August 2022 ARRL 10 GHz and Up

 Saturday, 20 August, 5:00am, my alarm woke both me Ron KO0Z, and Debbie KC9ULA up.  After quickly showering, Debbie, Toula (our Aussie) and I met up with Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS in St. Peters by 6:00 am and formed a caravan up to Hannibal, MO EM49hq for the first leg of the ARRL August 2022 10 GHz and Up contest.  We were looking forward to meeting two, new SLAMS members Kevin AD7OI and his wife Tammy KI7GVT who recently moved from Arizona.  Kevin and Tammy are originally from Hannibal and both are experienced microwavers. 

 AD7OI has a very strong signal with his 10 GHz 60 watt signal!  We all met up just south of Hannibal at Lovers' Leap EM49hq.  This river ridge park is an excellent microwave location.  

Pictured left to right:  Debbie KC9ULA, Harry WA0CNS, Herbert AF4JF, Tammy KI7GVT and Kevin AD7OI at Lovers' Leap EM49hq, just south of Hannibal, MO.

 After our meet and greet, we set-up our rigs and began to make contacts.  One attempt was with some buddies near Cedar Rapids, but band conditions were not with us even with Kevin's 60 watt flame thrower.  However our group had much better luck working Gedas W8BYA, 337 miles (537 km) away near Ft. Wayne, IN!  We also succeeded working Zack W9SZ north of Champaign, IL in EN50rl 159 miles (256 km) to our east.  Zack went to another hill in EN50 for a successful 10 GHz Q.  

Ron KO0Z and Debbie KC9ULA crossed over the mighty Mississippi River to John Hays Recreation Area in EM49hr72. It is clearly visible a mile away as a gravel area from Lovers' Leap.

      The yellow arrow points to the Hays Recreational Area in East Hannibal about 1 mile away.
 

 Unfortunately Ron, Herbert and Harry were not able to make a successful two-way 24 GHz Q.  Herbert and Harry could hear me, but I was only able to copy one of them just for a short time, but not long enough to make a valid Q.  Drats.  But the weather was nice and the breeze across the river was welcome.

24 GHz dish pointing back across the Mississippi River towards Lovers' Leap EM49hq, 1 mile away from Hays Recreation Area EM49hr72.

 

Debbie KC9ULA is enjoying a good novel while her hubby Ron plays with 24 GHz.

 

                      

                                 Toula, our Aussie is taking in the sights and smells of EM49hr72.

 

              Larry KA9GWM spotted our uW activity and stopped by for a nice "eyeball" QSO.

 

 

Once we completed our EM49hq Qs, our next stop further down MO Hwy 79 is Lousiana, MO.  Zack W9SZ was making tracks for Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji and we needed a clear shot.  This was our first attempt to work Ohlman from this location.  We arrived on site after 2:00 pm and set-up. Although, we had partly cloudy skies, rain clouds were forming to our east which gave us rain scatter opportunities.

We worked Gedas W8BYA (322 miles, 518 km) and Zack W9SZ  ( 98 miles, 157 km) from that location.  Lousiana is another good uW location towards the northeast through southeast along the Mississippi River.

              Kevin AD7OI's dish aimed  towards Zack W9SZ in EM59ji from Louisana EM49lk.

 

 Kevin, Harry and Herbert made two-way 10 GHz Qs with Zack from Louisana to Ohoman cemetery!

Our next Saturday stop would be the park and Cottleville, MO  EM48qs and Dow, IL EM49ua.  Zack left Ohlman and headed towards Dow.  In the meantime, we parted company with Kevin.  He headed back home to Hannibal.  It was great meeting him and Tammy for the first time.  We made plans to continue with the contest on Sunday.

   Tired, but not exhausted 12 hours later Harry WA0CNS and Herbert AF4JF made a successful 10 GHz two-way Q with Zack 25 miles away at Dow, IL.  EM48qs to EM49ua.

 Twelve hours later Harry and Herbert made a ten gig contact with Zack W9SZ in Dow.  As luck would have it with microwaving, the shortest distance contact proved to be the most challenging.  It took a few tries, but the effort was worth it!  A huge rainbow complimented everyone's efforts.  Fortunately for us we had a few miles to go before home.  Poor Zack had at least a 3 hour drive for him back to Champaign, IL.  

Sunday, 21 August 2021  

 On Saturday we all agreed to not get up so early on Sunday.  Herbert called me around 9:40 am and asked if I'd like to accompany him to Kingdom City EM38xw to work Kevin planning to set up somewhere Macon, MO.  Sure!  A tall coffee cup later from Flying J Truck Stop and armed with a banana and two apples I was ready!  We arrived at our location along I-70 about 3 miles west of Kingdom City EM38xw to work Kevin AD7OI.

Successful 10 GHz Q with Kevin AD7OI Sunday afternoon from EM39xw and EM39uf.  About 25 miles.

 

Herbert AF4JF tried to work Harry WA0CNS in EM48pq, near High Ridge, MO but no luck on this attempt.

                            A close up screenshot of our uW site outside of Kingdom City EM38xw

 

                                       Darcy checking out the sights and smells of EM38xw
 
 EM38xw, about 3 miles west of Kingdom City alongside the I-70 south service road.  It's a good spot in almost all directions.  Noisy with all the interstate traffic, but not a bad contest location.  AD7OI and KI7GVT joined us for another meet and greet and to check out this location for future reference.  Afterwards we headed east towards St. Peters and Kevin and Tammy went into town for lunch.

All in all, a great contest and 10 GHz outing.  As luck would prevail, we got our 24 GHz rigs working towards the end of the contest.  Next month!

More contest photos

Louisana, MO EM49lk to Ossian, IN EN70jt 2-way Q

 Saturday, 28 August, 5:45 AM, the temperature is already in the 70s and the heat warning continues.  Undaunted, Herbert AF4JF and Ron KO0Z make the trek up Missouri Route 79 to Louisana, MO to activate EM49lk for Gedas W8BYA in Ossian, IN EN70jt on 10 GHz.  The 321 mile (517km) path would not be an easy tropo path.  We calculated our best chances would be in the morning.  By 7:00 AM, we were QRV overlooking the Mississippi River. 

For about an hour Herbert and Gedas tried to work each other to no avail.  They even tried aircraft scatter.  AF4JF actually heard W8BYA's 10 GHz signal briefly.  But not long enough to make a two-way QSO.  As luck would have it.  Two rain cells popped up west of Chicago and north of Peoria.  They were able to work each other via each rain cell!  

From our location in Louisana there was not a cloud in the sky.  We couldn't even see the storm clouds north of us!  Fortunately, the storms were over 30K in height allowing us to complete the two-way 10 GHz Q.

Congratulations to both Herbert and Gedas.  W8BYA now has grid square EM49 confirmed in his impressively growing list of 10 GHz grid totals!

 

                                                      Darcey is a great uW travel companion!

                                          Herbert AF4JF setting up his 10 GHz rig

                                                        Sun rising over the Mississippi River

                                                           Herbert AF4JF in Louisana, MO             

 

  Not a cloud in the sky, but to the north was a rain cell allowing AF4JF and W8BYA to confirm EM49lk and EN70jt.

                                                  Note the rain storm west of Chicago.  The blue dot is our location in Louisana, MO EM49lk and Gedas W8BYA is near Ft. Wayne, IN. EN70jt. The 10 GHz Q was made using rain scatter with that storm.
 

Transmitting from the Gob

It's still dark at 6:30 am on Saturday, October 20th.  Winds were brisk and temps in the forties.  KO0Z made a coffee run and by the time he and AF4JF made it to the gob pile entrance, there was enough light to unlock the chained gate and make their way up the gob to the wind turbine (EM59ek) and aim their antennas towards Zack W9SZ 97 miles away on his hilltop location (EN50rl).

Ten GHz wasn't productive, but Ron's rig appears to be more frequency stable with his GPS 10 MHz oscillator and new batter booster.  Herbert did make a two-way QSO with Zack on 1.2 GHz.  All-in-all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

                           
                                            Sunrise on the gob, EM59ek

                              Herbert AF4JF setup for 1.2 GHz and 10 GHz

                                          Wind turbine at Farmersville, IL EM59ek

                                                       AF4JF's 1.2 GHz yagi.

                                Looking towards Zack's W9SZ hilltop location EN50 rl 97 miles away.

ARRL June VHF Contest

I am getting more and more into contesting.  It's addictive!  VHF contests can be either very exciting or somewhat boring depending on propagation.    The weekend of June 11-12 was a boon for six meters!  I made it a point to work 2 meters, 70 cm and 23 cm, but the main action was on six, which shifted the focus from the higher bands onto six.  I had a lot of fun.  I went to the Egyptian Hamfest and had breakfast at Uncle Lennie's and then onto to Ohlman Cemetery, EM59ji, which as it tuns out, cost me points in the contest.  But I attended knowing that was a possibility.  Seeing everyone at breakfast and learning more about the microwave signal source was well worth it!

When I arrived at EM59ji, it was hot, humid, sticky and very miserable.  Temp was 94 degrees.  I set up my 3 cm rig and tried to copy the WB9PNU beacon but nothing was heard.  It was 1:00 pm and usually that is the case around that time.  I tried working Ron, W9ZIH but we couldn't hear each other.  Zack, W9SZ was QRT.  So I packed up and got home in EM 59ck just before a T-storm moved overhead from out of the northeast to the southwest.  I checked W0SM's rainscatter and I had a path back to the beacon.  I set up my 3 cm rig in the garage, pointed the dish northeast and I was able to copy the WB9PNU beacon via rainscatter!  It didn't last all that long and my 10 MHz oscillator wasn't up to temp so the signal sounds even "wattery" than usual with rainscatter.  I posted the rainscatter video on my facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/ron.ochu

MUD 2016

Microwave Update 2016 will take place in St. Louis this year. Click on this link to find more info.

73 Herbert
AF4JF

FYB0 (Freeze Your Buns Off) Microwave Attempt

The weather forecast wasn't especially encouraging.  Debbie and I were up before dawn and we were almost ready to go by our planned time of 7:00 am and we were only 15 minutes late.  That's good for me, since I am on "Ochu time" which translates into at least being 30 - 45 minutes later.  Our eleven old son, Roman didn't complain and he, too, was ready for the trip.  My idea of putting some Anderson power poles on one end of a pair of wires and a cigarette lighter plug on the other as a means of hooking up my 10 GHz rig in the car to warm up the 10 MHz oscillator worked well.  I did not have my usual 20 - 45 minute waiting period.

By 9:00 am, I am up and running at the grid corner of EN50aa and EM59ax and not far at all from the corner of EN40xa and EM49xx (about 200 yards).  I first try  to work Zack, W9SZ on the hill in EN50rl about 81 miles away.  I can copy his signal just out of the noise and there is severe QSB.  Likewise with Zack.  We both are experiencing 30-35 mile/hour winds and the temperature is about 42 degrees.  It is cold outside. The 1.2 GHz antennas behave more like wind vanes so we didn't even attempt that band.  So, Zack and I almost made a two-way, but not quite.  Oh well.

I next called Jim, N5MU at the Y in EM48sq about 96 miles away and we tried, but neither one of us heard even a peep.  The same story with Jim and Zack.  At this point we are struggling to keep our dishes from toppling over in the wind.  The wind broke up any ducts that may have formed so we called it a day.

I gave Ron, W9ZIH a call, but he was in the middle of a 2 meter QSO and he'd be happy to work me later and that was very nice of Ron, but I decided not to struggle with the winds and raw temps so we agreed to make it another day.

The grid corner of EN40, EN50, EM49 and EM59 looks like it will work.  I met the manager  of the property and he'd check with his boss to see if I could set up in the actual corner.  Otherwise, he was fine with me staying of the field edges. 

So what did I learn on this excursion?
*  Zack, Jim, Debbie, Roman and myself are microwave troopers.
* It was COLD outside!
* Strong winds are not conducive to good microwaving
* My DC power cord from the van's cigarette lighter to my rig is a great idea!
* Quicker set-up time to get on the air.
* The new grid site looks promising.
* Starbucks coffee tastes even better in 42 F temperatures and strong, gusty winds!
* A big THANK YOU to Zack and Jim for braving the elements!

                          A view of EN50aa/EM59ax looking  towards St. Louis and Jim, N5MU in EM48 sq.

                        This a view of EN50aa/EM59ax looking towards Zack, W9SV at EN50rl



       Debbie, Roman and I stopped for lunch at the Golden Corral in Springfield, IL.  Notice the landmark smoke stacks from the electrical plant along I-55 about 2 miles away from us.

73,  de Ron, KO0Z

2014 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest

I arrived on site, EM59ji Ohlman cemetery and in the rain set up my station which consisted of my 10 GHz rig and my Kenwood TS 2000 and a halo for 2 meter coordination.  My red poncho was a life saver by allowing me to remain QRV throughout the rain.  This is my second time to be QRV in the rain.  The first time was with John, WB9PNU when he and I were in Edwardsville, IL EM58 working the gang back at the YMCA in EM48qs and Zack at Dow, IL EM49ua.  That was my first time working rain scatter which proved to be an invaluable lesson.  Around 18:00Z I tried working Harry, WA0CNS back at the YMCA, EM48qs - a distance of 81.5 miles (131.16 km), but the best I could do was copy his call sign prefix.  I was just above the noise level at his end but not good enough for a two way QSO.  About 20 minutes later I heard Jim, N5MU at Dow, IL, EM49ua - a distance of 62.5 miles (100.6 km) with a rain scatter sounding signal.  At 18:28Z we made the Q!  At 1935Z I coordinated with Al, W5LUA in EN51xr a distance of 175 miles (281.6 km), but I heard Al best not at a azimuth of 20.1 degrees but 49 degrees to the west.  I was working him rain scatter!  Because of my earlier experience with John and Zack W9SZ I recognized the signal characteristics and Al went up from a 519 at his 20 degree heading to a 579 off the rain scatter!  Thank you everyone for the fun event!

ARRL UHF Contest 2014

For the second morning in a row, my cell phone alarm clock woke me up at 09:30 Z (4:30 am, CDT).  Yesterday, it was to get me up and going to unlock the venue for the West Central Illinois hamfest in Carlinville, IL.  Today, it awakened me to my trek to participate in the ARRL UHF contest.  Earlier, it dawned on me that I hadn't dragged my 10 GHz rig out at all for 2014 and I needed to rectify that omission.  A few days earlier, I posted with SLAMS asking if anyone was planning to participate in this contest.  Jim, N5MU wrote that he'd be available on Sunday morning.  We agreed to try and work each other at 7:00 am.  Jim went to the tried and true YMCA site in EM48 and I went to Ohlman cemetery hill, just east of Ohlman, IL. 

When my alarm woke me up from a deep sleep, I asked myself, "Ochu, what on God's green Earth were you thinking?"  I forced my self up, showered, dressed and loaded up the car and made the 42 mile trek to the cemetery, but not before first making a pot of coffee to assist me along the way.

It was spectacular morning.  The sun was peaking above the eastern horizon and it was awash in orange behind the low-hanging, fog banks.  The birds were chirping and there was the promise of working Jim, N5MU later on this morning.  Now, I remembered why I agreed to do this; especially so, since I just spent the prior day working on a hamfest!

I made it to Ohlman Cemetery an hour later after leaving my Girard QTH.  It was 7:00 am and I called Jim on the cell phone to tell him that I had arrived and that I would be up and running in about 20 minutes.  Less than ten minutes later I had the tripod set up and the 10 GHz rig warming up.  I erected my mast for my six element 70 cm yagi, connected the coax and hooked it up to the 817.  I gave Jim a call and we heard each other with no problem at 12:35 Z.  The S meter wasn't indicating anything, but we both had solid copy on USB.  An 81.5 mile QSO.  Now, let's try 10 GHz.  I was copying John, WB9PNU's beacon about a S-5.  It had been almost a year since I heard it last and hearing the beacon's CW telemetry was like hearing an old friend again after a long absence!

Peaking up on the beacon, I nudged my dish a degree or so to the south to hear Jim.  I could copy his CW about 519.  A short while later Jim was 579.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go back to him because my FT 817 wasn't keying up.  I could hear my rig's sidetone, but the rig itself wasn't keying up.  It turns out that, somehow, a menu setting had changed and once I found it, I was able to correct for it and I was putting out CW.  Jim and I made the QSO at 13:22 Z with 519 reports!

After working Jim, I swung my 70 cm yagi towards Ron, W9ZIH's direction and towards Chicago and I made some noise, both CW and USB, but to no avail.  I took down my portable station and soon I was on the road to nearby Pana for a sausage and egg McMuffin before heading back to Girard. By 10:40 am, I was pulling into my driveway.  All said and done, it was an exceptional start to my day.  Thank you Jim!

 

                                          ( About 4 miles east of Girard, IL.  Notice the sun and the fog bank)

                              ( A better shot of the fog bank.  A good day for microwaving!)

                                          (  My view to the south.  Notice the fog bank)

 ( Here I am on top of the Ohlman cemetery hill.  My 70 cm yagi and 10 GHz rig are visible)

                                           (Another view of the cemetery portable set up from EM59ji)

                             ( My view back southwest towards Jim in EM48, 81.5 miles away)

Next SLAMS breakfast meeting

Next SLAMS breakfast will be held in Illinois at the "TA" truck stop in Troy, just across the interstate from the Cracker Barrel. There is a "fast food" establishment that serves "all you can eat breakfast buffet". We will have a breakfast there followed by a little demonstration/testing of our 10GHz stations. This serves two purposes - to show the local guys how we do 10GHz and to test that location in EM58.

More info will be published here before the next breakfast meeting, which is scheduled for Sunday October 6th.

73 Herbert

AF4JF

ARRL 10GHz And Up Contest from another hilltop

Ron KO0Z nicely described his contest activities in his postings below. Congrats! Well done!

Group of SLAMS members attended this contest from our usual location at YMCA in EM48sq. We were able to make some long-range microwave contacts on 10GHz and we have almost made 260 miles contact with Bob WA5YWC in EN52sa early in the monring on Sunday. However, he was running 30+ Watts and our stations output barely 3 Watts which, multiplied by the dish gain, makes huge difference. Although we have copied Bob S8 in St. Louis, he didn't even see us on the "waterfall" of his Flex-1500 SDR radio.

We have worked Zack W9SZ on 10GHz in EN50rl on Saturday. That's a 160 miles QSO - one that you need a little support of propagation for. Speaking about propagation, we have worked Ron KO0Z in EM59ji across a distance of 81 miles on Saturday. His signal was quite strong, some of us worked him on SSB too. Quite different situation on Sunday - not a beep from him in St. Louis, not even after we moved Jim's (N5MU) station across the YMCA parking lot to a place with more open view towards Ron's location. We have also tried with Ron W9ZIH, heard his weak signal on Saturday but it was not enough for a QSO. Repeated the test on Sunday, but didn't hear a beep from Ron.

We have also used this opportunity for testing 24GHz between Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS on Saturday. Technical workshop continued on Sunday with Rich N0PQU adjusting LO injection for his 10GHz transverter and Mike N0OBI tuning his "plumbing system". Mike designed nice circular waveguide feed for his offset dish, all made from copper water piping elements.

Some pictures from the event follow:

Harry WA0CNS at his station

Harry calling on 24GHz

Rich N0PQU and Armand KD0PXF setting up

Mike N0OBI used a surplus box for his 10GHz

(very stable oscillator, works better than looks)

Mike N0OBI checking

focal point of his dish

(note the plumbing)

Jim N5MU checking his dish

N5MU (left) and AF4JF set up 10GHz stations

in a position with open view towards WA5YWC in EN52

Mike N0OBI (left), Jim N5MU and Herbert AF4JF

Waiting for 10GHz signals ...

Following two pictures are actually from different location - Harry WA0CNS and Herbert AF4JF moved to Chesterfield area to test their 24GHz equipment. Distance between stations was ~ 2 miles and AF4JF copied WA0CNS about S7 on 24192.1 MHz CW, but Harry didn't copy AF4JF. Herbert tested a bare mixer (DB6NT design) without any amplification. It received fine, but radiated power was too low even for 2 miles between us. There will be more power next time.

 AF4JF pointing 1ft. dish for 24GHz in EM48rq

towards WA0CNS located at Chesterfield Mall

AF4JF station for 24GHz located in EM48rq

Overall, very successful contest - some QSOs were made, some equipment tested and everybody has had a lot of fun! A local police officer stopped by and chatted with us for a while - he was a former radar operator and recognized dish antennas as something "less-than-usual" for ham radio operators.

73 Herbert

AF4JF