[NLRS] Rovermania VI ! - W0ZQ/R report

Tue Aug 4 10:53:46 EDT 2009

Band   QSOs  Value   Pts   Mults

 222    62      3    186     17

 432    79      3    237     18

 902    42      6    252     11

1.2G    53      6    318     13

2.3G    24     12    288      6

3.4G    22     12    264      5

5.7G    13     12    156      2

 10G    34     12    408      9

Grids Activated:              7

Total  329          2109     88

Claimed Score: 185,592

EN24:  37

EN25:  29

EN33:  46

EN34:  69

EN35:  32

EN43:  57

EN44:  59

Soapbox:

When I left home on Saturday morning it was 62 degrees with a NW wind gusting to 25 mph – fantastic weather for UHF contesting! Saturday night saw record cold temperatures across most of the region. One thing can be said for certain – each year, each UHF contest is unique, and this one was not to be any different.  

After last years Rover
mania V! I gave some heavy thought to doing something different for the 2009 contest – but along can the rule change that added the club competition, the concerted effort to create a “big” multi-op effort and the call for rover support, and the addition of W0AUS as the NLRS call sign to be used by the multi-op, and how could I not hit the road again.  So, repeating last years route I hit the St. Charles grid corner on Saturday to activate EN33/34/43/44, returned home on Saturday night to get some sleep, then up Sunday morning and headed out to the Winsted corner to active EN24/25/34/35 for a total of seven unique grids.  Travel was good, the weather was cool, no rain this year, not a bug was to be had (one upside to the drought), corn was only about two-thirds as tall as last year and there seemed to be more soy beans, and everything worked until the last 30 minutes of the contest when my 5.7/10g IF rig locked up and 2304 my went off-line – items to troubleshoot on another day.   

In EN44, my first stop, I had a nice visit by three guys out riding their scooters – they had “slow moving vehicle” signs on their backs and they went zipping by me where I was set-up, slowed down, and looped back to ask “what are you doing?” We had a really nice 10 minute chat and got some leads on some other possible operating spots.  In EN43 I had two different guys stop by, both really nice & just wa
nting to know what I was doing.  One guy owned the adjoining land and said that he see’s “us” here from time to time, so I told him what we are doing to grease the skids for the next rover who comes by. At one of my gas stops I had a car full of girls ask what all the antennas are for – after explaining things a bit they said “cool” – who would have thought that a rover could be a chick magnet?  In EN34fs, the adjacent land owner came over to ask me if the cell tower that is located their could be making his dog sterile (he breeds them) – I had some smart mouth answer about nuking puppies all ready, but I took the high road and said “probably not”.  By the way, the end of the contest from EN34fs with our “activity hour” at noon is awesome.  Although I had already been in EN34 on Saturday night, I made 27 new contacts from Noon to 1pm local, 5 of those on 10gig just before my IF rig froze – without this problem I would have most like worked another 3 to 5 contacts and also picked up EN35 on 5.7 for a mult, good for another 5k points or so. 

To keep this note short, here is an extract from just one of my seven grids, EN44bb.

I started out the contest in a new spot in EN44 – EN44bb to be exact.  For those who are curious, the lat/long is 44.05719 by 91.87390 on Cty Rd 27 about 3 miles ESE of Altura.  The farm f
ield pull out on the north side of the road provides a safe spot, there is VERY little traffic on this paved road, and it has an unobstructed 360 degree take-off – a superior UHF location.  This area of EN44, around the Altura, has several very nice spots to operate from.  

At 1813z I found the W0AUS multi-op guys and we worked from 222 through 10 GHz in just under 10 minutes – very good given that this was stop #1 and it was just the beginning of the contest so the multi-op may still working out any kinks – I think the June contest “practice” session was paying some dividends.  Immediately after that, on the same heading, I heard and worked John, WA0VPJ/R, in EN15 on 222 and 432 – a very nice ~ 400km rover-to-rover contact.  Mel and Carol, KC0P/R and N0HZO/R, were out & about playing for the day in the grid just to my south, EN43, and we were able to make some easy 432, 1296, and 10G contacts.  I then came across Jim, K0MHC/R, on 222 in EN17 and we made a nice ~ 480km rover to rover contact.  Not sure why we didn’t try 432 right then, but I do recall that I was a busy boy – that may have been when the scooter club came by.  K2DRH, EN41, was easy on 222 through 3.4G, making those six Q’s in about eight minutes – a distance of about 280km.  I then found Mike, WB8BZK/R, EN51, on 222, at a distance of about 350km – we should have tried 432 Mike but20it was immediately after our Q that W9FZ/R and I found each other, Bruce in EN53, and we worked 222 through 2.3G plus 10G – the 10G contact being lots of fun as we were working with headings based on where our low band antennas were pointing and neither of us is freq locked. I think those contacts were in the 180 km range.  KM0T, EN13, was the next guy in the log with contacts from 222 through 10 GHz, minus 5.7.  At 365 km, given the cool weather, the high band Q’s with Mike were made on CW.  On 5.7 I could hear Mike’s 15 watts on weak CW, but Mike could not copy my 2 watts, so we moved on.  This is the first time we have been skunked on one of the uW bands from EN44 and was reflective of the somewhat below average conditions at that time.  Chris and Holly, N0UK/R & K0HAC/R made it into the log on 222, 432, 1296, and 10G from EN24 at a distance of about 200 km – nice.  Great to hear Paul, W0UC, back on from the Farm in EN44 with 222, 432, 902, and 1296, as well as N0AKC from EN44.  Matt, KA0PQW, EN33, was strong on 222 and 432.

My apologize to those I did not work, or to those that I worked on one band and got pull away to do something else never to find them again.  It is a contest, and sometimes one has to make contest decisions.  Also, frankly, as a one-man rover, your get real busy at times!  I remember one time I had KM0T on the uW, working a second rover on 
the low bands (while hanging my head in the car window), and having a farmer and his tractor wanting access to the pull-off I was on. The life of the rover is a hard one.   

So in the end another fun Rovermania !  Fun to work Ray, KE3QY/R, on 10G who was out and about Gary, WB0LJC/R – thanks for the EN25 mult guys.  I was not able to work Bill, K0AWU, EN37, as much this year as last year, but our 222, 432, 902, 1296 Q’s from EN35 on Sunday morning were fun.  BTW, if anyone is looking to expand their station, 902 is an awesome band that plays much more like 432 than 1296 – I have had very good luck on 902 with just 15 watts and a short looper.  Many thanks to Jim, K0MHC/R who appeared in EN36 Sunday midmorning where we made 222 through 3.4G Q’s while I was in EN25 – CW rules for sure!  Also thanks to KC0IYT/R for several contacts while Glen was down south and for the flurry of Q’s from EN35 at the very end. 

Thanks for all the Q’s and see you in Rovermania VII from somewhere.

73, Jon

W0ZQ/R