Contrary to what online photos may suggest, I do not drive year-round with my micro-tower and VHF contest setup on the car. There are places where I drive that a 10.5-ft tall vehicle can not go, especially during the months when trees are full of leaves and their branches hang just a little lower. I operate as a “Limited Rover“ during VHF contests; so, my station has fewer antennas than the Classic and Unlimited Rovers. I mount the tower base and loop module at my leisure and then install the tower and Yagis about a week before each contest or special event, sometimes sooner if the weather forecast is unpleasant. Everything is tested and finalized 2-3 days before the big event. This photo shows me on a rather cold day after mounting the mast and as I was securing the coaxial cable runs. My fellow car enthusiasts cringe when they see my tools and supplies laying directly on the paint! 😀
I had a decent rove this year despite a computer challenge that alluded me for the first few hours of the contest. Also, a winter storm forecast threatened my planned route. My home is on Virginia’s southern peninsula. I usually rove onto the eastern shore, which requires two toll bridge crossings, and then I rove west as far as I-81 in northern Virginia. Traveling to I-81 sends me over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Weather closures of the toll bridges or a mountain pass could have left me stranded outside of my home region. So, I planned routes that preserved my escape back to home and then updated them as the weather forecast evolved. I did drive to I-81, but not quite the same as I did in 2024. This photo shows my route from January 2024’s VHF contest. I planned a route that would place me near Winchester, VA on Saturday evening so that I could meet Andrea, K2EZ/R.
Given this year’s weather forecast and what would have been another evening rendezvous, I decided to skip our meet and run a variation of last year’s Saturday route backwards, starting near Winchester at the beginning of the contest and being safely on “my side” of the Blue Ridge before the forecast snow. I stopped at Rockfish Gap before the contest to see the area in daylight. I thought I might make some contacts from the overlook that evening. I’m glad that I stopped because the entire interchange was iced-over from a previous storm. Skyline Drive was closed (gates) and the roadside was congested with parked cars. A few of my other planned spots turned out to be duds due to either being in a low-elevation “bowl” or having severe RFI. If you look at the January 2025 map above, you’ll see a few areas with globs of red dots. The red globs were created when I either left a spot due to RFI or had to wander a bit to find a quiet spot that was not in a bowl and had enough shoulder to park.
I was approached by one curious resident. He said that my car “looks sketch,” but discretely appreciated that I didn’t choose to park directly in front of anyone’s house (which is legal on public streets). Later, I had a police encounter on a dark four-lane road. Finding safe places to stop is difficult when packed snow or ice covers the shoulder. He had stopped to perform a welfare check, having no idea that he was approaching a nutty ham radio station until he was directly behind me! We had a fun chat about the legality of my setup and then he departed after telling me that I was free to stay. The rolling photo above was taken by W4RCB, who then sent it to his father. What were the odds that the photo which probably started out as, “Look at this!” would turn into, “Hey! I know that guy!” 😀
In the end, I made 107 contacts on four bands from seven different grid squares: FM07, FM08, FM09, FM16, FM17, FM18, and FM19. Forty-two of those contacts were on 6m FT8, which was malfunctioning for the first three hours. This image shows my most distant 144 and 432 MHz SSB contacts at 165 miles. I also managed to work K2EZ/R on 50, 144, and 432 MHz. I was surprised, not because of the distance, but because the Blue Ridge Mountain was between us. Weak signal propagation is awesome! My environment provided some challenges to making more contacts, but the shortcoming was ultimately my own. I still need to focus more on operating while parked instead of driving to more grid squares, calling CQ instead of searching for activity, and I definitely need to find a better workflow for logging. My logging software (not tossing stones here) uses roll-down menus to change the bands and a pop-up menu for changing grid squares. Both are cumbersome, especially if I’m running the bands with an experienced operator. I haven’t explored a rig interface since I use four different radios during a contest.
I think it’s time to do some consolidating for the sake of streamlining my operation. Even if I interface just one rig that’s been strategically programmed, I could swiftly change bands in the logging program by simply rotating a knob on the interfaced radio, even if I don’t use that radio to work the band in question. It’s an idea that needs exploring. I’m also looking at a popular logging program called “N1MM.” Most contesters use N1MM even if they plan to export their contacts to a “main log.” N1MM appears to streamline band switching; I’m not sure about grid square switching. I should be ready to try it in the wild by the next contest. It’ll be a winner if it allows me to change grid squares and bands in an efficient manner.
I’ve said in the past that I’d consider a 222 MHz transverter when I have more stations asking, “Do you have 222?” Well, I’m there! I bought a 222 MHz FM rig by TYT last year just to get myself on the band. I kind of hate it! I won’t go into a full review here, but I think it’s less intuitive than my Yaesu or Icom radios; plus, I don’t think the signal quality is there. I’m definitely going to get a DEMI 222 MHz transverter and a Directive Systems DSEFO222-10RS 10-element Yagi before June! I’ll run the transverter with my FT-857D, which features better signal processing than the TYT and will allow me to use all modes on 1.25m. It would also eliminate one speaker and one microphone.
Speaking of consolidation, I frequently found myself with four microphones sitting in my lap during a busy session. The external speakers are all below the dash near the steering wheel. That arrangement works fine when I’m using just one radio during a repeater net, a casual QSO, or even when working a pile-up on HF. But the cabin gets quite confusing if there’s activity on more than one radio at once, especially with weak signals that do not provide an indication on the radio’s display. I don’t know which microphone to grab at that point, especially at night! HAHA! I may relocate my speakers to provide acoustic separation between the signals.
These are some of the challenges that I have when working in a rover setting, especially in a small clown-car like mine! Click here to learn more about my rover if you haven’t seen it before now. Feel free to share any ideas that you might have for me to try in the next contest. By the way, I beat the snow home! This photo was taken three days after the contest had ended. The snow brushed right off the car and the wind cleared the antennas. It’s currently too cold and windy to remove the tower; plus, I want to clean everything before removal. I expect to wash the car and topside gear next week and then remove the tower soon thereafter. See a photo of my “antenna planters” below.
73,
Scott, KE4WMF/R
