+My big last-minute burst of energy was getting the system integration of the +Down East 2304 transverter finished. I've had it put together for quite a +while, but two items were pending. First, the 1W GaAsFET power amplifier +wasn't working, leaving me with only 20 milliwatts or so. Second, the kit +does not include T/R switching on the antenna side... that's left as an +exercise for the builder. I had stalled on both issues. +
+Somewhere along the line I decided to punt worrying about the power amp, and +just see what I could do with the low-level output. So, that left me with the +T/R switching. I had acquired some Transco SMA relays, but they needed 28VDC. +To make a very long story (that finally ended at 4:30am on the contest morning) +much much shorter, I ended up designing and building a switcher to make 28V +from nominal 12 using some Linear Technologies parts I had samples of in my +pile of parts, and then swiped the relay from the unassembled 3456 transverter +kit's IF switch board to switch it on PTT. It all works wonderfully. +
+Somewhere on the Down East Microwave web site, I read about a new board they've +designed to replace the older PINK board, that provides the 28V power supply +to switch relays like this. I'll probably invest in one for the 3456 kit, and +see how it works out. +
+John was getting ready to head to Venezuela on business. Steve showed up at +about 9am on Saturday morning, and we started putting things together. I was +dragging from the lack of sleep, so we were running a bit late by the time we +headed out. One change from previous roves is that I had the back seat out +of the Trooper, and instead of putting it back in, we decided to just put the +radios inside the rear door, and cross our fingers for good weather. The last +time we ran that way was the first time we went out, in September of 1998. +It turned out to be a good choice... +
+After a quick stop at the Safeway in Falcon to snag some lunch materials, we +were in DM89 at our usual spot somewhere around 1pm local, +an hour into the contest. From there, we dropped south into DM88, and then +called it a day in time to get home for late dinner. Steve called Sunday +morning early to report a death in the family, so I ran +the rover solo for the first time ever in DM78 and DM79. Fortunately, with +the radios inside the back door, it was possible for me to drive the radios +with one hand and rotate the antennas with the other. It was hard to hold +the antennas steady, but since there wasn't much wind, it worked out ok. +
+The highlight this time was, without doubt, my first four contacts on 2304. +With the 20 milliwatts, about 20 feet of Andrews heliax in an assembly bought +at Dayton this spring, and a 45-element loop yagi, I was able to work W6OAL +from each of the four grids. What a kick in the head! + +
+ +It's also really neat that, if my claimed score holds up, this year's effort +resulted in more than twice the points of last year... + +
+ +The biggest frustration, other than Steve having to stay home on Sunday, was +an odd source of very strong noise on 222 somewhere in the Colorado Springs +area. John WD0FHG talked about having serious trouble making any contacts at +all from Palmer Park during the 222 Sprint this spring, but this was my first +experience with it. Working N0KM from DM78, and K5RHR from DM79 were both +extremely difficult because of this noise. By turning the antenna, I could +watch the noise floor go from about S1 to S8+ on the meter in John's IC-735. +Pretty amazing, whatever it is. +
+ +I really like this contest. As always, it's tempting to say that it'd be more +fun if more folks were on... and since I worked everyone I heard and heard +almost everyone that I heard about being on, there's some truth to it. +However, one of the nice things about fewer people being on, most of whom have +worked each other before, and in an environment where we're not all crazily +busy every instant trying to snag one more contact, is that we actually take +time to chat some. I'm not much of a rag-chewer, but it's good to communicate +a little more than just callsigns and grid squares, and until I make some +major changes at the QTH, these roving expeditions are the only real chances +I have to talk with friends on the microwave bands. + +
+ Valid QSO Claimed + QSOs Pts Mults Score +---------------------------------------------------- +| 222 MHz | 17 | x 3 | 51 | 6 | 306 | +---------------------------------------------------- +| 432 MHz | 30 | x 3 | 90 | 7 | 630 | +---------------------------------------------------- +| 902 MHz | 8 | x 6 | 48 | 1 | 48 | +---------------------------------------------------- +| 1296 MHz | 17 | x 6 | 102 | 3 | 306 | +---------------------------------------------------- +| 2304 MHz | 4 | x 12 | 48 | 1 | 48 | +---------------------------------------------------- +|Grids Activated--Rovers Only | 4 | | +---------------------------------------------------- +| TOTAL | 76 | | 339 | 22 | 7458 | +---------------------------------------------------- + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + DATE TIME STATION EXCHANGE NEW + FREQ MODE (UTC) WORKED SENT RCVD MULTIS PTS +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + 1 446. FM 20000805 1855 WD0HHQ DM89 DM78 DM78- 1 3 + 2 432. SSB 20000805 1913 K0RZ DM89 DM79 DM79- 2 3 + 3 432. SSB 20000805 1914 KC0COU DM89 DN70 DN70- 3 3 + 4 432. SSB 20000805 1915 W6OAL DM89 DM79 3 + 5 432. SSB 20000805 1916 WA7KYM DM89 DN71 DN71- 4 3 + 6 222. SSB 20000805 1919 K0RZ DM89 DM79 DM79- 1 3 + 7 222. SSB 20000805 1920 WA7KYM DM89 DN71 DN71- 2 3 + 8 222. SSB 20000805 1923 W6OAL DM89 DM79 3 + 9 1296. SSB 20000805 1927 K0RZ DM89 DM79 DM79- 1 6 + 10 1296. SSB 20000805 1928 W6OAL DM89 DM79 6 + 11 1296. SSB 20000805 1931 WA7KYM DM89 DN71 DN71- 2 6 + 12 1296. SSB 20000805 1931 KC0COU DM89 DN70 DN70- 3 6 + 13 902. SSB 20000805 1934 K0RZ DM89 DM79 DM79- 1 6 + 14 902. SSB 20000805 1939 W6OAL DM89 DM79 6 + 15 222. SSB 20000805 1942 K5RHR DM89 DM65 DM65- 3 3 + 16 2304. SSB 20000805 1953 W6OAL DM89 DM79 DM79- 1 12 + 17 222. SSB 20000805 2146 W6OAL DM88 DM79 3 + 18 222. SSB 20000805 2150 K0RZ DM88 DM79 3 + 19 432. SSB 20000805 2151 K0RZ DM88 DM79 3 + 20 432. SSB 20000805 2152 W6OAL DM88 DM79 3 + 21 432. SSB 20000805 2152 KC0COU DM88 DN70 3 + 22 1296. SSB 20000805 2154 K0RZ DM88 DM79 6 + 23 1296. SSB 20000805 2155 W6OAL DM88 DM79 6 + 24 1296. SSB 20000805 2157 KC0COU DM88 DN70 6 + 25 902. SSB 20000805 2201 W6OAL DM88 DM79 6 + 26 902. SSB 20000805 2202 K0RZ DM88 DM79 6 + 27 2304. SSB 20000805 2212 W6OAL DM88 DM79 12 + 28 432. SSB 20000806 1430 W0AH DM78 DM89 DM89- 5 3 + 29 222. SSB 20000806 1431 K0RZ DM78 DM79 3 + 30 432. SSB 20000806 1430 K0RZ DM78 DM79 3 + 31 902. SSB 20000806 1435 K0RZ DM78 DM79 6 + 32 1296. SSB 20000806 1433 K0RZ DM78 DM79 6 + 33 222. SSB 20000806 1444 W6OAL DM78 DM79 3 + 34 432. SSB 20000806 1446 W6OAL DM78 DM79 3 + 35 902. SSB 20000806 1505 W6OAL DM78 DM79 6 + 36 1296. SSB 20000806 1454 W6OAL DM78 DM79 6 + 37 2304. SSB 20000806 1502 W6OAL DM78 DM79 12 + 38 1296. SSB 20000806 1454 KC0COU DM78 DN70 6 + 39 446. FM 20000806 1516 K6LS DM78 DM79 3 + 40 446. FM 20000806 1519 KB0CY DM78 DM79 3 + 41 446. FM 20000806 1520 KC0AMO DM78 DM79 3 + 42 432. SSB 20000806 1525 N0POH DM78 DM79 3 + 43 222. SSB 20000806 1538 N0KM DM78 DM67 DM67- 4 3 + 44 432. SSB 20000806 1529 N0KM DM78 DM67 DM67- 6 3 + 45 432. SSB 20000806 1545 N0UGY DM78 DM79 3 + 46 222. SSB 20000806 1558 W0KJY DM78 DN70 DN70- 5 3 + 47 432. SSB 20000806 1548 W0KJY DM78 DN70 3 + 48 1296. SSB 20000806 1550 W0KJY DM78 DN70 6 + 49 222. SSB 20000806 1646 K0RZ DM79 DM79 3 + 50 432. SSB 20000806 1642 K0RZ DM79 DM79 3 + 51 902. SSB 20000806 1654 K0RZ DM79 DM79 6 + 52 1296. SSB 20000806 1652 K0RZ DM79 DM79 6 + 53 222. SSB 20000806 1645 W6OAL DM79 DM79 3 + 54 432. SSB 20000806 1642 W6OAL DM79 DM79 3 + 55 902. SSB 20000806 1655 W6OAL DM79 DM79 6 + 56 1296. SSB 20000806 1650 W6OAL DM79 DM79 6 + 57 2304. SSB 20000806 1658 W6OAL DM79 DM79 12 + 58 222. SSB 20000806 1647 WA7KYM DM79 DN71 3 + 59 432. SSB 20000806 1644 WA7KYM DM79 DN71 3 + 60 1296. SSB 20000806 1652 WA7KYM DM79 DN71 6 + 61 222. SSB 20000806 1646 W0KJY DM79 DN70 3 + 62 432. SSB 20000806 1645 W0KJY DM79 DN70 3 + 63 1296. SSB 20000806 1651 W0KJY DM79 DN70 6 + 64 222. SSB 20000806 1647 N0POH DM79 DM79 3 + 65 432. SSB 20000806 1702 N0POH DM79 DM79 3 + 66 432. SSB 20000806 1719 KC0COU DM79 DN70 3 + 67 1296. SSB 20000806 1720 KC0COU DM79 DN70 6 + 68 446. FM 20000806 1705 KI0QM/R DM79 DM78 3 + 69 432. SSB 20000806 1710 WD4MUO DM79 DN70 3 + 70 432. SSB 20000806 1712 W1XE DM79 DM79 3 + 71 1296. SSB 20000806 1716 W1XE DM79 DM79 6 + 72 222. SSB 20000806 1730 K5RHR DM79 DM65 3 + 73 446. FM 20000806 1743 KC7GOL DM79 DM78 3 + 74 446. FM 20000806 1743 KI0QM/R DM79 DM79 3 + 75 222. SSB 20000806 1752 N0KQY DM79 DM98 DM98- 6 3 + 76 432. SSB 20000806 1752 N0KQY DM79 DM98 DM98- 7 3 ++ +
+ +For 70cm, we ran Bdale's Kenwood TS-790, a Mirage amp making about 100 watts, +and a Landwehr preamp mounted near my Rutland Arrays K1FO yagi. + +
+ +On 33cm, we ran the TS-790's 2m section through a DEM TIB to a DEMI +transverter making about 10 watts into a homebrew Kent Britain-style yagi. + +
+ +On 23cm, we ran the TS-790 making about 10 watts into a 24 element loop yagi. + +
+ +On 13cm, we ran the TS-790's 2m section through a DEM TIB to a DEMI +transverter making about 20 milliwatts, through Andrews half-inch heliax to +a 45 element loop yagi. + +
+ +Unless otherwise mentioned, cables were a mix of RG-8 sized cables with mostly +N connectors. +Power was from a 27DC-form-factor deep cycle battery for everything. + +
+ +I logged on paper, and post-processed the logs using VHFTEST. The beta +version of VHFTEST I tried had some problems, but I worked around them well +enough for this time. The fundamental logging interface isn't bad, though, +and since it runs on DOS and claims to do monochrome screens moderately well, +I may have to try logging on computer next time using an Omnibook 425... they +handle sunlight better than most of the newer color displays. We'll see. My +paper logging system works well, but typing it all in afterwards is a pain. + +
