07/15/2007 | KE3HT/R First let me say that I have a web site I try to keep up to date and I also have my schedule posted as it is being formed.
http:www.ke3ht.org/rover , June 2007 info and pictures: http://www.ke3ht.org/rover/jun2007

I broke two personal records for the JUNE contest. I have a new high score and a new high number of QSO's. My previous best was 29k points In June 2006 with this June being 40k!

All bands were operational except 6m which I found out in the field has a bad cable. 432 was worse than normal. 5ghz did not get many points either but I did make a 249 mile contact on that band.

Interesting Saturday night right after sunset. The bands started to get noisy and I could not work W2SZ on 432, 903 and 1296 but I could on 2 and 3ghz? I went on to K1TEO right after that and worked him on all those bands. When I turned my beam north to N2PA the noise came way up and I heard 7 & 8 callsigns on CW! Directional conditions? I do not have a cw key on the Icom 706. This is the second time I needed one. Someday I will do it.

Early Sunday there was an enhancement of some sort for 6m from FN12 into EN10. That was probably about 1,000 miles! This one guy was so strong I worked him on my bum feed line and a halo! This band amazes me yet I never put much effort in to it.

Sunday morning I damaged my LOG periodic beam. A tree had crashed during the thunderstorms Friday night and this one was laying suspended across a dirt road in FN11. I almost had enough room to get under it but when I tried I triggered a crash and the tree came down on my van. I don't care about my van but my beam suffered some damage. I need to figure out if I can straighten one of the aluminum elements.
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FN12 I met the farmer leasing the land for hay. He did not have a problem with me using the land and let me drive into his field. He did ask me later to move to one side of the path in the middle of my W3CCX sched. That messed up alot in FN12 for me. Most of my grids went pretty smoothly and I enjoyed the GREAT weather.

I worked another Rover K2QO/R up to 2gigs and found at least 3 new groups running 903 and even 1.2ghz or higher! Who ever said the contest was loosing hams? I seem to be finding contesters that are upgrading and new hams every contest. I worked W3CCX on ALL my bands (thru 5ghz) and I worked K3YTL even on 2.3ghz. KA1ZE now has 903 and 1.2ghz. These were just a few surprises. My only problem is the elusive K8GP? I heard they were on the air but I never found them this year. I normally at least hear them on 144 mhz. Come to think of it I did not work many stations to my south? Again I think there was something odd in the conditions.

One of my biggest problems is that my FN00 site is getting turned into a housing development! Yea, no more FN00!

See you in September!
73 all!
,,,Tim KE3HT/R -- KE3HT