2013 ARRL January VHF Contest
Delmarva Rover. I started in Virginia Beach this year and drove back to PA, hitting all the grids on the way. Again, I managed to miss most of the skeds. Sorry guys. It just takes longer to setup than I thought it would.
The Chesapeake Bay bridge was a great stop! (FM16wv) Lewes Beach, DE, was also a great stop! (FM28ks) The land based stops were tough just due to altitude. Even with gain antennas, you're still at almost zero altitude. I might stick at Lewes Beach for the entire contest next year.
Murphy struck this year as he always does. My van battery gave up the ghost on Friday, necessitating it's replacement. At least it didn't give it up during the contest. My 1296 amp also gave up the ghost. I routed around the 1296 amp but had little hope of making contacts on 200 mWatts, which is what the ECG003 driver was putting out. HOWEVER! I made quite a few contacts with that little driver! That was pretty cool!
Still working on electronic switching of the 903 and 1296 transverters. Maybe June?
Six meters was absolutely dismal. I don't think I made more than 6 contacts on 6.
Made 9200 points. That's not a lot compared to some of the super rovers, but it was quite a bit for roving on the low lands. Maybe there should be a 100 point multiplier for each grid under 50 feet elevation? :-) I need to pull back on the number of planned rover grids. I also need to improve code speed from 1 wmp to at least 5 or 8. hi hi.
73 de KM3G/R
-- KM3GBack






