Yup... being a low power station (160ish watts on 144) means its not easy to
grab attention. The big gun stations you mention, plus W3SO, W4IY (in June
and Sept), YTL and a number of others are easy to find when you're doing
S&P. They all have good ops who are easy to follow up the bands. The
problem is what to do when you're done with all the usual suspects.
I've used 144.200 before, but I avoid it for a few different reasons.
First, K8GP usually sets up within 3 kc of that and anybody within 50 miles
of them can't be heard over top of the spatter. I also know a lot of ops
will not answer a contest CQ on the national calling frequencies. They feel
that is for making regular contacts and then QSY for a ragchew. Right or
wrong, I've heard that from a number of ops so I stay off them.
The nature of roving is different than base stations when it comes to
calling. Due to the logistics of antenna placement, its not practical to
have more than one operator on the air at a time. Most rovers only have the
ability to have a single op on anyway. When a contact is made, the first
thing that happens is both parties QSY to other bands and that leaves the
original 2 meter frequency open until he finishes running up and down.
Because of that, it would seem that having several rovers using the same
frequency for coordination would be of minimal disruption. The beneift
would be that everybody else would know where to start looking for the
rovers.
Now... there is an exception to this. If there is any propogation on 2
meters, all of this goes out the window. That's when a rover can sit on a
single frequency and work a pile-up. That's not an appropriate use of a
rover calling frequency. If there's tropo or Es, find a clear spot and call
away for as long as you can.
I'm still thinking 144.245 for this, but if somebody thinks 260 or 240 are a
better idea, I'm all for it.
Steve
K4GUN/R
On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 9:54 AM, <W8ZN@comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi Steve - all.
>
> While I have roved in the past, it has been a while and I am interested in
> this also since I am going to brave the wx this weekend. Being a rover and
> only running low to modest power, I am concerned about getting folks
> attention. Typically, what I have done in the past is call folks on their
> frequency on 2 or 6 and then QSY with them. Once I figure out where the big
> single ops and multiops hang out on 6 or 6, I just go there. If you are in a
> very good location with 150w or more, I would try calling CQ either on
> 50.125 or 144.200. Due to the nature of a rover, these "calling" frequencies
> should be a good place to find folks.
>
> As part of the K8GP operation, rovers always seemed to find us, we were
> always calling CQ on 6-432 and were fairly easy to find. So I'm not sure
> what is the best answer. This contest, I know K1RZ, K1TEO, W3ZZ single ops
> will be on and N3NGE multiop will be on and all should be easy to find.
>
> Terry
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Steve Clifford" <k4gun.r@gmail.com>
> > But does anybody actually use .240 in the contests? I'm really a newbie
> as
> > well and have only operated in 3 so far, but I haven't heard a peep from
> > rovers on any specific frequency. The only frequency that I've heard
> much
> > rover activity on a consistent basis is W1RT's at 144.247. I've never
> heard
> > him, but I heard quite a few people using that to look for him. I
> snagged a
> > few contacts like that in September when he didn't answer. That's
> actually
> > what got me thinking about the idea of a rover spot.
> >
> > So is there already a rover calling frequency that is actually used? I
> > chose .245 only because it didn't step on W1RT but was close enough to
> get
> > guys already in that portion of the band looking for him.
> >
> > Steve
> > K4GUN/R
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 8:55 PM, Chet, N8RA <chetsubaccount@snet.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > > FWIW- as a newbie, I've noted on my cheat sheet that rovers sometimes
> use
> > > 50.185 on 6M
> > > 144.240 on 2M
> > > and 144.260 for the coordination frequency for UHF contests.
> > >
> > > I'm all ears for other thoughts.
> > >
> > > Chet, N8RA
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com
> > > [mailto:vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of James
> French
> > > Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 7:16 PM
> > > To: Steve Clifford
> > > Cc: VHF Contesting email
> > > Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Common rover frequency
> > >
> > > Suggested calling frequency for Michigan Microwavers/Rovers is 144.260
> Mhz.
> > >
> > > James W8ISS
> > > =====
> > >
> > > On Mon, 2009-01-12 at 18:09 -0500, Steve Clifford wrote:
> > > > Here is an idea I've been kicking around for these contests. Rovers
> > > > are not often crossing paths. It would seem to me that in the heat
> of
> > > > a contest with a lot of QSYing and moving that rovers could agree on
> > > > using a common frequency. If base stations just got used to looking
> for
> > > rovers at...
> > > > say... 144.245, I think we could all benefit. Base stations looking
> > > > for a specific rover sure wouldn't be disappointed if they found
> other
> > > > roves when they called. Rovers similarly wouldn't mind being found
> > > > when a base was looking for somebody else.
> > > >
> > > > So in an effort to see how this works, I'll be using 144.245 this
> > > contest.
> > > > Any time I am not doing a search and pounce, or QSY to other bands,
> > > > I'll be on or listening to 144.245. I encourage other rovers to use
> > > > this frequency. Let's see how a shared rover spot works.
> > > >
> > > > Steve
> > > > K4GUN/R
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > VHFcontesting@contesting.com
> > > > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
> > > >
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