First post in a while – especially radio related. I’ve decided to put the kibosh on the /P operation for the June VHF Contest this year, and just stick to roving. Dayton’s cancellation has really bitten me this time around. I had planned on picking up a few portable antennas from Arrow, as well as a battery from Bioenno Power, and while I wound up ordering the battery, it’s looking questionable that it’ll be here in time, and on top of that I’m unsure of all of the current camping regulations in the Adirondack Area at the moment. While I’m only planning on hitting the local 4 grids, if I’m up and ready to go early enough on Saturday morning, I may make this a grid 6 or 7 rove, we’ll see how ambitious I’m feeling Saturday morning.
There have been no real changes moving into this contest, except that I’m going back over to the ASUS Transformer Book. I’ve gotten a fresh copy of Windows 10 on that machine, and it seems to help with the battery life significantly. I’ll be running this off of an independent power pack as it needs to charge. I’ll be testing the Bioenno Battery (if it’s here on time) for the transverter setup. This will run the Yaesu FT-818, driving the 902, and 2304 transverters. I’ll be using the 9100 again, and as long as all of my testing goes well this week, I’ll have it for the remaining bands (less 222, that will remain FM only from the Yaesu Memorizer), all of which will be running digital. Should someone want to try it, I’ll be able to run digital modes on just about all of the bands. I should have the dish all put together, and on the tripod for 2304 by then as well, so this should give me much more gain, and directionality in this realm.
While I’ll have the digital modes, I am going to attempt to stay off of them as much as possible. In January with the problems I had, I was unable to use them the majority of the contest, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and even had a pile-up or two on 2 meters! I’m planning on putting in the full weekend for this contest, although roadside restroom stops may not necessarily be what they normally are unfortunately, which is scaring me off from trying to do too many grids. I may even make a camping stop in a grid for the night, and try to work some MSK-144 in the later hours. I’ll try to publish a schedule later on, but either way, watch for me on APRS.
Roving On 