ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest - 2019
Call: NV4B/R
Operator(s): NV4B
Station: NV4B/R
Class: Rover LP
QTH: EM54/64
Operating Time (hrs): 13
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
222: 9
432: 13
903:
1.2:
2.3:
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
------------
Total: 22 Total Score = 4,515
Club:
Team:
Comments:
Encouraged by my first roving experience in the CQWW VHF Contest last month -- I
think the proper term is "bitten by the bug" -- I roved again for this
contest, my first entry in either this or the old August UHF Contest.
I had originally planned to make two or three stops on Saturday, starting at the
MS highpoint Woodall Mountain in EM54vs, then driving east to Monte Sano
Mountain in Huntsville, then possibly on to Weathington Park on the EM64/74 line
in Section, AL. Of course, Murphy had something to say about that plan when a
thunderstorm popped up over Iuka and stayed put for well over two hours.
Having corresponded with Steve, AG4V prior to the contest, I knew he was going
to be on and looking for me as he circled the grid intersection in Memphis, so I
proceeded west past Iuka looking for a high spot. Of course, those are few and
far between in north Mississippi, but I found a decent spot on a ridge west of
Corinth and made my first QSOs with Steve using my horizontal loop antennas on
the car. As Steve moved around, I headed farther west to look for a better spot
and made a couple more QSOs with Steve between Corinth and Walnut. However, his
EM45 location proved difficult to work on 222, and after driving even farther
west, I finally found a point with a clear shot to the west about 15 miles west
of Walnut, and we completed the 2-band 4-grid sweep.
It was almost 4:30 p.m. by the time Steve and I wrapped up our QSOs, placing me
two hours behind schedule, but I decided to drive to Huntsville anyway knowing
that AJ6T and possibly others were operating the contest. I worked Walt on 222
and 432, then found Craig, K4XR on 432 when I drove up to Monte Sano Mountain.
As sunset was nearing by the time I made it to Monte Sano, I never stopped and
just drove around on the top of the mountain for a few minutes to see if I could
raise anyone else. With those three additional QSOs in the log, I headed home
for the night. I heard AJ4W briefly on the drive home, but I was not in a good
enough location to work him.
For Sunday morning, I decided to give Woodall Mountain another try, and this
turned out to be a great decision. I arrived at Woodall at 8:00 a.m. --
admittedly a bit later than I should have -- but was greeted with very loud
signals the moment I arrived on the mountaintop. Conditions were very good.
AG4V had moved to Petit Jean Mountain in EM35, 266 miles/428 km from Woodall.
Before I even put the car in park, I worked Steve with ease on the loop antenna
for my best DX of the contest, as well as Walt, AJ6T again. After these QSOs, I
set up my 4-element 222 and 11-element 432 beams and worked Steve on 222, in
addition to five other QSOs. When things slowed down, I decided to leave the
mountain just before noon, but right as I started down the mountain, Todd, N4QWZ
got in touch with me, and we QSOed on the 222 loop to finish my trip to Woodall
and the contest.
Despite the low QSO total, participation was actually better than I had
anticipated based on the last two years' results of this contest. I think a
number of stations get on briefly to hand out contacts but don't submit logs.
It seems the issue of distance-based scoring is divisive in the VHF/UHF
contesting community, but after my first experience with it, I find it
interesting if for no other reason than it's different. However, I can
understand why fixed stations located near large clusters of activity would
disagree. I do hope this contest continues and participation grows.
Everything generally worked well -- I only attempted FT8 once on 432, but I was
unable to hear the station I was trying to work. I also didn't have time to
reconfigure the 222 transverter from the QRP /P power limit of 10 watts to its
max of 25 watts. I'll continue to refine the rover station and hopefully get
902 and/or 1296 online for the next one. I really enjoyed it and am now looking
forward to some kind of activity in September, be it QRP portable or rover
again.
73,
--Chris, NV4B
222: Yaesu FT-817ND driving an older Down East Microwave transverter, 10 watts,
M² HO loop, 4 el Cushcraft A224WB yagi
432: ICOM IC-7100, 35 watts, Efactor dual-band loop, 11 el Cushcraft A430-11S
yagi, dual-band whip for FM
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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