[VHFcontesting] Microwave Liaising in the Rover

[Sean Waite]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning out the next phase of our rover, and we're going to be
mounting 6' (ish) uW beams and going to try and spend more time operating
these bands.

A lot of people suggest ON4KST for coordination, which is an option. We've
used 2m FM for coordination as well. What do people suggest using? We'll
have a dedicated microwave op (me), so we'll be able to just spend the time
working those bands.

I don't know if a 2m liasion radio would count against the 1 signal per
band rule. I suspect it does, though we wouldn't be making contest contacts
there. The major problem is the QRM of our 2m station, we'd probably be
clobbering each other. The microwave beams will be on a dedicated rotator,
so it wouldn't be too unreasonable to slap a small 2m vertical beam on
there and have it, with a dedicated mobile with the microwave gear.

I can also use cell phones.

What do people do? How do I manage these contacts? Some will be passed up
from the other op (or ops) in the rover, which is fine, though coordination
through the lower band op can really suck up his time and you have to play
a lot of pass-it-down-the-lane until you sync up on a uW band. On weaker
signal contacts this becomes unreasonable as it ties up both ops. Being
able to coordinate via another method, especially on passes, can keep the
waiting passed ops in tune with what's going on and free up the 6-70 op to
work other stations.

I'm really new to the microwaves, just a handful of contacts from a few
grids in the January and June contests this year with little teeny 2
element PCB beams. Not really any weak signal, and my beamwidth was
basically "is it in front of me roughly?" It's going to be a whole new
animal with a minimum of 18 elements. Any tips would be super helpful.
It'll be a little while before we're up and running again for a big rove,
but I figure I can get everything built up between now and then and be
ready to go.

Thanks for any help!

73,
Sean Waite, WA1TE