MAD Day on July 6, 2013

The SLAMS group participated on Microwave Activity Day (MAD) on Saturday July 6th, 2013. Jim N5MU went to Edwardsville area in EM58 while Mel K0PFX, Armand KD0PXF and Herbert AF4JF met at usual location - the YMCA parking lot in EM48sq. We have set up two stations for 10GHz, one for 1296MHz and one for 432MHz:

There was one thing that made this MAD day unique - Armand KD0PXF has made his very first ham radio contact! Furthermore, he has done so on 10GHz SSB ....

 



Note the bigger dish at the bottom. That's what Armand has used for his first QSO. Following picture shows Armand installing his dish antenna:

Congrats, Armand! You know, you should always start somewhere in the ham radio spectrum and then keep going higher and higher in frequency ... Well, his first QSO was on 10368.1MHz which is the wavelength of approx. 3cm.

Herbert
AF4JF

2013 ARRL VHF QSO Party

Once again did some of the SLAMS members participate on a VHF+ contest. I have set up equipment for 144/432/1296/10368GHz in my usual location at YMCA in Westport, EM48sq.

The location actually is identified by following Maidenhead grid designator (according to my GPS): 

EM48SQ58AX

my usual setup

More pictures from AF4JF can be found here.

73 Herbert

AF4JF

Updated list of VHF+ Contests 2013

Updated list here.

Herbert
AF4JF

Main VHF+ Contests in 2013

We have an older posting with more contests on our blog site right here. Some of the links to contest rules weren't updated yet, so today's posting below only shows a few contests today. We will update this list as soon as the information becomes available.

First Saturday  of every month	Microwave Activity Day (MAD) Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January 19-21 2013	2013 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes link for 2013 has changed, new link here
April -  May  2013	SPRINT VHF+ Contests link for 2013 has changed, new link here
May 4-5  2013	SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society) SBMS web site contest rules in the SBMS newsletter here
June 8-10  2013	2013 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party link for 2013 has changed, new link here
(to be continued)
August 3-4 2013	2013 ARRL UHF Contest (220MHz and Up) Rules here
August 17-18 2013	2013 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2 Rules here
September 14-16 2013	2013 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party Rules here
September 21-22 2013	2013 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2 Rules here
Sept - Oct 2013	SPRINT VHF+ Contests Rules here - not updated yet

Hamfests around St. Louis in 2013

We have just had the Winterfest in Collinsville, IL today - 01/26/2013

Here is a list of interesting hamfests and conferences in our area (please let us know about others):

• Winterfest - Collinsville, IL - 01/26/2013
• Egyptian Radio Club Auction - 03/09/2013 at 4:00pm, check in equip. at 2:00pm
• Lewis & Clark Radio Club Hamfets - Godfrey, IL - 04/20/2013
• Egyptianfest - Sunday 06/09/2013
• Augustfest, Macoupin County ARC - Carlinville, IL - 08/03/2013
• St. Charles Hamfest - O'Fallon, MO - 08/11/2013
• Joplin Hamfest - Joplin, MO - 08/23-24/2013
• CSVHFC - Chicago, IL - 08/25-28/2013
• Peoria Hamfest - Peoria, IL - 09/20-22/2013
• Midwest Div Convention - Lebanon, MO - Fri-Sat 11/8-9/2013

We will add some details to these later.

73 Herbert

AF4JF

First Contest in 2013

ARRL January VHF Contest takes place on the third or fourth weekend in January. Begins 1900 UTC Saturday, ends 0359 UTC Monday. It will be held on January 19-21 this year (2013).

Objective as found on ARRL web site:

For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work stations in the US (and its posessions) and Canada.

Stations in KH0-9, KL7 & KP1-KP5, CY9 and CY0 count as W/VE stations and can be worked by DX stations for contest credit.

More details here.