Hi Richard,
Here's my Green Minivan setup I used for last year's June VHF contest as Rover.
http://www.ki5dr.com/images/dcp_0909.jpg
6m was horizontal Dipole. 2m was a 4el beam pointed forward, and 432 was 11el
beam fixed pointed forward.
I also had one of these Squalo 2m horizontal Omni antennas...the Beam worked
much better, and I was even working stations off the side and rear (it's not
REALLY directional anyway) of the 2m beam.
100w on 6m, 100w on 2m, and 20w on 432. Just watch out for those Windstar Fuel
Pumps!
Good luck!
Scott - KI5DR
http://www.ki5dr.com/June%20Rover2002.html
Richard Clem <clem.law@usa.net> wrote:Since I'm a newbie here who pretty well
fits the following description, I
thought I would jump in:
-------------
But wait, there is a HUGE
untapped population of would-be VHFers on HPACK, the FT817 Yahoo Group,
Adventure Radio Societyt and QRP-L!! These guys must be shown the WA5JVB
cheappie beams and how to find good QTHs. If just 10% of the these 6000+
guys on the lists that have 6 or 2 would work a couple hours apiece, welll
the math is OBVIOUS! You wouldn't be able to find a font big enough to
spell SUCCESS.
Just my $0.02 es 73,
Mark K2QO
------------
I agree! After being essentially off the air for quite a while, I got back on
with a 40-meter QRP rig a couple of years ago, and Mrs. Claus just gave me a
new FT-817 for Christmas.
My last (non-FM) VHF QSO was with a Gonset Communicator, so it was a lot of
fun to fire up the 817 on 6 meters and 432 and check into a couple of local
nets (using my HF dipoles!)
I plan on doing my first VHF contest for the January VHF SS as a rover. I'll
be combining it with a trip visiting some relatives, so I'll probably be
starting the contest near Madison, WI, and passing through or near the Chicago
and Indianapolis areas during the contest.
I subscribe to the QRP-L list, and also occasionally check the Yahoo FT-817
group, and I agree that there would be a lot of interest by the people on
these lists in VHF mountaintopping or portable operations. A large sub-group
of the QRP groups is interested in ham radio while backpacking and camping,
and running QRP on VHF sounds like a lot of fun.
As my plans emerge, I'll submit them to the Rover Resource page, but I would
appreciate thoughts on how successful the following kind of operation will be:
Since I will be combining this with another trip, I'll be doing most of my
operating while mobile, and I will be passing through 3 metro areas. For a
cheap and easy antenna, what I'm thinking of doing is just mounting three
dipoles (fed with the same coax) on top of a short section of PVC pipe mounted
to the top of the car. The elements for 2 and 432 would be made out of some
kind of metal rod, and the six-meter elements would be made out of wire,
inverted-vee style, running from the PVC mast down to somewhere on the car.
Since I'll be operating mobile, I figure this is the best compromise between
having dedicated antennas for each band and having to switch cables.
I'll also probably have a 3-element 2-meter beam with me for occasional use
while stopped, although I plan to do most of the operation while in motion.
I'll also have another radio monitoring 2 meter FM (I assume 146.55 is the
best frequency) from a vertical antenna.
My XYL is also a ham, so she'll be helping out with both the driving and the
operating.
If anyone has any ideas about what I'm doing wrong, please let me know!
(Which reminds me, I better get to the hardware store for my PVC pipe!)
73,
Rick W0IS
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