K4AMK/R in the 2010 ARRL September VHF QSO Party
Copyright 2010 - K4AMK
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Claimed Score:  4,640

Last Updated: 09/15/2010
Bands

Band        Pwr     Mode                Gear                        Antenna
50      160w    ssb                IC-7000/Amp               Par Stressed Moxon
144    180w    ssb                FT-847/Amp                DS144-6RS
144      50w    FM                 TM-G707                     Dual Band Whip
220    100w    ssb                 Demi xverter/amp      DSFO222-10RS
220      50w    FM                Jetstream 220              vert whip
440    100w    ssb                FT-847/Amp                DSFO432-15RS
440      35w    FM                TM-G707                      Dual Band Whip

The Actual Rove


Total Miles Driven:  805miles

Pictures:

Here

Log Summary:

Grid        QSOs        Grid        QSOs        Grid        QSOs
EM73        14        EM95             5        EM86        4
EM64        4          EM74             13      EM84        16
EM75        3          EM94             4        EM85        8
EM76        11        EM63             2        

Band    QSOs    Value    QSOPts    Mults
50            26        1        26        9
144          26        1        26        9
222          15        2        30        5
432          17        2        34        6

Grids activated:                 11

Totals:        84                116        40        

Claimed Score: 4640

Comments:

This was my first rove in Southeastern US.  After a 10 year hiatus, I decided to get back in the hobby in late June of this year.  In late July, I attended the Central States VHF Society Conference and my passion for Rover Contester came back hard.  For the next 50 days, I rushed to put together a competitive station.  I owe many many thanks to Les Rayburn, N1LF, who without his assistance I would have never been able to get on the air for this contest.  I originally planned to activate 15 grids, but unfortunately I ran into non-technical related issues that made me change the route on the fly.  Overall it was a great time getting out and feeling that "rush" that you feel during a contest.  I learned a lot from this contest and am looking forward to implementing the needed changes in order to improve my station for the next big contest in January!

Observations/Experiences:
  1. I experienced NO propogation whatsoever. My longest contact was from EM73 (just outside of Atlanta) to EM85 (tip of North Carolina) on 6m, 2m, and 432. My receive capability was near dead for some reason. I could only hear some locals or big guns and that is it. So I am suspecting equipment issues.
  2. AA4ZZ was louder on FM than he was on SSB
  3. Was told that 50.125 was crowded and busy, but I couldn't hear a peep except for locals or the two Big Guns (AA4ZZ and W4NH)
  4. Could work stations on 6m, 2m, and 432 easily, but they would be inthe noise on 222 (possible transverter issue)
  5. Calling CQ on 6m netted more contacts than calling CQ on 2m. In terms of the Multi-ops (W4NH and AA4ZZ), I would get the attention of the 6m operator, and he would notify the other operators to look for me on the other bands.
  6. Bought Heil headsets for the 847 and 7000... basically killed the volume level and would struggle to hear compared to just letting the speakers blare.
  7. Based on the lack of propagation, I could make a strong argumen that I would have been better off with the omni's (didn't use them this time out) vs the beams.
  8. Computer Logging was COOL in the sense that you didn't have to worry about Grid square and Time. Unfortunately between switching bands, jumping from radio to radio, etc. It was easy to forget to log a contact. Much easier with paper. But that will change over time with my experience.
  9. The basics to the contest are the same as to what I enjoyed up in Wisconsin. The difference is the challenge overcoming the terrain and trees. Otherwise it is all the same. Find high open spots, be active on all of the bands, work all of the bands with everyone that you can, and advertise your activity to get people out there looking for you.
Lessons learned
  1. For Run and Gun, the route I came up with was good. Just need to find the great operating locations that offer the best views. 800 miles should mean an average of 16 hours in motion. There are basically 10 hours of usable contest hours on Saturday, and with discipline one should have 16 hours on Sunday. So if one timed it right and was disciplined, that should leave you enough hours to spend an hour in each grid at a good spot. Of course if one found an amazing spot that was netting a lot of contacts, then the number of grids activated would be reduced. As it is I basically activate 4 Grid Intersections with this route.
  2. CW would be a valuable addition to the station. I was asked once if I had CW to make a difficult contact.
  3. Call CQ on both 2m and 6m alternating between the two bands.
  4. Finding prime spots to operate from is necessary.
  5. Sending out almost 250 PostCards advertising the contest and my efforts was worth it. Received comments on the air about the cards as well as e-mail that people would be looking for me.
Action Items for January:
  1. Test Equipment to verify proper operation.
  2. Start identifying great operating locations along the route.

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