Microwave Activity (MAD) Day on November 2, 2024

Once again did the SLAMS guys try to spread some radio-activity in the Saint Louis area. It was a nice, warm day with temperature in upper 60's, blue skies .. perfect for family activities. Which turned out to be a problem, at least in the Pere Marquette park where Herbert, AF4JF went with his furry companion Darcey.

The plan was to try all our microwave bands between Eagles Roost (in the Pere Marquette park) in EM48rx where Herbert AF4JF was going to set up, Ron KO0Z who picked our favorite parking lot at the Community College in Cottleville in EM48qs and Harry WA0CNS who went to his favorite High Ridge, EM48rl. The distance between Herbert and Harry was about 34 miles, distances between Herbert and Ron or Ron and Harry were about half that.

Herbert had to cross the two rivers that separate Saint Charles, MO from Grafton, IL on a ferry. That was not exactly problematic, despite the fact that Herbert's car did not fit on a ferry (too many cars) and had to wait one extra round trip of that floating vehicle. Where are all these cars going?

.... of course, they all went to the Pere Marquette park. The parking at the park visitor center was completely full. So was the usual parking lot at the first viewing point at Eagles Roost where we usually park and operate from. Second parking at the Flagpole was crowded as well, so Herbert went to the next spot that we never used before because it was blocked by heavy foliage with no open view.

Surprise! The park people finally decided that "viewing point" has something to do with "seeing" and cut all the bushes that blocked the view. See following pictures. Even better, nobody from the other visitors expected this, so this parking was EMPTY.

This is South

Darcey supervising station setup

Herbert set up all his bands from 902MHz to 122GHz. Space in the back of the SUV is somewhat limited, so the higher bands (on tripods) were tested first and the lower bands with a logatithmic beam had to wait after the tripods were moved aside.

10GHz station in front

The topic of this MAD day was to test if we can make QSOs betweens us and Harry WA0CNS who was using his home made SDR transceiver PLUTO with Raspberry Pi front end, running only about 250mW. Not too surprising result - yes, QSOs with the PLUTO were made on 902MHz, 1296MHz, 2304MHz and 3400MHz. In addition to that also on 10368MHz using our "big" stations with 3W of power.

We were quite tired when we started the journey back home. All of us made it safely and added another chapter to the book of successful microwave activities in our area.

AF4JF waiting for the ferry to get back to Missouri and home

How the SLAMS tried to combine SPRINT Microwave with an expedition to Knob Lick in EM47tp

It was Saturday October 5 (2024), the day of both, MAD Day (stands for Microwave Activity Day) and SPRINT Microwave contest. The SLAMS group from Saint Louis decided to look for a new contest location in different than our own grid (EM48) and closer to other VHF+ stations. We have done similar explorer trip to that area 3 years ago (see our posting here) but did not find anything remarkably good at that time. Friends from the Saint Louis QRP Society (SLQS) told us about a hill they use for POTA activations and we decided to try that.

Herbert AF4JF, Harry WA0CNS, Ron KO0Z and Jim KK0U went to Knob Lick in EM47tp in the morning. We intended to try 1296MHz and 10GHz with our friends in EM64, EM65 and EM13. That's Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. The location is truly on the hill, one of the tallest in Missouri and it really looks good. Jim KK0U told us that this is an excellent place for HF activity, such as SOTA/POTA. First impression upon arrival was magnificient!

Nice find on the hilltop!

There is Texas somewhere in that direction

Fire tower on premises

There is a platform in the middle of the stairway

Jim KK0U climbed the stairs and shot this video from the accessible platform

As you can see in the video, there is 360 degrees open view above the tree level from that platform. The fence has holes big enough not to bother 10GHz signals, but probably not too good for lower bands, such as 23cm or even VHF, so we did not even try to carry the equipment (and batteries) up that high and set up on the ground instead.

Jim KK0U listening on 10GHz

Team setting up on the ground

On the other side were several guys. Next two pictures are from Blevins Gap in EM64rp

Left to right:
Jay/K4NKT (3cm)
Bob/KV4PC (23cm, 33cm)
Bob/KV4PC (3cm)
Stephen/KY4G (23cm)

Chris NV4B

We were communicating with the other groups using phones, SLACK and GroupMe chats, SMS messages ... one guy spoke for the group, so we do not even have all their names or callsigns. I have tried to work NV4B, WG8S, KV4PC, KY4G, W4RXR, K4NKT and AA5C. There were probably more and I apologize for not capturing all the callsigns.

To make this long story short - we did not make any QSOs. Not a single one. This was a microwave contest and distances were simply too long for the meager propagation that day. However, we are HAPPY with this location! We definitely will come back, probably for one of the VHF contests, with full set of bands 50MHz to 122GHz. Also, we will probably employ Q65 for microwave digi modes from there.

ARRL 10GHz And Up Contest 2024

As Ron KO0Z mentioned in his posting last month, we were planning on publishing two narratives about our biggest microwave contest of the year. I apologize for being a little late with my addition, there is not much left to say what Ron did not cover in his posting anyway.

Let's start at the begin. First half of the contest, Saturday August 17 (2024). Ron KO0Z with Debbie KC9ULA went to Frenchman's Bluff while I was packing my station in the morning (I have returned from a business trip just the night before). Harry WA0CNS joined me with his 10GHz station for the day. Since we shared my car, we did not have space for higher bands this time. Ron went somewhere West along I-70 while Harry and myself tried to find the Frenchman's Bluff. Surprisingly, we succeeded and even found shorter way than last time. Nice, warm (well, hot) weather, blue skies and no rain clouds in the direction towards West where the location is open to.

Ron KO0Z arrived at Moberly airport in EM39sl while we were in EM49ma It's just 85 miles or so, but we did not hear each other - neither on mine or on Harry's station. Ron just worked NA0Y on 10GHz so we assumed that his station was working and decided to take a look at the terrain profile later at home ... and Yes, the terrain seems to be the problem. We were at the very bottom on the right hand side:

Moberly - Frenchamn's Bluff path

From here, we went to Hannibal to our favorite Lover's Leap in EM49hq to join Kevin AD7OI. Ron covered that part nicely in his narrative, so I will only add that I was not able to hear the WB0LJC group in Minnesota although Kevin worked them SSB .. well, not only his 60W station makes its own path through the atmosphere, but it also receives very good. Subject to look at during the coming winter (I intend to replace mu LNA with new one from Kuhne). I worked K9JK across reasonable distance that day.

AF4JF and WA0CNS set up in EM49hq

Lover's Leap has a new "decoration"

Kevin AD7OI explaining ham radio to bystanders

Second half of the contest was more exciting. We only went out on Sunday September 22 (2024) and only to Louisiana in EM49lk. There were no rain clouds to use and generally nobody to work. Except Bruce W9FZ and Janice KA9VVQ who came close enough to us to make a QSO. It was hard, but we made 385km contacts! This was also the first outing where Jim KK0U joined us with 10GHz station.

Aiming towards EN42px from EM49lk

Jim KK0U operating 10GHz

Ron KO0Z on his truck

ARRL 10 GHz and Up 2024 Contest SLAMS Style

 This year, we plan to include two ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest narratives.  One provided by me, Ron KO0Z and the other by my friend Herbert AF4JF.  For the first round of the contest, Saturday, August 17, 2024 we got a late start.  I wanted to activate for the first time (as far as I know) a microwave station from Frenchmen's Bluff  EM49ma at Cuivre River State Park near Troy, MO. Debbie KC9ULA and I arrived there and were on the air by 10:25 am.  I was able to hear Greg WQ0P (EM19wf) on CW and he was able to see me in his waterfall, but my signal was in his noise level.   At 10:35 Pete N0OY EM18ct tried to work me but both of us couldn't hear each other.  We gave it the "good old college try." This was approximately 278/368 mile path between us.  On a side note, KO0Z waited a few minutes to transmit to give a hiker time to propose to his fiancee.  She accepted!

             Debbie KC9ULA and Toula at Frenchmen's Bluff EM49ma with a good westerly view.

From EM49ma, Debbie and Ron traveled along I-70 to EM38xw just west of Kingdom City, MO.  Around 2:09 pm, I tried working Gedas W8BYA from this spot via rain scatter centered over Indiana but to no avail.  I was able to put Pete N0OY EM18ct in my log with a 529 signal at 1:10 pm!  A 497 km (308 miles) path!  The weather was in the 80s and humidity was nice, partly sunny skies.  

                                         My dish aimed at Pete N0OY from EM38xw along I-70
 

Our next stop was the Moberly, MO regional airport EM39sl along MO Route 63.  We attempted a Q with Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS who arrived at Frenchmen's Bluff at 3:24 pm a distance of 136 km.  This should have been a slam dunk, but we were unable to hear each other.  Go figure!

                                       The easterly view from Moberly Airport EM39sl

After this disappointing attempt, Debbie and I made tracks for Hannibal, MO EM49hq for a 6:00 pm sked with rovers Gary WB0LJC, Larry WA9TT, Chris N0UK and Holly K0HAC.  We arrived in time, however my rig developed a short and blew a few fuses.  I was dead in the water.

                                                My rig with a blown fuse.  DRATS!

                                                  Kevin AD7OI, et.al. and a EM49hq sunset

                                            Herbert AF4JF making contacts from EM49hq

                          

                       Harry WA0CNS adjusting his rig at EM49hq overlooking the mighty Mississippi River

                                                  Leg #2 Saturday, September 21, 2024

For me the second weekend of the contest wasn't shaping up too well.  Most of the uW ops were up north along Lake Michigan.  Herbert AF4JF just got back home from a week long business trip.  Harry WA0CNS wasn't available for the weekend.  Simply put there wasn't anyone to work.  Or so it seemed.  A brand new microwaver and experienced HF contester Jim Smith KK0U was willing to try out the contest with our SLAMS loaner 10 GHz rig.  I met with Jim on Friday evening at the Kisker Road SSM Medical building and I showed him how to tune in the WB9PNU beacon, how to  employ panning, elevation and building reflection. Jim took to this like a duck to water!  He wasn't available Saturday, but he was open for Sunday.

Weather forecast wise, Saturday was the pick day.  Rain was expected Sunday AM and all through the day and into Monday.  Saturday, September 21st, the skies were sunny with a few clouds but there was rain scatter to my east.  Gedas gave me a phone call and persuaded me to give it a try.  Although it was somewhat of a long shot, nothing ventured nothing gained, right?  I set up in three different spots in EM48:  A levy just north of MidRivers Mall EM48qs, St. Roberts church also EM48qs (the trees have grown since I was there last) and finally at Kisker Road SSM Medical building where Jim and I were the night earlier.  At 4:30 pm, Gedas EN70jt could see my signal on his panadapter and he was able to hear my weak signal just above his noise floor.  Me, on the other hand, could not hear him.  Darn, another one-way contact. It was worth the effort.  Maybe Sunday will prove to be better but I wasn't hopeful.  The forecast called for rain and lots of it.

Around 3:00 am Sunday, September 22 I awoke to thunder.  Sure enough, it was raining.  Herbert called me at 4:45 am and we decided it didn't make too much sense to drive to Hannibal to try to work Gary WB0LJC in the rain.  Gary was impacted as well and he changed his plans.  Bruce W9FZ and his wife Janice KA9VVQ in southern WI were also rain impacted. I suggested to Herbert we take a wait and see approach  

As luck would have it, a dry slot developed and Herbert, Jim and myself made our way to Louisiana, MO EM49lk.  We arrived in rain but the dry slot appeared and we tried to work Gedas W8BYA to no avail.  The T-storms that woke us up, now to our east between us and Gedas, weakened.  No joy this time.  In the meantime, both Herbert and I wanted Jim KK0U to make his very first 10 GHz QSO.  So, I scurried across the Mississippi River to Illinois and EM49ll and a marina just over a km away.

                                    EM49ll in Illinois looking west towards KK0U and AF4JF in EM49lk

                             AF4JF looking east from EM49lk towards the EM49ll marina

 At 1:55 pm, I made both a CW and SSB contact with Jim and Herbert.  This was Jim's first 10 GHz QSO and his first interstate MO-IL contact!  After the QSOs, I packed up my gear and headed back to the Missouri side of the Mississippi to our EM49lk location.

 Around 2:20 pm, from EN42sv, Bruce W9FZ and his wife Janice KA9VVQ made a 385 km (239 miles) QSO with Jim KK0U and Herbert AF4JF! I wasn't able to hear them with my rig.  Bruce and Janice moved to EN42px and again made a two-way with Herbert and Jim!  

  

                                           

                                                     My view from the Illinois marina in EM49ll.

                                          Jim KK0U ready for 10 GHz DX from EM49lk!

                                     Herbert AF4JF tapping out CW for a successful QSO from EM49lk

                                        

           Ron KO0Z looking across the Mississippi at the lowest altitude rainbow he's ever seen!

                      

                                           Ron KO0Z looking towards Bruce and Janice in WI EM42px

All in all, the second leg of the contest was salvaged and I had a very fun time.Welcome to Jim KK0U our newest SLAMS member!  A big shout-out to all the participating ops.  THANK YOU! 

ARRL VHF September Contest SLAMS Radioactivity

 Sunday, September 15 wasn't too hot or too humid.  Herbert AF4JF was busy on Saturday, so was Ron KO0Z and Harry WA0CNS. Consequently, the first half of the ARRL VHF contest was missed, but on Sunday we got together to at least participate a little bit in the contest.

We didn't intend to be competitive, instead, we just wanted to test our gear and to make a little RF noise on the bands which we accomplished.

I wasn't all that well prepared.  I tried out my new 2.3 GHz transverter and I didn't get it on the air.  My 3.4 and 10 GHz rigs worked fine.  Herbert and Harry also had other bands with them.  

All in all, we didn't even come close to breaking any personal records, but we did manage to carve out some time to get outdoors and to make a few Qs!

                                     Harry WA0CNS with Herbert AF4JF at 370 Lake EM48rt

                    Harry WA0CNS portable operation shooting across 370 lake park

                 

                                                       Extra "oomph" if we needed it, Hi, Hi.

KO0Z and KC9ULA's August 2024 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest Adventure

 Saturday, 17 August 2024, 9:00 am, Debbie KC9ULA and Ron KO0Z loaded up the pickup and headed to Frenchmen's Bluff at Cuivre River State Park in EM49ma which has a spectacular view to SW, W and NW.

                           Debbie KC9ULA and Toula with Ron KO0Z at EM49ma Frenchmen's Bluff
 

By 10:25 am Ron heard Greg WQ0P in EM19wf (Kansas) on CW with a 529 signal and QSB.  Greg could see KO0Z on his waterfall, but wasn't able to hear his signal.  Briefly, Greg heard Ron's signal for about 5 seconds.  Perhaps it was airplane scatter.  This was SLAMS first attempt at activating Frenchmen's bluff.   Both of them were unable to hear each other.  KO0Z also tried to work Pete NO0Y in EM18ct about 90 miles further west from Greg. On the up side, a young couple asked us if they could get in front of the dish which put them closer to the ledge.  From there, the young man proposed to the young lady and she accepted!

The weather was nice with temperatures in the upper 80s and partly cloudy skies.  No high pressure, heat dome for this leg of the contest.

From there, Ron and Debbie made their way just west of Kingdom City, EM38wf along the south service road of Interstate 70.

                              EM38xw looking west along I-70 towards WQ0P and NO0Y

                                          EM38xw looking east toward Gedas W8BYA

 After grabbing lunch at Arby's, Debbie and Ron arrived at Kingdom City EM38xw around 12:45pm.  Ron KO0Z EM38xw and Greg WQ0P EM19wf made a two-way CW QSO around 1:00 pm for a distance of 354 km (220 mile) 3 cm contact! Ron tried Pete NO0Y in EM18ct.  Still no luck.  Next Ron tried to put Gedas W8BYA, EN70, a 622 km attempt in the logbook.  No luck.  We even tried rain scatter with a T-storm over Louisville, KY.

At least EM38 provided us with a two-way contact.  From there we decided to head north via MO Route 63.  Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS were heading to Frenchmen's Bluff and planned to be QRV by 3:00 pm.  Debbie and Ron needed to find a suitable site.  They found it at Moberly airport, EM39sl.  It has a good view both east and west.

                                                         Moberly, MO airport EM39sl

Around 3:24 pm, Ron and Debbie attempted to put Herbert and Harry in their logbook.  It's only 136 km to Frenchmen's bluff, but neither party were able to hear or see one another.  Curious...  Darn the luck.  Oh well, time was beginning to run short.  We all had agreed to rendezvous at Lover's Leap EM49hq just south of Hannibal with Kevin AD7OI by 6 pm.  Consequently, Ron and Debbie packed up and left.  Regrettably, they didn't try to see if Greg was available.  They still needed to reach Macon and then take US Route 36 east to Hannibal.  About 90 minutes away.

Ron and Debbie made good time.  They arrived in Hannibal by 5:15.  They picked up a Casey's Taco Pizza and headed up to EM49hq.  By 6:00 pm they were set up.  Kevin and his wife Tammy KI7GVT Herbert and Harry were waiting for them.  

                      Ron KO0Z ready to make some Qs from EM49hq, Lover's Leap, Hannibal, MO 

     Kevin AD7OI with his 60 watt, 10 GHz dish, along with Tammy, Herbert, Harry and Debbie

 

                  Herbert AF4JF at EM49hq making an adjustment overlooking the Mississippi River

 

                                     Harry WA0CNS pointing his dish to work John K9JK

 Kevin AD7OI was able to work John K9JK from EM49hq in Illinois on SSB.  Herbert AF4JF worked John K9JK from there on CW with his 5 watts but Harry wasn't able to hear John.  Ron KO0Z's rig blew a fuse and his spare so it was his turn to be "dead in the water." from this location.  Drats.  Kevin was able to work the Minnesota rover crew WB0LJC, WA9TT, N0UK & K0HC while they were in central Iowa, but neither AF4JF or WA0CNS heard their signals.

Propagation just wasn't as favorable this leg of the contest as it was the summer before.  This year a cold front passed through the area which provided much more conducive outdoor temperatures with lower humidity but poorer microwave propagation.

As Ron KO0Z was trying to figure out his rig failure, a bystander who is into astronomy wandered by and asked him what everyone was doing.  Before long, Ron discovered his name is Bernard and he is from France.  This gave Ron an opportunity to try out his very rusty French and they had a delightful conversation in French!

                                          Bernard from Paris inquiring about our contest activities.

All in all, not a bad day.  It was fun.  Ron and Debbie put on 300 miles and make several radio attempts, but managed only 1 contact for the day. Now to troubleshoot KO0Z's rig.  Would we do it again.  Yes, in a heartbeat!

Field Day, SHF Style!

 When thinking about Field Day, typically hams think of the event in terms of the HF bands, 80, 40,20, 15 and 10 meters.  Some clubs include 6 and 2 meters.  This year, SLAMS decided to push the log ever so slightly into the UHF-SHF bands.  Namely, we decided to operate FD on 1.2  and 10 GHz!

Ron KO0Z operated with the St. Charles Amateur Club (SCARC) set up at Immaculate Conception Parish (ICD) soccer fields in Dardenne Prairie and Herbert AF4JF worked with the St. Louis QRP Society (SLQS) operating from Spanish Village Park near Earth City.

For approximately three months, Ron and Herbert talked about reflecting signals off the communications tower next to ICD.  We were inspired by Ben K4QF's MUD paper elaborating on 10 GHz propagation using commercial TV towers.  Although our tower is nowhere near as tall as a TV tower, approximately 250 ft as opposed to 1,000 ft, it was still worth a try!

This photo depicts Herbert AF4JF's view of the tower approximately one-third of a mile to the west, just left of the setting sun.

This view is from Ron KO0Z's perspective, approximately 200 yards away.  Herbert AF4JF would be northeast of Ron.

Both of us discovered illuminating the top half of the communications tower provided excellent results.  Moving our dishes a degree to either side of the azimuth heading towards the tower resulted of loss of signal.  SCARC members were impressed to see 3 cm propagation.  About 5 SCARC members made two-way contacts with Herbert!  Each received a "First Contact Award!"  

An even better point source turned out to be the WB9PNU/B approximately 18 miles away to the east.  We were copying it 599 off the top half of the communications tower.  Ron was unable to copy the beacon pointing his dish towards its location.  Too much vegetation.  Needless to say, SCARC members were very impressed.  So was I and Herbert.  We plan to be at opposite ends of the tower and see just how far we can copy each other's signals in the near future.  Somehow, I think the STL TV stations TV towers will be next!

The elevation profile between ICD (SCARC FD site) and the WB9PNU beacon is interesting.

After finishing up our demo and FD contacts on 10 GHz, Herbert AF4JF went back to the SLQS FD site near Earth City and Ron KO0Z went to SSM Medical offices near Kisker Road and Hwy 364 near Harvester, MO.  The distance between SSM and SLQS is approximately 9.5 miles.  Ron and Herbert exchanged 5x9 SSB signals on 1.2 GHz!  However, Ron's PTT RCA connector broke a lead and we weren't able to make a 10 GHz Q, but both of us are sure we could have made the 3 cm Q.

The elevation profile between SSM and SLQS is very interesting.  SSM is on the far left of the profile and SLQS is on the right.  The big "valley/dip" just right of center is the Missouri River.  We had two large obstructions between us.  Going right from SSM is the Caulk's Hill ridge in Harvester.  Further to the right is the Hwy 94/Hwy 364 interchange.

All in all, we had a great time adding microwave contacts to both club's FD logs!  Best of all, we experimented with Ben K4QF's MUD findings and met with success! Now, we want to experiment even more with this mode! Evidently uW tower propagation applies equally well in MO as it does in AL!  Tnx Ben!