CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2023
Call: KG9OV/R
Operator(s): KG9OV
Station: KG9OV/R
Class: Rover HP
QTH: IL/MO
Operating Time (hrs): 15
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 128 102
2: 134 98
-------------------
Total: 262 200 Total Score = 79,200
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
Though the last outing was only a few weeks ago, there was one major upgrade to
the rover setup prior to CQWW. I came across a Sierra Wireless MP70 router on
eBay for a decent deal and couldn't pass it up. It provides wired network ports
for the main computer and radio, a WiFi access point for ancillary devices
(phone, laptop, etc.), and LTE or WiFi connectivity for Internet access. Simply
an amazing upgrade from the kludge of hand me down network gear and a MiFi
hotspot that I was using before. Having a purpose built device for in vehicle
networking means it just works and I can focus on the next multiplier instead of
dorking with infrastructure.
True to form for me it seems, it was a few days before the contest and I still
had not nailed down where it was I was going yet. Finally I decided to just
stick closer to home and it ended up working out pretty well. Saturday I headed
to the EM49/EM59/EN40/EN50 corner. Partially in a state park with several nice
options for operating and some secluded country roads for other options make
this a great place to play radio. On Sunday I headed down to the EM47/48/57/58
corner. The stops were a little more spread out here due to the general
location of the corner, but all in all it worked out pretty well too. As a
bonus, I was able to get a couple hours sleep at home since it was right on the
way between corners.
While the new network gear worked flawlessly all weekend, Murphy seemed to dig
his hands in elsewhere just to keep things interesting. Not even an hour in and
the inverter that runs the main computer and monitors faulted and reset out of
the blue. When the computer rebooted, it was not happy. A few reboots and some
fixing later, everything was running and Qs were going in the log again. Then,
somewhere between the first couple of stops, the computer decided it didn't want
to be on the network anymore and a reboot was the only thing that helped. Not
any major issues thankfully, but just enough here and there to be annoying.
As for the bands, well, I guess we used up all the Magic last month in June VHF.
The sporadic Es were really sporadic. Moving between grids would bring a
little excitement to it as all the fixed stations start to pile on to the
"new one" that just showed up to briefly cure their boredom. Then,
back to the grind of trying to dig out something new to work.
Somehow though, even with the less than stellar band conditions, I still managed
to greatly improve my score compared to the previous two years for this contest.
So, I guess that is a plus.
Gear:
Flex 6600 / Q5 Signal 5BVUX
50 - 250w - Par Moxon @ 18’
144 - 375w - Directive Systems 6el Rover Yagi @ 12’
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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