Saint Louis Area Microwave Society

Saturday 5 May 2012.  Cinco de Mayo Microwave style.  Nearing thunder woke me up this morning around 4:00 am and I looked at the radar to see if it was still a go for setting up in EM59bc near Gillespie, IL.  It didn't look too bad so after showering I made finally made it to an old AT&T microwave relay site just to the west of Gillespie.  By 7:30 am I was up and running and I tried to work Harry, WA0CNS (EM48rl, 56.2 miles) but no luck for either one of us.  I next tried Herbert, AF4JF(EM48sq, 42.6 miles) with similar results.  I was really wondering if my rig was good for anything more than 4 miles, but I went ahead and tried John, WB9PNU, EM48tm, 48.4 miles) expecting to hear nothing but static and lo and behold there he was at 12:54Z!  559 on cw and he said I was roaring in at his end!  We exchanged grids and then went to USB and we made the two way without any problems!  In fact John's SSB signal was stronger at my end for some reason.  We were both "pumped" after that Q!  I then tried Zack, W9SV (EN50rl, 118.5 miles) but no luck.  We tried again later on that morning around 16:00Z but still no luck.  At the time Zack told me over the phone that the only 10 GHz Q he made was with Ron W9ZIH and the band just wasn't good this morning.  We were hoping the band would build up as the morning progressed so as I was waiting for Debbie, KC9ULA to join me for lunch I pointed the dish towards the beacon and I never did hear it from my location in EM59bc. 

I sure wish I was able to work H, Mel, Harry and Zack today. Next time!  The first picture is of my set-up in EM59bc.  Gosh that Plymouth Voyager has lived up to its name!  The second picture from the top is looking towards EM48.  Third picture from the top is looking towards Zack in EN50rl and the last picture is of the old AT&T microwave relay site.

73,

Ron, KO0Z