01/26/2009 | KM3G/R The best laid plans of mice and men... I planned to run the entire Delmarva peninsula grid this year including the two just across the bridge in Virginia Beach. It was my first experience at roving. I learned a lot. I learned that real rovers don't have to mess with their antennas when it's 5 degrees and windy outside. (bare skin on aluminum is no fun when it's 5 degrees) I learned that real rovers also use antennas that have some gain.

Most asked question during the contest: "Does this look frostbitten to you?"

I managed to hear one person on 2 meters on the Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel island. (South Thimble Island) Then I heard someone on 6 meters when on my stop in Cape Charles, VA. I wasn't able to contact either one, so I went up to the next grid and stopped for 10 minutes before packing everything down into the van for the trip to Ocean City, MD.

After a night of much needed sleep and a great breakfast buffet at the Princess Royale Hotel I took advantage of the top deck of the parking garage at the hotel to make some contacts on Sunday morning. I managed 7 contacts, all local. Then I had to tear down the antennas again to make clearance getting out of the garage. I abandoned the next two grid stops in hopes that my fingers would thaw before I got to my final home grid, which is 900 feet elevation.

The final grid in Shrewsbury, PA FM19PS was found to be warm (30 degrees) and welcoming, so I put up a little bit bigger antenna setup with the rotor/mast/van wheel base assembly I had. It was still colder than a "code blue" label, but it felt warm compared to the rest of the trip. I finally made some decent contacts at that location.

Would I rove again? Maybe with a better antenna setup and a much different route.
Total miles: 620
Total tolls: $42 (much of that through Delaware-the toll road state) -- KM3G