaha Falls. I worked WA2VOI, N0KP,  
W0GHZ and K0KFC on 10G off the Minneapolis buildings from there. It was a long  
bounce shot to Jim in Wisconsin.

With most of the bands down I wasn't in  a rush to get on Sunday. I did 
return to EN35 at
Ridgeway park with 432 and  10G only. I worked Chris, N0UK, in EN23xa on 10G 
while beaming through the  trees. Next was a trip across the road to EN34 for 
the activity hour at noon. I  made a few more 432 and 10G contacts before the 
contest ended.

Local  activity seemed to a little slow. When you take out KP, GHZ and the 
rovers, I  think I worked more stations in EN44 then I did in EN34 and EN35. Was 
everyone  out roving?

Here is the  breakdown:

Band          Q        Grid     Comments

222             6         3         No EN35 but I did work EN44  and EN25 
with 5 W on  FM.
432            35      10        I  don't think I've ever worked this many 
grids with only 10  W.
902             3          1        No  EN35
1296           6         3  
2304           3          1        No  EN35
3456           2          1        
5760           0          0        I tested it out before the contest  but I 
couldn't make any Q's. 
10368        21         3        What a fun  band

Total    11736 points    76  Q's    22 Girds plus 2 rover grids = 24 Grids.

I had fun  even with all the problems. Sorry I couldn't get the higher bands 
on for the  locals and the other rovers. I hope to do better next year.


73, Gary  WBØLJC