01/20/2009 | N6ZE/ROVER Pete, N6ZE, entered the January 2009 ARRL VHF Sweepstakes Contest as a Low Power Rover Class Entry. No, I did not set any scoring records, but I experienced a novel 2 day drive around Southern California. I only operated in 4 grids: DM-03, DM-04, DM-13 & DM-14, but I drove a total of 367 miles on Saturday and Sunday, January 17th and 18th. (As anyone in the know realizes, the size of a Grid block is 1 degree of Latitude by 2 degrees of Longitude or about 60 x 60 nautical miles in the mid latitudes). As one of my friends stated, I drove 3.16 miles per QSO, or per each two way contact. Although I had some winter gear with me, I just wore a T-shirt & jeans on both days: There was not a cloud in the sky, temperatures ranged from 60 degrees at 6000 ft to mid 80s at the lower elevations. The warm conditions were due a strong high pressure area over NV and much of So Cal had hot Santa Ana winds up to 40 mph. Power line noise on 2 meters, in particular, sometimes made it impossible to hear all but the strongest stations. Because I did this Rove as a solo, my travels dictated that I use just a 6 meter vertical & a combo 2 meter/ 70cm whip antenna for all but a few contacts. I never did get on 222MHz and only put up a shortened 2m yagi once. During the entire contest, I did not notice any tropospheric enhancement or Sporadic E and never heard some of the usual mountain toppers such as KQ6EE, KE6GFF, or KG6IYN. However during Sundays ride down the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach, I did notice lots of ladies summer clothing & bikini swimwear.
On Saturday, I operated only from DM-04 & DM-14. I began in Glendale, and drove up to Mt. Wilson (5700 ft) to listen to the RFI from one of the greatest concentrations of TV RF power in the world! However the view across the Los Angeles basin was superb: I could even see out to some of the off-shore Channel Islands! I ended up operating from several miles away from the transmitters at several pullouts on CA Rte 2. I continued to the East on the Angeles Crest and made 17 contacts from grid DM14. My view was blocked to the North and also obscured in some other directions also. On Saturday, I worked a number of Rovers, most of who were primarily operating on the Microwave bands. About 7PM, I arrived home: I was almost on time for supper. Day one netted 63 QSOs on 3 bands.
I did not get going again until 10 AM on Sunday. At various times, I completed QSOs with a few fellow members of the Ventura Co. Amateur Radio Society and the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club. Of note, I had successful 6 meter contacts from the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu with Eddie, KQ6K, and Roy, KE6UMW, both of whom are located on the opposite side of the 2500+ ft Santa Monica Mountain Range from where I was operating at the time. Both Eddie & Roy have modest stations with small antennas. Sunday was a long driving day, some 207 miles of intensive driving along So Cal beaches, residential neighborhoods, oil refineries, busy Interstate highways, and of course, stops near the top of DM-03s Palos Verdes Hills (~1200 ft) and DM-13s Newport Signal Peak (1100ft). Newcomer to VHF contesting Tom, KI6GOA, gave me directions to Signal Peak where he camped out as a QRP entry for the VHF Sweepstakes. I had a great eyeball QSO with Tom and his family. A friend who lives nearby also visited Signal Peak to witness some VHF operating. (He used to listen to my tales of 2 meter Meteor Scatter QSOs some 30 years ago when we were both in the military.) I had great views of the entire LA basin from both hilltops due to the continued hot off-shore airflow: great views but continued poor propagation! (Just remember: It was Summer in January!) Activity appeared light on Sunday in part due to something called football playoff games! I made 53 QSOs during my 10 hours away from base on day 2.
Due to safety considerations, in-motion contacts were not really a viable option for me. Even my short yagis for 2m, 135cm, & 70 cm proved to be a logistics nightmare. Lack of prior planning made any 135cm operation a non-priority. Next time, I will really try to have an additional operator share the fun of a Rove.
My statistics are:
6 meters: 30 QSOs in 4 Grids
2 Meters: 62 QSOs in 5 grids
70 Cm: 24 QSOs in 3 grids
Grids activated: 4
Point total: 2240
Rig: Yaesu FT-100D with wavelength whip for 6 meters, combo wavelength whip for 2 meters & 5/8 wavelength for 70 Cm. Most contacts were on SSB, a few on FM, and one QSO was with a station that transmitted with CW.
Bt73Pete, N6ZE/Rover -- N6ZE