[NLRS] AE0EE/R 10 GHz Recap

[W. S. Mitchell]

What a weekend!  This was my first 10 GHz contest, made possible by the
loan of a newly assembled 10 GHz rig from Chris (N0UK).  I joined the rover
pack of Gary (WB0LJC), Holly (K0HAC), Chris (N0UK), Bill (N0LNO), Elizabeth
(N0UTP) and Gerry (K0CQ), roving from central to southern Minnesota and
back.

The weather was pretty good, though hot on Saturday.  Except for a few very
light sprinkles while in transit on Sunday, all of the storms and rain we
encountered came during the overnight.  As a rover operating solely on a
solar-charged battery (plus any additional solar generation), the sunshine
was quite welcome.

It took a bit of practice to get used to peaking the dish quickly, or
catching the peaks during sideband contacts while other local stations
worked the DX.  As the rove went on, it became clear that there was
something amiss with the rig---I had a very hard time hearing other
stations, and not just because I was a novice at aiming the dish.  While
most of the other contacts from the pack were made on sideband, I moved to
code to avoid lengthy ESP-level contacts.  Perhaps for the September
weekend I'll be prepared to run digital.

For dinner we stopped at the Bean Town Grill in Fairmont, which had great
food.

Sunday morning band conditions were unstable and a bit degraded, so the
receive problems were quickly apparent.  At several stops I was unable to
hear a single station from the group near Sisseton, SD (W0ZQ, N0KP, K0MHC,
W7XU, N0QJM, and WA2VOI).  The sun came out, dried up the gravel roads, and
it was fun to be part of the rover pack experience, even if I wasn't always
able to make contacts.  We spent some time trying to diagnose the issue and
make field repairs, but were unable to fix the issue.

At our final stop of the day, I was able to work all of the stations near
Sisseton, mostly on code but a few holdouts brought me back to very
rough-copy sideband to get it completed.  We then turned toward Janice
(KA9VVQ) and Bruce (W9FZ), who were much closer, while they were working
the South Dakota crew.  Conditions between us were good enough that I was
able to peak on a hint of Bruce's SSB signal while they were still working
SD (though we were close to in line).  It was a welcome relief when Bruce
called us, coming in strong even for me.  The pack had been concerned about
my ability to hear other stations all weekend, so I allayed their fears by
yelling down the road to Chris that W9FZ was calling him.

My 10-Ah battery (with the additional 20 W solar panel input) managed to
keep me powered through the weekend, though it took some aggressive power
conservation---shutting down early at some sites turned out to help later
in the weekend.  Yes, I know there are a variety of solutions to the power
problem, such as to hook up to the car battery or charge overnight from
commercial mains like a normal person, but it's just not part of the AE0EE
Very Limited Rover operation plan.*

Unofficial score: very fun; would rove again---particularly if we can fix
the RX issues and remember to measure the down-angle for the dish arm.
Unique stations contacted: all that I could hear.
Total distance: much more than what I drove, which was plenty.

* The AE0EE Very Limited Rover plan states that it's better to get on the
air, even if you can only work the closest and/or strongest stations, than
to not turn the radio on.  It also specifies that no permanent/significant
modifications to the vehicle will be made.  Charging batteries with solar
is just a philosophical choice, plus one that's reasonably lightweight and
portable.  Operating as a rover is always an adventure, even if the radio
contacts are fewer and farther [closer?] between than one might hope.

73,
  Bill
AE0EE/R