Lu N2SLN -- 6m op, rover vehicle
STOP-N-SHOOT ANTENNA SYSTEM
6mMoxon rectangle2m6-el Directive Systems Rover Special yagi (now Directive Systems and Engineering DSE144-6RS)
6mPar loop permanently mounted to roof of rover vehicle2mPar loop permanently mounted to roof of rover vehicle
6mdriver side Icom IC-7000TE Systems amplifier at 150w
1500w lowpass filter
2mpassenger side Icom IC-7000Advanced Receiver Research RF-sensed external preamp
new Telewave bandpass/bandreject filter
TE Systems amplifier at 150w
I picked up Don at 10 AM and we made the leisurely 4-hour trip westward to the grid corner. Our first site had us parked on the side of a rural dirt road at 2400' ASL in northwest FN11. We got there 3 minutes early, set the clock on each transceiver, and released the hounds. We were scheduled to stay 90 minutes at this site and by the time it was all over, we had worked Kansas on 2m for an all-time new state (1100 miles / 1770 km), worked him again on 6m for a new grid there, and worked a bunch of stations on 6m in the southeastern US while the band simultaneously stayed open to the midwest. Not bad for loop antennas 2 feet above the roof of the van. The National Weather Service had issued an Excessive Heat Warning for many areas of the northeast and the air conditioner was having trouble keeping up even on Max. We worked WD9HBF/R who said the temperature was 102 degrees in EN40.
Next we moved to our site in southeastern FN02 which was also at 2400' ASL. Here we had enough room for our side-tilting system with directional antennas, so while Don began working stations on the loops, I assembled the bigger antenna system and then we switched over to it. Fifty-nine percent of the day's QSOs ended up coming from two hours of operating from this site. Six meters was still open in both directions at once and we nabbed two new stations from EL29 for some of our best DX from here (1284 miles / 2067 km). There was a bit of noise on 2m when pointed at one of the commercial towers on the hilltop, but we still managed to work more stations than at the previous site.
We left on schedule to hit our final grid activation of the day in southwestern FN12. This was another site where we simply parked on the side of a rural road and used the loops for a couple hours since there was no place for the tiltover system that supports the bigger antennas. The elevation dropped to 2300' here, but we worked into FN05 on 2m despite no evening enhancement, and 240 miles back to Jeff K1TEO on both bands. Six meters was mostly dead now, and we relied heavily on CW for contacts there. Not surprisingly, the number of 2m contacts increased when opportunities on 6m began drying up. We stayed in FN12 for an hour and left on schedule at 8:30 to make the long trip back to CNY for the night, unexpectedly finding a great looking hilltop along the way.
The next day I got to the local FN22 hilltop a little early and was setting up the big antennas when Don arrived. It was a perfect time for 6m to be mostly dead because this hilltop always provides such good results on 2m, and we timed it to arrive in the morning during the best chance of tropo, although the prediction maps showed no enhancement. We worked more stations on 2m from this single grid activation than from all 3 of the previous day's grid activations, and got 16 multipliers for it. We got significantly more QSO points from 2m than from 6m here. Many 2m grids we worked from this hilltop were never heard at any other point in the contest. Best DX on 2m was working into 4-land to a station in FM17 at 326 miles / 525 km (no FT8 needed), but we also worked into the state of Maine at 303 miles / 488 km and an 8-land station in Ohio (EN91) at 297 miles / 478 km. On 6m we worked the same Mexico station for new grid EL06 for a second year in a row (1719 miles / 2767 km).
At noon we tore down and headed to Don's place to drop off his car, then to our FN23 hilltop to end the contest. We parked right under a 2m repeater to test for receiver de-sense. Either no one was using the repeater for 3 hours, or the new bandpass/bandreject filter's sharp response curve was sufficient (about 17 dB of rejection in this case). As others have mentioned, 6m really opened strong toward the end of the contest. We worked more 6m contacts from here than from any other grid activation in the past 2 years of roving in this contest, including working Cuban special event station T40RCT FL10. The rain that was in the forecast never materialized. Improvements for the future include a straight-tipping support structure so that we can use the bigger antennas from any rural roadside without need for room to the side of the van. This year we produced our best ever claimed score for the CQ WW VHF Contest and I've been participating almost every year since 2002 (skipping only 2003-2004). Update: N2SLN/R takes 3rd place (alternate website).
POINTS SUMMARY
FROM BAND QSOs QSO PTS. MULTS.
--------------------------------------
FN11 50 18 18 14
144 3 6 3
FN02 50 39 39 25
144 5 10 4
FN12 50 6 6 5
144 4 8 4
FN22 50 28 28 18
144 25 50 16
FN23 50 53 53 35
144 9 18 5
-------------------------------------
TOTALS 190 236 129
--- claimed score: 30,444 ---
START-OF-LOG: 3.0 CALLSIGN: N2SLN/R CONTEST: CQ-VHF CATEGORY-OPERATOR: ROVER CATEGORY-BAND: ALL CATEGORY-POWER: LOW CLAIMED-SCORE: 30444 LOCATION: NY CREATED-BY: hand NAME: ADDRESS: ADDRESS: OPERATORS: KB2YSI N2SLN SOAPBOX: QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 1815 N2SLN/R FN11 W3SO FN00 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1825 N2SLN/R FN11 N4EEB EL99 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 1829 N2SLN/R FN11 W1VD FN31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1833 N2SLN/R FN11 K1TO EL87 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1840 N2SLN/R FN11 KM4HI EL89 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1841 N2SLN/R FN11 K3PA EM29 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1843 N2SLN/R FN11 WS9V EM59 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1847 N2SLN/R FN11 KC4PX EL98 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1849 N2SLN/R FN11 KO0Z EM59 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1851 N2SLN/R FN11 WA4GPM EM90 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1854 N2SLN/R FN11 K2PS EL98 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1857 N2SLN/R FN11 K4WI EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1858 N2SLN/R FN11 N4SVC EM80 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 1859 N2SLN/R FN11 N0LL EM09 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1900 N2SLN/R FN11 N0LL EM09 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1911 N2SLN/R FN11 N0URW EN41 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1916 N2SLN/R FN11 WD9HBF/R EN40 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1920 N2SLN/R FN11 KU8E EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1924 N2SLN/R FN11 WB0MCO EN40 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1926 N2SLN/R FN11 KA4SVR EM80 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 1929 N2SLN/R FN11 KF0M EM17 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2026 N2SLN/R FN02 K4WI EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2027 N2SLN/R FN02 K2PS EL98 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2030 N2SLN/R FN02 K2DRH EN41 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2032 N2SLN/R FN02 AE4OI EM81 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2034 N2SLN/R FN02 N4OX EM60 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2034 N2SLN/R FN02 KU8E EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2040 N2SLN/R FN02 K1TO EL87 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2045 N2SLN/R FN02 W4NH EM84 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2046 N2SLN/R FN02 N4EEB EL99 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2048 N2SLN/R FN02 KD4Y EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2049 N2SLN/R FN02 K8SD EN52 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2050 N2SLN/R FN02 N4PN EM82 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2051 N2SLN/R FN02 KC3JAS FN01 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2054 N2SLN/R FN02 KB3WBT FN01 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2057 N2SLN/R FN02 K4SQC EM74 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2058 N2SLN/R FN02 KB3WL FN02 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2059 N2SLN/R FN02 K4SUS EM74 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2100 N2SLN/R FN02 W4OM EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2101 N2SLN/R FN02 KC4LNX EM82 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2101 N2SLN/R FN02 AI5AA EM40 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2102 N2SLN/R FN02 NB4F EM73 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2103 N2SLN/R FN02 WA4CAX EM64 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2104 N2SLN/R FN02 W5BVB EL29 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2104 N2SLN/R FN02 KD4ESV EL87 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2105 N2SLN/R FN02 W5PR EL29 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2107 N2SLN/R FN02 NA4RR EM60 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2112 N2SLN/R FN02 KC2SFU FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2113 N2SLN/R FN02 KC2SFU FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2115 N2SLN/R FN02 WA3GWK EM60 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2116 N2SLN/R FN02 NY0A EN24 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2119 N2SLN/R FN02 AB4B EM64 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2120 N2SLN/R FN02 W5NZ EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2121 N2SLN/R FN02 K4LO EM60 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2123 N2SLN/R FN02 AD4XT EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2125 N2SLN/R FN02 KM4SLW EM72 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2127 N2SLN/R FN02 N2WK FN03 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2129 N2SLN/R FN02 N2WK FN03 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2133 N2SLN/R FN02 KM4VTE EM73 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2134 N2SLN/R FN02 W5PS EM13 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2136 N2SLN/R FN02 WA6POZ EM70 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2137 N2SLN/R FN02 K4MKP EM91 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2148 N2SLN/R FN02 WA0MHJ EN35 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2201 N2SLN/R FN02 W3SO FN00 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2203 N2SLN/R FN02 W3SO FN00 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-20 2309 N2SLN/R FN12 N2BEG FN12 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2314 N2SLN/R FN12 N2YB FN12 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-20 2316 N2SLN/R FN12 N2YB FN12 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2317 N2SLN/R FN12 VE3SMA FN05 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-20 2326 N2SLN/R FN12 N2WK FN03 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-20 2335 N2SLN/R FN12 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-20 2336 N2SLN/R FN12 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 0004 N2SLN/R FN12 KB3WL FN02 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 0005 N2SLN/R FN12 KB3WL FN02 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 0014 N2SLN/R FN12 N0URW EN41 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1221 N2SLN/R FN22 KC2SFU FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1222 N2SLN/R FN22 KC2SFU FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1225 N2SLN/R FN22 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1225 N2SLN/R FN22 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1229 N2SLN/R FN22 WD4AB EL95 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1234 N2SLN/R FN22 N4MM FM09 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1234 N2SLN/R FN22 W3SO FN00 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1235 N2SLN/R FN22 W3SO FN00 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1236 N2SLN/R FN22 W1VD FN31 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1239 N2SLN/R FN22 N4HB FM17 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1243 N2SLN/R FN22 N2XAE EL95 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1246 N2SLN/R FN22 W9KXI FN12 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1251 N2SLN/R FN22 W9KXI FN12 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1259 N2SLN/R FN22 N1JEZ FN44 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1300 N2SLN/R FN22 W1FKF FN43 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1300 N2SLN/R FN22 W1ZC FN42 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1301 N2SLN/R FN22 N1JEZ FN44 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1302 N2SLN/R FN22 AF1T FN43 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1303 N2SLN/R FN22 AF1T FN43 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1303 N2SLN/R FN22 W1FKF FN43 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1303 N2SLN/R FN22 W1ZC FN42 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1310 N2SLN/R FN22 KR1ST FN21 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1328 N2SLN/R FN22 W8ANS EN91 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1343 N2SLN/R FN22 K1KA FN42 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1346 N2SLN/R FN22 K1KA FN42 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1353 N2SLN/R FN22 K1HC FN53 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1355 N2SLN/R FN22 W1XX FN41 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1356 N2SLN/R FN22 W1XX FN41 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1359 N2SLN/R FN22 N2YB FN12 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1400 N2SLN/R FN22 N2YB FN12 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1401 N2SLN/R FN22 VE3ZV EN92 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1402 N2SLN/R FN22 VE3ZV EN92 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1402 N2SLN/R FN22 W2ACR FN12 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1406 N2SLN/R FN22 WG2E FN22 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1411 N2SLN/R FN22 VE3DS FN03 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1422 N2SLN/R FN22 N8GLS EN91 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1430 N2SLN/R FN22 N2WK FN03 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1435 N2SLN/R FN22 XE2X EL06 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1440 N2SLN/R FN22 N3NGE FN20 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1442 N2SLN/R FN22 N3NGE FN20 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1450 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NKX FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1451 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NKX FN22 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1500 N2SLN/R FN22 VE3EU EN93 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1503 N2SLN/R FN22 VE3EU EN93 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1507 N2SLN/R FN22 AC0RA/R EN32 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1509 N2SLN/R FN22 N8GLS EN91 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1517 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NT FN20 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1518 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NT FN20 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1526 N2SLN/R FN22 W3EP FN31 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1545 N2SLN/R FN22 N2KW FN32 QSO: 144 CW 2019-07-21 1554 N2SLN/R FN22 W1FM FN42 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1558 N2SLN/R FN22 WA1Z FN42 QSO: 50 CW 2019-07-21 1611 N2SLN/R FN22 W1AN FN41 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1753 N2SLN/R FN23 KQ2N FN23 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1800 N2SLN/R FN23 KQ2N FN23 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1819 N2SLN/R FN23 K1TO EL87 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1825 N2SLN/R FN23 KC4PX EL98 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1828 N2SLN/R FN23 N4EEB EL99 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1834 N2SLN/R FN23 WA4GPM EM90 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1838 N2SLN/R FN23 N1JEZ FN44 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1840 N2SLN/R FN23 KG2S FN23 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1842 N2SLN/R FN23 N2NKX FN22 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1842 N2SLN/R FN23 N2NKX FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1851 N2SLN/R FN23 N4BP EL96 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1853 N2SLN/R FN23 N4SVC EM80 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1858 N2SLN/R FN23 N4OX EM60 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1901 N2SLN/R FN23 N2YB FN12 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1902 N2SLN/R FN23 N2YB FN12 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 1907 N2SLN/R FN23 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1908 N2SLN/R FN23 K1TEO FN31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1910 N2SLN/R FN23 K4WI EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1912 N2SLN/R FN23 T40RCT FL10 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1927 N2SLN/R FN23 KJ4MSR EM73 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1933 N2SLN/R FN23 W4WT EM74 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1936 N2SLN/R FN23 WC2K FM29 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1939 N2SLN/R FN23 W9DZ EN61 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1940 N2SLN/R FN23 W0PV EL87 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1942 N2SLN/R FN23 K4LDC EM74 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1943 N2SLN/R FN23 AD4XT EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1943 N2SLN/R FN23 K9PG EN51 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1945 N2SLN/R FN23 N4VC FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1948 N2SLN/R FN23 WA3PZQ EM73 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1951 N2SLN/R FN23 N4QV EL96 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1951 N2SLN/R FN23 W5NZ EM62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1953 N2SLN/R FN23 N9JFF EN52 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1954 N2SLN/R FN23 AB9QH EN62 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1955 N2SLN/R FN23 WD4OHD EM75 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1957 N2SLN/R FN23 K9KMD EN52 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 1958 N2SLN/R FN23 AE4M EM64 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2000 N2SLN/R FN23 K2DRH EN41 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 2000 N2SLN/R FN23 W9KXI FN12 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2004 N2SLN/R FN23 WQ5L EM50 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2005 N2SLN/R FN23 AB4B EM64 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 2006 N2SLN/R FN23 KC2SFU FN22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2008 N2SLN/R FN23 KM4HI EL89 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 2011 N2SLN/R FN23 W1VD FN31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2012 N2SLN/R FN23 KU8E EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2013 N2SLN/R FN23 AJ6T EM64 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2015 N2SLN/R FN23 K2SX FM03 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2016 N2SLN/R FN23 K5QE EM31 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2021 N2SLN/R FN23 K5OLV EM54 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2024 N2SLN/R FN23 AI4WL FM15 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2026 N2SLN/R FN23 W2CCC FN23 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 2028 N2SLN/R FN23 W2CCC FN23 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2032 N2SLN/R FN23 N4ZY EM56 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2034 N2SLN/R FN23 AJ4GC EL96 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2042 N2SLN/R FN23 KV5W EM22 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2043 N2SLN/R FN23 K4ELI EM74 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2043 N2SLN/R FN23 KC4NX EM75 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2044 N2SLN/R FN23 WX8V EM78 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2048 N2SLN/R FN23 W4CRN EM84 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2053 N2SLN/R FN23 KJ4HRL EM56 QSO: 144 PH 2019-07-21 2058 N2SLN/R FN23 W3SO FN00 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2059 N2SLN/R FN23 KI4FCQ EM72 QSO: 50 PH 2019-07-21 2059 N2SLN/R FN23 W4NH EM84 END-OF-LOG: