[VHFcontesting] KF8QL/R UHF Contest - Thanks!

[David DeVos]

I wanted to thank everyone that worked me in the UHF contest.  This year, I did quite a bit of driving around, scouting out new sites for the future.  Because I was not on the West side of Michigan for very long, I didn't work many Badgers, but did work K2YAZ, KB8U, and WW8M quite a bit.  I had a nice visit with WW8M at his shack, and admired Don's excellent station.  Also visited KB8U, and saw the high tech side of ham radio with Russ!  The rain showers we had allowed me to work Bob, K2YAZ from some new locations on 10Gig, which was fun.

What worked well:
- the new TS-2000x performed flawlessly, and greatly simplified the setup time for my rover.
- I trimmed all the coax cables going up to my antenna rack to shorter length, and put new connectors on.  This made setup easier as well.
- The new dual feed 5.7, and 10G (thanks Al Ward) on that dish worked great, and was easy to haul in and out of the rover van, and I made some new 5.7 contacts

What didn't work as well:
- My FT-817 for 902, 2.3, and 3.4 stopped putting out any power.  I had to reset the CPU to get it back.  That's the second time now.
- 3.4 at 1 watt just doesn't make contacts.  It's a tough band - I need an amp - next time
- Roving at night.  It's getting to the point that I don't feel comfortable stopping out on country roads at night in the middle of nowhere.  Too many wierd encounters.

Those that know me know that I go out to have fun, and help give out points.  I don't try to "win the contest", just to light up the band, and challenge myself to get everything working.  From that standpoint, this contest was a great success.  See you in September, when I'm going up to the Soo - the Canadian side.

RoverLog QSOs by Activated Grid:
Grid QSOs Grid QSOs Grid QSOs
EN72   8  EN81   11   EN64   7
EN74   6  EN71   19 

RoverLog Score Summary, Using new rules:
Band QSOs Value QSOPts Mults
222     13         2       26         6
432     13         2       26         7
902      6          3       18         3
1.2G   10          3       30         4
2.3G    3           4       12         2
3.4G    0           4        0          0
5.7G    3           4       12         2
10G     3           4       12         2

Grids activated:   5
Totals: 51        136                31 
Claimed Score: 4216

 Dave - KF8QL
http://www.davedevos.com
http://kf8ql.homestead.com - to see a picture of the rover vehicle