[VHFcontesting] Rover Tips and Locations in California

[Jeff Townsend]

Hi Kyle

I am pretty new to roving as well. I started in the January VHF contest this year.
I am in Georgia.

You can see my station here. https://www.qrz.com/db/WB8LYJ <https://www.qrz.com/db/WB8LYJ>
I have not operated too much FM. 
Mostly FT8 and SSB. Some FT4 and MS as well.


> On Sep 4, 2020, at 12:22 PM, 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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