Hello all, I've been looking through the archives and reading all those helpful
web sites like "so you want to be a rover". They've given me a good starting
point and I think I'm ready for this September's ARRL VHF QSO contest. It will
not only be my first rover expedition, but also my first contest ever.
My goal is have fun with minimal equipment and not to be a serious competitor.
I just bought a Yaesu FT-480R (2m 10 watts) which I realize is susceptible to
front end overload, but I hope that by being in semi-remote locations, it won't
be a problem. (The price was good)
I am in the process of building a 7 element 1.6 lambda beam and have a mast and
TV rotator installed off the bumper of my car. I'll be able to operate while
mobile and raise my antenna to about 15' while stopped.
25' of LMR-400 flex is on it's way along with 2 'N' connectors. I'll have to
install a female chassis mount on my radio as I'm pretty sure that it is coming
with a SO-239.
I'd love to add more bands, but that just isn't an option right now, neither is
an amp so I'm limited to 10 watts on 2m. Therefore I anticipate focusing on CW
rather then SSB to make more QSOs.
So here is my question, any words of advice/wisdom or mistakes that I should
avoid making as a new contester/rover? Also, I'm located in Kalamazoo, MI and
would like to know which grid squares are the 'rare' ones. Tentatively, I'm
planning on starting in EN 73, going to EN74, EN64, EN63 and EN62 for a
conservative rover run.
Thanks for any input that you guys have,
Marten
KC8HZM
http://www.goshen.edu/~martentb
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