--- /dev/null
+<head>
+ <title>CODE Rover Report - 1999-01 </title>
+</head>
+<body>
+<center><h1> January 1999 ARRL VHF Sweepstakes </h1></center>
+
+<h2> Bdale's Report </h2>
+
+We've decided that if the Cedar Rapids crowd contests using the "Just in Time"
+approach, that what we do could perhaps best be called a "Not Quite on Time"
+approach to roving.
+
+<p>
+
+We were frustrated in September to have our 6m setup work so poorly, and
+decided to focus first on getting that fixed. January is typically not a big
+time for 6m openings, but we wanted to get that nailed and "out of the way"
+before the June contest. To that end, we acutally did some planning and spent
+some money! New antennas, an amplifier, a 27DC deep-cycle 12V battery, and
+big boxes of 1/4-20 carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts.
+
+<p>
+
+John tried to buy some M2 "SQLoop" omni antennas, one on 6m and
+a stacked pair on 2m. As I type this a week after the contest, they still
+aren't here. Apparently, M2 has changed the design and John got caught in the
+switchover. WD0E pointed out that W6OAL's Olde Antenna Lab makes a nice 6m
+omni, so I pointed John that way, and we drove up to Parker a few days before
+the contest to visit Dave and pick up one each 6m and 2m omni antennas. Jim
+WD0E showed up while we were there, and helped twist our arms to buy one of
+the "PortaPole" telescoping masts. We got to talking about where we were in
+the process of getting ready for the contest, and Dave ended up throwing in
+a couple of used 50' feedlines with N connectors, and Jim found us a bag of
+the whizzy, nice N connectors that work well on 9913. It's nice having friends
+in the hobby... thanks guys!
+
+<p>
+
+I researched commercially-available 6m amplifiers after deciding I just
+didn't have time to build something, and ended up buying a Teletec amp through
+Down East Microwave. It's a nice amp, and worked well for us, but it sure
+needs a power-on LED indicator! There's only one LED, and it indicates
+shutdown due to high VSWR or thermal overload... when operating in a rover,
+the warm glow of a power-on LED is reassuring. We'll pass a suggestion back
+to DEM and Teletec.
+
+<p>
+
+Mounting the omnis involved further creative application of my $50 Harbor
+Freight drill press, some 2x6 and 2x4 leftovers, and a new set of "load stops"
+for the Thule rack on the Trooper. The basic notion is that we mounted
+an 8-foot 2x6 vertically as a "keel" down the center of the Trooper's roof. We
+drilled holes through the load stops so that long 1/4-20 carriage bolts could
+be used to hold the 2x6 in place. This gave us a very rigid base structure.
+We then cut a couple of 2x4 pieces as mounts for the two omni antennas. One
+is held vertical at the rear with carriage bolts through the 2x6, and holds
+the 6m halo about three feet above the roof. The other is a touch shorter,
+mounted near the front of the vehicle, and holds the 2m circularly folded
+dipole. I heard a neat idea at the CSVHFS rover forum in Kansas City, which was
+to use some pipe insulation to clamp the cables in the top of a window without
+either mashing the cables or having the wind rush in. We kept forgetting to
+pick up any of the stuff, so John hacked a piece of the squishy packing foam
+from his new laser printer's box to make a cable feed-through thingy for the
+top of the left rear window on the Trooper. It worked out great.
+
+<p>
+
+Unfortunately, our 1x4 hack from September wasn't gutsy enough to make us
+comfortable holding the new Portapole, which is about 25 feet at full extension
+versus the 15 feet we had last time in Radio Shack mast sections. Fortunately,
+there was another 2x6 in the pile, so we fabricated a new bracket much like the
+one we had in September, but larger. We found some U-bolts in the garage, and
+used two at each Thule roof rod to hold it down. The U-bolts were 1/4-20, so
+we used fender washers and wing nuts on each, making it really easy to put
+things together and tear them down. In fact, once we realized the U-bolts
+were 1/4-20, we went through and replaced the hex nuts on the 23cm and 70cm
+yagis, making them *much* easier to put on and take off. Unfortunately, the
+2m yagi uses 5/16 or 3/8 hardware, so we still had to carry a wrench along.
+
+<p>
+
+The antenna mounts worked out fine, but we realized once we put the pole up
+that the 6m antenna was pretty close to the pole, and we kept thinking it
+would have been nicer to have it higher. The idea we've hatched since which
+we will try in June is to use about an 8 foot 2x4, set up to hold the 6m
+antenna above the front end of the Trooper near where the 2m antenna was this
+time. For travel, we pop one of the carriage bolts, and use the other as a
+hinge point to fold it down along the top of the vehicle, with the halo hanging
+down behind the Trooper. When we arrive at a location, we fold it up and stick
+the carriage bolt back in, and we're ready to operate on 6m. This gets the
+6m antenna higher, gets it away from the pole, and we didn't operate while
+mobile this time anyway. Maybe we'll give it a try next time.
+
+<p>
+
+Saturday, I picked John up mid-morning, after taking my daughter Elizabeth to
+her violin lesson. We fabricated cables, and got things mostly put together.
+My mother-in-law (visiting to help take care of Robert Dickinson, born 12 Jan!)
+cooked a pile of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. After lunch,
+we finished getting things together, and fired up on 6m to see if the new
+antenna and amplifier worked. Congrats to K0RI for being our first contact
+on the new hardware, followed quickly by N0NKG, N0KIC, and N0VSB. Four QSO's,
+two grids, and we hadn't even started the engine yet!
+
+<p>
+
+We got rolling, and John worked a few folks on 2m and 70cm FM simplex while we
+drove out to the extreme southwest corner of DM89. We tried the "better spot"
+we had picked out in September, and it was a good location for us. There's a
+good picture of the Trooper at that location below. We had the 6m and 2m omni
+antennas, and 11 element yagis on 70cm and 23cm at the top of the pole. The
+yagis were the same as September, but I'd found and dusted off my Mirage 70cm
+amplifier. We definitely were "best" on 70cm on Saturday. Good antenna, amp,
+preamp, 22 feet or so up...
+
+<p>
+
+The highlight in DM89 was probably our contact with KI0AG/R... he was
+only a mile or two from us at the time, and he *pegged* our S meter on 23cm!
+What a hoot!
+
+<p>
+
+It didn't take long for me to <b> really </b> start missing the yagi on 2m. We
+had decided to go omnis since we were expecting blizzard conditions for the
+contest. But, as often happens, the front did something different, and we had
+nice weather... cold, but not bitterly so. Sunday, we found another feedline,
+put the 4-element 2m yagi up on the pole below the 70cm yagi, and I was much
+much happier! I credit the yagi with giving us N0LL in EM09 from DM78, and
+K5RHR in DM65 and KK5YY in DM66 from DM79. Those were some fun contacts!
+
+<p>
+
+Our stop in DM88 late Saturday afternoon was unremarkable. The equipment was
+all working, but we were near some power lines, and the noise was pretty bad
+on 6m and 2m. It started getting cold quickly when the sun went down, so we
+didn't stay long. The highlight in DM88 was probably pulling up behind
+KC0ETU/R. The Witte clan fielded two rovers, the other being KB0CY/R... we
+had fun trying to keep the logs straight working each other as we shuffled
+around the grid corners!
+
+<p>
+
+Sunday morning I picked John up and we headed to Palmer Park, which is in the
+middle of Colorado Springs, just north of where John lives in DM78. There
+are a couple
+of good hills in the park, and we found a decent parking space in the lot on
+the southern hill, with a good shot in all directions. The wind was fierce.
+We tried putting the Portapole only partly up, but got "too cute" trying to
+use the bottom sections and leave the top ones collapsed. We hadn't thought
+about the fact that not extending the top sections meant the wind would be able
+to whip things around since the sections weren't locked together. After a
+couple of iterations of dropping the mast to wrap more "universal solution"
+(duct tape) around the joints, we got 15 feet or so of mast that worked ok up
+in the air.
+
+<p>
+
+While we didn't experience any real band openings, we had a good time in the
+Park. We worked N0LL in EM09 on 2m and 70cm, and heard W7XI in EN13 on 2m but
+couldn't
+raise him. We worked W0KJY in DN70 on 70cm, and picked up a variety of
+contacts on all 4 bands we were carrying (6m/2m/70cm/23cm) from DM78 and DM79.
+K0RZ's signal on 23cm was note-worthy. He claimed to only be operating 23cm
+and 10Ghz narrow-band... so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he was so
+solid on 1296!
+
+<p>
+
+We packed up, stopped on the north side of town for some monster burritos, and
+headed north on highway 83 into DM79. On the ridge just south of Franktown,
+we found a road leading into a new subdivision that was the highest point
+around, with no powerlines nearby, and wonderful shots north and south. We
+parked behind the community mailboxes. The wind was still fierce, but not
+as bad as in Palmer Park. We put the mast all the way up... and were
+rewarded with a full page on the logging pad! We had a couple of "visitations"
+from the locals. Once they realized we were amateur radio types (confirming
+their worst suspicions, no doubt!), they were content to leave us alone. A
+ham stopped his car and came over to ask how we were doing, I unfortunately
+didn't think to make note of his name and call.
+
+<p>
+
+We worked "all the usual suspects" from this site, and were really excited to
+work K5RHR in DM65 and KK5YY in DM66 on 2m. K0GU gave us DN70. We could
+hear W7SAO in DM59 and K7TNT in DN74, but weren't able to raise either. As
+with Saturday, the moment the sun started to go down, it started to get
+viciously cold... so we packed up and headed home.
+
+<p>
+
+All in all, we had a lot of fun! The working 6m setup including the Olde
+antenna and Teletec amplifier definitely made that band a lot more fun, and
+the Mirage amp on 70cm working with the K1FO 11-element yagi from Rutland
+Arrays made that band a no-brainer. We worked everyone on 70cm that we heard,
+I'm pretty sure.
+
+<p>
+
+Things that went well... The deep-cycle battery was an excellant
+addition, since not
+having to even think about the possibility of running down the Trooper's
+starting battery let us be a lot more relaxed about operating, particularly
+with the amplifiers on. My splurging and buying full boxes of the 1/4-20
+carriage bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts made it a lot easier, and more
+fun, to put things together and take them apart this time. The time we spent
+putting wire-ties on the feedlines so that we had a single bundle going up the
+mast to contend with was a big win, it tangled less than it might have.
+I found a set of colored electrical tape rolls at Home Base, which electricians
+call "phase tape". They use it to keep up with which phase is which in
+multi-phase electrical wiring. We used it to color-code the bands, so that we
+didn't have to think very hard in the cold about which cable went to which
+antenna, or amplifier, or radio. For a couple of bucks, this was an amazingly
+useful thing!
+
+<p>
+
+Things to do differently next time... The power cabling was a bit messy, and
+would probably be improved if we made up a distribution box with cabling to the
+battery on one side and a bunch of our standard connectors for the low-current
+stuff... amplifiers should still cable directly to the battery, of course. The
+back-seat operating position was a bit cramped for Bdale. We keep talking
+about pulling out the right front seat and putting the rig stack there. It's
+not clear that we have the right formula yet, but we'll keep thinking about
+it. We ought to add another band for June. Several folks asked us if we had
+222 gear. Nobody asked about 902 or anything higher, except 10Ghz... which
+would have been problematic from most of the sites we used. It would be really
+nice to have 150+ watts on 2m. With the 4-element yagi, we heard several cool
+grids that couldn't hear us... would be nice to be more balanced. I suppose
+we could think about a longer 2m yagi, too. We also think it would be in
+everyone's best interest to try and figure out how to get more of the FM-only
+folks in Colorado excited about working some simplex contacts. We got one
+grid combination *only* because we had 2m/70cm FM capabilities, and if we can
+do it without violating the "manufactured contact" rules, we think rousing up
+more of the locals to see what we're about might bring more folks into the
+VHF weak signal community.
+
+<p>
+
+For June, if we don't get crazy, we'll probably use the same sites in DM89,
+DM78, and DM79... but I think we've got more poking to do for a good site in
+DM88 without all the powerline noise.
+
+<h2> John's Photos </h2>
+<ul>
+<li> 39k <a href="Jan_001.jpg">In Front of Bdale's House</a> <br>
+ We set up in the driveway to check things out. The house remodel and
+ addition is mostly done, but the garage is still a mess, which made
+ finding all the pieces a bit of a challenge this time!
+<li> 37k <a href="Jan_002.jpg">View from the Front Seat </a> <br>
+ We fired up on 6m and 2m from the driveway to make sure the new omni
+ antennas and the new 6m amp were working, made our first few contacts
+ with locals on 6m before we ever started the engine...
+<li> 52k <a href="Jan_003.jpg">Almost Ready to Go </a> <br>
+ Bdale decided it'd be smart to insulate the battery positive
+ terminal... lots of aluminum nearby! Sure glad we didn't have to dig
+ out the fire extinquisher, buried as it was.
+<li> 27k <a href="Jan_004.jpg">In DM89 </a> <br>
+ A good shot of the antenna setup Saturday.
+<li> 30k <a href="Jan_005.jpg">Sunset Over the Antennas</a> <br>
+ About the time we packed it in Saturday evening, somewhere in DM88.
+<li> 39k <a href="Jan_006.jpg">The Operating Position </a> <br>
+ Note that all the essentials are present...
+ Diet Pepsi, Water, Chex Mix, notepad on clipboard...
+ oh, and radios too! Also shows the cables coming in
+ through the foam.
+<li> 37k <a href="Jan_007.jpg">Sunday atop Palmer Park in DM78 </a> <br>
+ This is in the middle of Colorado Springs. We didn't think to take
+ any pictures until we'd almost finished tearing down to move to
+ the next grid... lots of interaction "with the public" at this site.
+ The morning's highlight was working N0LL in EM09.
+<li> 24k <a href="Jan_008.jpg">Heading Home from DM79 </a> <br>
+ Pikes Peak in the distance. Again, we were having such a good time
+ working the radios that we forgot all about taking pictures...
+</ul>
+
+<h2> Our Score </h2>
+<pre>
+Call Used: N3EUA
+Grid(s) Activated: DM79 DM89 DM88 DM78
+Entry Type: Rover
+
+ QSOs Pts/QSO QSO Pts Mult
+50 MHz 26 1 26 3
+144 MHz 38 1 38 10
+432 MHz 39 2 78 6
+1296 MHz 8 4 32 3
+
+Total
+All Bands 111 174 22
+
+GRIDS ACTIVATED 4 Rover Scoring Used
+
+N3EUA CLAIMED SCORE: 4524
+</pre>
+
+<h2> Equipment </h2>
+
+We ran a Kenwood TS-790A on 2m, 70cm, and 23cm, and a Ten-Tec transverter
+and Kenwood TS-430S on 6m. We had a Teletec amplifier on 6m making maybe as
+much as 150 watts, and a Mirage amplifier on 70cm making at least 100 watts.
+The 6m antenna was a halo from Olde Antenna Labs. The 2m antennas were a
+circularly folded dipole from Olde on Saturday, and a Cushcraft 4-element yagi
+on Sunday. The 70cm antenna was a K1FO design 11-element yagi bought from
+Rutland Arrays a few years back. The 23cm antenna was an 11-element yagi
+fabricated by John in his shop prior to the September contest using Kent
+Britain's fine article on cheap yagis for roving from the CSVHFS meeting in
+Hot Springs a few years back. Feedlines were a mix of RG-214 and Belden 9913
+with N connectors almost everywhere.
+
+<h2> Acknowledgements </h2>
+
+Our continued thanks to the
+<a href="http://www.rf.org/crms">Cedar Rapids Microwave Society</a>
+folks for getting us all riled up to go do this rover thing. They're a neat
+bunch of folks to hang out at Dayton with, too! W6OAL turned around our order
+for 6m and 2m antennas quickly in the week before the contest, and donated two
+very nice used feedlines that saved us a bunch of prep-time. WD0E donated a
+bag of N connectors which also helped out our feedline situation. Bdale's
+mother-in-law's being in town to help his wife with the new baby gave him the
+license to go play radios for the weekend. And finally, thanks to all of the
+fine folks we worked in the contest for helping to make our roving efforts
+fun by giving us someone to talk to!
+
+<hr>
+<address>
+<a href="http://www.gag.com/~bdale/">Bdale Garbee</A>,
+$Id: index.html,v 1.1 1999/01/31 05:46:44 bdale Exp $
+</address>
+</body>
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