01/24/2006 | K1DS/ROVER Had the best Jan VHF contest ever from the roverthis was the first mild weather January contest weekend weve ever had. Completed about 600 QSOs and 70+ grid mults. It was a pleasure to be able to set up the antennas and attach the cables without frozen fingers and toes. Started out in FN10 and had plenty of all-band runs including thru 24G with W3SZ, and thru 10G with K3TUF and N3NGE.
Moved on to FN20 and joined by my son, Leon. N1XKT and spent the evening piling up QSOs, but scant on the mults, as propagation seemed flat, and there were so many regional ops to contact. Visit #1 from the friendly local police to check us out and we manage to demonstrate our capabilities while in QSO with W2SJ. More 10 band runs including K1TEO.
Sunday started out with several 11 & 12 band runs including WA3GFZ, WA3NUF, WA3DRC, N2UO and then a ride to FN30, to a sea-level location beaming west across the salt marshes and ran up lots on QSOs to NJ and PA for a few hrs. Visit #2 from the friendly local police, this time they also want all of our identification and phone numbers for their records, as he listens in on a contact with WA3GFZ. Gave him a QSL card souvenir. Another 10 band run with K1TEO. We headed to Mt. Mitchell back in FN20 and beamed toward the northeast for an hour until the ranger closed the gate. It seemed as if there was a wall of stations waiting for us in the NY metro area, with several additional grids from NE, including N1JEZ in FN44 and AF1T in FN43. We appreciated everyones patience in running through the pileups, and apologize to anyone we couldnt pull through. Leon is sure we are getting more respect on 2m with our new 300W TE amp and improved LMR400 coax, and says thats where well start the contest next year as there are so many stations on the air there. Were anxious for the 2m Spring Sprints so we can set up a pair of CC 18XL beams (that were resurrected for an EME attempt) with the new amp and see if we can work some further DX. We also have increased power forthcoming on 903-150W, 1296-150W, 2304-80W and 10G-8W, now that there is a break to get them installed in the van. The batteries continue to get quite a workout with all the higher power, but the newly installed on-board amp and volt meters were very helpful to keep everything optimally charged.
Our final stop was FM29 and we managed to stay busy through the closing minutes on all bands, including a rain-scatter 10GHz QSO with W3SZ again, with my dish pointed 180 degrees away from him copying a nice bassy buzz note. Our third 10 band run with K1TEO and followed by visit #3 from the friendly local police as the officer was just stopping to check on us. We have been at the same spots for several contests now; perhaps we should just send our hand-out brochure in advance to let them know were coming! We passed by many of the homes of the contest ops in our rover and appreciated all the offers of hospitality. Bands ABCD9EFGHIJP
73 es tnx to all participants: Rick, K1DS & Leon, N1XKT -- K1DS