[NLRS] Rover advice needed

[W. S. Mitchell]

Greetings,
  This June, I am planning to be a rover in the ARRL contest, heading
from Minneapolis (EN34) out to DN85 and back, in a two-rover pack with
the team of K0BBC and W0ZF.  I'm comfortable with SSB and CW, and feel
comfortable with using WSJT for FSK441 (haven't made a QSO with it
yet, though).  It will be my first rover operation, and among the
first few serious VHF contest efforts I've made.

I plan to borrow the parental car (no holes are or may be drilled),
and borrow a 1 kW generator (source needed!) so I can run a laptop and
my Yaesu FT-857d at full power (stop-and-shoot).  Bands will be 6m
(Moxon) and 2m (Arrow V/U satellite yagi).  While I would be a little
interested in 70 cm, it complicates the antenna switching/feedlines
and the polarization of the antenna (2m and 70cm are orthogonally
polarized).  For simplicity I think 6m and 2m will be enough.

My plans for a mast are not yet finalized.  When I use the 6m Moxon at
home, I have been using about 7' of 3/4" PVC lashed 4' up to the deck
railing for my mast.  For the rover I am thinking I would use a
Christmas tree stand to help support a sturdier mast of some sort (2"
or 3" black ABS tubing?), but would want to then have an adapter of
some sort to get to the 3/4" fitting needed for the Moxon.   Fittings
to get the 2m antenna attached to the mast haven't been determined;
lashing it to the mast with rope is an option, though not a very
fast-deploying one.  An Armstrong rotator will be used.

Apart from the logistics of mounting the antennas, I have some
additional questions:
* What if it rains?  Do you use some form of shelter for the generator
to keep it dry, or do most rovers have a vehicle with a beefy
inverter?
* What are the good ways to route the feedline out of the vehicle if
it is raining and having the window/door open isn't an option?
* During a contest, what is the typical FSK441 meteor scatter calling
procedure?  I expect to be without internet access, so online
skeds/spotting won't be of use to me.

I'm also open to other advice which would be useful for a first-time
rover.  This year my theme is going to be starting small and keeping
things simple.  Setup and tear-down times need to be fairly small (15
min?), because DN85 is a long drive away and there are a bunch of
grids in between.

For those of you in the Minneapolis area, I am interested in borrowing
the following items for the operation:
* 1 kW generator (+oil +gas can +rain shelter?)
* PL-259 feedlines.  I have a 50' and a 100' of LMR-240, but that's
longer than needed and more lossy than I like.
* Better portable mast than described above (note: I don't have a
trailer hitch on the parental vehicle)

If all goes well, and I return from my voyage in the Southern Ocean
with the VK0EK expedition (http://www.vk0ek.org), I will see about
putting together a presentation on being a first-time rover for the
Aurora conference next year.

Thanks and 73,
  Bill
AE0EE