We have more interests than we can reasonably pursue. This dilemma leads to one of two approaches to living a happy life: 1) some people attempt, to the exclusion of other interests, to use all their energy, resources and time to pursue one goal or activity, 2) while others prefer an a la carte approach and sample many different activities instead of giving their all to one particular endeavor. And it doesn’t particularly matter what the endeavor is- business, family or hobby- you’ll find one or the other approaches at work.
I’m an a la carte guy. Variety is the spice of life and there is a lot of it in amateur radio. Something I’d like more than a sample of, but simply can’t attempt with my current work schedule, is operating as a rover in a VHF and above contest. I’m relegated, like many amateurs, to reading about other folks exploits in the pages of QST, mailing lists or blogs. Some people attempt rovering with a devil may care attitude and seek nothing more than a good time, perhaps with a friend, on a mini road trip. Others do more than put on a perfunctory show and really plan things down to the very last detail.
And when I say plan to the last detail types who take rover competition seriously, I’m speaking in this case of Andy, K1RA’s recently well done missive about rovering in the Intergalactic Battle Jitney with John, W1RT. This is no ordinary attempt at rovering, as Andy’s in depth writeup details. This is the sort of data driven report that we should be reading in QST instead of the vapid contest reports which are further crippled by “space requirements.” We get the QST column Microwavelengths far too infrequently in my view; but if we need another article about building another regenerative receiver for 40 Meters, well, no problem!
In any case, please give Andy’s article a read. Well done!