[NLRS] Rovermania Results: W0ZQ/R

[w0zq at aol.com]

 Band   QSOs  Grids    Station
 222    73     17   Six foot yagi, 130 watts
 432    69     15   Six foot yagi, 110 watts
 902    40     10   Six foot looper, 20 watts
1296    50     13   Six foot looper, 50 watts
2304    25      7   Ten foot looper, 30 watts
3456    12      3   Five foot looper, 30 watts
5760     6      2   27 dBi dish, 2 watts
 10G    22      7   32 dBi dish, 6 watts
Total  297     74 
 
Score:  141,426
 
Soapbox:  I operated Saturday afternoon & early evening down around the St. Charles grid corner in SE MN (EN44, EN43, and EN33).  There was pretty good activity in that neck of the woods that was helped out with some above average propagation.  1296, 2304, and 3456 played well.  I was able to work W9ZIH, EN51, on his bands of 432, 1296, 3456, and 10 gigs at about 230 miles with good signals.  Of course K2DRH was good on 222 through 3456 as well.  I also worked W9SNR/R in EN51 on 222, 432, 902, and 1296. Fun.  Later in the evening I headed back up closer to home to EN34oi, the uW tower just west of Hwy 52 near Hader.  As I was driving west on I-90 east of Rochester I heard someone calling me on CW on my 222.130 freq.  A "QRZ" resulted in a 222 70mph QSO with K2YAZ in EN74.  We tried 432, but no go.  Unfortunately I was not able to stay in EN34oi too long as there was a storm in Dakota cty just to my west that had gone severe due to hail. It was a nice light show.  I was able to operate there for about an hour before I decided to depart - I did work N0KP on 5.7 and 10gig RS, really a chip shot, but it was nice for me because I had lots of corn in that direction ... just aim up at the big flashing black cloud!  Sunday morning I operated near the Winstead corner just west of the Twin Cities (EN35, EN25, and EN24).  The morning was much cooler, about 67 degrees, with a low ceiling and little wind. Radio conditions seemed below average, but slowly improved through the morning hours.  My spot in EN35 has corn this year, so after working a few stations I did move to another spot that had a shot across soybeans.  My updated rover set-up that allows me to rotate rather than turning the car makes me much more mobile and capable of operating anywhere ... a significant improvement.  When I am moving I rotate the antennas into a parked position inline with the vehicle .... only once did I drive off forgetting that the antennas were not "parked".  I did get brave once and I did turn the antennas some while in motion to work Matt, KA0PQW, as I was northbound on HWy 52 just north of Rochester.  

I do need to put a plug in for 902.  Wow, what a band.  If your thinking about expanding beyond 222 and 432, 902 or 1296 would be the next one.  902 works very very well and its much more like 432 than 1296 ... why that is is not clear to me, but boy, does 902 work well.  I do have to say that you may need a filter if you live near any cell towers .... I home/rover setup uses a cavity filter - without it my receive gets blocked.  As a UHF rover, I think my favorite rover bands for good signals are 222, 902 and 10gigs.

Thanks to all the rovers who were out and about, and to the fixed stations as well.  I apologized for anyone who heard me that I missed .... I try to make sure that there is no one else calling before QSYing, but you don't expect to get a blind call on 902 and up very often! (note to self, listen for tailenders regardless of the band).
 
73, Jon
W0ZQ