+
++So, the only preparation work we did was John's fabrication of the antenna, +my getting all the maybe-useful pieces together in one place in my shed, and +a few good ideas from the Rover Forum at CSVHFS '98. +
+Saturday morning, I took my daughter to her violin lessons. John arrived +about 12:30, and we sat down over lunch to figure out what we were going to +do. We put the roof rails on my Trooper, and played with my new $50 Harbor +Freight drill press and an 8' 1x4, ending up with the 1x4 wire-tied to the +cross rails, sticking out over the back of the Trooper a couple of feet on +the right side, and with a notch in the end that we could stand some Radio +Shack antenna mast up through, pinning it into place so that it would stay +up and could be rotated by hand. I had 2 5' sections of mast, and John brought +one from his garage, so we had 15' of mast. +
+We stared at the 6m quad for a while, then gave in to reality and decided +what we really needed was a dipole. I found a 10' section of PVC, a couple +of short pieces, some end caps, and a couple of tees... plus some 10-gauge +insulated copper wire, and a 15' piece of RG-58 with a BNC on one end. We +ended up with a dipole that we could shove into the top of the RS mast, and +with a bit of tape, keep it from twisting in the wind. So, of the 4 antennas +we used, two were commercial kits, one was a pre-contest hack, and one was +a during-contest hack. +
+We stacked up the antennas in the driveway, got the mast vertical, and found +suitable lengths of RG-58 with BNC's from my pile of scrap thin-lan cabling. +Everything else +was either bad RG-8, long 9913 runs, or a long heliax run. We maxed out the +adapter combinations getting everything wired up, and then tried to test +things out. Another round of cable fabrication ensued to get power to the +rigs from the binding posts up front under the passenger seat, and we were +ready to test. +
+After a very long time spent scratching our heads, we found a +BNC-N adapter that the center pin had pulled apart on, and were up and running +on all four bands. By this time, it was mid afternoon, 6m was open and we +could hear what we think was a Cuban working a Mexican, and everyone got +excited including the carpenters working on my house! Just then, a serious +downpour rolled in, scrubbing the construction crew's efforts, and causing +us to decide to punt until Sunday, still with no contacts. +
+Sunday morning I spent moving boxes out of the basement to the shed trying to +finish getting ready for the impending concrete sawing, and John took care of +some errands. He arrived at my place at 11am or so. We tore the antennas +down, rigged for travel, and headed out. After a stop for gas, fluids, and +munchies, we drove northeast into the southwest corner of DM89. My house is +near the south edge of DM79, and we had to drive into DM78, then back across +the very southeast corner of DM79 to get to DM89. While we were driving +through DM78, we worked N0SWV on both 2m and 70cm FM simplex, and set up a +sked for our arrival in DM89. +
+We found a fairly nice little hill with some road construction at the apex +that gave us a nice wide area next to the road to park on with no weeds and +therefore no bugs to bother us. It took 15-20 minutes to get everything set +up and get on the air. We worked N0SWV as scheduled on 2m and then 6m, and +then picked up several other stations in the Denver area that heard us. They +were busy working N0LL in EM09 on 144.200, so we spun the beams around and +managed to work him on both 2m and 70cm SSB! Exciting stuff! W6OAL had the +honor of being our first-ever 1296 contact, and his reaction on hearing that +we were running 5w into 15' of RG-58 to 11 elements was worth the drive... +[grin]. By the time we left, we'd worked 7 stations in 4 grids on 4 bands, +and felt like things had been a success already! +
+The dirt road we were on ran due north-south. So, we headed south for a half +hour or so, crossing into DM88. We scouted a better site in DM89 along the +way, which we marked for next time! I gather DM88 isn't lit unless a rover +goes there, as there was quite a bit of interest in us when we got set up, this +time in about 10-15 minutes. We worked 12 stations on 2m, and 7 of them on +70cm. The 6m setup was giving us fits, with RF getting into the HF rig's +processor and driving it crazy every time we keyed. We played with the +antenna, moved ferrites around, and never really got it working well again. +We got 7 grids, including DM67, EM09, DN70, and DM98. Again, loads of fun. +The 23cm to Denver was dead, the problem with EM88 is that there just aren't +any good hills that we could see in the corner we were in... +
+From there, we jogged north a touch and then west into the northeast corner +of DM78. We found a nice turn-out into a sunflower field on a ridge and set +up in well under 10 minutes. Practice, and all that! By this time it was +about 5:30pm local, thunderstorms were north and east of us, and some stations +had apparently shut down until the storms passed. Even with all that, we +worked 9 stations in 4 grids on 2m, and 4 of them on 70cm as well, including +N0KM again in DM67... that was cool given the terrain in between us! +
+It was getting late, and the rain was headed our way, so we tore down and +headed back for my place. On the way home, we found N0SWV again on 70cm FM +simplex, and told him we were headed for home in DM79. We indicated that we +could set up briefly on the high point of the road around my neighborhood in +Black Forest if anyone was still around, and he encouraged us to do so. So, +we set up a mile or so from the house up on top of the hill, and worked 4 +stations in DM78 and DM79, all on 2m and 70cm, and two of them on 1296, all +in about 5 minutes after setting up! By this time it was nearly 8pm local, +it was dark, it was cold (I had shorts and a short-sleeve shirt, and no +jacket!), and we'd had enough. So, we packed it up and headed to the house. +
+I haven't filled out the forms or added up the score yet, and I don't really +care! We had a blast, and are already talking about adding 220 and 902 +before January... plus maybe working on the 6m setup to cure the HF rig +funnies. This was a first-time rover experience for both of us, and I think +we're hooked! +
+A few thoughts for next time. Wear long pants, the bug bites on my legs are +annoying. Take a couple of chairs. Take more munchies and fluids. Drive +less, operate more around the 4-grid corner. Fix the 6m RF problem! Get +up on 222 and 902... both would have gotten us more contacts. Put preamps +at the antennas! Scrounge something better than RG-58... but keep the BNC's +if we can, they were just too easy to take on and off. Another five feet +of mast? Definitely need it if we add two more bands. Announce to the locals +when we're leaving the house via 70cm FM, they'll be ready when we get to the +first grid. + +
+Call Used: N3EUA +Grid(s) Activated: DM78 DM89 DM88 DM79 +Entry Type: Rover + + QSOs Pts/QSO QSO Pts Mult +50 MHz 2 1 2 1 +144 MHz 31 1 31 8 +432 MHz 23 2 46 6 +1296 MHz 4 3 12 2 + +Total +All Bands 60 91 17 + +GRIDS ACTIVATED 4 Rover Scoring Used + +N3EUA CLAIMED SCORE: 1911 ++
