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Chris Jacob
@Kaiser-Machead: Yeah, I know, but the limo up there doesn't look TOO different. I'm thinking a devoted car enthusiast could make the animated series Batmobile a reality. Get on it Leno!
It's already been said here, but to confirm, it's a ham operator participating in a rover operation, either for contesting or just for the hell of it. They usually find the highest points in rare-ish grid squares and operate from there.
Actually a pretty nice setup. He has a rotor so he can rotate the antennas. Most rovers I've seen simply point the car in the direction they want to point the antennas. Most of the antennas are directional, but the big semi-square one on the back is omni-directional.
I've been involved in a few rover operations myself with my dad in a vehicle that looked even weirder than that. People ALWAYS asked if we were storm chasers or UFO investigators.
I second, third, or whatever that this is clearly a ham radio operator setup for VHF and up rover operations. Just search Google Images for "ham radio rover" for similarly outfitted vehicles. When working "weak signal" in contest mode, you want highly directional signals to maximize your reach. From top to bottom, it looks like 902MHz, a 432MHz "halo" (for omni-directional work), maybe 222MHz, then 432MHz yagi for (for directional work), a pair of 146 and 432MHz circularly polarized yagis for satellite work, a dish on 2.4GHz, and like someone else said, the square halo is probably for 6 meters or 50MHz. Its a nicely done but not unseen setup for a well-funded radio geek.
It's someone setup to do "Rover" in the last VHF amateur radio contest.
Amateurs drive around the country side and work others from each grid square, counting each contact as a point. The antennas are for 50 Mhz, 144 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 440 Mhz, 2.4 Mhz and probably a few others.
I asked my dad who's a ham operator and builds his own antennas and here's his response:
"Yeah, easy answer. He's a ham and he has his car set up for an ARRL VHF/UHF competition. His vehicle would be called a "rover" for the contest. They usually drive to a series of high points and mountaintops in various different geographical divisions known as grid squares. Part of the competition is to score as many different ones as possible."
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[www.sessionmagazine.com]
12/15/09
Robin even has room to bring his date... er, special hetero friend.
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12/13/09
Actually a pretty nice setup. He has a rotor so he can rotate the antennas. Most rovers I've seen simply point the car in the direction they want to point the antennas. Most of the antennas are directional, but the big semi-square one on the back is omni-directional.
I've been involved in a few rover operations myself with my dad in a vehicle that looked even weirder than that. People ALWAYS asked if we were storm chasers or UFO investigators.
12/13/09
Hello? Hello?
12/14/09
[commfaculty.fullerton.edu]
12/13/09
12/13/09
Amateurs drive around the country side and work others from each grid square, counting each contact as a point. The antennas are for 50 Mhz, 144 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 440 Mhz, 2.4 Mhz and probably a few others.
12/13/09
12/13/09
"Yeah, easy answer. He's a ham and he has his car set up for an ARRL VHF/UHF competition. His vehicle would be called a "rover" for the contest. They usually drive to a series of high points and mountaintops in various different geographical divisions known as grid squares. Part of the competition is to score as many different ones as possible."
12/13/09
12/13/09