The September VHF contest went pretty well for the Southern California Contest Club.  W6TE and K6MI were a two-person multioperator group on Frazier Mountain (DM04), one of the best accessible VHF mountaintops in the west.  Even with a clear view in all directions and 10 bands to choose from, they noted only sparse activity.  Fortunately, the low activity was offset by rovers.  The SCCC rovers activated 11 different grid squares, although no one rover visited all of those grid squares.

The rovers included AF6O, K6AH, K6FGV, KJ6CNO, N6HD, N6VI and W6TAI.  Carrie, W6TAI, went to Gaviota, about 30 miles west of Santa Barbara in  CM94, and worked the other rovers on all bands through 10 GHz over a 150-mile path down the California Coastline.  The coastal tropo seemed better than average.

I (N6NB) was in the single operator (QRP) portable category and set up in the driveway of a vacant house in Panorama Heights, east of the town of Orange, CA.  There's no permanent amateur radio station there, thus qualifying the site for the SO portable category.  I used a small Honda generator beside the house both days and ran on the batteries in my minivan at night, complying with the portable power requirement.  Remarkably, the neighbors didn't complain about the generator or the tower trailer in the driveway, and both were gone by Monday.  But they may see more antennas later (I just bought the house).

Thanks to the rovers for all that they did to make this a good weekend.