[VHFcontesting] Microwave Sprint Report

[wemccourt at comcast.net]

Hi Group,

 Well I’ve completed two “firsts” in this past Saturday’s Sprint. My first try at 
Rover and my very first 1296 MHz QSO’s

Thanks to Ken KE2N (FM18) and Gene W3ZZ (FM19) for the contacts.  I was located 
on the hill behind the Sterling VA COSTCO store that Bill Seabreeze used to use 
for the short time I was able to participate and I was amazed at the strength of 
the 1296 signals.  Once I got into the clear (ie no trees and buildings), 1296 
was a strong as 2 Meters and I was only using a homebrew 8 Element handheld 
Quaggi for an antenna!

My Rover was pretty pathetic.  The station equipment was all sitting in a line 
on top of the car’s radiator fan housing, the hood was up and I was standing 
there with the mic in one hand and the antenna in the other, looking for signals 
(sorry no pictures).  Will work on it for June.

Thanks Ken and Gene for the Q’s and Grids.  Thanks to the sponsors for a fun 
time in the Sprints and for providing the impetus to move forward with my 
VHF/UHF interests. Hey, it’s only money!

Bill McCourt – WF1L