Once more I’m planning to head out as a Limited Rover in the ARRL January 2021 VHF Contest. This time I’m incorporating a number of equipment improvements and a few operating improvements.
I’m looking forward to breaking out of my stay-at-home sojourn and putting a few grids on the air for 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz contacts.
Rover Route and Timing
I’ll be driving my typical 11 grid route, stopping at each location and getting on the air for about an hour. EM23 is a new spot that I scouted out in early December.
Saturday — January 16
- EM03xe on the air at 1 PM Central Time
- EM13ae around 2 PM
- EM02xt at 4 PM
- EM01wv at 7 PM
- EM11dv at 9 PM
Sunday — January 17
- EM14xa at 7 AM
- EM24ea at 8:30 AM
- EM23fw at 10 AM
- EM22bg at 1 PM
- EM21ax at 3 PM
- EM12kv at 6 PM
The Saturday route remains much as I’ve done in previous contests. The Sunday route starts in EM14 and then in quick succession moves to EM24 and then EM23. This gets things off to a good start on Sunday morning with some meteor scatter contacts as a highlight.
The route also ends up in the street near my home as a way of getting home before darkness sets in. This will also allow me to freshen up a bit since I’ll be isolated in my car except for gasoline stops.
Equipment Improvements
You may have read about some of my improvement. I’ve added an Azimuth Sensor to help me point my antennas. I’m looking forward to seeing how this works on the road.
I’ve also added a 100 watt amplifier on 222 MHz along with a ARR preamp. This should help add more contacts on that band — if I can find anyone or get them to move up the bands. This was challenging during the September Contest as most QSOs were on FT8.
I’ve also made some DC Power improvements. This primarily includes a second N8XJK power booster. I’m hopeful that running two rigs and now a couple of amplifiers will operate without any issues. We’ll see what happens, as always.
Making Contacts — Having Fun
From Hico Texas to Hugo Oklahoma and quite a few places in between I will be doing my best to have fun with my solo rover efforts. Watch for me as I’ll be pretty close to my scheduled time in each grid.
I also encourage you to look for the OK Rovers who will be doing some grid circling in the Hico area (EM01, EM02, EM11, EM12) at the start of the contest Saturday.
