CQ Worldwide VHF Contest 2022
 category: ROVER
 callsign: N2SLN / R





ANTENNA SYSTEM

6m
Moxon rectangle
2m
6-el Directive Systems Rover Special yagi (now Directive Systems and Engineering DSE144-6RS)




RADIO EQUIPMENT

6m
driver side Icom IC-7000

TE Systems amplifier at 150w, built-in preamp

1500w lowpass filter

2m
passenger side Icom IC-7000

Advanced Receiver Research RF-sensed external preamp

Telewave bandpass/bandreject filter

TE Systems amplifier at 150w







DESCRIPTION

After the headaches of spending most of 2021 clearing out a 2800 square foot house after 22 years, moving into a small apartment, and then moving into a 1250 square foot house with very little storage, I was ready to get back into roving. I spent last year's version of this event operating with W2RME Multi-op in FN22. The main purpose of this year's event was to check out a new site discovered in northwestern FN21. It is closer to the interstate than our previous northwest FN21 site, and an hour closer to home than the FN10/20/11/21 grid corner we tend to use in the bigger contests. I was unable to find a second operator this year, so consequently I spent a few seconds rotating the faceplate of the passenger side transceiver so that it faced the driver position and operated SO2R rover like I did in 2017 and 2020. After considering many antenna options, the chance for rain both days made me pick the smaller, quicker getaway antenna system. Strangely, the one grid activation that had no forecast of rain was the only one that got hit by rain.

Arriving in FN21, I had expected to use a widened shoulder of the road and an antenna support structure that tilts straight behind the van. But I discovered that the road surface tilts downward too quickly at the edge of the shoulder, so I went with Plan B which was a small roadside pulloff one hundred feet further up the road. This spot worked well--no QRN on either band despite power lines nearby, the site had some of the best elevation by northwest FN21 standards, and most tree attenuators were a good distance away. Six meters was open from the start, and I worked a bunch of stations in the southern US. Then N0URW showed up from Iowa and was the only sporadic-E station coming in from the west. This made me curious, especially with K2DRH being in the same grid with more than 10 takeoff angle choices available on his 6m antennas. So after the contest I looked him up on QRZ to see what he was running for equipment. Turns out he was using a pretty amazing homebrew Yagi design that he just finished building 11 days before contest time. It was a computer-optimized 7 elements on a 40-foot triple-wall boom with 1.5 inch diameter elements. No wonder it was a band opener! Other notable contacts from here include an 839-mile 6m SSB rover-to-rover contact with NV4B/R EM54 operating from the highest point in Mississippi, and K2LNS operating a VHF contest for the last time from WA2FGK FN21 before moving. I have worked Herb for more than 20 of his 60+ years on the weak signal portion of the VHF bands and it was great to have a chat with him during his final event. If I had the money for a second home, I would buy his hilltop QTH.

The next grid activation was eastern FN12 on a remote hilltop that used to have a Western Union microwave relay station on it (tower and equipment building removed in 2018). In the 1800's Western Union was a telegraph infrastructure company that installed telegraph wires. Then in 1964 they deployed a wireless version that sent the signals from one tower to another in a network that covered 23 states and DC. A weaker 6m opening was still bringing in occasional new south central US grids all the way through my 3 hours here. But the highlight of this grid activation was the unexpected run of 10 contacts in 9 minutes using both bands during a time when no skywave was being heard on 6m. This was the one grid activation for which there was no prediction of rain, and the only one that received rain.

On Sunday I got up early and made the one-hour drive to a northwest FN22 hilltop that I hadn't used for a contest in 20 years. The hope was to get in on some 2m enhancement, but there was none. The highlight of this grid activation was working into FN45 on 2m which I hadn't done in 5 years. I also enjoyed working into FN25 on 2m, and picking up FN14 on 6m was nice. But overall the QSO rate was poor on both bands here. So I became a bit more casual and had a long conversation with Dale AF1T about upcoming contests, took photos, and ate a leisurely lunch before departing.

I drove to a nearby spot in FN23 that we had used in a recent January Contest, but apparently with the improved wx came more traffic moving at higher speeds. The shoulder of the road wasn't as big as I had hoped, either. So I was starting to get the feeling that setting up the stop-n-shoot antennas would not be a good idea. I considered operating from the rooftop antennas, but saw that the field to the east sloped upward more than I remembered. So I decided to drive further and get to the usual FN23 location where I can set up the big antennas at higher elevation. This was a good idea, because signals were great, but the activity level was probably the worst I've ever seen here. I made only 9 contacts, and they were all in either my grid or one adjacent grid. After an hour of making no contacts, I decided it was time to shut down early. Looks like I just barely made it to my goal of 10k claimed points. At every grid activation except the first one, two meters provided more QSO Points than six meters. Results of the rover category are here.






POINTS SUMMARY 



FROM   BAND   QSOs   QSO PTS.   MULTS.
--------------------------------------
FN21   50      32      32        22
       144      6      12         4
FN12   50      18      18        17
       144     11      22        10
FN22   50      13      13        11
       144     11      22        11
FN23   50       5       5         2
       144      4       8         2
-------------------------------------
TOTALS        100     132        79


       claimed score: 10,428





LOG 


START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CALLSIGN: N2SLN/R
CONTEST: CQ-VHF
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: ROVER
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: TWO
CLAIMED-SCORE: 10428
LOCATION: WNY
CREATED-BY: HAND
NAME:
ADDRESS:
ADDRESS-CITY:
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE:
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE:
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA
OPERATORS: N2SLN
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1801 N2SLN/R FN21 K1TO    EL87
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1806 N2SLN/R FN21 WA2FGK  FN21
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1807 N2SLN/R FN21 WB4OMG  EL98
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1810 N2SLN/R FN21 WA4GPM  EM90
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1810 N2SLN/R FN21 K4BAD   EM71
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1812 N2SLN/R FN21 KM4HI   EL89
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1819 N2SLN/R FN21 N4SVC   EM80
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1821 N2SLN/R FN21 N5BO    EM60
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1824 N2SLN/R FN21 KM4SLW  EM72
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1825 N2SLN/R FN21 NN4DF   EL89
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1829 N2SLN/R FN21 NQ4I    EM73
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1835 N2SLN/R FN21 W4GCB   EM73
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1836 N2SLN/R FN21 N0URW   EN41
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1842 N2SLN/R FN21 K4WI    EM62
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1843 N2SLN/R FN21 KU8E    EM72
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1845 N2SLN/R FN21 K3ISH   FN21
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1845 N2SLN/R FN21 AD4NY   EM61
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1848 N2SLN/R FN21 AJ4GC   EL96
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1852 N2SLN/R FN21 WN2E    EM60
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1853 N2SLN/R FN21 AC4TO   EM70
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1856 N2SLN/R FN21 KI4FCQ  EM72
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 1916 N2SLN/R FN21 WA2VAM  FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 1925 N2SLN/R FN21 KR1ST   FN21
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 1926 N2SLN/R FN21 KR1ST   FN21
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 1940 N2SLN/R FN21 W8ZN    FM09
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2000 N2SLN/R FN21 K5QE    EM31
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2001 N2SLN/R FN21 N4JDB   EM64
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2007 N2SLN/R FN21 WB3JIA  FN11
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2009 N2SLN/R FN21 K4ZIN   EM65
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2009 N2SLN/R FN21 NV4B/R  EM54
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2012 N2SLN/R FN21 KY4DF   EM65
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2015 N2SLN/R FN21 WA4JA   EM65
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2020 N2SLN/R FN21 N3YY    FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 2022 N2SLN/R FN21 N3YY    FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 2024 N2SLN/R FN21 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2025 N2SLN/R FN21 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2026 N2SLN/R FN21 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 2028 N2SLN/R FN21 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2245 N2SLN/R FN12 K9KLD   EM58
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2253 N2SLN/R FN12 KI5UCO  EM36
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2256 N2SLN/R FN12 WQ5L    EM50
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2300 N2SLN/R FN12 K4WI    EM62
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2313 N2SLN/R FN12 N2RK    FN12
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 2314 N2SLN/R FN12 N2RK    FN12
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-16 2344 N2SLN/R FN12 N8RA    FN31
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2345 N2SLN/R FN12 N8RA    FN31
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-16 2358 N2SLN/R FN12 KF4WE   EM56
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0001 N2SLN/R FN12 WW2Y    FN24
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0002 N2SLN/R FN12 WW2Y    FN24
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0003 N2SLN/R FN12 KQ2N    FN23
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0006 N2SLN/R FN12 N1JEZ   FN44
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0007 N2SLN/R FN12 KQ2N    FN23
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0008 N2SLN/R FN12 N1JEZ   FN44
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0008 N2SLN/R FN12 W1AIM   FN34
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0010 N2SLN/R FN12 W1AIM   FN34
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0010 N2SLN/R FN12 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0011 N2SLN/R FN12 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0027 N2SLN/R FN12 KC2KJO  FN13
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0029 N2SLN/R FN12 KC2KJO  FN13
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0031 N2SLN/R FN12 N2NT    FN20
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0032 N2SLN/R FN12 N2NT    FN20
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0037 N2SLN/R FN12 N3YY    FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0038 N2SLN/R FN12 N3YY    FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0044 N2SLN/R FN12 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 0046 N2SLN/R FN12 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0124 N2SLN/R FN12 KD2QKU  FN32
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 0143 N2SLN/R FN12 N4OX    EM60
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1230 N2SLN/R FN22 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1232 N2SLN/R FN22 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1250 N2SLN/R FN22 N1JEZ   FN44
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1250 N2SLN/R FN22 W1AIM   FN34
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1252 N2SLN/R FN22 N1JEZ   FN44
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1253 N2SLN/R FN22 W1AIM   FN34
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1254 N2SLN/R FN22 N3YY    FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1302 N2SLN/R FN22 WW2Y    FN24
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1304 N2SLN/R FN22 WW2Y    FN24
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1315 N2SLN/R FN22 VA2VT   FN45
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1322 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NT    FN20
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1323 N2SLN/R FN22 N2NT    FN20
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1336 N2SLN/R FN22 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1337 N2SLN/R FN22 AF1T    FN43
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1401 N2SLN/R FN22 KA2FWN  FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1405 N2SLN/R FN22 W3HHN   FN33
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1407 N2SLN/R FN22 VE2DIV  FN25
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1410 N2SLN/R FN22 W3HHN   FN33
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1517 N2SLN/R FN22 KD2QKU  FN32
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1530 N2SLN/R FN22 KQ2N    FN23
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1531 N2SLN/R FN22 KQ2N    FN23
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1537 N2SLN/R FN22 K2QO    FN03
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1539 N2SLN/R FN22 K2QO    FN03
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1543 N2SLN/R FN22 K3XT    FN14
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1833 N2SLN/R FN23 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1835 N2SLN/R FN23 W2RME   FN22
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1837 N2SLN/R FN23 N2NKX   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1837 N2SLN/R FN23 N2NKX   FN22
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1840 N2SLN/R FN23 KD2CFG  FN23
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1841 N2SLN/R FN23 W2ZS    FN23
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1843 N2SLN/R FN23 W2ZS    FN23
QSO: 144 PH 2022-07-17 1912 N2SLN/R FN23 KQ2N    FN23
QSO: 50  PH 2022-07-17 1914 N2SLN/R FN23 KQ2N    FN23
END-OF-LOG:




N2SLN/R FN22