[NLRS] K0MHC/rover June VHF Contest Summary

[Jim Froemke]

"And a good time was had by all!"

It was great to participate in the June contest again while "up North". 

 

Murphy influenced my results yet again due to:

*	Flat tire
*	Air conditioner failure (first day of contest)
*	222 transverter failed (before the contest)

 

I spend an extra day getting my 10 GHz station running only to find at the
last minute that there wasn't enough space in the car to haul it around.

Ran out of time to even try to get 1296 installed in the rover or debug the
222 transverter ALC problem.

 

HIGHLIGHTS: 

*	Great roving terrain with relatively flat country 
*	W0UC's online spreadsheet and text based spotting utility
*	Many experienced operators making for efficient operations who
followed me around for most of my grids: KA0RYT, K0AWU, W0UC, K0SIX and W0ZQ
*	The many rovers out there, some of which I could work: KC0P/R,
N0HZO/R, AC0RA/R, KM0T/R, W0ZF/R
*	Running into many of the NLRS "old timers" on the air
*	Finding my previous rover site locations on my old GPS
*	6 meter opening on Sunday evening
*	Antennas survived the 40 MPH wind gusts (when cranked up to 34') and
80 MPH interstate speeds (cranked down to 11') in South and North Dakota
*	Good performance from my 14 VDC, 100 AMP service with the addition
of "super caps" this year

 

LOWLIGHTS:

*	Stations that I missed during the pileups and/or while QSYing
*	Searing heat on both afternoons (upper 90's with no air
conditioning)
*	Biting flies at rover stops
*	High winds on Saturday
*	Storms wiping out Sunday morning operations

 

FUTURE PLANS:

*	Space for 10 GHz station in rover vehicle
*	Several Microwave bands
*	Better route planning
*	2 & 6 meters operation while in motion

 

I only managed to activate 5 grids within the time available and probably
spent too much time driving between them. I had to skip a grid on Saturday
afternoon and pull into a restaurant to cool down.

 

2017 ARRL June VHF QSO Party            K0MHC

 

    ROVER                            MN Section

 

    Operators: K0MHC

 

    Band      QSOs          QSO pts.      Mults.

    --------------------------------------------

    50         57            57            27 

    144        45            45            12 

    432        34            68            11 

    --------------------------------------------

    TOTALS     136           170          50 + 5 = 55 

 

                          Claimed score = 9,350

 

Thanks to everyone who participated throughout the 5 state, upper Midwest
area. 

This rove was dedicated to my rover mentor Ken Simmons, K5UHF (SK).

 

73, Jim

K0MHC/rover