Yesterday, the rover operations were quite pleasant. Running pileups
(even though they were itsy-bitsy ones) from the mostly water CM86 was
quite the experience (and I apologize to those who were trying to reach me
but gave up... I'll get better at pulling the calls out of the chaos next
time). And a big thank you to the station in San Jose that alerted the
bay area that I was down there... otherwise there wouldn't have been
nearly as many beams pointed at me.
Item learned in CM86: Santa Cruzians are very curious. I wished that I
had a sign on the car that explained the contest, perhaps with a handout
that pointed people towards the local clubs or some primer web-sites.
The general reaction was one of: 'Ham radio. People still do that?'
'Cool... good luck.' 'I thought for a minute I'd stumbled on radio-free
Santa Cruz' or 'Cool... how did you get started doing this (i.e. how would
I start doing this)'
Item #2 learned in CM86: This is graduation weekend at UCSC. The parking
structure that I hoped to be on top of was for people going to
commencement activities only. Setting up my painters-pole turned mast
would have gotten me kicked out, quickly. Any other weekend would have
been great up there... just by parking on the roof, you've got a couple
hundred more feet of elevation in a grid that desperately needs it.
My location in CM97 was marginal, and I was having problems with my 2m
beam, that mysteriously went away in the next location. The very top of
Mt Loma Prieta was closed off when I got there, so I was about 200' down
from it... on the wrong side. Someone did come through and open it
eventually... and just as I was leaving, it looked like there were about
50 people between the ages of 16 and 20 who were headed to the top,
kicking up a lot of dust as their teenagermobiles went zooming by. I hope
they packed their beer cans out when they left.
Item learned in CM97: Bring bug repellant. I got devoured.
Item #2 learned in CM97: Was it foolish to heed the closed (but
apparently unlocked) gate and the No Tresspassing signs? Clearly the
local kids didn't... and I suspect that means that I would have had no
trouble up there.
Item #3 learned on the way to CM97. Loma Prieta Way is very bad (even
washboard dirt in some places). Shame on MapPoint for routing me on that
"road" to save perhaps 1/2 a mile (remember, I'm driving a Honda CRX).
Thank you MapPoint (and the GPS) for letting me find my way out of there
without retracing my steps.
Then I moved to CM87. From this vantage (off of highway 35, near the
russian ridge open space preserve), my 20w to a 4-el beam 2m station was
getting me +10 to +40 signal reports pretty much throughout the bay area.
I was even able to work into Grass Valley in CM99, and I kept hearing DM04
stations, but was never able to work them. I'm going to need to go back
out here (perhaps for a WSWSS or SWOT net?). I was there until the cops
showed up and kicked me (and a number of other folks) out around midnight
(The vista point is marked "closed at dark", but the best view from there
is when it's dark, and the sign is largely ignored.)
Eventually, as it was getting late, and I'd worked essentially all the
stations that were still on the bands (as had everyone else), I started
hearing, and participating in a couple of ragchews. Was nice to be able
to slow down and chat for a little while. One gentleman that I spoke with
(his original 1x3 call is in my log.. I'm not gonna dig for it now)
reported that this was his first ever time on 6m, and that he had no idea
there was a contest going on. Since he showed up fairly late, and called
CQ on 50.125, he very quickly found himself surrounded by people who
wanted to work him. Kudos to K6KLY who explained to him fairly well what
the contest was all about, and how he could participate. And big kudos to
everyone on frequency who ragchewed with him as well... again, a very nice
diversion from the usual "Callsign, Gridsquare, QSL, Thanks, QRZ" that you
usually hear on the air when a new station comes on. In hindsight, we
perhaps should have moved him off of .125, but at least it was late and
other things were fairly quiet out there.
Item learned in CM87: Few things are more irritating when looking at
distant city lights (or stars), than a car coming into the vista point
with its headlights on. The locals' custom of running only their
cornering lights when it's safe is a great one.
Item #2 learned in CM87: Having a YL on the microphone gives you at least
a 3db signal boost :)
Item #3 learned in CM87: The suffix of my callsign (KF6TPT) is impossible
to copy if it isn't said phonetically (and even then, people constantly
miscopy it... usually as PTP). Go ahead. Say KF6TPT aloud fairly
quickly. Now, was that TPT, BTV VTP PTP or what? (Well, actually I
learned this one almost immediately after I got my callsign, but it was
especially relevant after about 10 hours on the road and on the air when
my mouth (and everyone else's ears) got tired. The 1x2 folks, especially
ones like W7QQ have a big advantage here.
At least Tango-Papa-Tango-Rover has a nice iambic quadrameter rhythm to
it... especially if you draw out the o in Rover.
Day two... I'm headed for the famous Raley's parking lot in Auburn, CA
(CM98), with thoughts of perhaps going to Mt Vaca in CM88 later in the
day.
I listened for an opening on 6 from the poor home QTH. Didn't hear much
of anything. Got on the road about 9:30. Stopped near Vallejo (CM88), as
I was passing through it. I parked in a residential neighborhood long
enough to set my 6m antenna up and work a couple of stations. I wanted to
make sure I activated the grid, in case I was unable to come back to Mt
Vaca. Judging from the glares that I got from people in the neighborhood,
I'd been there long enough already. (the Bay Area has a TV Channel 2, and
we were some distance from that transmitter, so I suspect there's a good
chance that my 100 watts on 6 might have gotten into some of the older TVs
in the neighborhood.)
Thing learned in CM88: People here are just as curious as they are in
Santa Cruz. They're just a whole lot less friendly. Especially the ones
that watch Fox on sunday morning.
So I packed up and got back on I-80. Stopped in Fairfield to get a tank
of gas. Filled the tank, paid for it, turned the key... and
whir-whir-whir. The car turns over, but doesn't start. My 5 minute
not-really-a-mechanic look under the hood tells me that the timing belt is
still intact, and all the electrical bits appear to be in the right
places. I push the car, call for a tow, and start calling people back in
San Francisco in the hopes that I can convince one of them to pick me up.
I completely forgot about the fact that I was already in CM98... which
would have been a new grid activated had I put the antennae up. But I
didn't. Instead I had to disassemble the station, and pack up what I
could of the valuable stuff while waiting for the towtruck.
Eventually, I got both the tow and a ride home. I'm expecting to own a
brand new fuel pump tomorrow (or perhaps a coil or distributor). And here
I am with my radios, but not my antennas. The Raley's parking lot will
have to wait until a September rove. :)
All told, It was a good time (even if it was only a half-rove). I'm glad
that I did it. And I'll be doing it again in September (hopefully with
432 this time).
-Jeff
PS. If you worked me and want a QSL card, that can be arranged. I'm
going to be sending them to a couple of people for whom CM86 was a new
grid (rather than just a new contest grid). If you want one, too, just
let me know.
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