2 <title>CODE Rover Report - 2000-01 </title>
5 <center><h1> January 2000 ARRL VHF Sweepstakes </h1></center>
7 <h2> Bdale's Report </h2>
9 For this contest, we ran a fairly limited operation. John had been out of
10 town, Steve was out of town, and I needed to fly to California on business
11 Sunday morning. That left us with just a few hours on Saturday to operate.
15 Our most significant hardware addition this time was a brand-new Directive
16 Systems 1296 loop yagi, courtesy of my father-in-law, Mike W1BFN. He wanted
17 a 1269 version for satellite operation, but ended up with one cut for the
18 weak signal band. It ended up in my hands partly as a birthday present, and
19 partly in exchange for some parts and time on my test equipment for a project
20 Mike is working on that should show up in an AMSAT Journal article soonish.
21 We've been very happy with the homebrew yagis John made using Kent Britain's
22 design for what they are, but the looper has substantially more gain.
26 Saturday morning, John showed up pretty early, and we starting putting things
27 in the Trooper. We decided to punt the 6m gear, since a band opening was
28 unlikely and we've not had time to build a new mount for the antenna yet. It
29 is also cut the setup time way down since it takes several boxes and a bunch
30 of cables to get us on 6m currently. We also decided to punt the 2304 gear,
31 since the system integration isn't quite done yet. That left us running all
32 bands from 2m through 23cm.
36 We also decided not to test anything before
37 leaving the house. We knew we had no chance of being competitive on score,
38 and spending a bunch of time debugging problems that we could be spending on
39 the air wasn't going to make us any happier! It turns out this was a good
40 decision, as everything just worked...
44 We've had enough success carrying the loaded antenna mast on the Trooper while
45 in motion that we set up that way again. It was cold enough that we pushed
46 the Trooper back just far enough to stick the back end out the door, so that
47 we got to spend most of our setup time out of the wind, in the garage. We
48 put the mast together, and duct-taped it into postion on the Trooper, then
49 hung the antennas on the mast while the mast was horizontal. That worked out
50 really well. I fished all the cables in through the top of the driver's side
51 rear window, and cut some more slits in one of our foam blocks so it would
56 We actually managed to be on the road before the contest started. We were
57 disappointed to find essentially no activity on FM on the drive out to our
58 favorite spot in the SW corner of DM89 near Matheson. The weather was ok at
59 first, cold and a little windy, but tolerable. We managed contacts on all
60 of the bands we had except 33cm, where we just couldn't find anyone who was
61 on with gear on that band all day... another disappointment.
65 Mid afternoon we figured we had worked everyone we were likely to work, and
66 the weather was starting to get a little weird. Mixed drizzle and snow
67 flurries, and the wind had picked up. We moved south into the
68 NW corner of DM88, and set up in a new location, a little farther south than
69 we've been before. At first, we thought we'd gotten out from under the storm,
70 but it caught up with us before we'd finished setting up. John was stoic on
71 the antennas despite what ended up being some nasty wind and precipitation
72 that was somewhere on the line between sleet and snow.
76 We were in the turnout to a field, maybe half a mile south of a farmhouse.
77 After we had been there a while, during a break in the weather, the fellow
78 who owns the farm came driving down in his pickup to check us out. He was
79 worried that we might "be from the IRS, listening to my computer". After
80 we explained what we were up to, he got very friendly, and we talked about
81 better places to try operating from nearby. One of the problems we've always
82 had in DM88 is that there are power lines by the road that are fairly noisy.
83 This guy pointed out a location a mile or two east of the road and a bit north
84 of where we were that was accessible by vehicle, a bit higher, and far from
85 power lines. After we made all the contacts we thought we'd make in DM88,
86 we wandered over there to check the place out. He was right, it's a much
87 better site, and we recorded the coordinates from the GPS so we can find it
88 again for the June contest.
92 While we were in DM88, we made a couple of 23cm contacts, and it was very
93 clear that the looper was a big win. In the past, we've been lucky to hear
94 anyone at all on 23cm, and while I wouldn't call it conversation quality, we
95 had no trouble making contacts into the Denver area this time.
99 As darkness fell, the temperature dropped still further, and the activity
100 level seemed to be waning... so we packed it in and headed home. We tore
101 things down quickly after getting back to my house, and left the cable bundle
102 near the furnace to thaw... it was way too stiff to coil up!
106 All in all, we had a pretty good time, despite the modest number of contacts
109 <h2> John's Photos </h2>
112 <li> Deep-cycle battery and 70cm amp <a href="out01.jpg"> in the back </a>
114 <li> Stuffing <a href="out02.jpg"> cables on the roof</a>... neatness is
116 <li> Bdale's wife Karen N1FED brought
117 <a href="out03.jpg"> future rover Robert </a>
118 out to inspect our work. He's a year old, and loves anything
119 with buttons and lights!
120 <li> <a href="out04.jpg"> Back of the rigs. </a> Note the Kenwood SWR/power
121 sensor on the 222 transverter on the left. Very handy!
122 <li> A view of the <a href="out05.jpg"> antennas </a> before we left.
123 <li> A <a href="out06.jpg"> better view of the antennas </a>.
124 <li> <a href="out07.jpg"> In DM89</a>. Note the clouds rolling in! The
125 antennas, from top down, are a 4-element Cushcraft on 2m, 8 elements
126 on 222 from Directive Systems, 10 elements on 902 homebrew, the 1296
127 loop yagi, and our 10-element Rutland Arrays 70cm antenna with preamp
129 <li> <a href="out08.jpg"> John </a> fighting the wind big-time. It was serious
130 work keeping the antennas pointed this time around.
131 <li> John, <a href="out09.jpg"> assuming the position </a> even away from the
132 mast. It was cold enough (note the snow on his jacket) that he had
133 to pause from time to time to warm his hands up, despite serious
135 <li> <a href="out10.jpg"> Back at it </a>, the weather kept getting worse.
136 <li> <a href="out11.jpg"> Operating position </a>. The top two boxes are the
137 DEM transverter interface box and 33cm transverter. Below that is
138 John's HF rig as IF for 222 with transverter to the right, and on the
139 bottom is Bdale's 790 providing 2m, 70cm, and 23cm. Note the viewing
140 end of the power meter on the 222 transverter, we wish we had that for
141 every band. And, of course, it wouldn't be roving without duct tape,
142 Diet Pepsi, and evil snacks!
143 <li> The folks in Denver we were talking to on the air were having a hard time
144 believing our weather reports. Consider this
145 <a href="out12.jpg"> proof </a> that it really was snowing where we
152 N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOR: ARRL JAN VHF
153 ===============================================================================
154 Name of Contest: ARRL Jan VHF
157 Call of Operator: N3EUA WD0FHG
160 Grid(s) Activated: DM89 DM88
161 Location Name: Eastern Colorado
162 ARRL Section: Colorado
165 ===============================================================================
167 QSOs Pts/QSO QSO Pts Mult
176 GRIDS ACTIVATED 2 Rover Scoring Used
178 N3EUA CLAIMED SCORE: 2112
179 ===============================================================================
180 I have observed all competition rules as well as all regulations
181 for Amateur Radio in my country. My report is correct and true
182 to the best of my knowledge. I agree to be bound by the decisions
183 of the Awards Committee.
185 Bdale Garbee N3EUA WD0FHG 16.02.2000
187 Black Forest, CO 80908
189 ===============================================================================
190 N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOLLOWS:
192 column 1: frequency (MHz) column 6: complete exchange sent
193 column 2: mode column 7: complete exchange received
194 column 3: date (dd/mm/yy, UTC) column 8: indication of new multiplier '*'
195 column 4: time (UTC) column 9: points claimed
196 column 5: call of station worked
198 note: Incomplete & Dupe QSO's in the log are listed with - 0 - points.
201 N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOR: ARRL JAN VHF
203 144 SSB 22/01/00 2015 N0NKG DM89 DM78 * 1
204 144 SSB 22/01/00 2016 N0POH DM89 DM79 * 1
205 144 SSB 22/01/00 2016 W0KVA DM89 DM79 1
206 432 SSB 22/01/00 2020 N0UGY DM89 DM79 * 2
207 432 SSB 22/01/00 2022 N0VSB DM89 DM79 2
208 432 SSB 22/01/00 2023 N0POH DM89 DM79 2
209 432 SSB 22/01/00 2023 W0KVA DM89 DM79 2
210 144 SSB 22/01/00 2026 N0VSB DM89 DM79 1
211 144 SSB 22/01/00 2027 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 1
212 432 SSB 22/01/00 2028 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 2
213 222 SSB 22/01/00 2030 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 2
214 1296 SSB 22/01/00 2034 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 4
215 222 SSB 22/01/00 2035 N0VSB DM89 DM79 * 2
216 222 SSB 22/01/00 2043 W0ETT DM89 DM79 2
217 1296 SSB 22/01/00 2044 N0VSB DM89 DM79 * 4
218 144 SSB 22/01/00 2052 K0CS DM89 DM79 1
219 432 SSB 22/01/00 2053 K0CS DM89 DM79 2
220 432 SSB 22/01/00 2054 W0ETT DM89 DM79 2
221 144 SSB 22/01/00 2055 KA0ULN/R DM89 DM89 * 1
222 144 SSB 22/01/00 2057 W0ETT DM89 DM79 1
223 144 SSB 22/01/00 2103 KK5IH DM89 DM95 * 1
224 222 SSB 22/01/00 2105 KK5IH DM89 DM95 * 2
225 144 SSB 22/01/00 2110 K0RI DM89 DM78 1
226 144 SSB 22/01/00 2125 N0UGY DM89 DM79 1
227 432 SSB 22/01/00 2126 KC0ERX DM89 DM79 2
228 144 SSB 22/01/00 2131 KC0ERX DM89 DM79 1
229 144 SSB 22/01/00 2139 KB0CY/R DM89 DM78 1
230 432 SSB 22/01/00 2213 KA0ULN/R DM88 DN80 * 2
231 144 SSB 22/01/00 2216 KB0CY/R DM88 DM78 1
232 144 SSB 22/01/00 2217 N0KQY DM88 DM98 1
233 222 SSB 22/01/00 2219 N0KQY DM88 DM98 2
234 432 SSB 22/01/00 2220 N0KQY DM88 DM98 2
235 1296 SSB 22/01/00 2222 N0KQY DM88 DM98 4
236 144 SSB 22/01/00 2227 N0NKG DM88 DM78 1
237 144 SSB 22/01/00 2227 N0VSB DM88 DM79 1
238 144 SSB 22/01/00 2228 W0ETT DM88 DM79 1
239 144 SSB 22/01/00 2229 N0POH DM88 DM79 1
240 144 SSB 22/01/00 2232 KK5IH DM88 DM95 1
241 144 SSB 22/01/00 2241 KA0ULN/R DM88 DN80 * 1
242 222 SSB 22/01/00 2242 N0VSB DM88 DM79 2
243 432 SSB 22/01/00 2243 N0VSB DM88 DM79 2
244 1296 SSB 22/01/00 2243 N0VSB DM88 DM79 4
245 432 SSB 22/01/00 2246 K0CS DM88 DM79 2
246 144 SSB 22/01/00 2247 K0CS DM88 DM79 1
247 432 SSB 22/01/00 2248 KC0COU DM88 DN70 * 2
248 144 SSB 22/01/00 2249 KC0COU DM88 DN70 * 1
249 144 SSB 22/01/00 2309 KB0QGT/R DM88 EN01 * 1
250 432 SSB 22/01/00 2313 KB0QGT/R DM88 EN01 * 2
251 222 SSB 22/01/00 2315 KB0QGT/R DM88 EN01 * 2
252 144 SSB 22/01/00 2320 NOIPL DM88 DM78 1
253 144 SSB 22/01/00 2322 N0KM DM88 DM67 * 1
254 432 SSB 22/01/00 2323 NOIPL DM88 DM78 * 2
255 222 SSB 22/01/00 2324 N0KM DM88 DM67 * 2
260 On 2m, we ran the TS-790's 2m section through an inactive DEM TIB to a
261 4-element Cushcraft yagi.
265 For 222, we ran John's IC-735 and DEM transverter, and his K1FO yagi.
269 For 70cm, we ran the TS-790, a Mirage amp making about 100 watts,
270 and a Landwehr preamp mounted near my Rutland Arrays K1FO yagi.
274 On 33cm, we ran the TS-790's 2m section through a DEM TIB to a DEM
275 transverter making about 10 watts into a homebrew Kent Britain-style yagi.
279 On 23cm, we ran the TS-790 making about 10 watts into a Directive Systems
284 Power was from a 27DC-form-factor deep cycle battery for everything,
285 feedlines were a mix of low-loss RG-8'ish sized cables with mostly N
286 connectors. We logged on paper, as usual.
290 <a href="http://www.gag.com/~bdale/">Bdale Garbee</A>,
291 $Id: index.html,v 1.4 2000/02/16 05:02:18 bdale Exp $