02/06/2003 | N6NB

I know this sounds a little crazy, but I drove my van almost 7,000 miles (from California to the northeast and back) in the middle of a cold, snowy winter just to for the 2003 January VHF contest.
The station worked fine during the long trip, but little else went right. There were near-record low temperatures during the contest. Several of the sites I had in mind were snowbound. I spent nearly half of the contest looking for places to operate. I missed easy multipliers by not being on when other rovers were on. I also failed to tap the potential of 903 and 1296. I wasn't even on the bands above 1296.
At least the six-meter opening Sunday afternoon went well. Luckily, as it turned out, my intended site in FN20 was snowed in, so I operated at an overlook on I-80. That site is blocked in several directions, but it has a good shot to the west--something my planned site lacks. So I did okay for a rover with a low 3-element Yagi (52 multipliers on six).
I operated several VHF contests in the east in the 1970s, using a van and a tower trailer that I left back there. I didn't leave a van this time, but I definitely intend to be back. This is just too much fun to miss. It was a pleasure to reconnect with old friends and make new ones during the January 2003 contest. -- N6NB