I can't say enough good things about the folks at Down East Microwave , and W6OAL. I underestimated just how hostile the TS-790A was going to be towards transverters, and ordered a TIB-CK transverter interface box from DEM fairly late in the game. They came through just in time for me to get the 902 pieces integrated and ready for the weekend. Dave put up with some email and phone calls as I stumbled through getting the transverter performing at something near rated TX output. Good people, all.
We nearly got started on time, but not quite. Our first contact was made from my driveway about an hour into the contest, and it was another 2.5 hours or so before we were set up at our first site in DM89. We had taken the time to install the 2m omni in addition to the 6m omni fixed on the Trooper. It was a good thing, because the weather out east was miserable, and we never got the gain antennas up at all on Saturday! We had also punted making a taller 6m antenna mount due to not having enough time, and that probably worked to our advantage as well... with all the rain, it would have been annoying taking it down and putting it up.
We went to our usual rover location in DM89, but a storm cell was threatening from the south, and so we decided to drive north farther into DM89. We ended up on a hilltop just east of the grid line and farther north than we've ever operated in DM89 (almost to I-70!), trying to get out from under the weather... it looked nice to the northeast, and scary in every other direction. We made a few contacts on 6m and 2m, the highlight being our first EL16 contact on 6m, just seconds before lightning struck the adjacent ridge maybe as much as a half mile east of us! Needless to say, we shut down and got off the hill in record time...
Sitting at the bottom of the hill, I was struck by the fact that with the rain going as hard as it was, we might well end up having to choose between a possible lightning strike on the hills, or a flash flood in the bottoms. It was that kind of day. Stephen was undauntable, though, and thought maybe it looked lighter to the south, so we drove down into DM88 seeing if we could get south of the cell. We more or less succeeded way south of where we normally operate from. We managed about 8 contacts before the rain started pouring again, and we decided to give up. It was pretty clear that most of the home stations nearby with hot antennas were shut down due to the storms, and there just weren't many folks to talk to.
Somewhere in there, the right windshield wiper on the Trooper broke and quit moving. Fortunately, the one on the driver's side kept going, so it could have been worse. Of course, I got totally soaked, despite my "Barney suit" (a big purple poncho), while trying to see if it was easily fixable. Oh well.
I wandered out to the driveway on the way to bed and made a few more contacts from DM79. So, all told, we operated from three grids on Saturday, but made very few contacts and only a couple that were "interesting".
Sunday morning, Steve showed up fairly early, and we spent some time trying to find a good operating position in DM78 near the house. I live in DM79pa, which is just north of the grid line. Experience has shown that DM79 is less exciting to the DX contacts than DM78, so we figured we might have more fun parking for a long sit in DM78 than in DM79, but after Saturday's weather, we weren't really interested in going far from home. We ended up in the parking lot of the new community college branch on highway 83 north of Colorado Springs. It was a pretty good location, though shaded to the north by Monument Hill. On the higher bands, we were very successful working north by bouncing off Pikes Peak, so we were more than happy there.
In less time than it took for us to get the antennas up and get on the air, a Colorado Springs Police unit rolled up to see who we were and what we were doing. After a quick explaination and show-and-tell, the officer told us we were welcome to stay there, and that he'd make sure the word got passed so we wouldn't be bothered again. He couldn't have been nicer.
Steve's wife and son showed up around lunch time with sandwiches, so we took a much-needed break and played show-and-tell. The break was needed because 6m was wide-open, and I was "working the pileup", logging about as fast as I could write for a short while. It was fun being accused on the air of having a kilowatt and a big yagi, when in fact we had maybe 150 watts into an OAL omni about 4' above my Trooper's roof. :-)
The absolute highlight this time was working W3XO on 6m. Bill and I have been close associates in AMSAT for several years now, and he and his wife have been to my house for BBQ. However, this was our first over-the-air contact on any band and any mode ever... and for it to happen during a 6m opening during a contest was really exciting for both of us! Close behind that would be the 4 33cm contacts. It was really exciting having the new gear work so well, and getting my first-ever contacts on that band.
Good things this time included the new power-on indicator I added to the Teletec 6m amp, and the 903 stuff "just working". This was my first big 6m opening with decent equipment, and that was very exciting. The bad stuff definitely starts with the weather on Saturday. We were also disappointed that Steve's 10Ghz stuff didn't quite work. We could talk in one direction, but the microphone preamp on one unit wasn't working, and so we were not able to complete a QSO, despite some last minute hacking in the parking lot, and some even more last minute hacking in my basement after we got home. Finally, we really shouldn't try to run the long 2m yagi when roving... it's just too heavy and twisty. The 4-element yagi gets us what we need a lot more easily.
We both had fun, and are looking forward to the next one!
N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOR: ARRL JUNE VHF
===============================================================================
Name of Contest: ARRL June VHF
Call Used: N3EUA
Call of Operator: N3EUA
OPERATING LOCATION
Grid(s) Activated: DM79 DM89 DM88 DM78
Location Name: Eastern Colorado
ARRL Section: Colorado
Entry Type: Rover
===============================================================================
Valid
QSOs Pts/QSO QSO Pts Mult
50 MHz 61 1 61 35
144 MHz 31 1 31 9
432 MHz 12 2 24 7
902 MHz 4 3 12 2
1296 MHz 5 3 15 3
Total
All Bands 113 143 56
GRIDS ACTIVATED 4 Rover Scoring Used
N3EUA CLAIMED SCORE: 8580
===============================================================================
I have observed all competition rules as well as all regulations
for Amateur Radio in my country. My report is correct and true
to the best of my knowledge. I agree to be bound by the decisions
of the Awards Committee.
Bdale Garbee N3EUA 12.07.1999
4390 Darr Circle
Black Forest, CO 80908
===============================================================================
N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOLLOWS:
column 1: frequency (MHz) column 6: complete exchange sent
column 2: mode column 7: complete exchange received
column 3: date (dd/mm/yy, UTC) column 8: indication of new multiplier '*'
column 4: time (UTC) column 9: points claimed
column 5: call of station worked
note: Incomplete & Dupe QSO's in the log are listed with - 0 - points.
N3EUA CONTEST LOG FOR: ARRL JUNE VHF
144 SSB 12/06/99 2002 KC0AMO DM79 DM79 * 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2230 W1XE DM89 DN80 * 1
144 SSB 12/06/99 2231 W1XE DM89 DN80 * 1
144 SSB 12/06/99 2232 W0KVA DM89 DM79 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2234 W0KVA DM89 DM79 * 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2236 K0GU DM89 DN70 * 1
144 SSB 12/06/99 2238 K0GU DM89 DN70 * 1
144 SSB 12/06/99 2244 N0SWV DM89 DM79 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2302 NA0US DM89 DN71 * 1
144 SSB 12/06/99 2313 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2316 N0KQY DM89 DM98 * 1
50 SSB 12/06/99 2319 KC5FP DM89 EL16 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0023 N0VSB DM88 DM79 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0025 W1XE DM88 DN80 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0043 N0SWV DM88 DM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 0045 W0KVA DM88 DM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 0047 W1XE DM88 DN80 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0055 W0AH DM88 DM87 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 0058 W0AH DM88 DM87 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0351 W0AH DM79 DM87 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 0357 KF4GMH DM79 DM78 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 0403 W0MOG DM79 DM78 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0407 W0MOG DM79 DM78 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 0409 KF4GMH DM79 DM78 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1617 N0SWV DM78 DM79 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1619 N0SWV DM78 DM79 * 2
1296 SSB 13/06/99 1623 N0SWV DM78 DM79 * 3
144 SSB 13/06/99 1627 N0POH DM78 DM79 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1628 N0POH DM78 DM79 2
144 SSB 13/06/99 1630 W0KVA DM78 DM79 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1631 N0KQY DM78 DM98 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1632 N0KQY DM78 DM98 * 2
432 SSB 13/06/99 1632 W0MOG DM78 DM78 * 2
432 SSB 13/06/99 1633 W0ETT DM78 DM79 2
144 SSB 13/06/99 1635 W1XE DM78 DN80 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1637 W1XE DM78 DN80 * 2
1296 SSB 13/06/99 1640 W1XE DM78 DN80 * 3
50 SSB 13/06/99 1650 W1XE DM78 DN80 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1655 K0SU DM78 DM78 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1658 W5GAD DM78 EL49 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1701 W0TGY DM78 DM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1702 W5CTV DM78 EL49 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1704 K0CS DM78 DM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1705 KC5QAY DM78 EL59 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1716 NA0US DM78 DN71 * 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1717 NA0US DM78 DN71 * 2
432 SSB 13/06/99 1719 KD0GS DM78 DN70 * 2
50 SSB 13/06/99 1727 K8MFO DM78 EN90 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1731 W9FZ/R DM78 EN29 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1737 W0AH DM78 DM87 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1738 W0AH DM78 DM87 * 2
1296 SSB 13/06/99 1739 W0AH DM78 DM87 * 3
50 SSB 13/06/99 1742 W0AH DM78 DM87 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1743 K0GU DM78 DN70 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1745 K0GU DM78 DN70 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1745 K0GU DM78 DN70 2
144 SSB 13/06/99 1810 KK5IH DM78 DM95 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1812 W0EC DM78 DN70 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1819 N0VSB DM78 DM79 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1820 KB0CY/R DM78 DM78 1
432 SSB 13/06/99 1821 N0VSB DM78 DM79 2
902 SSB 13/06/99 1822 N0VSB DM78 DM79 * 3
144 SSB 13/06/99 1825 N0KM DM78 DM67 * 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 1827 KB0SCM DM78 DM78 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1837 W3XO DM78 EM00 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1850 NA0US DM78 DN71 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1856 W9ZR DM78 EN80 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1857 N8ZM DM78 EN80 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1859 W9ICE DM78 EN60 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1902 KF4ODI DM78 EM56 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1903 W7IY DM78 CN80 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1906 AA4ZZ DM78 EM96 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1913 KF8XU DM78 EN80 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1921 KC8BZV DM78 EM79 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1921 KB8TQA DM78 EM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1922 N3ORX DM78 EM66 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1922 AA9LT DM78 EN60 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1923 W4UDH DM78 EM52 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1923 N8UM DM78 EM85 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1925 AE5H DM78 EM35 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1926 KE8FD DM78 EM89 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1928 WZ8D DM78 EM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1929 K8LEI DM78 EM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1930 W4FVQ DM78 EM79 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1930 W5HUQ DM78 EM35 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1931 WB5YWI DM78 EM25 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1933 KD4HIK DM78 EM75 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1936 AB4CR/R DM78 EM89 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1938 WB5XX DM78 EM33 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1939 W4HP DM78 EM75 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1940 AI4CW DM78 EM64 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1941 K4QF DM78 EM64 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1941 KJ5RC DM78 EM42 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 1944 KB7FUV DM78 EM47 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2035 W5UWB DM78 EL17 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2038 N5WS DM78 EL09 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2039 AA5XE DM78 EM00 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2040 W5OZI DM78 EM00 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2041 KD4NOQ/R DM78 EM45 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2042 KU4IU DM78 EM54 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2048 KG5X DM78 DM91 * 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2050 AJ4W DM78 EM64 1
50 SSB 13/06/99 2108 W0NRI DM78 DM78 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 2114 K0RZ DM78 DM79 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 2115 KC0COU DM78 DN70 1
902 SSB 13/06/99 2117 K0RZ DM78 DM79 3
902 SSB 13/06/99 2119 W1XE DM78 DN80 * 3
432 SSB 13/06/99 2120 K0RZ DM78 DM79 2
1296 SSB 13/06/99 2121 K0RZ DM78 DM79 3
1296 SSB 13/06/99 2122 W0KVA DM78 DM79 3
144 SSB 13/06/99 2132 N0KV/R DM78 DN71 1
144 SSB 13/06/99 2134 NN5DX DM78 DM79 1
902 SSB 13/06/99 2138 NN5DX DM78 DM79 3
On 2m, we ran my Kenwood TS-790 through the inactive TIB to the OAL omni on Saturday, and through a Landwehr preamp to the DSFO 12 element yagi on Sunday.
For 70cm, we ran my Kenwood TS-790 through a Landwehr preamp to my Rutland Arrays K1FO yagi.
On 33cm, we ran the TS-790's 2m section through the active TIB to a DEMI transverter making about 6 watts into a homebrew Kent Britain-style yagi.
On 23cm, we ran the TS-790 making about 5 watts into a homebrew Kent Britain-style yagi.
Power was from a 27DC-form-factor deep cycle battery for everything, feedlines were a mix of low-loss RG-8'ish sized cables with mostly N connectors. We logged on paper using a table structure that I really like for roving, and post-processed the logs using the VHF-DX software for Windows.