2024 CQ World Wide VHF

Unfortunately, no station improvements to the rover since June VHF. All of the time spent working on the rover was on the van itself. The climate control was stuck in the vent/heat position since it broke in the freezing temps of Jan VHF. I completely forgot about that until I went to turn on the A/C just prior to June VHF. Good thing June was mild. Not having A/C for July and CQ was a non-starter though. While fixing that I also discovered that sometime after June VHF a critter had gotten up near the fuel tank and chewed a hole in one of the fuel lines. Again, not a repair that could be put off. Hopefully I can get some actual station work done before September. :)

On to the contest. I didn’t get very creative for the route and had planned to run essentially the same route as June VHF. Hit the EN50 / EN51 / EN60 / EN61 grid corner on Saturday and then back down to the EM49 / EM59 / EN40 / EN50 corner on Sunday and then wrap it up close to home in EM58.

Band conditions in the days/weeks leading up to the contest had not been anything to write home about. So, as I was getting everything started up at the first stop in EN61, I was pleasantly surprised to see activity on 6m. Nothing crazy, but anything beyond the usual locals would certainly be welcome. Unfortunately, that didn’t last. What little bit of propagation there was all but disappeared as the contest got going.

After operating for a little while in EN61, I was just getting ready for my first grid move when I saw John, K9JK/R, coming down the road. He had emailed me in the week leading up to the contest about plans so I knew he may show up, but nothing was set in stone. While I’m not a big fan of rover grid circling, the Qs/points are hard to turn down. That said, it’s always great to see another rover out in the wild and get to checkout another setup, visit for a bit, etc. Even if it is only for a short time… it is a contest after all.

After the drive over to the EM49 / EM59 / EN40 / EN50 corner and a few hours sleep in the van, I was up fairly early to try and catch a bit of scatter before sunrise. Again, there was activity, but I only managed a few Qs before moving back to FT8. I was hopeful for some early propagation as it seemed there was early on Saturday, but that didn’t pan out. Sunday ended up more of the same rounding up the usual locals and then grinding trying to find more to work.

Since band conditions weren’t really cooperating, I decided to cut the grid stops a little shorter than usual and get an extra grid in on Sunday afternoon. A bit of scouting on Google maps and I had found a spot close to home in EM48 that I could try to drum up some more Qs. If nothing else, it was one more chance to work the locals. I did end up getting a few more Qs from it, but by that time of day practically everyone had apparently grown tired of the FT8 grind and the bands were all but dead.

Until next time, thanks for all the Qs!

Gear:
Flex 6600 / Q5 Signal 5BVUX
50 - 100w - Directive Systems 3el Yagi @ 20’
144 - 350w - Directive Systems 6el Rover Yagi @ 12’