K5ND/R June 2019 VHF Contest — Texas Panhandle

You may have caught my previous blog post on my planned June Rover Route in the Texas Panhandle. It actually happened this past weekend, by and large on the schedule that I’d planned. Of course, the 6 meter band conditions didn’t cooperate as well as I would have liked, but they worked out OK and I did have fun.

Grid Activation Results

Overall, I scored 10,656 points with 139 contacts and 72 multipliers. Six meters wasn’t that great on Saturday but rocked on Sunday. In total I had 115 contacts and 57 multipliers on 6, 15/5 on 2 meters, and 9/2 on 70 cm. On modes, 80 on FT8, 52 on SSB, and 7 on MSK.

Saturday Was Quiet

Saturday was a nice sunny day with temps in the 80s. I found all my preplanned grid spots just fine. However, I did elect to shift the first spot to a place that looked better. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I didn’t select it on my planning trip because it had a big ditch that I couldn’t see in June due to the growth of weeds. My drive through the ditch didn’t do my bumper any good at all. Fortunately it didn’t tear it off. Such are the travails of a rover.

• DM93bx — 13 QSOs with the first to W0ZF/R on FT8. This was a fleeting opening that soon went away.
• DM83xx — 5 QSOs, worked a few locals and W5AFY in Vernon, TX.
• DM84xq — 5 QSOs, same guys again from this spot. No 6 meter opening.
• DM94ab — 7 QSOs, same guys again and one rover that went by but didn’t work him again during the contest. Tried to get him off FT8 but no luck. Also discovered that I could work W5AFY on 432 as well as 6 and 2.

Sunday Good Conditions in Lousy Weather

After spending the night at my daughter’s place in Amarillo, I headed north into 40 mph winds and light mist with temps in the 50s. The wind and road speed tested the rooftop antennas. But they held together and I found all my previously scouted grid spots.

• DM85xv — 18 QSOs mostly FT8 with a couple to K5TR on MSK. Six meters was starting to work.
• DM95aw — 40 QSOs most on SSB. Six was really open and I was able to run on SSB, making a high number of contacts.
• DM86xc — 43 QSOs all on FT8. The band was still open but I couldn’t quite hold a CQ frequency and instead tried FT8. On this mode I was getting 4 to 5 responses to every CQ, so I worked them as quickly as I could.
• DM96ac — 8 QSOs FT8 and MSK. This spot was only about a mile down the road, but six meters went away before I got there.

Saturday I was able to activate all my grid spots on time. Sunday I was arriving just a little bit early and leaving early. I closed up shop about 4 PM on Sunday as the bands were dead, and there’s little to no 2m or 70cm activity in that area.

Overall Impressions

Dan, W5AFY, located in Vernon, TX, EM04, was my contest hero for working me in all 8 grids on 6 meters — a clean sweep. In most grids we also worked on 2 meters and later on 70cm as well. Thank you, Dan.

My station worked well except for Sunday when the 6 meter balun I used opened up on the drive north in the wind. I replaced it with a coil of coax — which was tricky standing on top of the car in the wind, mist, and cold. The new power system worked well, as did the rig and the computer set up.

I also had a great deal of fun along the way. While the band conditions were not that great on Saturday, I still enjoyed myself. Sunday during the openings was a blast and I also gained perspective on what it’s like working a pile up on FT8 and demonstrated that SSB can work fabulously as well when the conditions are good and people are on the air in that mode.

Thanks to everyone who provided me with QSOs and I hope I provided you with a multiplier or more along the way.