2 <title>CODE Rover Report - 1999-01 </title>
5 <center><h1> January 1999 ARRL VHF Sweepstakes </h1></center>
7 <h2> Bdale's Report </h2>
9 We've decided that if the Cedar Rapids crowd contests using the "Just in Time"
10 approach, that what we do could perhaps best be called a "Not Quite on Time"
15 We were frustrated in September to have our 6m setup work so poorly, and
16 decided to focus first on getting that fixed. January is typically not a big
17 time for 6m openings, but we wanted to get that nailed and "out of the way"
18 before the June contest. To that end, we acutally did some planning and spent
19 some money! New antennas, an amplifier, a 27DC deep-cycle 12V battery, and
20 big boxes of 1/4-20 carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts.
24 John tried to buy some M2 "SQLoop" omni antennas, one on 6m and
25 a stacked pair on 2m. As I type this a week after the contest, they still
26 aren't here. Apparently, M2 has changed the design and John got caught in the
27 switchover. WD0E pointed out that W6OAL's Olde Antenna Lab makes a nice 6m
28 omni, so I pointed John that way, and we drove up to Parker a few days before
29 the contest to visit Dave and pick up one each 6m and 2m omni antennas. Jim
30 WD0E showed up while we were there, and helped twist our arms to buy one of
31 the "PortaPole" telescoping masts. We got to talking about where we were in
32 the process of getting ready for the contest, and Dave ended up throwing in
33 a couple of used 50' feedlines with N connectors, and Jim found us a bag of
34 the whizzy, nice N connectors that work well on 9913. It's nice having friends
35 in the hobby... thanks guys!
39 I researched commercially-available 6m amplifiers after deciding I just
40 didn't have time to build something, and ended up buying a Teletec amp through
41 Down East Microwave. It's a nice amp, and worked well for us, but it sure
42 needs a power-on LED indicator! There's only one LED, and it indicates
43 shutdown due to high VSWR or thermal overload... when operating in a rover,
44 the warm glow of a power-on LED is reassuring. We'll pass a suggestion back
49 Mounting the omnis involved further creative application of my $50 Harbor
50 Freight drill press, some 2x6 and 2x4 leftovers, and a new set of "load stops"
51 for the Thule rack on the Trooper. The basic notion is that we mounted
52 an 8-foot 2x6 vertically as a "keel" down the center of the Trooper's roof. We
53 drilled holes through the load stops so that long 1/4-20 carriage bolts could
54 be used to hold the 2x6 in place. This gave us a very rigid base structure.
55 We then cut a couple of 2x4 pieces as mounts for the two omni antennas. One
56 is held vertical at the rear with carriage bolts through the 2x6, and holds
57 the 6m halo about three feet above the roof. The other is a touch shorter,
58 mounted near the front of the vehicle, and holds the 2m circularly folded
59 dipole. I heard a neat idea at the CSVHFS rover forum in Kansas City, which was
60 to use some pipe insulation to clamp the cables in the top of a window without
61 either mashing the cables or having the wind rush in. We kept forgetting to
62 pick up any of the stuff, so John hacked a piece of the squishy packing foam
63 from his new laser printer's box to make a cable feed-through thingy for the
64 top of the left rear window on the Trooper. It worked out great.
68 Unfortunately, our 1x4 hack from September wasn't gutsy enough to make us
69 comfortable holding the new Portapole, which is about 25 feet at full extension
70 versus the 15 feet we had last time in Radio Shack mast sections. Fortunately,
71 there was another 2x6 in the pile, so we fabricated a new bracket much like the
72 one we had in September, but larger. We found some U-bolts in the garage, and
73 used two at each Thule roof rod to hold it down. The U-bolts were 1/4-20, so
74 we used fender washers and wing nuts on each, making it really easy to put
75 things together and tear them down. In fact, once we realized the U-bolts
76 were 1/4-20, we went through and replaced the hex nuts on the 23cm and 70cm
77 yagis, making them *much* easier to put on and take off. Unfortunately, the
78 2m yagi uses 5/16 or 3/8 hardware, so we still had to carry a wrench along.
82 The antenna mounts worked out fine, but we realized once we put the pole up
83 that the 6m antenna was pretty close to the pole, and we kept thinking it
84 would have been nicer to have it higher. The idea we've hatched since which
85 we will try in June is to use about an 8 foot 2x4, set up to hold the 6m
86 antenna above the front end of the Trooper near where the 2m antenna was this
87 time. For travel, we pop one of the carriage bolts, and use the other as a
88 hinge point to fold it down along the top of the vehicle, with the halo hanging
89 down behind the Trooper. When we arrive at a location, we fold it up and stick
90 the carriage bolt back in, and we're ready to operate on 6m. This gets the
91 6m antenna higher, gets it away from the pole, and we didn't operate while
92 mobile this time anyway. Maybe we'll give it a try next time.
96 Saturday, I picked John up mid-morning, after taking my daughter Elizabeth to
97 her violin lesson. We fabricated cables, and got things mostly put together.
98 My mother-in-law (visiting to help take care of Robert Dickinson, born 12 Jan!)
99 cooked a pile of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. After lunch,
100 we finished getting things together, and fired up on 6m to see if the new
101 antenna and amplifier worked. Congrats to K0RI for being our first contact
102 on the new hardware, followed quickly by N0NKG, N0KIC, and N0VSB. Four QSO's,
103 two grids, and we hadn't even started the engine yet!
107 We got rolling, and John worked a few folks on 2m and 70cm FM simplex while we
108 drove out to the extreme southwest corner of DM89. We tried the "better spot"
109 we had picked out in September, and it was a good location for us. There's a
110 good picture of the Trooper at that location below. We had the 6m and 2m omni
111 antennas, and 11 element yagis on 70cm and 23cm at the top of the pole. The
112 yagis were the same as September, but I'd found and dusted off my Mirage 70cm
113 amplifier. We definitely were "best" on 70cm on Saturday. Good antenna, amp,
114 preamp, 22 feet or so up...
118 The highlight in DM89 was probably our contact with KI0AG/R... he was
119 only a mile or two from us at the time, and he *pegged* our S meter on 23cm!
124 It didn't take long for me to <b> really </b> start missing the yagi on 2m. We
125 had decided to go omnis since we were expecting blizzard conditions for the
126 contest. But, as often happens, the front did something different, and we had
127 nice weather... cold, but not bitterly so. Sunday, we found another feedline,
128 put the 4-element 2m yagi up on the pole below the 70cm yagi, and I was much
129 much happier! I credit the yagi with giving us N0LL in EM09 from DM78, and
130 K5RHR in DM65 and KK5YY in DM66 from DM79. Those were some fun contacts!
134 Our stop in DM88 late Saturday afternoon was unremarkable. The equipment was
135 all working, but we were near some power lines, and the noise was pretty bad
136 on 6m and 2m. It started getting cold quickly when the sun went down, so we
137 didn't stay long. The highlight in DM88 was probably pulling up behind
138 KC0ETU/R. The Witte clan fielded two rovers, the other being KB0CY/R... we
139 had fun trying to keep the logs straight working each other as we shuffled
140 around the grid corners!
144 Sunday morning I picked John up and we headed to Palmer Park, which is in the
145 middle of Colorado Springs, just north of where John lives in DM78. There
147 of good hills in the park, and we found a decent parking space in the lot on
148 the southern hill, with a good shot in all directions. The wind was fierce.
149 We tried putting the Portapole only partly up, but got "too cute" trying to
150 use the bottom sections and leave the top ones collapsed. We hadn't thought
151 about the fact that not extending the top sections meant the wind would be able
152 to whip things around since the sections weren't locked together. After a
153 couple of iterations of dropping the mast to wrap more "universal solution"
154 (duct tape) around the joints, we got 15 feet or so of mast that worked ok up
159 While we didn't experience any real band openings, we had a good time in the
160 Park. We worked N0LL in EM09 on 2m and 70cm, and heard W7XI in EN13 on 2m but
162 raise him. We worked W0KJY in DN70 on 70cm, and picked up a variety of
163 contacts on all 4 bands we were carrying (6m/2m/70cm/23cm) from DM78 and DM79.
164 K0RZ's signal on 23cm was note-worthy. He claimed to only be operating 23cm
165 and 10Ghz narrow-band... so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he was so
170 We packed up, stopped on the north side of town for some monster burritos, and
171 headed north on highway 83 into DM79. On the ridge just south of Franktown,
172 we found a road leading into a new subdivision that was the highest point
173 around, with no powerlines nearby, and wonderful shots north and south. We
174 parked behind the community mailboxes. The wind was still fierce, but not
175 as bad as in Palmer Park. We put the mast all the way up... and were
176 rewarded with a full page on the logging pad! We had a couple of "visitations"
177 from the locals. Once they realized we were amateur radio types (confirming
178 their worst suspicions, no doubt!), they were content to leave us alone. A
179 ham stopped his car and came over to ask how we were doing, I unfortunately
180 didn't think to make note of his name and call.
184 We worked "all the usual suspects" from this site, and were really excited to
185 work K5RHR in DM65 and KK5YY in DM66 on 2m. K0GU gave us DN70. We could
186 hear W7SAO in DM59 and K7TNT in DN74, but weren't able to raise either. As
187 with Saturday, the moment the sun started to go down, it started to get
188 viciously cold... so we packed up and headed home.
192 All in all, we had a lot of fun! The working 6m setup including the Olde
193 antenna and Teletec amplifier definitely made that band a lot more fun, and
194 the Mirage amp on 70cm working with the K1FO 11-element yagi from Rutland
195 Arrays made that band a no-brainer. We worked everyone on 70cm that we heard,
200 Things that went well... The deep-cycle battery was an excellant
202 having to even think about the possibility of running down the Trooper's
203 starting battery let us be a lot more relaxed about operating, particularly
204 with the amplifiers on. My splurging and buying full boxes of the 1/4-20
205 carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts made it a lot easier, and more
206 fun, to put things together and take them apart this time. The time we spent
207 putting wire-ties on the feedlines so that we had a single bundle going up the
208 mast to contend with was a big win, it tangled less than it might have.
209 I found a set of colored electrical tape rolls at Home Base, which electricians
210 call "phase tape". They use it to keep up with which phase is which in
211 multi-phase electrical wiring. We used it to color-code the bands, so that we
212 didn't have to think very hard in the cold about which cable went to which
213 antenna, or amplifier, or radio. For a couple of bucks, this was an amazingly
218 Things to do differently next time... The power cabling was a bit messy, and
219 would probably be improved if we made up a distribution box with cabling to the
220 battery on one side and a bunch of our standard connectors for the low-current
221 stuff... amplifiers should still cable directly to the battery, of course. The
222 back-seat operating position was a bit cramped for Bdale. We keep talking
223 about pulling out the right front seat and putting the rig stack there. It's
224 not clear that we have the right formula yet, but we'll keep thinking about
225 it. We ought to add another band for June. Several folks asked us if we had
226 222 gear. Nobody asked about 902 or anything higher, except 10Ghz... which
227 would have been problematic from most of the sites we used. It would be really
228 nice to have 150+ watts on 2m. With the 4-element yagi, we heard several cool
229 grids that couldn't hear us... would be nice to be more balanced. I suppose
230 we could think about a longer 2m yagi, too. We also think it would be in
231 everyone's best interest to try and figure out how to get more of the FM-only
232 folks in Colorado excited about working some simplex contacts. We got one
233 grid combination *only* because we had 2m/70cm FM capabilities, and if we can
234 do it without violating the "manufactured contact" rules, we think rousing up
235 more of the locals to see what we're about might bring more folks into the
236 VHF weak signal community.
240 For June, if we don't get crazy, we'll probably use the same sites in DM89,
241 DM78, and DM79... but I think we've got more poking to do for a good site in
242 DM88 without all the powerline noise.
244 <h2> John's Photos </h2>
246 <li> 39k <a href="Jan_001.jpg">In Front of Bdale's House</a> <br>
247 We set up in the driveway to check things out. The house remodel and
248 addition is mostly done, but the garage is still a mess, which made
249 finding all the pieces a bit of a challenge this time!
250 <li> 37k <a href="Jan_002.jpg">View from the Front Seat </a> <br>
251 We fired up on 6m and 2m from the driveway to make sure the new omni
252 antennas and the new 6m amp were working, made our first few contacts
253 with locals on 6m before we ever started the engine...
254 <li> 52k <a href="Jan_003.jpg">Almost Ready to Go </a> <br>
255 Bdale decided it'd be smart to insulate the battery positive
256 terminal... lots of aluminum nearby! Sure glad we didn't have to dig
257 out the fire extinquisher, buried as it was.
258 <li> 27k <a href="Jan_004.jpg">In DM89 </a> <br>
259 A good shot of the antenna setup Saturday.
260 <li> 30k <a href="Jan_005.jpg">Sunset Over the Antennas</a> <br>
261 About the time we packed it in Saturday evening, somewhere in DM88.
262 <li> 39k <a href="Jan_006.jpg">The Operating Position </a> <br>
263 Note that all the essentials are present...
264 Diet Pepsi, Water, Chex Mix, notepad on clipboard...
265 oh, and radios too! Also shows the cables coming in
267 <li> 37k <a href="Jan_007.jpg">Sunday atop Palmer Park in DM78 </a> <br>
268 This is in the middle of Colorado Springs. We didn't think to take
269 any pictures until we'd almost finished tearing down to move to
270 the next grid... lots of interaction "with the public" at this site.
271 The morning's highlight was working N0LL in EM09.
272 <li> 24k <a href="Jan_008.jpg">Heading Home from DM79 </a> <br>
273 Pikes Peak in the distance. Again, we were having such a good time
274 working the radios that we forgot all about taking pictures...
280 Grid(s) Activated: DM79 DM89 DM88 DM78
283 QSOs Pts/QSO QSO Pts Mult
292 GRIDS ACTIVATED 4 Rover Scoring Used
294 N3EUA CLAIMED SCORE: 4524
299 We ran a Kenwood TS-790A on 2m, 70cm, and 23cm, and a Ten-Tec transverter
300 and Kenwood TS-430S on 6m. We had a Teletec amplifier on 6m making maybe as
301 much as 150 watts, and a Mirage amplifier on 70cm making at least 100 watts.
302 The 6m antenna was a halo from Olde Antenna Labs. The 2m antennas were a
303 circularly folded dipole from Olde on Saturday, and a Cushcraft 4-element yagi
304 on Sunday. The 70cm antenna was a K1FO design 11-element yagi bought from
305 Rutland Arrays a few years back. The 23cm antenna was an 11-element yagi
306 fabricated by John in his shop prior to the September contest using Kent
307 Britain's fine article on cheap yagis for roving from the CSVHFS meeting in
308 Hot Springs a few years back. Feedlines were a mix of RG-214 and Belden 9913
309 with N connectors almost everywhere.
311 <h2> Acknowledgements </h2>
313 Our continued thanks to the
314 <a href="http://www.rf.org/crms">Cedar Rapids Microwave Society</a>
315 folks for getting us all riled up to go do this rover thing. They're a neat
316 bunch of folks to hang out at Dayton with, too! W6OAL turned around our order
317 for 6m and 2m antennas quickly in the week before the contest, and donated two
318 very nice used feedlines that saved us a bunch of prep-time. WD0E donated a
319 bag of N connectors which also helped out our feedline situation. Bdale's
320 mother-in-law's being in town to help his wife with the new baby gave him the
321 license to go play radios for the weekend. And finally, thanks to all of the
322 fine folks we worked in the contest for helping to make our roving efforts
323 fun by giving us someone to talk to!
327 <a href="http://www.gag.com/~bdale/">Bdale Garbee</A>,
328 $Id: index.html,v 1.1 1999/01/31 05:46:44 bdale Exp $
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