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

[Rich]

Nice signals on 432 SSB Bill!  Congrats on a good score!

Rich

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 4, 2019, at 12:27 AM, W. S. Mitchell <wsmitchell3 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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
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