[NLRS] Aug'06 UHF & Rovermania III

[jcplatt1 at mmm.com]

Hello NLRS land.

A big thanks to John Kalenowsky, K9JK, for providing his time to us and the
League for the 2006 UHF Contest write-up.    You will see his excellent
write-up in your January QST.   You can also see it online, at the members
only section, at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results/ .    While you are
there, check out the Sidebar article written by myself about my roving
experiences & Rovermania III.

Nationally, 2003 represented the low spot in this contest with only 140
logs.    Since 2003, we have had three successive years of growth with 169
logs in 2004, 183 logs in 2005, and 191 logs in 2006.     MN logs went from
8 in 2003 to 18 in 2006.   Wisconsin is even more impressive in its growth
with just one log in 2003, 6 in 2004, 6 again in 2005, and 13 in 2006.
In the WI/IA/MN area as a whole, we went from 12 logs in 2003 to 33 logs in
2006.    Ponder that,

Looking at the number of Rover logs nationally, we had 29 in 2003, a high
of 35 in 2004 (Rovermania I), 32 in 2005 (when we "lost" several rovers due
to moving and multi-ops), to 34 in 2006.    Over the same 2003 to 2006 time
frame, MN Rover logs went from 3, to 7 (Rovermania I), to 3, to 10.    Once
again looking at the WI/IA/MN area, we went from 4 Rovers in 2003 to 13 in
2006 (with Wisconsin going from ZERO Rovers in 2003 to 3 Rover in 2006).

What is my message here ?    That we have had three years of solid growth
in UHF contesting.   Yes, growth.   Yes, three years.   This should be
screamed from the top of your tower and you should challenge anyone who
states that UHF contesting is dying.   Not today its not.    The reason for
this growth is Rovermania, all the fixed stations that get on, and that we
ALL send in logs.

Those who have participated in the UHF contest and Rovermania know how much
fun this short 24 hr contest is.   As a participate you should feel very
proud about having been an active part of this growth in a part of our
hobby that we greatly enjoy and want to share with others.  Take a moment
to feel good about this ... this is a good thing.

For those of you who have not thought about playing on UHF and/or the UHF
contest, all I can say is give it a try.   Our local clubs are excellent
sources of knowledge and help as to how to get on 222 and up.   6m and 2m
are tremendous fun to operate, but while we surely do keep one foot firmly
planted in VHF, there are new experiences and new fun to be gain on 222 and
up.

Set your sites on next years UHF contest and Rovermania IV.   W0ZQ/R will
be out there ....somewhere.

73, Jon
W0ZQ/R