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Tim, KØPG/R and Matt, KFØQ/R after the contest photo by K9ILT |
Sounded like fun a few years ago when it was suggested that we (the Northern Lights Radio Society) pull out all the stops for the ARRL UHF test and attempt to get as many rovers with as many bands as possible from our typical low population contest resource here in the upper Midwest. The threat by the league to pull sponsorship of this event was really a impetus for our local group to make sure that the 2004 event get noticed for the fun and challenging event that many of us have grown to love. August without a UHF test would be unimaginable!
The UHF contest is one of my personal favorites, but I have to admit for the amount of effort I put forth it has been a reality check in prior years. It really takes some committed patient operators to tough it out for this contest. As many bands as person can afford (or borrow) are required and some real contest grit and operating skill to hang in there and get as many qso’s in the log as possible in the 24 hours.
For RoverMania 2004 to be successful it became clear that in order to operate in as many grids as possible with as many bands as possible luxuries such as sleep would have to be avoided! Obviously safety is a concern here and as the day grew closer cautionary messages were sent out to the committed group encouraging all of us to have a roving partner if possible. Only problem is that if the guys with all the gear go out and rove than the fixed stations left with multiband capability really get a work-out trying to work in all the rovers that drop into new grids collectively several times an hour! Good problem to have but tough to deal with! Ideas were exchanged and Rovers were left with deciding what path and grids they would activate for themselves. Most of the grids in our area in a pattern of approx 6 grids vertically to almost 6 wide were to be activated. This huge area included parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, SE North Dakota and eastern South Dakota!
I was one of 14 rovers that operated in this area. My grids ended up pretty much in the middle of the pattern encompassing northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. I chose a total of only 10 grids for the 24 hours to operate from. I could have added a couple more but my opinion it was better to have a realistic outlook with a little margin for error. Several of the grids were new to me and the location I chose to start was just a bit far away to do any scouting prior to the contest. I knew that in order to be successful I would have to operate on the fly and quickly find a reasonable operating location in all new surroundings.
Another challenge for this year’s event was to turn my stock Dodge Ram into a competitive portable contest station! I have only had the truck for a few months and did not have the time prior to UHF contest week to install any gear. All equipment including the FT-736R, 290RII, 4 brick amplifiers, 4 transverters, 6 antennas, 2 keyers, and 2 rotators was installed the night before the test. In addition I installed a 90A battery isolator and cabling (#4AWG) to my 2 deep cycle batteries located in the box of my pickup. I used my notebook computer for logging as most of the qso’s would happen while parked.
Iowa just seems to be a great place to rove in – the terrain doesn’t seem to have the appearance like that of a mountainous area, but the generally flat topography does lend itself to some reasonable propagation on the higher vhf and uhf bands. The people I have met in Iowa always seem friendly and I never get too concerned about having to explain what I am doing turning my vehicle around in circles on a desolate dirt road at night! As it turned out for 2004 I had to do just that – as no less than 2 Sheriff’s squad cars stopped by for a brief visit! (The official looking magnetic ARRL Amateur Radio signs on both front doors of the Dodge Ram really helped!) None of the law enforcement gave me any trouble – they were simply doing their job checking out a call from a citizen.
Some of the highlights for me this year was driving the 270 miles from my home to visit with Mike, KMØT and Andy, KØSM who also stopped bye, on Saturday morning before the test. Andy had just finished his rover station too, and all of us were looking forward to the event. Many times I operate a contest from a remote location or rove the entire weekend without meeting anyone. I was great to meet some fellow contesters, and Mike served up a great pre-contest breakfast! Tnx Mike!
Every grid has a story it seems – and the 2004 contest was no exception. After a quick equipment check I headed for the first grid – about 15 miles away. I arrived just a bit late – but made up some time to be on my original schedule for most of the contest. I was a able to work Mike, KMØT from the first few grids no problem. As I headed east I worked many other stations including some of the other rovers out there NØHJZ/R, WØZQ/R, KBØTHN/R, KØNY/R, and WØAMT/R.
I continued to head towards eastern Iowa pulling over many times to get more stations in the log. I spent quite a while working Bob, K2DRH from several grids and Saturday night. Bob had an awesome signal on 2304! By 3:00AM I was in West Union, IA where EN42 and 32 meet. I was incredibly tired and took a brief nap before heading out to EN42 at 5:00AM. My 90A battery isolator failed shortly after 5:30AM. I never turned off the engine and bypassed the ALT terminal to get my trucks’ starting battery charging again! (Never turned the engine off until 2:30PM later that day).
As I headed north toward Minnesota conditions seemed to improve. My last four grids were in Minnesota – not too far from home. During the last few hours of the contest I ran into Tim, KØPG/R and Pat K9ILT/R several times on the bands. Even though I was completely exhausted – the adrenalin must have been enough to keep me going to the end. In spite of the nice weather and contest activity I really started to feel ill with an incredible headache! I pressed to the end – 10 grids activated and 713 miles! Final highlight was meeting Tim and Pat for a photo op after the contest. My effort this year was an all time high score for my station with 208 qso’s! RoverMania worked! The Northern Lights bunch is a dedicated group of operators with an incredible amount of weak signal experience and contesting finesse.
Please keep the ARRL UHF Contest alive!
73,
Matt
A shot of the 8 yagi 432 array with the loop yagi arrays in the background on a different tower. The top loop yagi array is 3456 X 4, with 1296 X 4 below that, then 2304 X 4 and 903 X 4 at the bottom. Can you find which loop is crooked? |
4-432 antennas 4-222 antennas 2-1296 antennas & a 2 meter beam to boot |
The smooth riding BZK Rover mobile operating from EN62. |
I arrived at the towering trash hill in EN51 (best operating spot in the local area) only to be told that the hill was closed for the day due to a fire on the hill. Lost the first hour or so traveling to another hill miles away.
Although my operating hours were limited this time around, the weather cooperated and I had a great time with a few very exciting QSOs. Mike
New antenna arrangement |
FFT of K1TEO on 903 CW in FM15vx |
The Stack |
The beacons were way down in FM15vx before the contest got underway. In June, were were hearing the WA4PGI beacons on 432, 1296, and 5760 in FM15, and June was not any great shakes either, as for propagation. This year, we heard nothing except the 2m and the 222 W3CCX beacons very weakly...not a good sign. As the contest started, it became quickly obvious that working stations above 1296 was going to be difficult. FM25 was even harder for us, as it's slightly more out--of the way.
As we moved farther north, the activity seemed to expand, but it was because were were getting within range of more stations, not due to any gifts from the propagation lords. We found N2MH/R in FM15, and we were finally able to work the grid from FM26... a rare treat! Mark was also moving north, parallel to us, and we had several additional rover-to-rover QSOs with him, which is always exciting.
Conditions continued to be poor from the Chesapeake Bay, near Va Beach. From the bridge-tunnel, we were finally able to make some QSOs on 3.4GHz with K1RZ. Usually, we do well from here on 10G, but this time, we were lucky to score a few on 3.4GHz. We were also finally able to QSO K1TEO on 2.3/3.4 GHz from here...usually something we accomplish from much farther south.
We wanted to catch some Zs in a motel to free our minds from the sour tropo-less condx, but we discovered that every motel on the Eastern Shore was booked solid! This meant another few hours sleep in the MD Rest Area in the rover cockpit...not exactly an icon of comfort!
Early morning from FM28 was the best propagation so far in this contest. We finally broke the 5.7 & 10 GHz barriers from here with K1RZ, & N3EMF. We have never had to wait this long for some 10GHz QSOs, but this contest was shaping up to be some of the worst condx we've seen from the area. All that cold/dry air from the monster high pressure system made it comfortable, and kept the mosquitoes dormant, but it sure messed up the tropo possbilities. (...did I say the propagation was lousy?).
We pulled over in FM18 to QSO N3OC on 10 GHz, as QSOs on this band were apparently quite rare this weekend...fortunately we made it, shooting through a clearing in some trees, in a library parking lot near Easton, MD.
The QSO pace was really picking up in FM19 and 29, and we had loads of fun running up the QSO total on the lower bands. It was fun bumping into WA3PTV/R and W3HMS/R in FM09 from here on bands through 10GHz. All QSOs in the UHF contest are great, but man, those 2.3G & up QSOs are big points! Keep 'em rolling in if you can. We tried to break above 3.4GHz K1TEO, but the condx just weren't there. It was great to QSO Jeff reliably through 3.4GHz from these grids, however. I don't think we could have done this in January, so I guess we have to admit that the UHF contest wasn't quite that bad for propagation.
We managed to do slightly better than last year with about 345 QSOs in 59 grids.
Thanks to all who made the scene, and passed out some UHF joy to us and others. This contest has always been fun, being slower- paced than the big-3, but packed with microwave excitement. It's always a pleasure to hear the dedicated UHF nuts on the bands. Keep the flame burning! Even poor condx can't quell the excitement of working stations on these bands. It's amazing what the microwaves can do.
Tnx & 73,
Bill W3IY
Christophe ON4IY
 W3KWH CLUBHOUSE CARNEGIE, PA 10 MILES WEST OF PITTSBURGH,PA |
Multi-op by W3BTX and W3TEF at W3SO in FN00. 57 QSOs, 29 Grids = Claimed Score of 4959
They were only able to operate part time and only on 222MHz due to projects underway at the station. It was good to see some rovers out on the road, especially the return of ND3F. The band never opened up, all the QSOs were ground wave. A new SSB 222 pre-amp helped. Six new grid squares for 222MHz were logged.
QSLs to W3TEF. Station information is at at <www.qrz.com\w3so>.
We are looking forward to the September contest.
For the W3SO, Wopsononock Mountaintop Operators,
Ed,
W0ZQ/R in EN22 with 10gigs deployed |
W0ZQ/R in EN24 |
This year, in parallel with the ARRL's August UHF contest, the Northern Lights Radio Society (NLRS) locally sponsored "Rovermania". Rovermania was a coordinated effort to share rover ideas and information, equipement, antennas, and to coordinate rover plans to maximize overall activity levels, and oh ya, to have some fun. No, this wasnt planned grid circling and no this wasnt captive roving .... we simply promoted activity through roving and by working who you can, where you can, when you can.
The ZQ rovermobile was fairly basic as far as rovers go. I called it "roverlite". The 222 through 3456 antennas were mounted on a small mast that was inside a 3' Radio Shack tripod (thanks to K0PG/N9ILT/R's for the idea). The tripod gets bolted to a Yakama roof rack. All the antennas had 6' booms or less and the total height was under 11'. The antenna system went down the road at 70mph with no signs of distress or very much sound. 5760 was 200mW to a 13dB horn while 10gigs was 6 watts and a 22" offset dish. Both of these got set up when I stopped.
All power was provided via the cars 13.8vdc power system (10gigs had its own battery). I had two power cables coming from the car battery through the firewall (via one of those rubber gromet pop-outs in the firewall) with fuses on all leads. One cable powered 222/432 while the second one powered 902 and up. That way I could always send on 222 OR 432 AND any one of the microwave bands. Power distribution was via Powerpole connectors.
I started the contest near Algona(Iowa)at the EN23/33/22/32 grid corner. From there I drove straight west to EN12, then north through EN13, 14, 15, then back east to the EN25/35/24/34 grid corner. 24 hrs, about 700 miles, and 374 QSO's.
Highlights of the contest include: 1) Working 120 miles paths on 5760 with 200mW and a 13dB horn. 2) Working the "big guns" on 10gigs from everywhere. The longest paths were about 240 miles and most paths were 50 to 200 miles. 3) Hearing the activity that Rovermania generated and enjoying the ARRL UHF contest as it is. 4) Handing out new grids on the high bands. 5) Getting to EN15 at 4:00am Sunday morning to find the Twin Cites gang waiting on me. 6) 222 rocks ! What a great band. 4 element and 120 watts.
Lowlights include: 1) Not being able to work everyone. I know there were contacts that I missed being a solo rover and sticking to a time schedule. 2) Thinking that this may be the last August UHF contest like this.
The NLRS did a great job of generating activity through Rovermania which was run in parallel with the ARRL UHF contest. Perhaps other local clubs can increase their level of activity through similar activities. By sponsoring contests like the August UHF contest the ARRL has provided us with an opportunity to get out there and have fun, but its up to us at the local level to grab that opportunity and to run with it.
See you in the 10gigs contest coming up soon.
73, Jon
The latest incarnation of the ill-fated WØJT rover, parked at the end of my driveway (from which position it never moved). |
(See our web page at http://www.nlrs.org/RoverPlans/2004-08/RoverMania.htm for more info.)
I planned to be one of those rovers, and you can see in the photo the rover station that I assembled for the contest. (The vehicle is new to me, and this was to be its maiden voyage as a rover.) Rotatable antennas, each 12 feet long, on 222 through 2304, and (not visible) a separate tripod-mounted dish for 10 GHz. But if I thought Murphy was my companion on my last major rove, I discovered he was only teasing with me back then. This time, I was running late with my preparations, due to other committments, and when I finally jumped in the vehicle to blast off, I found that the ignition switch had become jammed, and I could not move the vehicle an inch. It stayed parked at the end of my driveway until the Monday morning after the contest, at which time the tow truck came to haul it back to the car dealer for $800+ worth of (warranty-covered, thank goodness) repairs.
In the process of dismantling my home station, building the rover, dismantling the rover, and re-assembling the home station, I ended up with only 3 working bands instead of 6, and very little time to operate. But I did what I could to support the NLRS RoverMania event, and look forward to hearing stories from the others who participated. Hopefully, some of my NLRS colleagues had a bit better luck than I did, and will have some happier stories to tell.
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