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The N6NB rover
page
Ever since the advent
of the Maidenhead grid square multiplier system in amateur radio, "roving"
(or "rovering" if you wish), has been popular.
Under the Maidenhead plan (so named because it was developed
at a conference in Maidenhead, England), the world is divided into geographic
units one degree of latitude high and two degrees of longitude wide.
Rovers travel to various grid squares during VHF/UHF radio contests.
What they do is akin to a road rally with amateur radio equipment aboard,
and it has enormous appeal to people who might not otherwise operate a
VHF contest.
Some amateurs spend months planning an itinerary that
will take them on a 1200-mile trek through 20 or more grid squares during
a contest. And rovers have dramatically increased the activity level
in sparsely populated areas, while providing otherwise unavailable multipliers
to fixed contestants. I've joined the club: the photos here
show several N6NB rover installations.
Although it's very popular, roving has been surprisingly controversial
for several reasons. For one, questions have been raised about rover
operating practices. Many rovers attempt to visit as many grid squares
as possible, a practice encouraged by the ARRL rules (which award an extra
multiplier for each grid square visited during the contest period).
That forces rovers to keep moving, never venturing far off the major highways
and rarely stopping to operate with directional antennas. If they
are to visit as many grid squares as possible, rovers have no choice but
to leave rare grid squares quickly and go on to grid squares that
are not rare. Some fixed operators say this makes it more
difficult to contact rovers in the rare and distant grid squares that they
visit, defeating one purpose of roving. There have also been perennial
complaints about two other practices: (1) "captive" rovers seeking
out only one or a few stations while they're in each grid square and making
little effort to be available to the general amateur community; and (2)
"grid circling" in which two or more rovers travel together and work each
other as they move around a point where four grids converge.
Some object to rovers working each other in several grid squares even if
they don't engage in "grid circling." Two rovers will often travel
together and work each other only once in a given grid square (as opposed
to working each other multiple times as first one then the other of them
circles around a grid convergence).
The rover scoring system has also been controversial.
The system has been revised four times, and some rovers are still not pleased
with the result. Originally, rover stations scored their
activity in each grid square separately. For a time QST magazine
listed all of these separate scores and didn't separate out rovers from
single operators. The separate scores were very low compared to single
operator scores, even if all of a station's scores were added up.
Rovers demanded better treatment. The response was a rover scoring
system, introduced in 1991, that some have called "megascoring."
The contacts and multipliers from all locations were aggregated and the
sums were then multiplied, producing much larger total scores. Even
though that produced an enormous increase in rover activity, the higher
scores stirred controversy, too.
A review of rover participation in VHF contests
in the three years before and after "megascoring" was introduced illustrates
just how much the recognition in QST and the new scoring opportunities
increased activity. In June, 1988, eight (8) rovers submitted logs.
In September, 1988, there were 11 rover logs. In June, 1989, 21 rover
logs were submitted, with 15 submitted in September, 1989. In June,
1990, there were 20 rover logs, with 13 in September, 1990.
Then roving exploded, aided by the new scoring
system. In June, 1991, the first with "megascoring," there were 50
rover entries--more than double the number the previous June. In
September, 1991, there were 30 rover entries, a 50% increase from a year
earlier. In June, 1992, there were 64 rover entries--another big
increase. September, 1992, attracted 46 rover logs. In June,
1993, there were 63 rover logs, with 62 in September, 1993--another very
large increase.
Although roving was booming, some opposed the new
scoring system.
To dramatize what they saw as the unfairness of
that system, four amateurs (two father and son teams) in New England went
roving in the January, 1993 VHF contest in two vehicles, working each other
on nine bands as they circled around the point where four grid squares
came together. Then they did the same thing at another convergence
of four grid squares. When the contest was over, each of the four
had amassed one and a quarter million points: four people in two
vehicles had scored five million points. The highest fixed station
score in that contest was about 300,000 points. Then the four added
their scores with those of fixed stations in their radio club, the Hampden
County Radio Assn., creating a club aggregate score more than triple
that of the perennial winner, the Mt. Airy VHF Club in Philadelphia.
The Mt. Airy Pack Rats had won the club aggregate competition every year
for more than 30 years, but the rover scoring system ended that tradition.
Fixed stations simply could not compete. A further irony was that
the Rochester VHF Group, the perennial number two club in the January contest,
also topped the Pack Rats that year--but got upstaged by four guys in two
vehicles. RVG's long-sought triumph in the club competition was not
to be--until later. (As QST magazine pointed out, though,
RVG's club aggregate score was also boosted by high-scoring rovers.)
The high scoring foursome (Stan Hilinski, KA1ZE, and his
son Kevin, NR1L, and Robert Cohen, K1CPJ, and his son Scott, KA1QAS) revolutionized
VHF rovering--and demonstrated what was possible. But because their
monster scores overwhelmed the traditional club competition, there was
an outcry for still another change in the scoring system, although many
rovers defended the "megascoring" system by arguing that it made the contests
a lot more fun and stimulated activity in many parts of the country.
The debate raged at club meetings and conventions, in petition-gathering
efforts and on the air.
After several years, ARRL reached a compromise:
rovers could continue to aggregate their QSO points, but they could count
each multiplier only once--with a single additional multiplier for each
grid square activated. This resulted in rover scores somewhat more
comparable to those attainable by fixed stations. However, it became
clear over the years that rovers can still achieve high scores, especially
when two or more rovers travel together so they all can work the rare multipliers
that they are handing out to others. By roving in tandem and sometimes
circling a four-grid convergence, rovers can amass scores that only the
top fixed single-operator stations can match. This has enabled some
rovers to achieve high scores even in sparsely populated areas where there
are no fixed stations active on the higher bands.
After the rules were changed a second time,
just about everyone thought the scoring record set by KA1ZE's team would
hold up indefinitely, but the mark only stood for six years.
Operating under the revised scoring
system, a team formed out of the legendary Grid Pirates multioperator contest
group, signing N3IQ/R, scored 1,391,942 points in the 1999 VHF SS.
Operators ND3F and WD8ISK (now K8ISK) roved in tandem with K8GP/R, operated
by K6LEW and KA3QPG, who posted a score of 827,372 points. The two
teams visited 15 grid squares and worked each other on an incredible 12
bands--and then set out to work everyone else they could hear in the activity-rich
northeast corridor.
Many other teams of rovers from coast to coast
have achieved good scores by roving in tandem. At least seven of
the top 10 rovers in 2004 VHF SS traveled with another rover. In
recent years rovers in Eastern Washington, Western Washington, Southern
California, the upper midwest, Rochester, NY and the high plains have all
scored 250K or more (often much more) by roving together.
This led to still more controversy and another
major revision of the rover rules. In 2008, ARRL added two more categories
to the rover competition. In the unlimited category, rovers
may work each other freely and may even "rove" by operating at two or more
fixed stations in different grid squares during the contest weekend.
Large groups may also operate together in a bus, for instance, in the unlimited
category. (The normal limit is two licensed operators.) In
the classic rover category, rovers may only work any one other rover
a maximum of 100 times and may not operate from a fixed station because
the rules require that the rover vehicle transport the entire station,
including antennas. A third limited rover category was added
in 2008. This is a category for rovers who operate on no more than
four bands (any four bands at first) with a maximum power that is
the same as in the single operator low-power category (i.e., 200 watts
on six and two meters). In 2009, the limited category was restricted
to the
lowest four bands in any VHF/UHF contest.
Limited rovers are allowed to work any other one rover a maximum of 100
times.
The three-category rover system remains controversial,
with some contending that rovers can still achieve excessively high scores
by roving together. Some have called for still more changes in the
rover rules--even a return to the original scoring system where activity
in each grid square was scored separately. It remains to be seen
how that might affect overall contest activity--and whether the resulting
low scores might cause roving to revert to its original status as primarily
a means by which some fixed stations could boost their scores.
Whatever the pros and cons of the scoring system, rover operating is still
popular in VHF contests. Everyone has been doing it, including me.
The photos on this page show several N6NB rover
stations. The first one, built around an Isuzu 4X4, was used with
good success in the late 1990s. Its main innovation was a method
of setting up relatively high directional antennas quickly. It took
not more than two minutes to go to the operating position with the antenna
stack upright (top photo) from the travel position (photo above).
The mast was secured to a rotator on the rear bumper of the truck with
one bolt. When the bolt was removed, the mast tilted forward into
a cradle on the truck. Then a coaxial cable and another bolt were
removed to slide the 6-meter antenna off the mast and into a rooftop cradle.
For optional high-power operation, starting a gasoline generator took another
minute or so.
This installation worked well for someone who wanted
to go to just a few grid squares and spend considerable time operating
in each one, perhaps from a superior off-the-highway location. That
allowed more people to contact a few rare grid squares, but it precluded
visiting 15 or 20 grid squares during a contest. In the June, 1998
VHF contest, the N6NB/N6MU team had the top score on the west coast, but
we only visited eight grid squares.
The second rover station, in use during the 2000s, utilizes a Ford E350
15-passenger Supervan with all but the front seats removed. Its antenna
system is similar to the one on the Isuzu but with a longer mast to take
advantage of the greater length of the van. This permits excellent
separation between antennas for various bands, minimizing interaction.
This rover station made its debut during the 2003 January VHF SS contest
on
the east coast. The van was driven from California to the northeast
and back just for the contest--a 6,500-mile trip that may rank as the longest
roving expedition ever in total miles driven before, during and after the
contest. In the photo here, the van is shown at an overlook on Interstate
80 near Hackettstown in western New Jersey (FN20). Was it worth a
6,500-mile trip? Any dedicated amateur radio contester knows the
answer to that question! It was also a sentimental journey--N6NB/1
on Mt. Equinox, VT, set national scoring records in the June and September
VHF contests as a single operator in 1979-1980.
The photos immediately below show the N6NB/N6MU
tandem roving team that had a combined score of almost 700,000 points in
the 2003 September VHF contest. One 10-band station was installed
in the Ford van; another 10-band station was installed in an SUV.
One of the highlights was reaching CN90, grid #16, 10 minutes before the
end of the contest. Perhaps the low point came the night before the
contest when the SUV that was earmarked to be the second rover vehicle
had a transmission failure. Starting at 9 p.m. on Friday night, John
(N6MU) and I built a roof platform for his Suzuki Sidekick and moved the
entire station over from the out-of-commission SUV. We did a mini-roving
expedition at 1 a.m. to test everything (it worked, making it possible
to go ahead with the original contest plan).
Further down this page there are several photos
of the three-rover January, 2004 operation that produced a combined
score of more than three million points, with N6MI/R, N6MU/R and N6NB/R
each topping a million points. The third 10-band station was built
during the fall of 2003. The January contest was the culmination
of many months of planning and building. There are also photos of
the June, 2004 "high plains expedition," during which three 10-band stations
roved through 20 grid squares ranging from Midland, TX to the Nebraska
border, with N6NB setting a new June record of 1.29 million points.
Further down there are photos from the January, 2005 contest, when N6NB/R
(operating with W6XD), N6ZZ/R (with N2IC) and N6MU/R (with K2MM) visited
22 grid squares in New Mexico and west Texas, scoring more than two million
points each.
Altogether, N6NB/R activated 52 grid squares
and made 7,184 contacts with 590 different stations during six contests
between January, 2003 and January, 2005. Many of the stations were
worked on several bands from several grid squares.
September
(2003) photos...

N6NB, N6MU and sports car rally driver Rob Hughes (left to right) pose
in CN80 with the two rover vehicles used in September, 2003. Having
a seasoned rally driver along made a huge difference in our pace.
N6NB/R and N6MU/R finished first and second nationally, setting a new scoring
record. Rob later became KG6TOA.
In this photo, taken by Rob Hughes (KG6TOA), the N6NB rover van is silhouetted
against a desert sunset in DM15, with the Tehachapi Mountains in the background.
N6NB's non-portable contest station is on the mountain ridge just to the
left of the van.

Here's John (N6MU) in his car, which was converted into a rover vehicle
at the eleventh hour before the 2003 September VHF contest. This
10-band station included two FT-100D transceivers, a 222 MHz FM transceiver
and transverters for 903, 1296, 2304, 3456, 5760 and 10368 GHz. On
the roof there are directional antennas on a G-800SA rotor for all bands
except six meters (where a loop is on a separate mast).
January
(2004) photos...

In January, 2004, the rover team grew to three 10-band stations, shown
here in CM99. At left is the Isuzu Rodeo used by N6MU/R, with driver
Bill Reese beside the car. In the foreground is the Ford Explorer
used by N6MI/R. Behind it is the van used by N6NB/R and KG6TOA.
Each of the three rover stations scored more than one million points in
the 2004 VHF Sweepstakes.

After the contest, the group did another photo session at the Red Bluff
sign in CN80, this time with three vehicles. In the foreground, Scott
Bovitz, N6MI, shoots video of the scene as Bill Reese stands beside the
Rodeo used for rover station #3.

Before the contest began, the group posed at N6NB's house in Tustin, CA
(DM13). From left: Wayne Overbeck, N6NB; Rob Hughes, KG6TOA;
John Desloge, N6MU; J. Scott Bovitz, N6MI; and Bill Reese.
June
(2004) high plains expedition photos...

In June, 2004, we roved from Midland, TX northward through the high plains
to western Nebraska, activating 20 grid squares. Here the van and
two rented Ford Escapes are parked together for a photo opportunity beside
a cornfield near Dumas, TX at the convergence of grids DM85, DM86, DM95
and DM96. We drove the van from the Los Angeles area to Texas before
the contest and rented the two Escapes in Midland, outfitting them with
10-band rover stations that had been hauled from California in and on the
van. N6NB and KG6TOA roved in the van, while N6VI used the Escape
in the center and N6MU the Escape at right.

Rancher Brooks Brown, who owns about 1,000 acres at the DM85-DM86-DM95-DM96
convergence, stopped by to say hello. He was delightfully hospitable,
but he suggested we were pushing our luck by using three Fords for the
expedition. The red truck at left is his.

We stopped among amber waves of grain for this photo opportunity
near Jetmore, KS, at the convergence of grids DM97, DM98, EM07 and EM08.
The farm roads in the high plains turned out to be surprisingly good.
A few hours after this photo was taken, our three stations were in Nebraska
after a successful 800-mile run through 20 grid squares during the contest.
N6MU, N6NB and N6VI all had scores over a million points, unprecedented
for rovers in the June contest.

KG6TOA took this photo of the van on a hill overlooking St. George, Utah,
near the end of the 4,000 mile trip to the midwest and back. The
van is carrying three complete 10-band antenna systems, 12 transceivers,
15 microwave transverters and an assortment of amplifiers.
January,
2005: Three rovers, 6.5 megapoints
The January, 2005 VHF contest was a memorable
event for many participants. The northern and eastern states experienced
near-blizzard conditions, with impossibly high snow-induced noise levels.
Some rovers courageously went afield in this horrible weather, but the
scores of both fixed stations and rovers were understandably lower than
usual. We roved in New Mexico and West Texas and experienced surprisingly
good weather for January--no snow, only moderate winds, and clear skies
much of the time. We visited a total of 22 grid squares and traveled
1,000 miles during the contest, amassing three scores over two million
points--the first ever to exceed two megapoints in VHF SS. Here's
the breakdown:
Call
Qs Q pts Mult Score
N6NB/R (+W6XD) 2040
9098 242 2,201,716
N6ZZ/R (+N2IC) 1957
8943 242 2,164,206
N6MU/R (+K2MM) 1937
8900 242 2,153,800
These scores are directly attributable to the
talents of the seasoned contest operators who joined us for this venture.
It quickly became clear why they're so successful in HF contests.
One of the highlights was spanning some seemingly
impossible paths, working over high hills on 10 Ghz. Another was
working W5LCC 27 times from seven grid squares, including Qs on 1296 from
five grid squares. And we worked K5RHR 15 times (thanks for making
Lubbock and Albuquerque so workable, guys).

This photo was taken just after we arrived in Alamogordo, NM. N6ZZ's
Blazer had not yet been outfitted, but that would soon change.
Here are N6MU (left) and K2MM ready to go on Saturday morning just
before the contest.
N6ZZ (left) and N2IC operated in Phil's Blazer, now outfitted with
antennas for 10 VHF+ bands.

For N6NB (left) and W6XD, who operated in the van, this contest was notable
in another way: it marked the first time in 20 years that neither
of them was attending an ARRL Board of Directors meeting that weekend.
Both had been there/done that and were happy to leave that responsibility
to two other contesters, N6AA, the new Southwestern Division director,
and AA7A, the new vice director.
January,
2006: Three megapoint-plus scores in two days, door to door

John Desloge, N6MU, points to the south toward Sacramento from CM99, the
northernmost point on the January, 2006 route followed by W6XD/R (operating
in the Ford van), N6MU/R (in the Subaru Baja) and K6VCR/R (in the Ford
F-150 4x4). With John are Rob Hughes, KG6TOA (left) and Hank Feilen
(right). Art Goddard, W6XD, made almost 400 random contacts with
other stations besides N6MU and K6VCR during the contest and had a total
score of nearly 1.2 megapoints. Both N6MU and K6VCR also made several
hundred random contacts and topped one megapoint, demonstrating what's
possible during a two-day expedition. The group started the contest
in Orange County, Calif. at 11 a.m. (PST) Saturday and arrived back about
1 a.m. Monday morning.

In this photo Rob (KG6TOA, left), Tom (K6VCR), Hank and John (N6MU) pose
during a break in CM99. Art (W6XD) didn't get into the picture because
he was still operating in the van. This picture was taken by N6NB
Sunday afternoon just before the group headed back south via Concord (CM87)
and several grids along the I-5 corridor.

In addition to the original operating console in the rear of the Ford van,
a second console between the two front seats was added in January, 2006
so two operators could work simultaneously.

Using the two consoles, W6XD and N6NB operate at the Mojave convergence
(photo by K6VCR).

"Is this pack roving or what?" asks N6MU (in blue shirt) as KE6HPZ (left),
N6DN and N6NB gather around N6TEB's Ford Excursion in the Mojave Desert.
At the time, six 10-band rovers were all at the Mojave convergence (K6VCR/R,
N6DN/R, N6MU/R, N6RMJ/R, N6TEB/R and W6XD/R). There was a lot of commotion
even on the microwave bands as we all worked each other--and everyone else
available.

Here's Paul, N6DN, operating his 5.7 and 10 GHz system at the Mojave convergence
(photo by K6VCR)

Dave, N6TEB talks with N6DN. Does Dave have enough coaxial cables
running into his car?

Rob Hughes, KG6TOA (left), who got his call sign specifically to take part
in roving expeditions, chats with his sports car rally buddy Hank Feilen,
who is thinking of getting an amateur radio license for the same reason.
They teamed up with K6VCR and N6MU, respectively. Both Tom and John
thought having a "designated driver" with credentials like that was a real
luxury.
January,
2007: An adventure with four rover stations

It's amazing how these rover expeditions keep growing. In January,
2007, four stations traveled together from Orange County to Arbuckle, Calif.
for VHF SS. The group included K6MI and N6NB in the Ford F-150 camper
(at left), W6YLZ in the Lexus RX-330, W6TE and WA6LUT in the Subaru Baja,
and KG6TOA and KI6AAY in the Ford E350 van, all shown here at the Madera
convergence.
Miguel Ramirez, W6YLZ
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Bryan Sorensen, KI6AAY (in the passenger seat), and Rob Hughes, KG6TOA
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John Morrice, K6MI
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Dave Smith, W6TE, with Larry Bettencourt, WA6LUT, operating in back
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Here's another desert sunset, this one captured at the Mojave convergence
on Jan. 20, 2007 by W6YLZ, who managed to run up an impressive score operating
alone but also took time to notice and photograph the spectacular scenery.
January,
2009: Eight stations in the field
These rover expeditions have continued to grow as the rules evolved.
By January, 2009, we had eight complete 10-band stations available--and
all eight were on the road. W6TE (with WA6LUT part of the way) and
W6YLZ were in the unlimited category in which it's both acceptable and
practical to "grid circle." In the original category, grid circling
is not a good strategy (with only a limited number of QSOs allowed with
any other rover, the savvy way to use those Qs is for multipliers--not
to work anyone more than once in a given grid square). We had four
rovers in the original category: AF6O/R, KK6KK/R (with KG6TOA), N6NB/R
and W6XD/R (who was the top-scoring rover overall a year earlier in the
2008 VHF SS). This time we also had a talented newcomer in the limited
rover category: Carrie Tai, now W6TAI. So who was the eighth
rover? Well, N6TEB bought a new Ford diesel truck shortly before
the contest and borrowed one of the 10-band "toolbox" stations because
he hadn't yet had time to install his own excellent station in his new
truck. Dave met us at the Bissell (Mojave) convergence and worked
us on 10 bands there, but he did not travel on from there with us.

Before the contest, Carrie (W6TAI) hoists an equipment box and antenna
system atop a camper. This unit, which includes transverters and
amplifiers for four microwave bands as well as antennas for six bands,
weighs about 50 pounds, far more than you might suspect from the way she's
swinging it around.

Here are eight 10-band VHF+ stations in one place. At left are the
original two rover stations, stored on red "Radio Flyer" wagons (of course).
They live in a storage building and are rolled out for mounting in/on a
vehicle. At right there are four "toolbox" stations, each containing
transverters (and in some cases, amplifiers) for all bands 902-10368 MHz.
Each can be mounted on a roof platform with a rotor or placed in a truck
bed for use. Each has a console with VHF+ transceivers, a rotor control
and the remote control unit for the toolbox. The console is typically
placed on the passenger seat for one-person operations. At right,
the van and truck (whose antennas are barely visible) house two more 10-band
stations. Altogether, there are 54 transverters and 24 transceivers
in the eight stations, with a number of amplifiers ranging in power from
a few watts on 10 GHz to full kilowatts on six and two meters.

This Ford van is almost identical to the 1995 Ford van it replaces--except
that it has 137,000 fewer miles on it and it's 13 years newer. It
was the contest home of KK6KK and KG6TOA--who deserves an award for driving
the old van about 10,000 miles during previous contests. At right
is W6XD's Ford Escape, outfitted with a toolbox station for 10 bands.

In this photo at the Madera convergence, the stations operated by (from
left) W6YLZ, W6XD, AF6O and W6TE are in view.

In this in-motion photo, taken by W6TAI from another car, N6NB/R operates
on 1296 MHz while driving about 60 mph. Um, maybe more than that...

Carrie (W6TAI) poses with her rover setup in Shell Beach (CM95) the day
after the contest. She was first licensed as KI6UZV 12 days before
the contest and received her vanity call four days after the contest.
She drove and operated alone but had mentoring from several longtime radio
amateurs. None of them had ever seen a newcomer learn more quickly
how to operate a contest or aim a microwave dish to find weak signals.
Carrie holds a graduate degree in urban planning and works in that field.
A postscript: Phil Goetz, N6ZZ, one of the
world's most respected contesters, passed away in early 2007, barely two
years after his two-million-point rover expedition in Texas and New Mexico.
Marty
Woll, N6VI, went on to become the vice director of the ARRL Southwestern
Division in 2008. Art Goddard, W6XD, published a book
on the history of Costa Mesa with his wife, Mary Ellen, and is now doing
speaking engagements and book signings as an author. Carrie Tai,
W6TAI, moved from technician to general and then on to an amateur extra
class license in the four months following her January, 2009 debut in amateur
radio. Dave Smith, W6TE, headed up the Echoes of Apollo celebration
to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1969 lunar landing by activating the
150-foot Stanford dish on 1296 MHz e.m.e.
-Compiled by Wayne Overbeck, N6NB
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