[VHFcontesting] Rover Tips and Locations in California

[nosigma at aol.com]

I can help with FM.
50, 220 and 432 are QSY only.  Dont waste time calling CQ there.  Focus on 145.520.  Only call CQ there for FM. 

Even saying CQ Contest will give people mile fright or offend them.  When you get a reply go a round or two and then ask what they have for other bands.  You need to tell them where to QSY.  Always say meet me back on .520 if the QSY fails so you can try another band that they have.  Be prepared to give them THEIR GRID to repeat back to you.  90% wont be contesters so they will have no idea what you are doing.  The nice thing is lots of hams will be scanning over .520 and will come up on the air for you if you make it fun.  

If your up high doing FM simplex contacts at 100+miles it will generate a lot of attempts from people who want to do a Q at such "extreme" range.  You can get a pile up going if it sounds fun.

Do not call CQ Contest every 15 seconds on .520, you will just annoy people.  Chat them up, make it fun, tell them where you are.  Be Honey not Vinegar.

73 and good luck

John
KM4KMU 




On Friday, September 4, 2020 Kyle Hamilton <kyle.hamilton at gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I've been getting more and more serious about operating as a rover station
during contests and I'm looking forward to being a rover station for the
upcoming ARRL VHF contest. This year I'm planning to run SSB on 50/144/440;
FM on 50/144/220/440; and FT8 on 50/144/440. I'm planning to try and make
some voice contacts while driving (as long as I can do so safely) and
stopping in grids to try and make some contacts. In previous contests I've
gone from my house out to UCSC in grid CM86 and then meandered back home
though CM87, CM96, and DM06.

I've sort of been figuring things out on my own and gotten a little advice
from the folks over at https://n6sjv.org/. I was wondering if anyone had
some general rover advice or could share with me their rover setup. Also if
anyone knows of some good places where I could park and make contacts. I've
been going over Google Earth and have been picking out places that look
like they're high up and have a good range. I haven't fully fleshed out my
route for the contest yet so I'm pretty open to going almost anywhere
within reason in California and maybe western Nevada. I've looked up some
of the needed grid squares for the FFMA but wasn't sure how up to date that
list was or if there were even good locations in some of those squares.

Few minor silly questions, what are some good frequencies to monitor for
SSB and FM? Is there a lot of 220 FM activity? Is there any resources on
building directional antennas? I've found things online but was more
interested in antennas that would be good for rover work or that can fit in
the back of my pickup truck and be set up by one person.

Thanks for everyone's time, I'm still pretty new at this and I'm having a
blast!

Kyle Hamilton
KG6BXW
www.kylehamilton.com
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