[NLRS] 222+ MHz Contest: Team Glacial Sideband Recap, Part 1

[W. S. Mitchell]

W0ZF/R has gone QRT, and what a contest it was!

In the weeks leading up to the contest, Matt (K0BBC), Dave (W0ZF), and I
(AE0EE) discussed plans for the contest, aiming for a 3-op rover effort
along the Buffalo Ridge and use of a 10 GHz loaner rig.  However, in the
lead-up to the contest, a few wrenches were thrown into the plans.  Family
commitments (and a glut of recent radio excursions) caused re-tooling from
a single-rover effort into a two-rover effort.

The team competition is only valid for contacts made within a region, and
the Dakotas are in Region 6 while Minnesota is in Region 10.  Given that
most of our contacts would be from the Dakotas, we opted to make a Dakota
rover team (Team Glacial Sideband) that would rove along the Buffalo Ridge:
lateral moraines left by the Des Moines lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet.

We all had lunch together near Clear Lake, SD, not far from a favorite
operating spot (Mud Lake) where W0ZF/R would begin the contest.  Meanwhile,
K0BBC/R would head out early and be in position near the EN14/EN15 line
equipped with mag-mount verticals for 432 and 1296, and FM handhelds for
222 and 900 MHz.

After K0BBC/R worked us from both grids and Dave and I worked everyone we
could hear on the bands, Matt rejoined his family while Dave and I
continued north to pick up EN15 and EN16.

On our way north, N0HJZ/R let us know he was in a new grid.  While we
weren't really set up well for run-and-gun (antennas aligned with the truck
and using it as a 4-wheel rotator), Rich had a reliably loud signal that
was nearly due east, making it easy to pull over and work him from almost
anywhere.

After a quick stop for mid-afternoon lunch at a crowded sandwich shop in
Watertown, we headed up to the Wilmot, SD rest area.  There we set up the
10 GHz rig, made a few contacts on the other bands, and after a lot of
poking around finally pulled K0KFC out of the noise for our only 10 GHz
contact (351 km).

Dave and I needed to be back in the Twin Cities Saturday night in
preparation for commitments Sunday morning, so we kept the schedule pretty
brief at our various stops.  Even so, we figured we could get to Hankinson,
ND, in time to operate for an hour or so before we had to head home.

Text messaging was crucial.  Stations that weren't texting us were much
less likely to get a contact---and it was particularly sad to try and move
a station to another band (esp. 1.2 GHz and 10 GHz) but not set up a
reliable channel to coordinate.

>From Hankinson, we realized we would be headed southeast across Minnesota.
With our antennas pointing forward, that meant we could try to run-and-gun
down the state on two bands (222 and 432).  We had problems with the 1296
transverter during testing on Friday, so it stayed home and a separate 1296
rig came along (accessible from the driver's side rear door).  Once we
reached I-94 and turned southeast, we worked what stations we could find,
so long as we didn't have to stop and turn the beam.

As we approached the Twin Cities, we figured out it was best to spot
ourselves on the W0UC spots page as nearing a new grid, with a plan for
where to find us and what the plan was for moving bands (222 first [more
points and wider beam], then 432).  That worked well, and we were able to
make a bunch of contacts quickly once we finally hit the line.  We did the
same thing at the EN34 entry, having rerouted to make sure we'd get a
little operating time in the grid while pointed east.

We ended up with about 19K points, with many contacts from N0HJZ/R, W0UC,
K9MU, and W0VTT (+AC0RA).

It is clear we need to look at some issues with the transverters (esp.
1296), and some of them would sometimes lock the TX switch open (hence our
not hearing anyone coming back---sorry!).  The 900 MHz handhelds would be
more effective with appropriate antennas, such as cheap yagis, instead of
the dual-band whip antenna they have now.  We also continued to have
difficulty with the combination of rig control and computer CW keying,
which is awful for a run-and-gun situation (like our return to the Twin
Cities).  It will take some work to track down what the issue is and how to
make it all operate correctly.

Even though the contacts were few and far between most of the time, it was
nice to have an occasional burst of rate as we entered a new grid.  We also
proved to ourselves that we can, in fact, come up with a schedule and stay
reasonably close to it.  We even reached more grids than we initially
thought we would (i.e. EN14/15 only).

It was a whirlwind day, but we managed to get from the Twin Cities out to
Clear Lake, SD, to Hankinson, ND, and back within the span of 18 hours.  We
activated EN14, EN15, EN16, EN25, EN35, and EN34 [we passed through EN26aa,
but it's about 2 miles pointed due south].

73,
  Bill
AE0EE