Hi gasoline prices don't stop HF Mobile and VHF Rover Operators

By Jamie Dupree NS3T 

You hear the refrain in VHF contests:

"Rovers are the key for many these days" - Jeff Klein K1TEO

And much the same in state QSO parties:

"If it were not for mobiles, the QSO party would be a disaster." - H.J. Kessell W2LHL

Just as regular Americans don't seem to be altering their driving habits, even as the average price for a gallon of gasoline goes well over $3, ham radio ops who travel the roads for fun aren't letting the extra cost stop them either.

"It's an annoyance, but not a deterrent" says Art Goddard W6XD.

That sentiment was repeated over and over to radio-sport.net by ops who go mobile on HF and rover on the VHF side. Prices may be high, but not high enough to sideline their mobile hobby.

"The gas prices will not deter us YET," said John Laney K4BAI, who goes HF mobile for QSO parties in several southern states. "Maybe it could be that way if they (prices) keep going up."

"Surely it will have an impact" says Jim Johnson KC4HW, who went HF mobile in the Alabama QSO party. "But ham radio is our hobby/ activity of choice and in the grand scheme of things, a few dollars for gas seems like a small investment to make for the fun that I can have in the hobby."

It sometimes isn't small change in a state like California, "where prices are rapidly approaching $4/gallon" says John Desloge N6MU. "But once you get hooked on roving that's a small price to pay for the fun/challenge of it all."

If prices do keep going up, John Platt W0ZQ predicts VHF hams will change their patterns a little. "Maybe we will see rovers adding more bands and staying in any one grid longer now, rather than driving through many many grids with fewer bands."

"As gas goes up, it may be a matter of activating less grids" said Platt.

Jeff Clark NY4N says he already chooses "the shortest possible route, so when I finish, I try to be as close to home as possible."

Could Clark change his ways? "The high gas prices may make me cut back on some trips."

But not yet.