Last updated: 2009.08.03
2009.08.03
What a great UHF contest! n0lp/r followed me through the rove and we were
able to stick almost exactly to the plan. 10g refused to work, and I got
attacked by a swarm of flying ants, but otherwise things were perfect! The
LO/PTT switch I'd had some trouble with in the past worked better than
expected and really helped me make quick band changes on the higher bands, thanks Jim and Lou for your help!
I custom cut LMR400UF feed cables to reduce the amount of extra cable I
had coiled up in the front seat and this helped reduce loss and
clutter. Very fun to have n0lp along. He really helped boost my score as I
had someone to work in each of the rare grids. Ended up with 3x the score
I was expecting. APRS was a success, the girls were able to track me from
home and see exactly where I was all through the contest. Several other stations
were able to use it to see where we were. Good stuff, I'll use it in the future.
2009.07.28
Uploaded updated rove plan graphic. It's now accurate.
2009.07.27
Good times tuning up xverters at the barn. Thanks Jim,Lou & Mike. Resolved
the PTT switching issue, tested 900 RX, 5.7 xveter and sorted out the 222
stack. I now have 50w of TX on 222 ssb. Working on getting a solid
APRS stack working. I put the battery arrays on their chargers.
2009.07.24
Six grid rove plan firming up. Reversing the below drive plan so I can
connect with n0lp/r in DN80AA. The plan is to start at the microwave tower
there at noon and rove from there. n0lp/r will have APRS running so you can use arps.fi to keep
track of us. I'm headed out to the w0eea barn this weekend to tune the xverters and
sort out the 222 stack.
2009.06.23
Planning begins.. Looking at doing a six grid rove. See drive plan graphic below. Power issues have
been solved, no further work needed there. I do need to sort out the amp on 222ssb, see if I can get about 12 of the connectors out of
that xverter/IF/AMP stack by getting the correct jumpers. Planning on using the TE systems amp on 432 to get the power up. Need to locate
the source of intermittent RX on 900. Possibly replace/repair the 1.2 module in the 910h, may have a time issue with this one. Also,
in the last contest, the IF switch/relay worked perfect but the PTT switcing to the xverters had an issue, need to resolve this issue
before the contest.
220 25w fm Alinco 235 vert (223.5 fm) 220 50w ssb Elecraft XV222 xverter Directive Systems DSFO222-10RS 440 75w ssb IC-910h Directive Systems DSFO432-15RS 900 10w ssb ssbusa transverter Directive Systems 3311LY 1.2 10w ssb IC-910h Directive Systems 2314LYRM 2.4 1w ssb DEMI xverter Directive Systems 1321LYRM 3.4 1w ssb DEMI xverter Directive Systems looper 5.7 1w ssb DEMI xverter handheld feedhorn 10ghz 200mw ssb kuhne xverter Handheld Feedhorn
RoverLog QSOs by Activated Grid: Grid QSOs Grid QSOs Grid QSOs DM78 10 DM88 13 DN70 6 DM79 20 DM89 28 DN80 18 RoverLog Score Summary, Using new rules: Band QSOs Value QSOPts Mults 222 30 3 90 7 432 32 3 96 8 902 8 6 48 2 1.2G 9 6 54 3 2.3G 7 12 84 3 3.4G 4 12 48 1 5.7G 5 12 60 1 Grids activated: 6 Totals: 95 480 31 Claimed Score: 14880