[NLRS] K0MHC/R UHF Test Summary

[Jim Froemke]

Many thanks to the NLRS gang who spent the weekend on the hill. You all did
a great job!

 

While the June contest was a workup to this event there was no comparison.
This was much more fun!

Saturday was rather slow from the four corners of EN27/17/26/16 just
Northwest of Detroit Lakes, MN. The first hour was OK with 14 contacts back
towards the cities but it went downhill from then on. The next 5 grids were
rather quiet except for the strong signal from W0AUS.

 

Sunday was better but I had difficulty finding good operating locations in
the heavily forested and hilly EN36/35 area. I probably missed many of you
as I was driving around scouting the area.

Overall we accumulated 161 QSOs across 6 bands while activating 8 grids.
Here are a few more details and observations:

 

Location, Location, Location! No, this isn't about being a realtor. It's
about being a rover. My wife and I had previously scouted EN17, 16, 26 but
not EN27. However I found a great spot using Google Earth that was
relatively high with a good takeoff over a lake. However, when I showed up
it turned out to be a cemetery located on the White Earth Indian
reservation.  Being the culturally aware person that I am (not) and being a
paleface with a Texas driver's license I decided to move on to the
flatlands. Thanks to Bruce for suggesting the 4 corners NW of Detroit Lakes,
MN. Although completely flat (West of Highway 59), their cash crop isn't
corn. Moving on down to the Elbow Lake, MN four corners was uneventful
except I had forgotten my mosquito repellent. It's tough to send good CW
while you're keeping the darn bugs off. Sorry about that.

 

A last minute request changed my Sunday route to cover the EN36 void. Not a
problem except my previous cell tower location was now overgrown by bush and
trees. I had to find a better location in the EN36 SW corner with hilly
heavily forested area. Finally I found a road pull off just on the edge of a
corn field with a good southern view. After elevating the mast and leveling
the car a farmer came galloping up on his ATV. "What the h%#& are you doing
on my road?" (actually it was a county road). After concluding his
introductory remarks I remembered Donn's comment regarding red neck farmers
up in Northern Minnesota and tried to complement him on his corn crop. That
didn't change the subject much so remembering my days on the farm I asked
him about the corn futures market. That helped defuse the situation. When he
spotted the E85 sticker on my car it was as if we were long lost brothers.
He even suggested that I return next near. The downside of this location was
that the looper antennas (902 - 3456) were just peaking over the corn
stocks. When Mike (KM0T) and I ran the bands we had a problem with 2304.
Based on these extensive data we concluded that the corn cobs must resonate
on 2304 MHz. Tilting the looper array up another 5 degrees (above horizon)
seemed to solve the problem as signal strengths returned to normal and 2304
was good to go. Yes I may return to this site again but I hope the farmer
didn't return to find the popcorn lying underneath his corn stocks.

 

On as more serious note, I made some changes since June that may have helped
somewhat. My preference is to rotate the rotor (rather than the car) and
observe antenna boom length limitations that would allow me to rotate 360'
while in motion (if I had a roving partner to drive). The configuration for
this time out consisted of the following hardware:

 

222 - 140 watts* 8' yagi 11.4 dBd @ 21'

432 - 125 watts* 8' yagis 16 dBd @ 21'

902 - 28 watts* 6' loopers 19 dBi @ 8'

1296 - 28 watts* 6' loopers 19.5 dBi @ 8'

2304 - 11 watts* 7' looper 20 dBi @ 7.5'

3456 - 20 watts* 7' looper 23 dBi @ 9'

*All power measured at the antenna end of the coax

 

What went well?

-        100 Amp service @ 14 VDC provided for all amplifiers (didn't need a
backup generator this time)

-        23' telescoping mast stood up under relatively strong winds

-        FT-847 transceiver was repaired and returned in time for the August
contest

-        Microwave "box" (Xverters, amplifiers, relays and controller for
902-3456) worked well

-        "H" frame mounted pre-amps for 902 & 1296 worked well

What needs attention?

-        Both the 222 and 432 pre-amps (built into the power amplifiers)
failed early on

-        The 3456 transmission line had 3 dB of loss (measured after the
contest)

-        IC 820H 144 MHz IF transceiver isn't performing very well on CW

-        More scouting for good operating sites

-        I need to add mosquito lotion and fly swatter to my "must take"
list

Highlights:

-        Running all the bands with W0AUS from all 8 grids

-        Mild weather on Saturday with a constant 67 degrees and 15 MPH NW
wind

Lowlights:

-        Where was everyone on Saturday? Many 360 degree sweeps yielded only
white noise

-        I called many stations on Sunday but they QSY'd before getting
their attention

Future Plans:

-        2010 RoverMania - we're on a roll!

73, Jim

K0MHC/R

EN26ha home base