ARRL UHF Distance Scoring Contest

Some members of the SLAMS group participated on the ARRL UHF Distance Scoring Contest on 6th and 7th of August, 2022, mostly to test our equipment before the upcoming ARRL 10GHz And Up contests.

Saturday the 6th was a very hot day, temperatures in 3 digits. We decided to start a little later in order to survive and even be able to get out the next day. We decided to operate from Saint Louis area (EM48) on Saturday, but go closer to the Kansas border (EM38) on Sunday.

I started at the Community College in Cottleville on Saturday. There is a nice county park in EM48qs (same grid as my house). I have set up at 4:00pm to try with Pete K9PW on 432MHz and 10GHz. However .. I forgot my antenna cable for 432MHz. Pete was located in EN51xr about 395km away. Although the location has a clear shot in the direction of 33deg. and I have worked stations from that area before, we did not make it on 10GHz.

My next try was with Harry WA0CNS who set up at High Ridge in EM48rl. We were able to make SSB QSOs on 10GHz and 23cm (the second one with just 2W of power on my side although I have had my 40W set up). Distance 33km.

AF4JF pointing towards WA0CNS from EM48qs

The day was crowned by a nice RS QSO with Gedas W8BYA on 10GHz. He was in EN70jt as usual and the distance was 515km. Ron KO0Z arrived at the park and we made plans for the next day.

My Sunday started a little inconveniently - by getting out of bed at 4:00am. I wanted to drive to EM38xw and be there when the sun comes out to utilize the morning tropo propagation. We (me and my dog Darcey) arrived right on time and started setting up at 6:30am.

Darcey making sure that I set up everything correctly

We got on 10GHz first and tried with Pete N0OY before the scheduled 7:00am .. but it didn't work. No tropo enhancement between us. We tried several times, then took a break to set up the other bands. And started noticing problems.

Brand new LMR400, factory made but not working

My 23cm did neither receive nor transmit. I spent some time troubleshooting to find out why no receive - the new cable that I replaced since yesterday not working. That was an easy fix (replaced it), but my PA was not transmitting. It was working fine just the day before .. I discovered a blown electrolytic capacitor when I checked it later at home. I have that PA for more than 10 years and I got it as old, used equipment, so that capacitor had full right to fail. It would just be nicer it if would do so at some other time, not in the contest far away from home ... long story short, I was only running 2W on 23cm.

Trying with N0OY from EM38xw

I didn't work Pete N0OY that day. No signal on 10GHz, not even on 432MHz. I have copied his 80W on 1296MHz but he didn't hear my 2W across 498km ...

I have worked Greg WQ0P on 23cm from there. He was able to copy my 2W on 1296MHz across the distance of 354km. Same with Harry WA0CNS who tried to find a location in his area to work me. He finally found a spot in EM48pq and worked me on 1296MHz across 119km. Not bad.

Ron KO0Z arrived with his 24GHz station and we tried to make a QSO on that band. I am running 100mW on 24GHz band, but Ron's station is in the range of microwatts. We have finally made a contact across 1.1km, but it wasn't easy. I will leave the details to Ron.

Working KO0Z on 24GHz using SDR Pluto and a laptop as my IF 

Everything considered, it was a successful contest, even with just 6 QSOs made during its 24 hour span. After packing everything, we went to explore the area and found an acceptable location for RS in the new grid EM39xx. We will test that next time.

24GHz activity in St. Louis EM48

The SLAMS group usually meets at Denny's for breakfast, then goes to the Creve Coeur park in Saint Louis for technical activities. One such activity took place on Sunday 7/10 and the main topic for the outdoor activity was 24GHz.

Harry WA0NCS, Herbert AF4JF, Ron KO0Z and Armand KD0PXF met in the park to test Harry's second 24GHz station (low power transverter of the W2PED concept) and Herbert's idea of using SDR Pluto as the IF radio for his 24GHz. Following pictures document the setups:

Harry WA0CNS setting up the small station
(this was later operated by Ron KO0Z)

Harry WA0CNS with his regular 24GHz station

The AF4JF station for 24GHz
(the SDR IF plus laptop are located inside the car)

We were able to make 3-way contacts across the park easily. Herbert was dealing with a power issue on his 110V power inverter (voltage dropping, will use bigger inverter next time). Nice outdoor activity, getting ready for the contests!

ARRL 10GHz And Up - Part 1 as seen by Herbert AF4JF

The SLAMS group has once again attended the "ARRL 10GHz And Up" Contest during the weekend of August 21 and 22. We have split the activities between the two days of the contest - first day was just moving around our area, second started with a 90 miles road trip to Hannibal, MO.

The first day was mostly to test our modified equipment. Harry WA0CNS started at High Ridge EM48rl while Herbert was at Community College EM48qs. Fast QSO over 33km.

AF4JF at Community College aiming South

Ron KO0Z joined Herbert (and brought a breakfast) at the CC park while Harry was driving to our next stop, which was the Lakeside 370 park in EM48rt. Harry and Herbert made a QSO on 10GHz, 24GHz and 122GHz from there.

Lakeside 370 Park

Next stop was the Iffrig Road in EM48qt. Harry and Herbert worked Zack W9SZ from EN50ue over 250km over Rain Scatter from that location. Also tried to work Gedas W8BYA, but no success this time. Sorry, I forgot to take some pictures.

The day was very hot, so we gave up at this time and went home to get ready for "tomorrow".

On Sunday, the day after, we got out of beds quite early and met at the commuter parking lot in St. Peters at 5:00am. The topic of the day was a road trip to Hannibal, MO (yes, that's the Mark Twain town with caves and the Tom/Huckleberry/Becky kids). We have arrived there in the "Lover's Leap Park" at 7:00am, just in time for first QSO with Jon W0ZQ and Gary WB0LJC in EM42bn, about 322km away!

Harry WA0CNS in EM49hq Hannibal MO

Herbert AF4JF set up for 10GHz in EM49hq

View across Mississippi River in Hannibal, MO

Herbert and Harry also made a 122GHz QSO across 5 km from the hill to a parking lot in downtown near the river in EM49hr where Harry set up before we left Hannibal and went to Louisiana, MO.

We arrived in Louisiana in EM49lk just on time to catch Zack W9SZ and John K9JK at Ohlman Cemetery in EM59ji about 152km away. We have made some QSOs and continued our journey by returning to the Community College in EM49qs while Zack and John moved closer to Saint Louis.

Harry WA0CNS in EM49lk

Herbert's dog Darcey in EM49lk

We have returned to EM49qs from there. Zack went to Dow, EM49ua and John to Gillespie EM58ax to make another QSO with us. John joined Zack in EM49ua again to make another QSO with us. These were 62 and 40km.

Both teams were quite tired after all this, but we have decided on one more move - John and Zack went to Eagles Roost in Pere Marquette State Park, EM48rx. They both made a final QSO with Herbert over the path of 24km and we have called a day. The Saint Louis team was home in several minutes, but John and Zack spent most of the evening driving back home. Thanks guys for coming here and playing with us!