January 2004 ARRL Sweepstakes
ContestJan. 24 & 25
January 2004 ARRL Sweepstakes
Contest
Jan. 24 & 25
Before the Contest...
Here we go again! After our first ever rover excursion in September 2003, we made some improvements to the "Über Rover" and laid out a better route for this January Sweepstakes. After much debate and research, our plans are falling nicely into place. We plan to activate 8 grids over the 2 days of the contest as follows (click on map for better image):
Saturday
(24-Jan-04):
EN74 - 1900Z - 2200Z (includes a 2 hour stop @ EN74gc [#2 on the map])
EN64 - 2200Z - 2230Z (drive through only)
EN63 - 2230Z - 0200Z (includes a 1 hour stop @ EN63vs [#5 on the map])
EN73 - 0200Z - 0500Z (includes a 2 hour stop @ EN73eg [#7 on the map])
EN72 - 0500Z - 0530Z (drive through only and get a good nights sleep)
Sunday (25-Jan-04):
EN72 - 1900Z - 2030Z (drive through only)
EN71 - 2030Z - 2300Z (includes a 2 hour stop @ EN71hw [#10 on the map])
EN61 - 2300Z - 0100Z (included 1 hour for dinner and a break!)
EN62 - 0100Z - 0200Z (drive though only) EN72 - 0200Z - 0230Z (drive through
only)
As usual, this is an approximate schedule. All times are subject to change with the weather and other unforeseen events. ;-)
We will be monitoring 146.55 FM at all times, but will likely be employing the search and pounce method on the other bands. If things get dull, we may call CQ on the usual call frequencies, but since we are still fairly low power, our experience last time with this method was less than favorable.
While mobile, we'll have all bands and modes active, but we'll have limited loop antennas on 2m SSB and 70cm SSB and they will only be approximately 3' above the car. When stopped, we'll raise the 2m SSB yagi and 70cm SSB quagi antennas to approximately 15' above the car, which should help considerably.
Equipment list is as follows:
Yaesu FT-817
6m SSB - 5W into a quad antenna [RG-8X] mounted on the front structure of the car
(same while stopped)
440 SSB - 5W into a quad antenna [9913] mounted on rear mast (15
element quagi when stopped)
Yaesu FT-290RII*
2m SSB - 100W (via brick amp) into a quad antenna [LMR-400] mounted on the rear mast (6
element yagi when stopped)
Icom IC-2000
2m FM - 45W into a 5/8-wave vertical antenna [RG-8U]in the middle of the roof
(same while stopped)
Kenwood TH-79A
440 FM - 5W into a 1/4-wave vertical antenna [RG-8X] in the middle of the roof (same
while stopped)
We use a laptop with Microsoft Streets & Trips and a GPS for navigation.
We learned last year that this worked REALLY well.
This year we will be trying the logging software called "Rover
Log"
Hopefully our route this time allows for a little more operation time and not so much drive time. ;-)
Special thanks to the following people:
KB8RWX for lending us his Yeasu FT-290RII
KC8BRO for letting us use his 70cm SWR testing gear to tune
our loop and quagi
73's de KC8HZQ
(1/2 of KC8HZM - "Über Rover")
2003-12-21 - Setting up the "Über Rover" with the exterior structure to hold
the 6m loop. Yes... all that steel is to hold one little 6m loop antenna.
But let me tell ya, that loop will NOT fall off!!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
2004-01-18 - We
spent about 6 hours working on the rover. Activities included laying out
the location for all the gear, routing all the necessary power from the
distribution panel, installing and routing all the coax cable, putting some
finishing touches on the 440 loop (pictured below inside of the 2m loop), and
mounting the driven element and reflector for the 440 quagi. What fun!
Being in Michigan, I'm am eternally grateful for heated garages. I could
not imagine doing this much work outside in the freezing cold!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
2004-01-23 - It's 10pm, 6 °F, and we are outside putting the finishing
touches on the "Über Rover". It's now 1:30 and time for bed! How's
that for dedication, or perhaps insanity. :)
.JPG)
.JPG)
During the Contest...
Well, we did it. Another successful and fun rover expedition in the little blue "Über Rover".
We made it up to our first stop on time under bright blue skies. However, the location we planned to use was closed for the season, so we had to do some rushed prospecting while trying to quickly find a Radio Shack (on the way up we realized we forgot a way to hard-key the 2m SSB linear amp). We eventually settled on a parking lot of a feed store (EN74hf) that had a respectable view in all directions (if you looked between the trees). It was cold. We worked this location for ~2 hours as scheduled and then proceeded west towards our next stop. It was still cold. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us and forced us to turn back and head south again through EN74 and EN73. Now it was colder than before. After a brief stop for dinner, we went to our next planned stop at Fisk Knob (EN73eg). Now it's really cold! We setup the 2m and 432 beams and quickly jumped back in the "Über Rover" in an attempt to thaw-out our hands and feet. We worked several stations from here, including KB9WZJ in EM69. Not bad for 2m. After spending about 3 hours here, we emerged from the "Über Rover" to tear down and hear back to EN72 for some sleep. Now it frickin' freezing and windy. The only saving grace is the absolutely beautiful view of the stars and the night time sky! However, our admiration of the sky is cut short by the bitting cold and we focus on tearing down so we can jump back inside where it is warmer. After a successful first day, we both get a very much needed nights rest.
On Sunday we hit the road about 2:00 (some of use went to church while others of us slept, but we'll leave the names out...). We drove through EN72 and made a few contacts from there. At one point, we were having a wonderful round-table with KF8QL and K8DOG chasing through the bands and handing off between Marten and myself. That was exciting. We got to our operating spot in EN71 and saw that it was chained off. However, all hope was not lost. There was a farm house near by on top of a beautiful "bald hill". Marten and I walked up the the house and asked if we could drive up to the top of the hill on their land. The kind lady explained that her husband was not home and that we could come back later and ask him... We choose to move on instead. I don't think she understood what we were asking for... :) We found a spot in EN71aw that was basically in the middle of a corn field. Being from the city, I forget how much the wind can blow across a corn field... check out the video I took of the wind blowing... The highlight from this grid was when Marten worked K9EA on CW. We worked a few more stations from here and then started on the long trek back home. The rest of the trip was drive-through only, so it was vital that we activate the grids as we drove through. We worked very hard to activate EN61 and after several attempts were successful with N9QX. We were then onto EN62 where we made several more mobile contacts.
In all, it was another wonderful experience. Though we did not activate all the grids we had hoped, we still almost doubled our score from last time. We are looking forward to the June contest.
73's de KC8HZM/R
Highlights / Observations
Praying for a Radio Shack in a unfamiliar town when 1-800-THE-SHACK is closed
for the weekend.
I never knew that seeing the big red "R" could cause a person to get so excited.
Prospecting for a new operating location when the one you planned to use is closed for the season
Jeff's job is to remember things and organize stuff, Martens job is to forget stuff so Jeff has something to do.
Learning that Marten's amplifier does not like V8-spicy juice near as much as he does.
Being able to predict the presence of snow-mobiles in EN74hf, before they could be seen or heard, by their ridiculously loud QRM.
Seeing an absolutely magnificent and breath-taking sky in EN73eg.
The waitress at the Chinese restaurant in EN61 was having a very bad night. Perhaps it was because we were the only people in the entire place...
People sure do love to stare at our beloved Über Rover".
Working KB9WZJ in EM69 from EN73eg
The round-table with KF8QL and K8DOG while in EN72eq. What fun!
6m was dead. Not just kinda dead, but really stone cold dead.
A laptop and GPS is truly the ONLY way to navigate!
"Rover Log" is a wonderful logging software!
"Whatcha boys doin'?" I wanted to say "tracking wolves", but I though that a riot might ensue and that would be bad PR...
"I'll bet ya get great cell phone reception with them antennas..." uh, yeah...
"Are you talking to Aliens?" no mam, just fellow nerds. You may not understand us, but that does not make us aliens...
Quote(s) of the contest: "Man, it's frickin' freezing out here!"
and "I can't feel my fingers or toes"
(click here to see a 572kb mpg movie of
the snow and wind!)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
After the Contest...
Here's a picture of the grids we worked and some of the longer
QSO's that we had.
Blue represents the grids we activated (and worked) and green represents the
grids we worked.
.
Plans for next June:
We will likely drive the same route (although we'll hopefully activate all 8 grids this time)
We would like to add WJST to work some more distant grids
We would also like add 220 capability. Marten is working on building a transverter for this, so hopefully it will be ready by June.
Our Log
START-OF-LOG: 2.0 CREATED-BY: ROVERLOG 1_8_2 ARRL-SECTION: MI CONTEST: ARRL-VHF-JAN CALLSIGN: KC8HZM CATEGORY: ROVER CLAIMED-SCORE: 2268 OPERATORS: KC8HZM & KC8HZQ CLUB: SOAPBOX: QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-24 1944 KC8HZM/R EN74HF K2YAZ EN74 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2018 KC8HZM/R EN74HF W8NWF EN63 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2026 KC8HZM/R EN74HF KC8RBR EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2035 KC8HZM/R EN74HF KB8GC EN74 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2042 KC8HZM/R EN74HF N8NJA EN74 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-24 2045 KC8HZM/R EN74HF KB8GC EN74 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2203 KC8HZM/R EN73FV KC8RBR EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2216 KC8HZM/R EN73FR W8MIL EN74 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-24 2219 KC8HZM/R EN73FP W8MIL EN74 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2241 KC8HZM/R EN73FI KF8QL EN72 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-24 2247 KC8HZM/R EN73FG KF8QL EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-24 2251 KC8HZM/R EN73FF KF8QL EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-24 2253 KC8HZM/R EN73FF KB8RWX EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-24 2356 KC8HZM/R EN73FF K8DOG EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 0002 KC8HZM/R EN73FF N8ZVB EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0051 KC8HZM/R EN73EG N2BJ EN61 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0057 KC8HZM/R EN73EG KB9WZJ EM69 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0108 KC8HZM/R EN73EG KC8KVR EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0123 KC8HZM/R EN73EG KC8JQO EN73 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 0125 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8DOG EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 0130 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8DOG EN72 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 0204 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8EB EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0205 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8EB EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0215 KC8HZM/R EN73EG KB8U EN71 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0218 KC8HZM/R EN73EG W8LON EN73 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 0218 KC8HZM/R EN73EG W8LON EN73 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 0250 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8EB EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0255 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8CC EN82 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 0256 KC8HZM/R EN73EG K8CC EN82 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 0311 KC8HZM/R EN73EG KB8GC EN74 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0328 KC8HZM/R EN73EG N8CJK EN84 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 0355 KC8HZM/R EN73EG W8NWF EN63 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 1945 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8EB EN73 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 1947 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8DOG EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 1947 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8EB EN73 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 1950 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8EB EN73 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 1950 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ KF8QL EN72 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 1951 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8DOG EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 1953 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ KF8QL EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 1954 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ K8DOG EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-25 1954 KC8HZM/R EN72EQ KF8QL EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2005 KC8HZM/R EN72EN AB8GL EN62 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 2007 KC8HZM/R EN72EN AB8GL EN62 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2038 KC8HZM/R EN72EC KC8QNS EN71 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2047 KC8HZM/R EN71EX W9ATU EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2232 KC8HZM/R EN71AW WB9MXX EN62 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2234 KC8HZM/R EN71AW KB9YSI EN51 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-25 2243 KC8HZM/R EN71AW AB8GL EN62 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 2244 KC8HZM/R EN71AW AB8GL EN62 QSO: 144 CW 2004-01-25 2325 KC8HZM/R EN71AW K9EA EN71 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-25 2342 KC8HZM/R EN71AW KB8U EN71 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0000 KC8HZM/R EN71AW K8MD EN82 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-26 0001 KC8HZM/R EN71AW K8MD EN82 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-26 0004 KC8HZM/R EN71AW KF8QL EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0005 KC8HZM/R EN71AW KF8QL EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0045 KC8HZM/R EN61 N9QX EN61 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0145 KC8HZM/R EN62 KC9ETU EN52 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0258 KC8HZM/R EN62 W9ATU EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0316 KC8HZM/R EN62UK KB8U EN71 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-26 0317 KC8HZM/R EN62VK KB8U EN71 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0335 KC8HZM/R EN62VP KF8QL EN72 QSO: 432 PH 2004-01-26 0336 KC8HZM/R EN62VP KF8QL EN72 QSO: 50 PH 2004-01-26 0338 KC8HZM/R EN62VP KF8QL EN72 QSO: 144 PH 2004-01-26 0357 KC8HZM/R EN62XS W8MIL EN74 END-OF-LOG: