[NLRS] Starter station help

Tue Aug 3 23:50:49 EDT 2010

Hey Bill, good questions. I was in the same position 3 years ago, June 2007, when I first started roving. 

One general suggestion, known to all, an axiom in fact, but forgotten by many, is to be loud on two. Be loud on 2! It helps the QSO total on all bands. Not having two on a rove is flying blind.

Find the local VHF ops and tell them you want to be a rover. You will get a lot of help and encouragement. Subscribe to a local VHF reflector, like this one, and ask questions. 

Other things to consider:

Six is almost as important as two, perhaps more so in June and July. Other contests it is just another band. But having two, even in the June contest, will help boost the score on 6M.

Use what you got or can borrow. 

So first focus on two. Put together a good station on two. Good power, 100 Watts or more, and a high gain, 10dB, antenna.

If the rover-to-be has one of the DC-to-Daylight rigs he is all set. Just add antennas, WA5VJB cheap Yagis for 2M and 70 cm, and a Moxon or loop for 6M. More on antennas later. If you don't have one of these rigs, they can be bought for $450 (FT100) to $600 (IC706MKIIG or FT857). This is not the cheapest way to start, but in the long run, it may be the most efficient way to spend money. 

If the op has an HF rig; Ten-Tec and old, but serviceable transverters from Microwave modules are readily available for 6M and 2M for around $100. The Ten-Tec is newer and probably more robust. On 2M, all mode linears are available for about $1 a Watt. Check QTH.com ads. So for $350-$400 and an existing HF rig, one has the rig for a decent rover. Adding 432 helps one's score a lot, so add another $100 for a 432 transverter. That is $500 or so, and coincidentally the price of a DC to Daylight rig. So if you plan to be a serious rover and add bands, it is probably cost effective to buy a multiband rig at the start. But nobody does that. 

Having said all that, I started with a IC551D on 6M only for my first rove. There was no Es and I did poorly. But I was hooked. For the next contest I added 2M with a TS-9130. That helped a lot. For the January Contest I added 432 MHz with an old FT780. Those extra QSO points help. For the next contest, I added a 150W 2 meter amp. That made a lot of difference and I could work lots of stations on 2M and move them to other bands. That was when I realized I should have started with dominance on 2 to begin with.  The stations I worked all suggested I add 222 MHz, so I bought an Elecraft XV222 for $300, driven by an HT-100 ($75) and quickly added a 120 W linear for $125. I added a linear for 432MHz, but in NM we are only allowed 50 Watts output, so that is a ceiling I cannot compensate for with more equipment. 

I already had the 551D, the 9130, and 780. I paid $650 for those 3 rigs used, but I got them over a few years for general operating. For that price at one fell swoop, I would have been better off spending the money on a single DC to daylight rig.  Multimode VHF rigs seem to keep their value beyond what they should. 30 yr old TS700s go for $250 or so. It is hard to find a used single band VHF/UHF rig or less than $150. For the 3 basic bands that is $450 for starters, and that is the price for a modern, but used, DC to daylight rig. 

Well, putting all this together in the rover for the third time, I realized that it was a disaster waiting to happen. I had four transceivers, 3 amps, 2 preamps, and a transverter all to hookup. I knew sooner or later that I would hookup a power line backwards, or the antenna to the wrong band, or an input to an output. And I was hooked on roving. 

So the next step was to purchase a TS-2000X. I ran the XV-222 from the HF side. No need for the 2M amp and the 432 amp. This made setup much simpler and more reliable. I must confess putting Anderson PowerPoles on all of the DClines helped a lot too. That is highly recommended. Plus I added another band in 1296 MHz. At $1800, it is not an investment for the beginner, but considering the cost of each individual band, it is not a bad investment. 

As long as you have SSB on one band, you can use a HT or FM mobile on others. Just move the stations from the band you make an SSB contact on to FM on another band. Bring along a simple Yagi though, as the other team is horizontally polarized. Or hold the HT horizontally. It is also worthwhile to bring along a HT for a backup. Along these lines, you can use the 2M yagi on 432 MHz.

Antennas. It is hard to beat the WA5VJB Cheap Yagis. I use the 6 element 2M, the 6 element 222MHz, the 10 element on 432 and the 12 element on 1296 MHz. I run these in motion, mounted on a mast made from EMT held in place with the trailer hitch. You can also build a drive on mast holder from a 2 X 10, a nipple, and a floor flange. On 6M I started with a 2 element Yagi fixed, augmented in motion by a 6M loop made from Al U channel, and finally to a PAR stressed Moxon, which I use in motion and fixed. I think it is important to operate while in motion, but I use the Yagis instead of loops. In practice you don't loose much with a directional antenna, one is always going to a populated area, or from a populated area, so I either point the antenna to the front or rear. If I hear something off to the side, I stop and point the antenna in that direction. Simple.

I built this Moxon on my way to the PAR:

< http://www.n2mh.net/antenna.htm >

It resonates higher in the band than I would like and I made it a bit longer. It is a hard antenna to beat for the cost, availability of parts, and no tune setup. It os a bit heavy to operate in motion though. 

I built this loop from aluminum channel instead of the copper tubing recommended:

< http://www.neasmn.org/squalo/squalo.htm >

It works good for a loop and is easy to build. I put the thing together with self tapping metal screws. That is OK to start with, but one should move up quickly.

Feed line runs are short in a rover. RG8X is OK on 6M, RG213 on 2M and (barely acceptable) on 432 MHz. RG-6 is cheap and has about the same loss as RG-213 to 70cm or so, you just need to deal with the 75 Ohm impedance.  That is pretty easy. Look on the web for techniques. When you get serious about roving you can replace it with LMR400 or equivalent. 

You will need a handful of adapters of all sexes, N to UHF, UHF to BNC,BNC to N, and so on. Dig through piles of them at hamfests. Buy them when you see them. Offer $1 a piece. Buy ones you don't think you will need. You can't have enough adapters. Same thing with audio adapters. You will need them for keys, paddles, PTT, foot switches, transverter keying lines,  headphones, and speakers.  

Powering the whole station is oft overlooked. If you run on the car battery, be sure that you leave enough juice to start the car after you park and operate. Always park on a down hill slope. I operate the rover from a deep cycle battery. If you only operate 10 to 12 hours, this is OK. That is not as bad as it sounds as one can take the battery inside over the night and charge it up for the second day of operating. I have tried various DC-DC converters to charge the battery in motion, but I have had reliability problems with them and now just charge the deep cycle battery from the cigar lighter, errr... power outlet. As long as the battery does not get too run down, this works OK, but if you forget to hook it up or the connections get loose, you will not be able to charge the battery this way without blowing a fuse.

One of the best investments I ever made in my rover was to buy an N9XJK DC booster. It takes the battery voltage and boosts it to 13.6 V, or even a bit more. Many modern rigs get flaky below 12V, including the 706, so this helps keep it up to snuff. Maybe not an investment for the first timer, but definitely if you are serious about roving, it is a good investment.

Route planning is critical to a rover's success. Beginners should give it as much consideration as the gear they use. While it is tempting to go to a high spot in a rare grid, it is better strategy to start at a grid boundary or convergence near, that is 50 to 60 miles or less, from a major population center. Get on at the start of the contest. There will be a lot of activity and you will work a lot of stuff. They will also ask where you are going next and when you will be there. They will look for you. At a grid convergence you can work 4 grids in a few hours. Then on to other close grids. Moderately high spots near highways are better than mountain tops an hour or more from the main road. Parking structures can be use as artificial hills in prairie country. Publicize your rove on the local reflector.

Bring a key or keyer. CW is worth 10 dB. If you can't make it on SSB with a big station call on CW. It usually works. If you don't know CW, learn it. 

Use headphones if you are not driving, They will add several dB to your ability to copy weak signals.

If you log on a computer RoverLog is great. Bring paper and pencil for a backup.  

Borrowing equipment works too, just ask. 

I have pictures. Check out ARRL Soapboxes for VHF/UHF contests, or ask. I can send them.

Sorry for the ramblings. I am sure I left something out. Did I say that you should be loud on two? - Duffey

--
James Duffey KK6MC
DM65tc
Cedar Crest NM
< jamesduffey at comcast.net >