ARRL 10 GHz & Up Contest, Leg 2, September 2026

Typically, the middle of September in Missouri can either be hot or cooler.  The weekend of September 19-20 was hot, grueling hot and humid. Humidity percentage in the 70s and temperature in the mid to upper nineties.  Armed with copious amounts of ice and water, Herbert AF4JF and Ron KOØZ left the comforts of home in EM48qs (St. Peters) northwards towards one of our all time favorite uW spots, Lover's Leap, EM49hq overlooking the river town of Hannibal at O dark thirty...5:00 am. We encountered several deer along MO Hwy 61 on the road's shoulder. Fortunately, no mishaps. 

                                                              Getting up at O-dark-thirty

We needed to leave so early, to make the 120 minute drive to Hannibal and to be set-up and ready to work Gary WBØLJC in central Iowa working his way back to Minnesota. We arrived on site, quickly set up and greeted the morning's sunrise.

 

                                                         Sunrise at Hannibal, MO EM49hq

 

                                       

                                             Herbert AF4JF READY AND RARING to make some 10 G Qs!

     Ron KOØZ's rig pointing towards Kevin AD7OI & Tammy KI7GVT's  QTH in Hannibal EM49hp

                                                            Ron KOØZ tolerating the day's heat.

 At 12:21Z both of us worked Kevin in EM49hp only a few km away from EM49hq. At 13:13 Z, we put Gary WBØLJC in our log book from Iowa, EM 32fg, a distance of 340km!  

                                               Pointing towards Iowa and Gary WBØLJC.
 

Next we worked Gary in EN32GKJ for another 340km path about an hour later.  We listened for Greg WQØP in Kansas.  We heard him dashing but he wasn't able to log us.  Drats!  Our path to the west is not that good from Lover's Leap.  However, we did log Gary again at 16:12Z in EN32kj.

KOØZ decided to add a new dynamic to our trip by heading north toward Palmyra, MO EM49fv.  The hardest part about roving is trying to minimize travel time and to find a suitable site to operate.  I found a construction company with a gravel road to a farm field which proved suitable to work Herbert, Kevin and Tammy.

 

                                             

                                                EM49fv looking back towards Hannibal

 Where to next?  Tnx to Kevin, he suggested Villa Katherine in Quincy, IL EM49hu.  This architecturally  interesting building from the early 1900s has a commanding view of the Mississippi River. From there I worked Herbert, Kevin and Tammy. I found the Qs to be invigorating, but I was also looking forward to my car's air-conditioning.  I drove back to Lover's Leap, and Herbert and I made the short jaunt to see Kevin's shack.  His QTH is even higher in elevation than Lover's Leap.  Add to that a 75 foot tower with his 40 watt 10 GHz rig with dish on top of the tower and we have a new Midwestern "anchor station" that Kevin plans to also offer a omni, 10 GHz beacon! 

 

 

                                                 Villa Katherine in Quincy, IL EM49hu

 

 

          Kevin AD7OI's tower with 40 watt, 10 GHz dish, Kevin and Herbert outside his shack, Kevin inside his well equipped shack.

 After visiting with AD7OI and KI7GVT, we made our way back to St. Peters.

Sunday, the 20th found Jim KKØU, myself and Debbie KC9ULA heading towards Pere Marquette State Park near Godfrey, IL EM48rx. Thankfully, we didn't need to get there until 10:30 am.  Jim was up and ready by 10:15 am at EM48qt (MidRivers Mall in St. Peters, MO).  Around 1540Z we easily made a two-way Q with Jim.  I could easily copy the WB9PNU beacon 1Ø368.9ØØ telemetry 4 watts out, 12.5 VDC, 98 degrees outside and 102 degrees inside the box.

Next we worked Jim atr EM48OT then EM48mw, EM48kx and EM49ia near Hawks Point, MO, our most distant Sunday Q.  Jim discovered bouncing his signal off of city water towers works really well!

After working Jim, Debbie and I went to Dow, IL EM49ua, an old AT&T microwave site to work Kevin and Tammy back at EM49hp on phone.

                                                                       Dow, IL EM49ua

                                              Looking back to EM49hp from Dow EM49ua

Now it was time to pack it in and to head back home but not before working Kevin and Tammy from MidRivers Mall in EM48qt.  To save time, we took the Grafton, IL Ferry across the mighty Mississippi to St. Charles county.

 

I dropped off Debbie back home and I went to the mall parking lot.  Around 23:00 Z I was able to hear Kevin, but we didn't have a two-way path.  But wait, I saw a thunderstorm to my northeast centered over Ramsey, Il (approximately 80 miles away) and Kevin, Tammy and I were able to make another QSO!

 

 

                                           Looking northeast towards the Ramsey, IL T-storm.

 All-in-all, a rewarding, exhausting, exhilarating contest.  Propagation wasn't the best, but hey it was good to once again have my rig at full operating power of 3+ watts!  Thanks Kevin for the use of his workshop,  to Steve at DEMI for looking at my transverter, Herbert for giving me a new relay and to everyone who was on the air over these two contest weekends!

 

Oh before I forget, a personal joke among SLAMS (St. Louis Area Microwave Society) members is we should plan our activity around a winery.  Well, we finally did it.  Just south of Hannibal on MO Hwy 79 is a winery at Mark Twain Cave.  We finally did it!

 

 

73, de Ron KOØZ