Happy 2019

                                                        Happy  New Year 2019 to all!

Bob Gormley WA5YWC SK

It is with profound sadness that I post the following news from Al Ward W5LUA:


Hello microwave community
It is with great sadness that I am informing you that Bob Gormley WA5YWC
passed away in his sleep on Saturday night. He was 74.
Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly and they will be locally in
the DFW area.
Bob was a great person and a great friend and I will miss him.
733
Al W5LUA

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.

Planning Meetings

BARS and SLAMS will have a set of 3 planning meetings aimed at setting up the plans and schedule for events in 2019. Here are they:

2018-11-10: TA in Troy, IL

2018-12-15: Waffle House, Dorsett STL

2019-01-27: Denny's, STL

Everybody interested in our activities is welcome, does not matter if you are a member of one or both of our groups! Should you be interested, then please join us for one of the meetings above!

73 Herbert

AF4JF

MUD 2018

"Attending a seminar has numerous benefits, including improving communication skills, gaining expert knowledge, networking with others and renewing motivation and confidence."  This quote is taken from a higher education, but it applies quite nicely to MUD 2018 which was held in Fairborn, OH nearby to Dayton.  The organizers did an outstanding job putting on this year's MUD.

In attendance to this year's MUD from the St. Louis group was Bob N0IS, Mel K0PFX, Ron KO0Z, Herbert AF4JF and Zack W9SZ.  Ron, Zack and Herbert carpooled to the Dayton/Fairborn MUD conference on Thursday, October 11.  

10 GHz EME contacts were made and a group even tried 131 GHz!

Here are some photos from the conference.

Potential uW site EN50ce

Debbie KC9ULA and me, KO0Z checked out a promising tower site about 5 miles southwest of Mason City, IL EN50ce.  For reference Mason City is about half-way between Springfield, IL an Peoria, IL.  It is a high location, but there is a stand of trees that could be a problem pointing north.  The east location looks promising and depending on corn, a path to St. Louis is possible.  It's not the greatest site, but it does offer some possibilities.  Ron W9ZIH in EN51nv is 127 miles away, Zack in EN50rl is 69 miles away and St. Louis is about 110 miles away.

                       Mason City, IL Tower site EN50ce.  Looking west on County road 850N

                                                                 EN50ce Tower

                                            Looking north from EN50ce

                                             Looking northeast and east from EN50ce

                                         Debbie KC9ULA and southeast in the background

   Looking south towards St. Louis from EN50ce

Resume Activity?

The BARS group will have a breakfast meeting on Saturday October 6th. The location will be Ponderosa in Arnold, MO (see the article from last meeting there).  This might be a good time to get together again and resume some local activities!

73 Herbert
AF4JF