[VHFcontesting] Making roving fun and interesting

[Zack Widup]

Speaking of bandscopes, does someone know of a fairly small, low power way
of implementing a bandscope? I'm mainly interested in a bandscope for
microwave transverters with a 144 MHz IF.  This operation is usually from
hilltops and running off battery power, which I need to conserve as much as
I can. I do have a Softrock Ensemble II VHF for 144 MHz to use as a
microwave IF monitor but it's a lot to carry around. I need to use an
external soundcard with it (if I want more than 48 kHz of bandwidth). I did
the mod to my FT817 per W1GHZ but I'm not very happy with that, either.
Maybe I need a better SDR for that than a cheap $10 dongle.

73, Zack W9SZ


On Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 11:04 AM Alex <alex at kr1st.com> wrote:

> On 2018-08-23 15:36, JamesDuffey wrote:
>
> > Also, move people up the bands you have when you work them on the
> > lower bands. Before you move, though, always ask if there are others
> > on frequency who need to work you.
>
> This point bears repeating. I often find rovers at the tail end of a
> contact. I see them popping up on the bandscope, tune to the signal only
> to hear that they are moving to another band. It often happens that I
> get no reply when I call immediately after the Q ended. Perhaps it's
> because they are afraid that they are keeping the other station waiting
> on the other band. If I'm lucky and caught the new frequency I will will
> go there if I have the capability. If they are moving to a band I don't
> have have (still building, only 6 and 2 for now), then I lost the the
> opportunity.
>
> I have tremendous respect for rovers, and I get great enjoyment out of
> working them, especially when I can work them in multiple grids. My wife
> and I roved a few times, and that was in an area where there are hardly
> even any fixed stations (SC) to work. It's a lot of work. What we
> enjoyed most were the visits from folks who we just worked and drove up
> to see our setup. Even the visits from the local authorities were
> pleasant. This was one of our attempts to create some interest in weak
> signal operations in an area where there was virtually none.
>
> I also enjoy reading the post-op rover stories, especially in blog
> format with lots of pictures. So please post those if you can. We never
> did that ourselves, unfortunately.
>
> 73,
> --Alex KR1ST (FN21fk)
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