01/20/2009 | KK6MC/R January is typically a time for retrospection. Last January, I scored less than 400 points. This year I nearly reached 3000. What makes the difference? Over the past year, I have roved in 9 contests: the 4 ARRL VHF/UHF contests, the CQ contest, two spring sprints and two fall sprints. My first rove was in the June 2007 contest and I have learned a lot since then. Experience helps. What have I learned? Be loud on two. Last year I only had 30 watts. I added a linear and now run 120 watts. Have more bands. Last year I had 3, this year I added 222 MHz and had 4. Plan the route better. Last year I started far away from major activity areas and didn't reach them until the second day. This year I started near Moriarty, close to Albuquerque and lots of activity. Last year I only stopped and setup, this year I could operate in motion. It all makes a difference. These seem to be all small things, but they add up to a huge difference in score.

I had a good rove. There was no enhanced propagation, but more than enough local activity to keep things interesting. I activated 9 grids, and could easily have done 2 or 3 more. Live and learn. I made 87 contacts in 7 different grids.

Murphy struck early. They just put up a gate across the access road to my favorite site in DM74, so we had to find a new spot on a cul de sac in an unbuilt subdivision nearby. Fortunately this only put me behind schedule 5 minutes. There was lots of local activity here. I found out that the old IC-551D would only work on CW. Murphy strikes again. Still I think I only lost one or two contacts to people I couldn't work because they couldn't work CW. I tried to raise some Colorado stations here and couldn't. Same for stations down in DM62 and DM61. I have worked both from here before, even in flat conditions.

I then moved on to DM75, the site of the former Longhorn Ranch, a notorious Route 66 tourist trap. This is a good spot, but it was a bit noisy. I worked the locals and then tried to raise Colorado and DM61 and DM62 again. Nothing heard in either direction, but I don't know if that was due to my noise level or lack of activity.

Then I hit I-40 through DM65 to I-25, south through DM64, calling on 2M all the way, working stations and moving them up and down the bands. Here Murphy struck again and the IC-551D gave up the ghost all together with a sputtering sound and a large buzz. I hope it can be resurrected. I had a spare 6M rig, an old FT680, along, but decided to wait until I got to DM61 to change it out rather than delay the trip further. So I had no 6M through DM65, DM64, DM63 and DM62. But as I was revisiting DM63, DM64, and DM65 on the way back Sunday this seemed like a good trade off.

I made a short stop in DM63 near Truth or Consequences to get to a high spot and work some stations north and south. Then on the road again to DM62 and DM61, where activity picked up. I stopped at the Transmountain Highway Franklin Mountain pass in DM61 in the evening. This is a good high spot with lots of activity so I had a good time here. El Paso has a VHF activity night on Saturday, so there was lots of stations on. I swapped out the 6M rigs and after a bit of cockpit error got 6M up and running albeit at only 10 Watts. It helped with multipliers. Good views to be enjoyed as well from here.

We drove to Alamogordo for the night. I set up in the morning at the Space History Museum. This is a good spot from the South around to the North, but the mountains block it to the East. Unfortunately there is not much activity to the East from here though. I did surprise myself by making a QSO with N2IC over 120 miles and 2 mountain ranges away at 10 Watts and a square loop though. There are nice views of the Tularosa Basin and the White Sands from here.

Then we went North a few miles to DM73 in La Luz and worked most of the El Paso and La Cruces group again. Also, to my surprise, I snagged a station in DM41 on two at 275 miles for my best DX of the contest. This spot gives slightly better propagation to Las Cruces than the Alamogordo one.

Then we drove north through DM73 to DM63. The battery was low, so I took it easy and let it get charged up again. I stopped a couple of times in DM63 to work N2IC and N7KA on 6M. Then back to DM63 and DM64. Activity was dead during the playoff games, but picked up at half times and between games. Had supper with my daughter and then we headed home.

Gear was an IC551D on 6M to a homebrew square loop, but the IC551D quit early on to be replaced by an equally ancient FT-680, which worked, but at 10 Watts, wasn't nearly the powerhouse that the Icom is. On two I used an FT290II with a TE Systems 125 Watt linear to a 3 element WA5VJB Yagi. On 222 MHz an Elecraft XV222 transverter is driven by an HTX-100 to another WA5VJB 3 element Yagi. On 432 MHz I ran an FT780 to a KLM amplifier running at 50 Watts. We are limited to 50 Watts RMS out on 432 MHz here in NM, primarily due to concerns with interfering with telemetry at White Sands Missile Range. The antenna on 432 is a symmetrical double loop. I had long Yagis to use when I stopped.

Thanks to Virginia for driving and taking photos. If she didn't drive, I couldn't make as many contacts as I do. -- KK6MC