Here is my route for the 2009 VHF contest. I am still struggling with an easy to use program to draw routes on maps that include grid squares and are readable. As you can see, I haven't found one yet.

Here is my temporary schedule:

Start on the top of Albuquerque's west mesa, this should have pretty good radio horizons in all directions but west, where it will be mediocre

DM64 at Pajarito Road

1800Z - 1845Z

A short hop north to Paseo del Volcan on 9 mile hill

DM65

1900Z - 1945Z

The above 2 sites are only a few miles apart.

Then on I40 to Prewitt NM, a good site on Highway 412 right befor you drop off to Bluewater Lake and good radio horizons to the North and South, OK to the West and East

DM55

2130Z to 2215Z

Back to I-40, operating as I go and Holbrook, AZ

I will just kiss the corner of DM54 on the way, and if I can find a place to stop I will, but it doesn't look like much is there. No matter as I will hit DM54 on Sunday

DM44

0015Z to 0100Z

Back on I-40 to Flagstaff and

DM45

0230Z until the Band drops

We will spend the night in Flagstaff and I will operate in the motel parking lot until the band folds. Or I fold. The next morning we will hit the road at 1300Z on the road to east entrance Grand Canyon. Sunday will be a long day, so I intend to operate only while in motion, or with brief stops only.

We will travel to the east entrance of the Grand Canyon to give Peter, WA7JTM his own square:

DM46

1445Z

on to South entrance Grand Canyon to give Peter the grid he worked in before the contest,

DM36

1515Z

then to Williams in

DM35

1630Z

Back to Flagstaff and

DM45

1845Z,

Backtracking East to Holbrook

DM 44 at 2015

Off of I-40 and Southeast to Saint Johns, AZ

DM54 at 2130

Then Northeast to Gallup and

DM55 at 0000Z

East on I-40

DM65 at 0045Z

Home to DM65 -Cedar Crest

DM65 0245Z

Expect deviations from this plan, particularly if the band is wide open or if it is closed.

The second day is ambitious , but I think it is doable. If all goes well, I will hit 9 grids.

Here is the lineup

50 MHz 100 watts, loop in motion, 2 element Yagi at stops

144 MHz 100 Watts 3 element Yagi in motion, 6 element at stops

222 MHz, 3 element Yagi in motion, 6 element at stops

432 MHz, 4 element Yagi in motion, 10 element at stops

1296 MHz 10 Watts, 10 element Yagi

With the addition of 1296, I will be moving up to the Classic Rover Division this contest . This will make me less competitive nationally, more competitive in the Rocky Mpuntain Division.

Hope for E-skip, listen for the weak ones. - Duffey.

I am in Estes Park,  Colorado for the Rocky Mountain Division ARRL Convention, HamCon 2009. I drove up from New Mexico yesterday. The trip gave me the chance to see how the TS-2000X works in the car. I put the six meter square loop, homebrew, on the mast in traveling configuration and took off. It was to be a 6M shakedown cruise for the June VHF Contest.

I was fortunate to have sporadic E propagation off an on during the day as I drove east and north through DM64, DM65, DM74 (just barely), DM75, DM76,  Dm77, and DM79and gave several people new grids. I worked N6ZE from DM74, DM75, and DM76 for  a straight. I think DM74 was a new one for him. 

I also worked N7KA from DM77, which is a nice bit of troposcatter for my antenna. The TS-2000X gave a good account of itself, although I am still getting used to its many features. The noise blanker is quite effective and I appreciated when I drove through urban areas. 

The picture above shows KK6MC/r parked at the Estes Park Brewery. The bartender, Lucien, thought it unusual enough to take the picture above and show it around the bar. The HamCon committee was meeting there and he thougth they might be interested in it. When he got to me, he sheepishly asked if I had a big antenna on the car. I said yes. He showed me the photo and I asked him to e-mail it to me. 

If you are interested in the loop, it is a half wave square loop fed with a closed stub that it is tapped to get a reasonable match. It is a  variation of this design:

< http://www.neasmn.org/squalo/squalo.htm >

I built it from 1/2 inch aluminum U-channel instead of copper pipe so that it would be light enough for mobile use. The side pieces are screwed together at the corners  with self tapping metal screws. The whole thing was a bit floppy, so I put a fiberglass rod from a driveway marker across it to reinforce it, and also a shorter piece across the open end of the stub. 

It all works OK, but the 2 element Yagi I put up when I stop blows it away.

I will be returning to Cedar Crest on Sunday along the same route, so look for me on six.  - Duffey