[SCCC] January VHF N6GP/R Limited Rover LP

[Tim Goeppinger]

 ARRL January VHF Contest - 2021

Call: N6GP/R
Operator(s): N6GP
Station: N6GP/R

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: LAX
Operating Time (hrs): 9.0

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    6:   80     8
    2:   94    10
  222:   60     8
  432:   77     9
  903:
  1.2:
  2.3:
  3.4:
  5.7:
  10G:
  24G:
-------------------
Total:  311    44  Total Score = 19,712

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:
Thanks to all SCCCers who were on in the contest!

I think the peak of the pandemic for L.A. and Orange Counties occurred close to
this VHF contests weekend, and it motivated people to get on the air.  The
amount of activity in the L.A. basin was excellent!  The weather was very warm
in the upper 80's.
I started out at Signal Hill for DM03 and stayed almost 2 hours.  I was ecstatic
to get almost 100 Qs in the log there.  The pandemic made the traffic lighter,
so from QRT in Signal Hill to on the air in Pasadena was only 1 hour 20 minutes.
The spot there in Hastings Ranch played well again. Only 1 hour drive to Diamond
Bar at their Community Center.  Activity waning a bit for NFL football and
dinnertime.
Fast drive to Pantera School for DM14.  At end of Saturday I had 235 QSOs, and
23 mults, which would have been a personal best for me in Jan VHF if I stopped
there. A special thanks to Ray AD6AF and Chip K7JA for working me all 16
possible slots, and John K6LDQ for 15.  Thanks to all the others for their many
QSOs throughout the day.
Now on to "Driving for Multipliers" on Sunday.  My wife joined me for
the trip, and we left at 6:30 in the morning.  I had hoped to hit the Maricopa
AZ convergence point by 1PM to grid circle with the other rovers.  I forgot
about the time change, so I was 1 hour late on that schedule.  Hit the truck
stop at Quartzite at 10:30 PST.  Set up quickly there to pick up some QSOs from
QuartzPause, and from W2ODH up the river that I worked last year.  All I could
raise was a rover in DM33 on 2 meters.  Quartzite was a bust, with no DM23
worked.  Found out after contest that W2ODH moved to Texas!  Argh!
We drove until there was a spot that could see the Phoenix metro area.  That
spot was the suburb of Goodyear, west of Phoenix.  We found an empty dirt lot.
Worked my friend David N7RK on 3 bands, but only managed 11 QSOs total in 30
minutes.  I was beginning to feel like all that driving had been a waste, and
that I wasn't going to pick up the 20 potential multipliers there.
Even though we were late, we pressed on to the convergence point.  I did not
realize it was 20 miles east of the center of phoenix, and another 25 miles
south into an area with a lot of farm land.  As we approached the convergence I
spotted 2 rover trucks with antennas!  Yes!  We weren't late after all.  Knowing
the other rovers were not far away, I just set up mag mount antennas for all 4
bands.  In no time I had my friend Ryan N7OW/R in the log for DM42.  Then Tom
N7GP/R for DM33, then Alex K6VHF/R for DM43!  The multipliers were racking up!
I heard that Arizona had 10 rovers out, including myself!  We 'grid circled' for
a while, and really juiced my score.  Thanks to the AZ VHF group for their
hospitality. They made my trip WELL worth it.  Sorry I did not get to meet N7GP
in person.
Thankfully, Monday was the MLK holiday for me.  We stayed in Blythe, and visited
the Salton Sea on the way back.  Very interesting place, but kind of a ghost
town.   Congrats to the TX-OK rovers who beat me with their grid circling.
My new Alinco DR-235 MKIII gave me more punch with 25W. Thanks again for all the
Q's.
73,
Tim N6GP/R

Grid Breakdown on QSOs
DM03   99
DM04   66
DM13   42
DM14   28
DM23    1
DM33   11
DM42   37
DM43   13
DM32   16