KR0VER/R in the 2008 ARRL September VHF QSO Party
Claimed Score: 5562 (Goal was 15,000. Need a rover out at the congruance to do full
band runs with before we can reach this goal. We also missed 10g ssb contacts with w0eea.)
Last updated: 2008.09.15
2008.09.15
Great contest. Pics uploaded below. John(ac0gi) and I operated and my dad drove. We had the van full and
it all seemed to
work. The new batteries lasted the expected 7 hours and the battery booster helped after that. We could
use one more of the 210RC batteries to round things out in a VHF contest, but the current two battery
bank would last just fine in a UHF contest. This was the most metal we've ever had up on the top of the
van. Seven beams(on the roof), all horizontal and pretty good gain. No six meter openings to
speak of, but
there were lots of new rovers out in the metro area and that made for a nice change. We pretty much
stuck to the below rove plan, with the exception of a side trip into Limon for dinner and then a trip
to the w0eea barn after finishing up at Calhan. Thanks to dad's driving so we could keep operating, we
made it back to the house before 11pm, a record for the shortest time it's taken us to do a six
grid rove.
2008.09.04
The rove plan is updated to reflect the actual plan, instead of just
retreading the past paths. Picked up two deep cycle 210RC batteries to
replace the previous battery array from Interstate Batteries.
2008.08.11
Planning in the works. See below route map. Continuing to use RoverLog. Need to
work on a new battery array. As it stands now I'm going to get two off the
shelf RV deep cycle batteries and run with those. I decided to get rid
of the 910h and 857d and get a better rig, but that will have to wait
for next year. As far as antennas go I'm planning on running with the
same mast config as last september with the addition of the 220 beam
and higher band crossarm. Unless plans chance I'm looking at only
roving Saturday. Need to borrow more LT batteries next time. Also, use
both GPS units, one for RoverLog and one for navigation.
Bands
Band Power Mode Gear Antenna
50 100w ssb FT-857d ku4ab loop at 11ft
144 100w ssb I-910H Directive Systems DS144-6RS
220 25w FM Alinco 235 vert
220 25w ssb demi transverter Directive Systems DSFO222-10RS
440 75w ssb I-910H Directive Systems DSFO432-15RS
900 10w ssb ssbusa transverter Directive Systems 3311LY
1296 10w ssb I-910H Directive Systems 2314LYRM
2304 1w ssb demi transverter Directive Systems 1321LYRM
10ghz ? WBFM arr gunplexer handheld feedhorn
24ghz ? WBFM arr gunplexer handheld feedhorn
The Planned Rove
Total Miles Expected: ~280
Pictures
Here are pictures from the rove.
Log Summary:
RoverLog QSOs by Activated Grid:
Grid QSOs Grid QSOs Grid QSOs
DM78 14 DM88 7 DM79 31
DN70 13 DM89 24 DN80 18
RoverLog Score Summary, Using new rover rules:
Band QSOs Value QSOPts Mults
50 19 1 19 3
144 25 1 25 6
222 17 2 34 3
432 19 2 38 4
902 7 3 21 1
1.2G 11 3 33 1
2.3G 6 4 24 1
10G 2 4 8 1
24G 1 4 4 1
Grids activated: 6
Totals: 107 206 27
Claimed Score: 5562