W3DHJ/rover
VHF Contesting on S.E. Colorado's
High
Plains
DM77
DM78
DM87 DM88 
Where
the rovers and
antelope play.....
In
mid-2005 I moved from a 'rare' grid (
DM68mn)
to a not-so-rare grid
(
DM78rf). I always had a ball
working 6 Meter openings and handing out
my grid from the previous QTH
in Gunnison, Colorado. I still
enjoy
working the openings, but I
was looking for that 'extra something' to add to my
VHF operating
activities.
It turns out my new QTH is not
that far from several rare grid squares:
DM77, DM87, and
DM88. In a survey published in 2007 (
PDF:
The Most Wanted Grids of the 488 ConUS Grids),
DM87 was listed as the
#23 Most Wanted Grid of the 488 grids in
the ConUS.
DM88 came in at
#80, and
DM77 even shows up as
#127.
Even before the survey, I had decided to add rover'ing
to my bag of tricks.
Late in the Fall of 2005 I scouted out a route which would allow me to
rover
in the 4-corner region of
DM78, DM77,
DM87, and
DM88
(38°N
104°W). This is all out in ranchland south of Fowler &
Manzanola, and south of
US Highway 50.
In the 2006
ARRL June VHF Contest
I went out and played
rover
on
Sunday. I did "ok" -- for selected definitions of "ok". I learned what
'stuff' I needed and what 'stuff' was more nuisance than help, and I
revised my
route and operating locations somewhat.
In the 2006 July
CQ WW VHF Contest
I started my rovering on Saturday
during a return trip from Gunnison to Pueblo (
DM68 → DM78).
Then on Sunday I went out and rovered around the four corners
of
DM78 - DM77 - DM87 -
finishing up in
DM88. This
time I did
Way Better than "ok". Propagation was better than it had been back in
June - with contacts to both coasts being made at times on both days.
Not only were
folks excited to get the extra multiplier(s) for the contest, but many,
many were ecstatic to add the new grids to their
VUCC total. Wow!, the
pileups on Sunday!! At times it
was like 20M on Field Day! A
Great Time Was Had By All. I was taking a
liking to this rover stuff!
On both days in my first two contests as rover
I proceeded
in the sequence:
DM78 -
DM77 - DM87 - and
DM88.
Upon reflection, I decided to rove in that
sequence on the Saturday(s) of a contest, and then reverse the route on
the Sunday(s) of the contest. (Or, versy-vicey) That-a-way I may
re-jigger the odds of
getting propagation from any one of my grids to all comers. Anyway,
that's what I started doing with the 2006
ARRL September VHF Contest --
and, all in all, I think it was A Good Thing.
Of course, events sometimes overtake planning. In the Jun'09 contest I
included
DM79 and
DM89 in my Saturday outing. And, in
the Jul'09 contest I did my rove from Gunnison back to Pueblo via a
circuitous route:
DM68 - DM67 - DM77
- DM78.
I'll update this page as I gain more experience, take better
pictures, make equipment changes, and (surprisingly) collect
"wallpaper" (see the bottom of the page.)
Environment
It's lonely out there! At least there's no Big Distractions for a
rover.
During the times the band dies down, there is usually something
to observe through the binoculars:
antelope,
coyote,
fox, rabbit,
prairie dogs, tarantula, snakes, lizards, turkey buzzards, pheasant,
grouse,
quail,
hawks,
and
eagles. (Well, ok, maybe I don't use the binoculars to
watch
the
tarantulæ.
HI!HI!)
Depending on the month and on the recent precipitation, the flora can
also
be quite a sight on the Colorado high plains: yucca,
flowers,
cactus.
As well, depending on drought and recent precipitation,
wildland fires
happen. Nearly all the pictures on these pages were taken within 15
miles of each other (38°N, 104°W). In some you'll see fairly
green, lush backgrounds; in some it's toasty brown.
The
sunsets
can be awesome. So, too, can be the
thunderstorms!
During the June, July and September contests, I don't believe I ever
see more than a
half-dozen vehicles during my Saturday-Sunday outings. And that's been
only at my
DM78 and
DM77
(paved road) sites. I've
never seen
signs of
humanity while at my
DM87 and
DM88 sites.
All of this rover'ing
is in
Otero
County.
I would like to thank the county commissioners of
Otero County for the excellent shape I find the gravel roads in! (And,
for cleverly locating their county at 38°N, 104°W.
HI!HI!)
Equipment & Operating
Contestting on just two bands --
6M
and
2M -- makes it simple for
a
single-op (solo) rover.
(And,
if you ever saw me in action, simple is what I need.
HI!HI!) Higher
bands really don't interest
me
and I'll probably never add them. And, beginning in 2008, the
ARRL
recognized my proclivities by introducing the
ROVER-LIMITED class in their VHF
contests.
My mobile setup is not something any
real
rover would admire.
For
6M
it is simply an
IC-706 MKII
at 100W into my
homebrew
6M Halo.
For
2M it is
the same
IC-706 MKII
at 20W into a
Mirage amplifier that
gives me approx
110W out piped into a stack of hombrew
2M
Halos. (Real Soon Now there will be a web page here covering the
construction of my homebrew stacked
2M
Halos, too .)
For the 2007
ARRL Sep VHF Contest
I added the
N8XJK
12 Volt Boost Regulator.
That sucker is FANTASTIC! My
IC-706 MKII
(Hell,
everybody's IC-706)
transmits like a
squished rat when the supply voltage drops below something like 12.5999
VDC. All my previous rovering involved driving to a grid site
- parking - and contesting for 5-10 minutes with the engine off before
someone would remark that my signal was distorted. Then, I had to start
the engine at high idle and suffer. I'm sure I missed a few very weak
signals due to that problem.
NO MORE!! Now I drive to a grid site - park - and operate for
at least 1 hour with the engine
OFF. Being
curious with First Use, I was monitoring both the input and output
volts on the thing. The output held at a stiff 13.8 VDC, and the lowest
that the battery sagged (after a 1+ hour session in
DM87) was 11
volts.
Being a solo operator, I do not attempt contesting while underway. I'll
monitor while driving to the next grid site, and if I hear someone I
want to complete with, I'll pull over (if it is safe) and attempt the
QSO. Ergo my penchant for finding good sites where I can park and
operate for hours at a time.
I paper log. I have enough to fiddle with (and screw up) without adding
a computer to the mix. I enter my paper logs into
RoverLog
in the days after a contest.
I have learned (the Hard Way) to stay away from
all power
lines. The
QRN is almost
always unbearable, and there is no guarantee
that
conditions, if quiet
this time,
would remain so for the next contest. And, sigh...,
it seems that the microwave and cell-phone systems have already
locked up the 'best' spots -- which usually present
QRN and/or
QRM challenges.
Pictures
If you copy and paste the Lat-and-Longs into Google Earth, you'll be
taken to within 100 feet or so of my operating sites. (Notice
that I'm still driving a 1991 Mercury Tracer that still
gives me 38-42 MPG...) The narrative wrapped around the
pictures below outline my 'usual' Sunday route on contest weekends.
DM78xa 38°
02' N 104° 02.5' W
The
DM78
location is about 5.7 miles south of
U.S.
Highway 50 near
Fowler
on
2 Road.
This is the
last rise in the road before entering
DM77.
This is as far
as I can
pull off to the side - there being ditches on either side.
2 Road
is probably the longest paved, unused road I've ever come across.
HI!HI! 
DM77xw 37°
56.9' N 104° 02.5' W
Going another 7 miles or so down
2
Road bring me to my
DM77
location - the last good rise before there is a 'drop' into the
Apishapa River
valley -- just about 150 yards past a microwave tower to the east.
(Don't look for flowing water in the Apishapa "River"
bed.)
DM87bw 37°
55.8' N 103° 52.6' W
The
DM87
location is more remote. Taking
2
Road on south to its junction with
Colorado 10, I turn
east and go approx. 11 miles to mile marker 54 and turn south on
11
Road - a dirt, gravel road. Then I drive south for a
couple of miles to the "high point".
Des-o-late!
DM88bb 38°
02.95' N 103° 51.45' W
To move on to
DM88,
I retrace my
route back to
Colorado 10
and continue north on
11
Road. It is still all gravel road from here
on. After approx. 4.7 miles, I turn east on (unmarked)
DD Road. Then, after
a mile, I turn north on
12
Road for a mile and a half or so.
To
get back to civilization, it's 6
miles north on
12
Road to
Manzanola
and
U.S. Highway 50.
Then it's back west towards Pueblo
and the home QTH. The whole
rover'ing
distance - from home out and back
again - is 118 miles. Or, 236 miles for the weekend -- unless I do
something different on Saturday.
If anyone should attempt to (re)trace my route above, and if you should
come upon a
large
pile of peanut shells -- well, that's one of my spots.
HI!HI!
Here is a 170° fisheye lens view of my favorite DM87 site.
I wonder what this country might look like in the January
contest......
Is there any doubt why
DM87 is
a hard-to-confirm grid square?
Click here to view a 44 sec., 4.0MB, MPEG
video of my DM87 rover site.
Experiences /
Anecdotes
My tall tales, yarns, and whoppers were once all crammed into this web
page -- which is fairly large to begin with. No more. If you're not too
bored (yet), you can read over some of the experiences I've had while
contest rovering by clicking here:
Past Contests
My
rover
results since moving to S.E. Colorado:
Sometimes I amaze myself.
Constructive
comments and/or
discussions:
Last
updated: 25-Nov-09 
