I operated 160 CW mobile - back when the band was segmented. I did it in a VW
beetle with a tank whip mount and the whip cut with an insulator and a big
loading coil.
and a straight key
6 Volt system - with a Elmac PMR6 in the dash and a Viking Ranger on the
passenger seat, and dynamotors under the "bonnet"
Had some added battery capacity, but not much
160 bit me hard - I got on top band the first day my General license came in
the mail - late 1959 as I recall.
My drivers license came soon, and I then set things up so I could move my Ranger
from home to the mobile- Had a ball
Met many fine folks- Nilan, W6EIG(SK) was on in his mobile pretty much every day
Still remember Alex W6KIP(SK) and his nightly tests with ZL
This was when the band was - in our region, 200 watts input at night, and LORAN
was loud when trying to hear the east coast -
and real DX was quite rare, even during the W1BB CQ 160 CW contests that began
in, I think, 1960 or 1961
west coast was 1975-2000, east coast 1800-1825.
did some CW mobile in the 2000s with a K3
It took a LOT more work to get on top band than push two buttons, wait for the
auto tuner to finish, and then call and work all the dx
It still does if you are serious. Fortunately, we have a cadre of serious folks
who work through what it takes to HEAR and work DX
Robin Critchell
WA6CDR
----- Original Message -----
From: <W3HKK@roadrunner.com>
To: <topband@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2024 14:01
Subject: Re: Topband: Mobile Operations are great for long trips.
And miraculous on 160m! Yet I worked two mobiles in the latest Stew
Perry Contest. Amazing ops!
Also, over the years I've enjoyed qsos with mobile cw ops who were
driving to and from work. Never ceases to amaze me how they crank out
the cw at 30 wpm while driving through traffic. Really fun guys to
work and chat with.
Franks note also reminded me of back in the '90s when we had a family
condo in Myrtle Beach for 10 yrs or so. The condo Home Owners
Association held its annual meeting the first weekend in March!!!
DXers will know thats the weekend of the ARRLWW SSB DX Contest. After
a few 14 hr trips each way, the XYL opted out, so I had the conversion
van all to myself. We lived in central Ohio ( Ohio State Buckeye land)
so the van colors were scarlet and grey. It was a mighty impressive
looking van with captains chairs, a bed and TV.
The trek to MB was long and tiring. However, with a mobile rig and and
a variety of mobile antennas for 40-20-15-10m (Both Hustlers and the
Perth Outbacker). No amp. Just 100w. The Hustler stick had a triangle
on top allowing three antennas to be attached. 40-20-15 in the late
afternoons/evenings, and 20/15/10 during daytime.
The "mobile rig" was a great xcvr - the FT901dM ( all 70# of it) which
I encased in a wooden box that sat on the floor in front of the front
passenger seat. And for the entire 14 hr drive ( Fri night from 0001z
til I stopped at a motel, then again Sat morning from sunrise til I
reached my destination, I was in the contest, changing bands, catching
the MUF, tuning the rig, and working JAs-VKs-ZLs-SA-CA-Europe and
Africa.
I mean, 14 hrs never went by so quickly. It was a ball, and Id put
between 250 and 350 Q's in the log each year. Well, not quite. I never
kept a log - but I would have loved to look back at one if I had, and
remember the Q's. I just worked them and trusted my memory not to make
dupe contacts. Im sure I did.
On night in the rain I pulled into a gas station to top off the
thirsty van tanks. My "impressive" conversion van with antennas off
the back end and on the roof looked like a porcupine. A car filled
with teenagers pulled up at a nearby pump and began laughing at it -
and me. But I was having a ball, and actually looked forward to the
annual DX Contest from the Ford conversion van.
I only caught the 14 hours on the drive South. Saturday afternoon was
the meeting, and Sunday I had other condo matters to attend to. As
well as test out the amenities. Then on Mon I would drive back to OH.
Talk about great memories. Those annual DX Contest drives to MB, as
well as many other 5-8 hr drives to DC and other destinations where I
could tune the bands while driving the van, or numerous rental cars.
(Had installing the rig and antenna down to a science on rentals! )
The first time I ever worked Franz Josef Land was while mobiling to
DC. He was pounding in on 10m ssb. and I worked him from each new
state (PA-MD-VA) to make sure I got in his log. But I never got that
QSL! ( But I got another FJL contact confirmed a few years later.)
Even took some cross country drives to rare WV counties so I could
operate the County Hunters Net on 20m.
Never did any mobile cw though.
Bob
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