[3830] 432SprngSprnt WW7D Rover LP

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                    432 MHz Spring Sprint

Call: WW7D
Operator(s): WW7D
Station: WW7D

Class: Rover LP
QTH: CN96
Operating Time (hrs): 4

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 50  Mults = 15  Tot Dist(km) = 0  Total Score = 750

Club: Pacific Northwest VHF Society

Comments:

Plans: For last fall's 432 sprint I went to the CN87/CN88/CN97/CN98 grid
intersection NE of Seattle, but this spring I returned to the 
CN97/CN87/CN96/CN86 intersection that is SE of Seattle.   For CN97, I again
used an open forest service road that is easy to reach, and has great reach
into the Puget Sound region, but lacks a path to the North.  In order to
maximize chances of working south to Portland and beyond, I planned to start at
the highest point (CN96) and work my way mostly downhill to CN86, CN87 and CN97.
 And then I would turn around and work back up to CN96. 


Equipment: The two rear antennas (for use while stationary) were (1) a
homebuilt 11 element LFA horziontally polarized and (2) an 11 element WA5VJB
"cheap yagi" vertically polarized.   Two front antennas could be used
while in motion. Two front antennas were 8 element "cheap yagis", one
vertically and one horizontally polarized.  These could be legally used while
in motion.  The antenna switch put the FM radio on the rear antenna when the
SSB/CW radio was on the front antenna and vice versa.      The SSB/CW rig was
an FT857 with an RF Concepts 100w amp.   The FM rig was an old Alinco DR-590
putting out 35 watts.     
  
What Happened: I arrived in CN96 with about 30 minutes to spare.  It was cold
and rainy, but no snow like the previous two weeks in this spot.   Oh wait...it
started hailing about 15 minutes before the start.  There were bb-sized hail. 
But what worried me was the possibility of lightening.  If there is hail, there
is a thunderstorm behind it.   But I could not find an obvious thunderstorm, and
decided it was safe to proceed with the Sprint with a 20' lightening rod on the
back of the truck.  

At the start, activity was fast and furious in CN87 and there was one other
rover (WA7BBJ/R) who was working the CN87/CN88/CN97/CN98 intersection.  K7RAT
was handing out CN86.  And twenty minutes into the Sprint, I managed to work
K7YDL in CN85.   After only one more QSO in the next 5 minutes, I decided it
was time to move about 1/3 mile down the road into CN86.   

Here, I was able to work K7YDL and K7RAT again in addition to a pile of CN87
stations.  I periodically call CQ on the FM simplex frequency.  At one point
Bob, N7QOZ, responded.   He indicated he would be monitoring through the
Sprint.  

I moved again some 55 minutes into the Sprint, down to CN87.  The only station
outside of CN87 I could hear was WA7BBJ/R in CN98.   Ninety minutes into the
Sprint, I took the 20 minute trip to CN97.  Hear, I was able to work a number
of friends in CN87 as well as K7RAT in CN86 and WA7BBJ/R in CN87 and CN97.  

The Sprint was 2.5 hours old, and things had slowed down considerably, so I
focused on trying to work people I had missed in previous grids.   The first
was CN87, a 1/2 mile away from my CN97 spot, in order to try for K7RAT and
N7QOZ.   I worked both.  Next on my agenda was a return to CN86 to work AC7T,
who I had worked on CW in the other three grids.   That worked. And I sped back
to CN96 to work N7QOZ on FM.   That worked, too.  That was a pretty good haul
for backtracking.  

With 40 minutes remaining in the Sprint (and no other activity detectable), I
started calling CQ in different directions from CN96.  I  focused on south
toward Portland and north toward Canada, and occasionally just pointing the
antenna directly at Mt. Rainier, some 15 miles SE of me.   Thirty (fruitless)
minutes later I had the antenna on Rainier, and I heard a faint CW signal
responding.  After a few minutes I realized it was John, KF7PCL, in Ocean
Shores, WA (CN76).   We worked from CN96 with 12 minutes remaining, so I asked
him to QRX for 5 minutes for a new grid.  John was game.  It took four minutes
to lower the mast, drive 1/3 mile down the road, raise the mast and aim the
antenna.   We worked on the first try from CN86.  With 8 minutes remaining, I
didn't think there was sufficient time to move to CN87 and set up the antenna
for another grid.  So I stayed in CN86 and fruitlessly called CQ some more, but
with a big smile on my face.

Oh...and the light rain turned to light snow flurries during that last 30
minutes in CN96/CN86.  That makes three weeks in a row being snowed on in this
location.   I've been to this location a couple dozen times before without ever
seeing a snowflake in the air.

Results: It was an excellent Sprint with an exciting ending.  The log shows 50
QSOs and 15 grids (score: 750).   This was a big improvement in QSOs over last
year's spring's Sprint, with 17 QSOs and 8 grids (144).  Of course, I had blown
out my Yaesu 857's front end during the 2m spring Sprint last year--something I
didn't discover until the 432 MHz Sprint.    This year's Sprint was a nice
improvement over last fall's Sprint, with 34 QSOs and 11 grids worked (374).  

Unique calls: 17

4x4s: AC7T, K7RAT, KE0CO, KE7SW, N7EPD, N7QOZ, WA7TZY
 
CN97:  QSOs: 13, Mults: CN76, CN85, CN86, CN87
CN87:  QSOs: 11, Mults: CN86, CN87, CN98 
CN86:  QSOs: 14, Mults: CN76, CN85, CN86, CN87, CN97
CN96:  QSOs: 12, Mults: CN86, CN87, CN97

Acknowledgments:  Thanks to all the great people in the Pacific NW who populate
the bands with signals.   A special thanks to John, KF7PCL, who stayed up to the
very end, even though he had to get up early the next morning for college.  And,
of course, thanks to the organizers of the Sprints.


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