ARRL September VHF Contest - 2020
Call: AE0EE/R
Operator(s): AE0EE
Station: AE0EE/R
Class: Rover QRP
QTH: EN34
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 6 4
2: 7 5
222: 3 2
432: 5 4
903: 2 2
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 23 17 Total Score = 805
Club: Northern Lights Radio Society
Comments:
5 W all bands, battery power (some solar-charged, some commercial-mains
charged).
6 m: Moxon at 7', mast lashed to open door of car.
2 m: 3-element Yagi hand-held, or mag-mount vertical.
223 MHz: 3-element Yagi hand-held (FM only).
432 MHz: 7-element Yagi hand-held, or mag-mount vertical.
927 MHz: Rubber ducky (FM only).
I had hopes of a VHF activation of SOTA summit K0M/CW-001 "near" Park
Rapids, MN in EN27. There is a fire tower there, and it appeared to have
reasonable access via a DNR-maintained road.
Friends, the DNR does not maintain roads like the DOT. The dirt road had maybe
been graded not too long before I got there with my front-wheel-drive sedan, but
they missed a few big rocks in the middle of the road, and there were places
where the road got a bit soft as I was driving in. Naturally, being a DNR road,
it is hilly and winding: not what you want to drive on for five miles with a car
that's sliding around.
I parked at what had been shown on the map as a trail that went up to the fire
tower. It was obviously overgrown, and there was not even the thought of going
up with the vehicle. I stepped out of the car, and immediately found some
mosquitoes. Thankful that I had planned ahead and had my bag in a grab-and-go
state, I hoisted my pack, grabbed the antenna, and headed up the hill in some
light mist.
After a short walk, 5-10 minutes, I reached the base of the fire tower. It is a
ladder-type tower (80'), so climbing it was obviously out---even if there were a
ladder section for the bottom 15 feet. The forest was wet, so I picked as good
a spot as I could find.
Usually I'm pretty quick to set up a station, but when using two hands to fend
off clouds of voracious mosquitoes, it's hard to make much progress with my
other two hands. This was also true of operating while holding the antenna (and
the pen/notebook for logging). I was glad I had brought dry bags and planned
for rain, because not long after I arrived, it started to drizzle more
earnestly. It didn't pour, but it was definitely too wet for unprotected
radios.
Somehow I wasn't able to make contact with one of the bigger stations in the
area, even though he should have been easy. I probably had some settings wrong
and was distracted by the cold/wet/mosquitoes, but similarly I may have lost a
few dB to the mosquitoes, let alone the wet forest. Sadly I only made two
contacts, short of the minimum needed to get credit for the SOTA activation.
As it started raining a bit harder, I texted a friend to let him know I was
heading down and onto some sketchy "road" that was now wetter than
when I came in, and when to call in a search party. Thankfully it wasn't
necessary, and I made it out without too much incident beyond small branches
getting stuck underneath the car and going clunk-clunk-clunk as I went along.
I made a quick stop in EN17 to work K0VG on FM. Obviously I was still a bit
rattled from my SOTA effort, because in my haste to reassemble the beam
(elements labeled for quick identification), I managed to switch the director
and reflector. Vern was really weak, even when I pointed right at him, but
somehow got much stronger when I pointed away. Oops!
>From there it was a long drive to a campsite in North Dakota near I-29 and the
EN16/15 border. I arrived just before sundown, pitched the tent in the
twilight, got the 40 m antenna up (HF QRP rig is much more power efficient than
my VHF rig), and handed out North Dakota to a few people before admiring the
dark skies and turning in for the night.
In the morning I packed the dew-drenched gear back into the car and headed off
for a sandhill. It was warmer and drier, which was a welcome change. As I
called CQ from the sandhill, I watched as a cold front came through, bringing
with it cooler temperatures, wind, and much-reduced visibility. So much for the
scenic views of a high point! K0BBC/R had a good signal from the Wilmot rest
stop, and it was good to get a second call in the log---and on a bunch of
bands!
Then it was off down I-29 to the Wilmot rest stop, where I got to see K0BBC/R
and also worked W0VTT for my third unique. I operated some FT8, and while I
heard a few out-of-area callsigns, none were consistent enough to work. I even
missed W0UC, who seemed to come on just as I had stopped to eat lunch away from
the radio.
Once K0BBC/R had arrived in EN14 and worked me, I was off to play catch-up.
Fortunately the roads to my usual spot weren't in bad condition aside from some
grasses growing taller than I like between the ruts of the two-track road
(remember: not much clearance!)
W0VTT had a good signal on 2 m, and I worked him quickly. 6 m was quite dead,
and eventually it was time for a sandwich and the long drive home.
I arrived home with about 30 minutes to go in the contest, so I headed up to my
local hill, hopped onto FM simplex, and managed to get a fourth unique in the
log, plus a new grid on two bands! With the exception of the "multiplier
radios" on 223/927 MHz FM, all of the radios finished the contest pretty
much at the end of their first battery. I had backups for both the weak-signal
rig and the primary dual-band handheld (with APRS). The computer battery died
in EN15, putting an anticipated end to the FT8 (and computer logging!).
All told it was a 38-hour trip, I covered 700 miles, operated from six grids
(EN27, EN17, EN16, EN15, EN14, and EN34), and had some fun playing radio with
just five watts. Thanks to K0VG, K0BBC/R, W0VTT, and N0UK for working me, and
K0AWU and W0UC for attempts.
For next time, I'll plan not to operate VHF from the Height of Land fire tower
summit. It's too densely forested and too densely mosquitoed to operate in the
summer, and likely to be very difficult to access (also cold!) in the winter.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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