We are group of Ham Radio enthusiasts, interested in microwave radio frequency technologies.
10 GHz Microwave Scatter from Hannibal EM49 or Mark Twain ain't got nothing on us!
Kudos to Kevin AD7OI who posted this video of his rig listening to the St. Louis WB9PNU 10 G beacon in EM48 from atop of DePaul Hospital scattering off a local Hannibal EM49 water tower!
Tnx Kevin for the video!
The WX was nice and the company, food and lodging was excellent. Well, the WX was a bit too hot and humid, but for the end of July in Missouri...it wasn't too bad at all. I've been to hotter conferences and in northern states over the years!
Below is a picture of Debbie KC9ULA, and a pic of my extended leg, relaxing on the 8th floor balcony next to the CSVHFS hospitality sweet.
Kent making measurements at the uW section of the antenna range. I brought my refurbished dish to be measured and it came in at a startling 35.5 dBi!
You meet some of the nicest folks on the antenna range. Here's me along with Ben K4QF. Ben's done and continues to do some amazing work with broadcast television tower scatter. Ben's holding a vilvaldi directional microwave antenna.
It was good seeing Tommy Henderson at the antenna range as well. He's semi-retired from teaching at the local community college.
One of the rovers on rover row.
CSVHFS always has interesting forums over a wide variety of topics.
Some of the measuring equipment used by Kent on the microwave antenna range.
Another great Friday night flea market.
Next year, CSVHFS Conference 2027 will be hosted at Springdale, AR. All-in-all, another great conference. Kudos to our president Tammy and her husband Kent along with the board of directors for all of their hard work behind the scenes to make this a one to remember conference.
SLAMS MERCH!
Looking for club (SLAMS) merch? I highly suggest Taylor from Orange Blossom Embroidery. She offers hats, polos, tee-shirts (embrodered), sweat shirts, jackets, etc. She has our SLAMS logo on file and she and her husband are ham radio operators! They are based in northern Florida (hence the citrus name reference) and they advertise in QST. Taylor is very friendly and she does great work. I'm not sure if she will offer a SLAMS pop down menu, but take a look at her website offerings. She will include your name and call sign (Zeros will have a slash). Her polos include a basic cotton/polyester blend, a picque (pattern blend) and a performance shirt (moisture wicking material). I've ordered the performance polo and an embroidered tee shirt. I should have them by this weekend! I have a ball cap and it's great quality. Email or call her to personalize your SLAMS order.
Saturday, May 2nd, 2026. A partly sunny day with temperature in the mid 50s. Herbert AF4JF, Harry WA0CNS and Ron KO0Z arrived at Hwy 370 Lake Park only to find our preferred parking location for testing microwave gear overtaken by a Farmers Market. I've never seen the park so crowded.
We managed to find a few spots near the RV camping area to test our gear. Our primary purpose was to work out the transmit receive split in Harry's PLUTO. And to make some uW contacts for the CSVHF sprint. A few hours of experimenting did not produce any tangible results. Herbert discovered his FT 817's RIT was damaged after a fall a few years back.
Ron brought his 3.4 GHz rig, but he needed another PTT cable to key the transverter. Darn.
In the meantime, Ron went to Iffrig Road, near the levy to make a 3 cm contact for the CSVHFS uW sprint today. Unfortunately the cable to my PTT RCA came loose, requiring a home repair. No QSO for Ron.
On the bright side, Herbert worked Harry on 3 cm and Ron was able to copy the WB9PNU/b at Iffrig Road. It was a bit noisy with some QSB.
The telemetry indicates an output power of 4.8 watts (inaccurately high...it should be around 3 watts), 12.3 V, 64.7 F and 70.6 F.
Sunday, April 19, 2026...a beautiful spring day to take a drive to check-out a potential microwave site, relatively close to our STL QTH with a reported good view to the south. Today Debbie KC9ULA and I KO0Z made the trek to Blackburn Park overlooking the Missouri town of Pacific EM48pl. The overlook is approximately 600 feet in altitude. It is a small park with benches and a BBQ grill and view to the east through west. The Ozark foothills present an obstacle towards the east south east to almost south. From our vantage point we'd be aiming into the hillside about 2 miles or so away. Perhaps knife edge propagation may work. South to west looks very promising. Northwest to northeast is wooded and not favorable for uW.
View to the north...not so good for uW.
