This is the first time I've entered the UHF contest. I only have equipment for the 222 and 432 bands, so I wasn't expecting a high score. The contest was at the end of my family's vacation in the outerbanks of NC, so I thought I could get away with entering as a rover station and operating Saturday from FM25/FM26 all day Sunday on the ride home to southern PA. I set up a few skeds before the trip. I was only able to keep one of them due to the weather! Sorry! On Saturday, I planned to operate the start of the contest from Kitty Hawk at an altitude of 80 feet. (FM26) I then planned to scoot down to Jockey's ridge state park where the dunes are up to 90 feet high! (FM25EX) Murphy went along for the ride and dumped T-storms on me all afternoon on Saturday. It was a good plan on paper anyway. I did manage to set up on the 3rd floor balcony of the rental home in Duck, NC later that night. ( I made 3 contacts from the balcony. One was to K1TEO in trumbull, CT on 222 MHz! That contact was 377 miles out over the water! I was only running 20 watts into a 4 element yagi. That was pretty cool. My wife drove all the way home on Sunday so I could work the radio. Unfortunately, I was limited to a single HO loop on 222 and 432 on the van. I heard KN4SM a few times on the way home in multiple grids, but just didn't have the wattage and antenna gain to get his attention. It was fun though! At one point, we went up an overpass and his signal went came up at least 2 S units! There wasn't room to pull over though.
Kudos to the rover driver! Hopefully, I'll be able to operate more next year.
73 de KM3G-- KM3G
222/432 station on a cart! There's a 55AH gel cel in there along with a DEM transverter and IC-706. It was difficult to push/pull on the sidewalk at Kitty Hawk. I didn't get to try it in the sand.
The heavy cart has to go up there???
View from the top of Kitty Hawk looking north. (FM26DA)
View from the top of Kitty Hawk looking south. Those clouds don't look very favorable to ham radio! 10 minutes from the start of the contest, it started to storm and didn't stop until later that night.... dang Murphy.
The limited rover antennas captured a few bugs and tree branches and not enough signals! Note the special use of rear mounted counterpoise equipment.
N6NB/R -- Aug 29, 2009 06:18 ET
The highlight of this year's UHF contest was certainly the first-ever club competition. Several of us who are VHF+ contesters and have have been members of the Southern California Contest Club ever since SCCC was
founded more than 30 years ago decided to give it a try. We had a lot of fun competing as a club, and it really boosted local activity. As recently as two years ago, not a single rover in California submitted a log in the UHF contest. This year the SCCC club entry alone led to nine rover logs.-- N6NB
Eight rovers lined up together for this photo opportunity at a freeway vista point near Palmdale, Calif. From left, they are W6YLZ, N6MU, AF6O, W6TAI, W6XD, N6NB, KK6KK (+KG6TOA) and W6TE (+K6MI).
At the end of the contest, 10 people who roved in 8 vehicles got together in Pahrump, NV, 153 miles from SCCC's center point. (For their scores to count in the club competition, rovers must remain within a club's territory--a 175-mile radius from the center point). In this photo (from left) are: W6TE, N6NB, KG6TOA, W6TAI, N6MU, W6YLZ, AF6O, KK6KK, W6XD and K6MI. Of this group, only W6TE (+K6MI) were ineligible for the club competition. They live in Fresno, outside SCCC territory. They are members of the Northern California Contest Club, but they roved outside NCCC territory. As a result, they found themselves in club-competition neverland.
To stay within SCCC territory, we had to select a new route that was mostly in the desert--for a contest in early August. This map shows the route, which was designed with major assistance from AF6O. Jim knows the California desert well, and he came up with a route that allowed us to visit 10 grid squares before 11 a.m. Sunday without ever leaving SCCC territory.
Entering the UHF club competition under the SCCC banner reminded some of us of long-ago SCCC club activities. This photo was taken 29 years ago, just after SCCC had set an all-time scoring record in Field Day, a record that stood for a decade. Three of the people who helped set that record were also involved in this new SCCC venture:
N6MU (far left in the photo), N6VI (far right in the photo) and N6NB (who took the photo).
KC0IYT/R -- Aug 17, 2009 12:23 ET
In EN42aw with corn to my east, and corn to my west.
A passenger seat full of radios and wires: 222 (10m IF to a transverter), 432, 902-3456. 5GHz & 10GHz are in the trunk.
I roved to six grids this contest. I started with the EN32/EN42/EN33/EN43 grid corner in North-East Iowa (near West Union, IA), and finished on Sunday in the Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN area for EN34 and EN35.
Rain showers passed through the MN/IA/WI area Friday Evening, bringing an inch of rain in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area, and poor propagation. Tall CORN in Iowa made finding useable operating locations difficult, and I was looking for two new locations. Three of the locations were okay, but not great.
I was barely being heard in the Minneapolis area on 222, but 432 was better (higher gain antenna, and more power). I had just a few rover-rover contacts on Saturday, but many more on Sunday when I was in the twin cities. I worked a LOT more grids than I normally do (and still missed many opportunities where I knew there were stations). I set a new personal high score, with far more grids in my log than I usually get.
I was successful at keeping on my rove schedule, and keeping schedules with other stations.
I don't know how guys like W0ZQ run such a clean car?-- KC0IYT
W9FZ/R -- Aug 13, 2009 19:05 ET
Had a great time! Set a personal record for the UHF contest. I did these same 8 grids in '05, '06, and '07. This time activity levels were GOOD! Conditions only popped to the "good" range in one brief period near the end.
I'm still finishing getting ready my paperlog for submission. I am trying to whip up some graphic images that show the paths I worked. I enjoyed the fixed stations who followed me around and gave me so many QSO's. Bob, K2DRH is commended for sweeping me on 5 bands in 8 grids!! KC9BQA, W0UC, W9GA and many others found me multiple times. I also enjoyed finding Rovers--none of the distances were trivial and none of the rover-to-rover contacts were orchestrated--but they were fun finds.
Whew! That was a good one!
73 Bruce W9FZ/R-- W9FZ
None of these Rover-to-Rover QSO's were orchestrated. And none of them were at trivial distances. Guess what I think of grid-circling.
This is 6w and a looper. We need more ops on 2304!
2 watts and a 18" DSS dish. Flat terrain is fine--just need a horizon. And other stations to work!
More operators in more locations are needed!
In EN-53 beaming Milwaukee. Worked WA9O on 10 GHz from here.
In EN-54 beaming K2YAZ in EN-74. Arrived at 5am and started making contacts.
W8PGW -- Aug 10, 2009 21:37 ET
The propagation deities were not good to the W8PGW VHF+ operators this
year...:( Only 48 contacts and 11 grids. Two of those on 3456MHZ this
year...:) Planning on more Microwave bands for September hopefully.
As for KB0HH looking for a cook/chef/chief bottle washer for there
group, the ARROW club planned to have a picnic at the site instead of
the regular meeting this year. Hopefully encouraged more operators for
the bands above 30MHz for September. Planning on seeing if we can
entice some more of the local rovers our direction with offers of food
next month.-- W8ISS
KC8KSK -- Aug 9, 2009 15:33 ET
I had to travel to the Atlanta, GA area for work related training the week after the contest weekend. I began to plan where I could operate from and immediately Stone Mountain came to mind (1600' + ASL). I had not been there in quite a few years and had not operated radio equipment from there before but after checking the park website I locked in my plans.
I hiked the 1.3 miles to the summit on a warm Saturday afternoon and got setup just before 1500 local time. I was happy to find some contacts on 432 as I was only there for a few hours.
Several people wondered by my position and asked me what I was doing. One person even wondered if I was tracking birds!
My equipment was a FT-817, gel cell battery, Arrow II antenna (with the 2 meter elements removed), and Maldol vertical antenna.
I had a great time. I enjoyed the hike and radio fun! I may come back to operate from here in the future. 73!-- KC8KSK
Ready to go on 432 MHz!
Operating position on Stone Mountain, GA.
Closing in on the summit!
KQ6EE -- Aug 7, 2009 19:14 ET
radios set up at Pike Peak, the background are Pike Peak Toll Road and Cog Railroad
Another view of my radios set up, radios tower on the top of Pike Peak
I went to Pike Peak (14110') near Colorado Springs for my UHF contest. I only operated from 220 mhz to 1.2 ghz except 900 mhz, and only worked 4 or 5 hrs on Saturday; But I had a lot of fun. 73-- KQ6EE
K0MHC/R -- Aug 9, 2009 23:14 ET
"Fringe Roving" during the 2009 Rovermania from rare grids
Many thanks to the Northern Lights Radio Society gang who spent the weekend on the hill. You all did a great job and we all appreciate it! While the June contest was a workup to this event there was no comparison. This was much more fun!
- Saturday was rather slow from the four corners of EN27/17/26/16 just Northwest of Detroit Lakes, MN. The first hour was OK with many contacts back towards the Twin Cities but it went downhill from then on. The next 5 grids were rather quiet except for the strong signal from the W0AUS multiop station.
- Sunday was better but I had difficulty finding good operating locations in the heavily forested and hilly EN36/35 area. I probably missed many of you as I was driving around scouting the area.
Here are a few more details and observations:
Location, Location, Location! No, this isn't about being a realtor. It's about being a rover. My wife and I had previously scouted EN17, 16, 26 but not EN27. However I found a great spot using Google Earth that was relatively high with a good takeoff over a lake. However, when I showed up it turned out to be a cemetery located on the White Earth Indian reservation. Being the culturally aware person that I am (not) and being a paleface with a Texas driver's license I decided to move on to the flatlands. Moving on down to the Elbow Lake, MN four corners was uneventful except I had forgotten my mosquito repellent. It's tough to send good CW while you're keeping the darn bugs off. Sorry about that.
We were able to sweep the bands with W0AUS multiop from all grids so changes since June may have helped somewhat. My preference is to rotate the rotor (rather than the car) and observe antenna boom length limitations that would allow me to rotate 360' while in motion. Shorter antenna boom lengths also increase the beamwidth and therefore reduce the need for time consuming "peaking" of the signals.
Future Plans:
- 2010 Rovermania - we're on a roll!
- Add 10 GHz to the rover configuration
73, Jim K0MHC/R-- K0MHC
Loopers with a 5 degree uptilt looking at KM0T over the cornstocks from EN36
Working W0AUS from the elevated operating configuration
Collapsed travel configuration
Low-band (222 & 432) array @ 21 ft (average) height
W9SZ -- Aug 9, 2009 14:07 ET
I got to the hilltop in EN50rl at about 3:30 pm local time (2030Z) on Saturday. It had been raining and continued to rain. I set up the antennas in the rain and got drenched. I started setting up the station on a table, with a large sheet of plastic over the gear and my head. I worked one station on 222 and 432 and tried to work him on 903. I had just recently built two new LNA's for 903 and 1296 and had them checked at the Central States VHF conference a week earlier. I found out the 903 preamp oscillated. I thought I had it fixed but couldn't hear the station OR the K3SIW beacon with it. Fortunately I had taken my original GaAsFET preamp and swapped it out (in the rain). By then the other station could not be found but at least I could hear the K3SIW beacon with it. I retired to my car to wait for the rain stop.
The rain quit at about 7 pm local time (00Z Sunday). I set up the rest of the station and worked quite a few people including W9SNR/R when he was in two of his grids. We worked on all bands thru 10 GHz but 5760, where he was S9+20 but he couldn't hear me.
I slept in my car and actually had to run the heater a few times during the night to keep warm! I never thought I'd have to do that in August.
I got up on Sunday morning and worked some more people. My only band sweep was with K3SIW on all bands 222 through 10368 MHz. I worked W9SNR/R when he was in another of his grids. He still couldn't hear me on 5760 even though he was quite loud at my end.
I had to QRT at 1500Z on Sunday. Wish I could've stayed longer. There were no spectacular long-haul tropo openings this year like there was last year, but I did quite well all the way up to Milwaukee (240 miles) through 1296.
I had no other equipment mishaps and was happy with the way everything was performing. All in all, a fun contest. Sorry I missed some people.
73, Zack W9SZ-- W9SZ
W0AUS -- Aug 9, 2009 11:55 ET
We had talked for years about putting together a large multi-op to see if we could compete (or beat) the large multi-ops on the east coast. This year we decided to go for it!
Planning began about six months ago with my goal of a million points. Our site would be Buck Hill Ski Area in Burnsville, MN in grid EN34ir. The 500 foot "mountain" would be the perfect spot for a multi-op. People stepped forward to help build a station on the hill and others stepped forward to go out roving. Our team on the hill would be Tom, K0TAR, Ron, KA0RYT, Rich, N0HJZ, Dave, N0KP and Paul, WA0RSE.
Our station was no "super station" but featured modest power, medium sized antennas and short feedlines. The ski hill would be our tower. The pictures show how big our station was (not)!
The set-up went well and we were ready to go at the start. There were 13 rovers active at the start and the first hour was very hectic as we turned the antennas round and round to try to work everyone. Signals were not loud as propagation was only so-so.
As the contest progressed, we got into a good rhythm. We'd find the next rover or fixed station and pass them up the bands. The hardest "pass" was from the 432 station to the microwave station, located about 50 feet away. You'd hear a yell "W9FZ/R now in EN52 going to 902.100, heading 140 degrees." We got pretty good at passing stations!
The weather went from warm at the start to quite cold in the evening. The wind kicked up and the temp dropped. In the middle of the night we had a low of 51f with a wind of about 20 mph. We all wore every piece of clothing we had plus some blankets! All this clothing and it was August! This was nuts!
As morning dawned, the weather and activity started to warm. More rovers were out on Sunday and the QSO count started to improve. The last hour was hectic as rovers squeezed in one more grid and new fixed stations got on the air. What a blast!
In the end, propagation made things difficult but we were able to work stations from EN08 to EN01 to EN60 to EN74. 400 miles was about the best we could do.
How did we do? The million point goal wasn't going to happen due to the poor propagation. One thing we knew - the old Minnesota record of 86,000 points had been blown away! Our remaining question - was our score going to be enough to contend with the east coast?
When the dust settled, we had 471 QSO's and 198 grids for a claimed score of 531,036 points! If I figure right, this is the 8th best multi-op score ever! Not bad for a small station in the Upper Midwest!
We need to give a big THANK YOU to the rovers!! They got out in the field, drove a whole bunch of miles and provided us with a lot of QSO's. The rovers gave us 349 out of 471 QSO's or 74.1%.
We worked 27 rovers: K0HAC, K0MHC, K0PC, K0PG, K9ILT, K9JK, KB0NES, KC0IYT, KC0OIA, KC0P, KC0PMW, KD0ABR, KE3QY, N0DQS, N0EDV, N0HZO, N0QJM, N0UK, W0IS, W0JT, W0ZQ, W7XU, W9FZ, WA0VPJ, WA2VOI, WB0LJC and WB8BZK. Thanks to all of you!!
This great score was the result of months of planning and a total team effort from the entire Upper Midwest. Thanks to operators in the Northern Lights Radio Society, Badger Contesters, Chippewa Valley VHF Contesters and Society of Midwest Contesters for their help!
See you next year!-- N0HJZ
W0AUS 222 & 432 MHz Operting tent and yagis for 432 & 222 (background).
W0AUS 222 yagi and large FM array (J-poles!).
W0AUS 222 MHz Op Rich, N0HJZ, looking cold in the morning!
W0AUS 432 MHz Op Ron, KA0RYT, trying to warm up the weather with some good 432 action!
W0AUS FM op Paul, WA0RSE, working the 223 & 446 FM activity.
W0AUS Microwave Op Dave, N0KP, at the microwave operating position.
Responsibility for content of all posted material rests exclusively with
the item author. ARRL staff assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, and accuracy of items
appearing on this page. All questions and comments should be directed to the item author.
