09/17/2004 | N6ZE/ROVER Rick, KQ6NO, & I decided to do a quick rove on Saturday - for just the first 6 hours of the Contest. This was Rick's first experience with VHF Roving. He normally climbs mountains to participate in HF QRP Contests. We had hopes of activating the semi-rare grids of DM05, DM15, CM94, & CM95 on 6m/2m/70cm. This proved to be a bit ambitious for the time we had available, but we did provide DM05 & DM15 for a number of participants. Although we had small yagis for each of the 3 bands, we set them up only at our DM15 QTH. We relied on zero gain antennae in all other grids so that we could keep moving. The weather was hot & dry for our rove, but sunscreen prevented sunburns. High temperature noted was 103 deg. F. in Bakersfield, CA. I did a bit more operating on Saturday night and during my Sunday commute to work. We did not hear any long haul stations; we heard W6TE (DM06) when we were in DM05 & DM04, but never managed to work him. Equipment included an FT-100D for 6m/70cm and a TM-255A/TE Systems brick for 2m. Yagis included: Hi Par "HillTopper" 3 element 6m beam, Cushcraft 7 element 2m beam, and M>2 11 element 70cm yagi. A Comet HF/6M whip, KQ 2m Mini-Loop, & Larsen 70cm vertical were used when moving. Rick & Ihad a great time and hope to be active for the January VHF Sweepstakes. -- N6ZE