KF2MR/RTHE NEVER ENDING JOURNEY OF BUILDING A ROVER

9/23/2017

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is

found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

HISTORY – WHERE I HAVE BEEN – ROVER 1.1 (2015)

• IC-7000 for 6m (100W), 2m (50W), 70cm (30W)

• Elecraft 222XV @25W driven by IC-7000

• TYT 4-band FM used on 6m, 2m, 70cm FM

• TYT 223.5 FM

• IC-1271A for 1296 MHz All Mode

• TK-981 for 927.5 MHz FM

• Powered from 12V deep cycle battery with DC-DC

trickle charger plugged into lighter outlet

• Several manual coax switches

• No external amplifiers

LOTS OF EARLY LESSONS LEARNED

January 2015

ROVER 2.1 – 7 BANDS – SORT OF…

902 and 1296 end

mount yagis pointed in

opposite directions.

Tripod for 2304

antenna (not mounted)

Coax management a

big problem.

Telescoping mast

means different

lengths for different

antennas and a rats

nest of coax soon

forms.

January 2016

ROVER 2.3 – 9 BANDS

“MODULAR” DESIGN - GETTING VERY COMPLICATEDSETUP TIME ~10 HOURS

ROVER 2.3 –

902/903 MODULAR SHELF

DEMI XVTR AND 40W AMP

ROVER 2.3 – 9 BANDS

FIBERGLASS MAST WAY OVERLOADED. GETTING HEAVY AND DANGEROUS !

FIRST 5G SETUP

January 2017 – Rover 2.5 - 10 Bands

PATH PROFILE FROM WB2BYP TO KF2MR/R

This path uses scatter over Baker hill

Very repeatable up to 10GHz (24GHz not yet attempted)

Same small 5GHz setup on both sides – WiFi antenna and ~200mW

MY WISH LIST FOR THE SUMMER 2017 ROVER 3 REBUILD:

• Rotor for 432-3456 (minimum)

• Reduce setup time to 4 hours or less

• Reduce weight of push up mast (or eliminate altogether)

• Add more power to 1296, 2304, 3456, and 5760 MHz

• Stabilize DC voltage

• Improve human factors and operating “comfort”

ROOF RACK DESIGN AND BUILD

ROOF RACK

• Aluminum from Online Metals.com

• 6061-T6 Aluminum used for good strength to weight ratio without the cost of

aircraft grades.

• Stainless steel hardware.

• Yaesu thrust bearing used to transfer most of the stress to the structure

minimizing wear on the rotor.

• Yaesu G-1000 DXA rotor selected. (Lots of margin left to use in other

applications – Like Field Day).

PORTABLE 12U RACK – TRYING DIFFERENT LAYOUTS

SKB-12U Roto Rack

902 AND 1296 SHELF CONSTRUCTION

902-915 MHz

MINI-CIRCUITS

FILTER

W6PQL

Sequencers

DEMI Amps

SG Labs Transverters

BUILDING OPERATING CONSOLE– CHECKING FIT & LAYOUT

50 – 3456 available from

operating console. Single

switch for PTT/IF switching.

Everything for these bands

within easy reach.

IC-7000 allows liaison on 2m

or 70cm while trying for

microwave contacts.

5G and 10G still operated

external to rover system. In this

setup, 5G is operated from FT-

290R by standing outside

passengers window. Not

convenient, but necessary for

antenna aiming.

ROVER 2.1 ROVER 3.0

This so called wireless hobby is not so wireless. While nothing has

really changed, the packaging is much neater now and the mess

is out of sight.

2304 AND 3456 SHELF CONSTRUCTION

Re-Learned how to tap metal for threads Microwave shelves use DEMI LED Indicator Kits. These

help with “At a glance” verification

Spectrian 30W driver board (eBay - Pyrojoseph) with heat sink and mounting angle

added. 3456 Amp is a 20W Stealth Microwave WiMax 3.5G amp also from eBay

Club member

recommending addition

of control power

indication to 2304/3456

shelf (Red LED) after

undersized control power

fuse blew in 902/1296

shelf. Plan is to retrofit

902/1296 rack

someday…

Green LED shows relay is

energized. Easy “at a

glance” checkouts during

setup.

3456 Amp has forward

and reverse power

detectors.

Struggled to finish before the 222+ contest. Certainly doesn’t look pretty, but works great!

CURRENT ROVER RADIOS

• IC-7000

• 6m @100W

• 2m @ 3W into a Mirage Amplifier

150W out

• 70cm @ 30W into a 100W RF

Concepts Amp

• FT-290R (Unmounted)

• 5GHz Kuhne Xvtr into 4W Kuhne

Amp

• 10Ghz Kuhne Xvtr into 2W Kuhne

Amp

• FT-817

• 222 Elecraft Xvtr into TE Systems 125W

amplifier

• 902/3 SG Labs Xvtr into 40W DEMI

Amplifier

• 1296 SG Labs Xvtr into 25W Kuhne Amplifier

• 2304 SG Labs Xvtr into 30W Spectrian

Driver amp

• 3456 Kuhne Xvtr into 20W Stealth Microwave

Amp

CURRENT ROVER ANTENNASFrequency Model Rated

Gain (dBi)

50 PAR Moxon 5.8

144 M2 7-Element Yagi 12.3

222 M2 5-Element Yagi 10.3

432 Cushcraft 11-Element Yagi 13.5

902 Directive Systems – 19-Element Loop Yagi 16.5

1296 Directive Systems – 25 Element Loop Yagi 17

2304 Directive Systems - 45 Element Loop Yagi 20

3456 Laird WiMAX Grid 20

5G L-Com Wifi Grid

L-Com Wifi 24” Dish

23

29

10G ARR Horn

Procom 18” Dish

17

29

“SINGLE SWITCH” OPERATION

• One 2P6T rotary switch addresses PTT and IF relay switching

• Current build requires manual switching of FT-817 to address various IF frequencies

• 28, 29, 144, 145, 434 MHz for various transverters

• Arduino controller design has been tested to send CAT commands to adjust frequency

based on switch position (more on this later…)

Elecraft XV222 Transverter

70cm - RF Concepts 4-310

(100W)

1.25m - TE Systems (125W)

IC-7000 Body

2m - Mirage 2210G

(150W)

Power Switch &

Aux. IF connections

For Future Use

DC POWER SYSTEM

2 x 6V 216Ah

Golf Cart

Batteries

System Fuse

TG Electronics 40A

Battery Booster

Blue Sea

6 – position

Fuse Block

Shunt for

measuring

current

#8 Cable to

vehicle battery

#10 Cable

For op. console

& inverter

ROVER 3.0 (JUNE 2017) – NOT QUITE FINISHED YET

Worked long into the night and

early morning to put a station on

the air for June 2017. Working

on 50-1296 MHz.

Moxon used on 2m – Could not

find mounting hardware for 7-

element yagi !

ROVER 3.1 – 2017 UHF/222+ DISTANCE CONTEST

Roof rack now contains 222

through 3456. Very little

difference (if any) noted

between longer yagis on

222/432 and shorter yagis.

I anticipate keeping this

setup for the roof rack for

the foreseeable future.

New 5G setup with 24”

WiFi dish (left)

10G setup with 18” dish

(right)

CURRENT TESTING PROCESS – AFTER LEARNING…

• All bands from 50-2304 tested for SWR and Power Out

• Daiwa 144-432 200W meter

• Daiwa 900-2.3G 20W meter with 3dB 50W attenuator

• One band at a time tested and then antenna reconnected

• Local beacons on 50,144,222, and 432 heard from driveway. 1296 beacon

heard from rover locations.

• Lesson learned – Connect EVERYTHING needed while still home (Power cords,

PTT lines, Key, antennas, whatever...)

STORED READY FOR USE

STATUS - MY WISH LIST FOR THE SUMMER 2017 ROVER 3 REBUILD:

• Rotor for 432-3456 (minimum) – COMPLETE 222-3456

• Reduce setup time to 4 hours or less – NOT YET – 4.5 Hours – Should be able to

complete by pre-sorting and labeling coax and pre-mounting 6m/2m antenna to

mast

• Reduce weight of push up mast (or eliminate altogether) - COMPLETE

• Add more power to 1296, 2304, 3456, and 5760 MHz – COMPLETE

• Stabilize DC voltage - COMPLETE

• Improve human factors and operating “comfort” - COMPLETE

OK, BUT HOW WELL DOES IT PERFORM?Band QSOs Grids

50 44 12

144 68 17

222 45 14

432 52 13

902 24 11

1296 25 11

2.3G 17 10

3.4G 12 7

5G 2 2

10G 3 3

Grids Activated 4

Total 292 104

Score 61,256

September 2017 VHF Contest

Best total grid count ever

OPERATING PRACTICES

• Magnetic signs help to eliminate most

attention and questions.

• Use known rover locations. Word of

mouth, old N2MH roversites, web

research

• Learn and use CW (30% of my grids)

• Use good headphones

• 500Hz CW filter

• Have Fun – Rover Lunch, Multi-Op Visits

• Voice/CW keyer for calling CQ

ASSISTANCE I USE

• Internet Based / ON4KST

• Despite great elevations, cell coverage for data is NOT guaranteed

• Requests can easily become overwhelming

• Only used after calling CQ, several minutes of S&P, and local activity dried up

• Logout when busy so that others don’t get frustrated when I don’t respond

• All locations I use can send and receive text messages

• Excellent for known serious contesters who are in the seat 14 hours a day. Not always immediate, but

skeds setup within 15 minutes.

• Also good for club members or locals who want to help but don’t want to spend much time

• Setup time and liaison frequency

• Phone is not monitored normally and random text messages not heard/seen for many minutes

• APRS and APRS-IS attempted for > 1 year – Discontinued. No evidence it was helping.

• Phone calls do not work well in a rover – Not recommended for liaison unless no other choice

STRATEGIES I USE

• Establish a route that ensures paths to other microwave capable rovers in grids that I do not

visit

• Analyze past logs, contest results database and line scores to see who has microwave capable

stations, who the big guns are, and who is consistently active

• Personally ask club members and friends to get on the air

• Setup “Target” list of stations, bands available, grids, calling frequency, bearings for the big

stations – Use VHFContesting list to help add to this.

• Be able to move quickly – 10 minute setup, 5 minute teardown.

• Use FM – Dedicated FM rigs and vertical omnis for 50-1296 MHz – Call CQ on 146.55 MHz

• Site conflicts happen – Communicate to local rovers in advance and have a contingency plan

• Leverage contacts after Rover Lunch – 50-1296 MHz FM for quick contacts – Loaner HTs

• VHF/UHF/Microwave contesting is all about experimenting, building, learning,

and growing in a competitive environment. WINNING should be the

consequence and not the goal.

• Compete against yourself and use others as motivation to do better

• Make it a goal to recruit just one new person per year to try it out, then

support that person with all of your effort in at least one contest, even at the

expense of your score. Even if just half stick with it, they will pay you back

x10 those points you may have lost.

• Stay positive when talking about the contest, highlight things that went well.

Remember that someone listening to the net or reading your posts, emails, and

soapbox will be influenced (for better or worse) by what you say publicly.

THANK YOU