This was my first effort as a rover
in a contest, and since this the first sentence of what may turn into a tome,
let me start by giving a big hug and kiss to my wife Eileen, who was my
pilot/chauffeur for this little extravaganza. She didn’t complain
once about my cryptic navigational notations, and most importantly of all,
allowed me to put my tri-magnet base with a Hustler MO-2 (the long one that
breaks over in the middle) and a 40M resonator on the roof of her beautiful
blue mini-van! (There will be more on this later.) There were so many
lessons learned, and there are so many tales to tell, where do I start?
Fair warning for you wizened veterans: better make sure you have a full supply
of smirks and elbow nudges; I’m sure I pulled all of the classic
“newbie” stunts, but maybe I invented a few news ones too.
It’s hard to fault someone for over-planning, but I guess I
“overthunk” this thing on an exponential scale. Anyway, off
we go:
Lesson Learned Number One: It’s just a day trip!
My plan was to wander through 8
different counties in North Georgia between the hours of 14:00 and 22:00
(local). In the process, I would find an ideal location in each county,
work from there for about a hour or two (until the three-deep pile-up thinned
out – yeah right!), pack up and then continue operating the pile-up while
enroute to the next location. In my enthusiasm, I guess I overlooked the
whole time-and-space continuum thing.
Next time: Three counties in
nine hours, pre-plan the operating positions for optimal effectiveness, and
give them each the quality time that they deserve.
Lesson Learned Number Two: Mobile means “moving”
I wasn’t a Boy Scout
for very long, but I guess they did a good job of indoctrinating the whole
“Be Prepared” concept into my skull. I had a long extension
cord so that I could “borrow” power from a convenient outdoor tap,
a generator that I had borrowed (thanks ‘QO!) and at the last minute (so
“she” couldn’t protest) I pulled a temporary wire from the
mini-van battery from under the hood, over the rear view mirror, in through the
driver’s door, tucked under the door trim, and to the back of the
vehicle. Ultimately, we abandoned the idea of stopping and plugging up to
“shore power” or using the generator in favor of keeping the wheels
turning (see Lesson One).
Next time: Since the car
didn’t catch fire, the battery didn’t drain down and leave us
stranded (we kept the engine running), and the four horsemen of the apocalypse
didn’t pay us a visit, hooking a wire directly to the battery will be the
sole power plan (but I may still pack the power supply and an extension cord
just in case).
Lesson Learned Number Three:
I
have a trusty voltage inverter rated at 300Watts that I have used to power my
Laptop while travelling before, and since my laptop only requires 100W or so, I
had planned to operate two laptops on the inverter, as well as miscellaneous
other low wattage “wall warts” for accessories. As I plugged
in Laptop number two, the inverter started shrieking like a “lid”
tuning up his rig with the 2kw Alpha at full output.
Next
time: Don’t believe the hype. A close (very close)
examination of the “mice type” on the bottom of the inverter box
that also contained a six inch jumper with two small alligator clips revealed
that it would only supply 300 Watts of power if the alligator clips were
attached directly to the vehicle battery. Using the accessory outlet will
yield a maximum of 140 Watts of power – less than half of the amount noted
in big bold letters and numbers on the unit.
Next
time (2): Since I’m going to pull power directly from the battery to the
vehicle cabin anyway, rig up a terminal block or posts for the alligator clip
connections so that I can get the full measure of available wattage.
Lesson Learned Number Four: Multi-mode is not for Neophytes
If
you are still paying close attention, you may be wondering, “Why would he
want TWO laptops in his car? Was he THAT PARANOID? Well, the answer is
yes, and no; Mostly no. In addition to operating three-deep pileups, I
had also envisioned running mobile PSK-31 in my “spare time” also.
I also packed my electronic keyer and BY-2 paddles as well. What I lacked
was a computer-keyer interface to allow me to auto send everything with
keyboard function keys, and oh yeah, the ability to decipher Morse code at
faster than single digit speeds. But just in case I was suddenly empowered via
a bolt of lightning or other means, I was ready!
Next
time: pick a dance partner and stick with her. The matrix of bands and
modes is not for the meek or Morse-challenged. In fact they made a movie
trilogy about it oddly enough called “The Matrix.”
Lesson Learned Number Five: Multi Band Mobile is not for the
MO-2.
If
there was one thing that was indeed comical about the entire drama, it was
watching the MO-2 with the “magical triangle” on top loaded with
75, 40, and 20, flop over when I screwed it into the 6” coil
spring. That much weight, that high, was more than the spring could
handle. Timberrrrrrr! Trying to get it to stay erect… let me stop
right there. Plan B was deployed – use the Hustler MO-4 (the short
white mast) with the “candelabra” of resonators. I have come
to the conclusion, that at least for me, the “magical triangle” is
indeed just an illusion. After about fifteen minutes of fruitless
calling, I switched to the aforementioned MO-2 with a single resonator. Initially
20M was too noisy so I opted to switch to 40M and never stopped long enough to
switch resonators and move to other bands (again, see Lesson Learned Number
One).
Next
time: Accept that there are no short cuts that don’t also have pitfalls
as well. Leave the advanced, multi-band antenna set-ups to the
experienced. This is one time where I should have remembered the caveat,
“kids, don’t try this at home” (or while roving).
Thus endeth chapter one. I still have more to share,
but the alarm clock goes off in a few hours and I need to be in bed when it
does. Only 365 more days until GQP ’09!
73 (for now),
Scott KB4KBS
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Scott Straw, CTS-D, CTS-I, EMT-I
scottstraw@mindspring.com