[NLRS] AE0EE/R September VHF Contest Plan

[W. S. Mitchell]

The AE0EE (Very Limited) Rover will be on for the September VHF contest.
Instead of doing something simple and likely to yield lots of contacts, I'm
instead combining it with a general road trip during the COVID-19 pandemic,
planned as much as possible to keep everyone safe.

Saturday at the start, I should be close to the Height of Land Lookout
Tower in EN27ff.  It's a SOTA summit (K0M/CW-001), so I need to make sure
to get at least 4 QSOs.  I am not yet entirely sure what gear will be going
up with me (there will be some HF CW capability).  222 MHz will probably
stay in the car at the foot of the hill, and 50 MHz will as well.

Saturday night my plan is to camp at a US Forest Service campground near
Hankinson, ND.  Because I will be camping, I may not stop in EN17 even
though I will go through it. Maybe a brief stop to work FM, but probably no
weak signal.

Sunday morning after tearing down the campsite, I'll head to the gravel
hills near Hankinson, ND (EN16ma).  That will likely be a 4-band affair
(50-432 MHz).

Then it will be off to the Wilmot Rest Stop (EN15lj), which will also
likely be a 4-band stop.

After working the pileup down from the rest stop, I will head to the Mud
Lake Shooting Area (near Clear Lake, SD) in EN14qs.  This may be the last
stop of the trip, but there is a chance that as I get close to, or into,
the Twin Cities I might stop and work some FM.

As ever with the AE0EE Very Limited Rover, power could be a source of
excitement.  My plan is to have a 10 Ah battery to handle any weak-signal
operation (HF, VHF, UHF) and hand-helds for FM (146/446 MHz + 146/223
MHz).  Because of the limited power budget, I will not be APRS-enabled.

For antennas, I'm planning on a dual-band 144/432 MHz Arrow antenna
(hand-held), as well as a 222 MHz 3-element Yagi.  For 6 m, I will likely
have my very-low Moxon.

Listen for the weak ones!
  Bill
AE0EE