10 GHz Tower Scatter from Hannibal, MO!

 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!

 

 

 

 

 

ARRL 2026 JANUARY VHF CONTEST

 Wow, the first SLAMS Blog entry for 2026!  Sunday, January 18th.  The first half of the week was nice, weather wise, with temperatures near 60 degrees.  Then came Saturday's cold front with arctic air behind it.  Sunday is the pick day with highs in the upper 20's.  Way too cold for me.

I hesitated the entire weekend as to whether or not I was willing to venture out in the cold WX.  My "rover companion in arms, " Debbie KC9ULA decided to wait this one out.  I almost decided against getting out, but the sun was starting to peak through the clouds, and I felt like getting out and about.  So, instead of loading up my VHF-SHF yagis, I opted to use my tarheel antenna for 6 meters and a halo for 2m and 70cm.  I brought my tri-band HT for 222 FM. KO0Z/R finally made it for part of the contest!

Around 2:15 pm, I worked my wife Debbie KC9ULA from my mobile and then I made my way to the park near St. Charles Community College EM48 and worked Herbert AF4JF 6m to 70cm.  Next, I made my way up Hwy 79 to Foley, MO on top of a hill in EM49.  I worked Herbert AF4JF (EM48) on 6m, 2m and 70cm.  I was also able to put Mel K0PFX (EM48) in my log on 2m and 70cm.  I was just about ready to leave the hill when I heard K1HTV FM18 in VA booming in on 6 m SSB! BTW, temp on top of the EM49 hill...a balmy 27 degrees F. 

By this time it was late evening and I stopped by a Casey's in Winfield to surprise Debbie with a Casey's taco pizza.  Yummy!  Tooling down Hwy 79 I heard K8MR in EL87, Florida coming back to my CQ from EM48 which necessitated I pull off along side the road to safely work and to log him!

No more Qs for me the rest of the trip home.  All-in-all, a fun 2 hour outing.  My claimed score is 160 pts.  I worked 4 grids. 

                                    

                                            Microwave site, a SLAMS fav for EM49 near Foley, MO

                                           On top of the EM49 hill, a "balmy" 27 degrees F...Burrr...

 

 

ARRL SEPT VHF QSO CONTEST

                                        ARRL SEPTEMBER VHF QSO CONTEST 

 

                                        Rear mounted yagis for 23 cm, 70 cm, 1.25 m and 2 m.
 

Finally, I decided to stop procrastinating and I took some steps to turn my Silverado into a more serious rover.  I've roved before with Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS to grid squares EM48 and EM49, but those outings were more portable set-ups.  They involved going to location and setting up, tear down and resetting up at another location. I wanted to get more serious about roving.

  I wanted to minimize set-up time.   I have end mounted yagi antennas which require a mast with a good base.  My past, portable set-ups varied in quality and overall were not that good.  This time I purchased a tripod with a steel mast and bolted it down to a plywood sheet.  I then put a heavy weight on the plywood and the antenna system stood up to highway speeds.

On the other hand, I found out the hard way, my folding bed cover needs to be strapped down.  On Sunday, while traveling up Interstate 55,  heard a "boom" as the wind blew my cover backwards against the antenna mast.  The cover blocked my rear window vision. I've done this before and never had a problem.  Then again, I wasn't traveling over 60 mph.  One lesson learned.

I also need to get an antenna switch and longer coax runs.  I fed my coax through the passenger side of the truck.  For the January contest, I plan to use foam rubber to fill in the air gap between the window and the coax.

This turned out to be a good trial run.  Debbie KC9ULA and I decided to not make this contest a "full-press effort."  On Sunday, we wanted to be back in time to view the KC Chief's vs. Eagles football game.  KC lost BTW...drats....  This decision limited our contest time, but this was a trial run.

The weekend of September 13-14 was hot (at times 100 F on my truck's thermometer).  We were under the influence of an weaker, omega, high pressure system.  Humidity levels were way down and so was propagation.  Many of the ops we worked noticed poor, propagation on 6 and 2 meters.  70 cm had better  conditions it seemed.  

On Saturday, Debbie and I started off at the park near St. Charles Community College, near Cottleville, MO EM48.  We made contacts with Herbert AF4JF, Mel K0PFX and Jeff K9KLD in Maryville, IL EM58.  From there we went to Foley, MO EM49 and worked Herbert, Jeff.  Not a bad start for our first day. Herbert convinced us to try again on Sunday.

 Sunday, September 14

 I'm glad we decided to go.  This was going to be a busy, full day in that we wanted to be back in time for the Chief's.  We were on the road by 9:30 am and we worked Mel, K0PFX, en route to EM 58 from EM 48 (I-270).  Our first stop was at a park in Troy, MO, EM58.  I couldn't hear Herbert AF4JF in EM48 or Warren WD9EXD in EM57, but we did work Jeff K9KLD from the park.  Jeff is only a few miles away.  I don't think we'll use that park again, too many trees and houses nearby.

From there we went to Staunton, Il in EM59.  We parked at a dental office located on a hill.  This turned out to be a very good spot.  I worked Warren WD9EXD, Jeff K9KLD, Tony KG9AP, and Gordan N9HYC. We did some band running.

On our way back home, we stopped again in EM58 at a higher location near SIUE.  I was able to work Herbert, Tony, John KE9CIP and Jeff from that location.

STATS 

Debbie and I activated 4 grids, EM48, EM49, EM58 and EM59.  We drove 300 miles on this weekend triip.  We worked 3 grids EM48, EM58 and EM59.  We made 37 Qs, 55 QSO points, 19 mults for a claimed score of 1,045 points.

SPRINT 432 again

VHF+ SPRINT contests return twice every year in 5 sections - 50, 144. 222. 432 and microwave. We of the local SLAMS group around Saint Louis only participated from our homes in the 144 and 222MHz sections this year, mostly due to bad weather (you do not want to be on the hilltop during severe thunderstorm). However, the weather last night was perfect for VHF+ activity, so we went outdoors again.

When I said "we", I meant a combination of SLAMS and SLQS (Saint Louis QRP Society) members. Also, the participating stations were members of either one or both of these groups. There was no other band activity in our area - a problem we see in every contest now.

Tony KT0AA and Herbert AF4JF went to Winfield (North of St. Charles, Missouri) to the EM48-EM49 grid line. There is a nice hill with a huge railroad communications tower where we usually go for this kind of activity. Worked couple of stations, Including Harry WA0CNS and Tom W0MFQ. Tom was testing his 144MHz Yagi antenna, which was the reason why we took the 2m KLM beam on AF4JF's car to 70cm contest. Everything worked exceptionally fine and we made QSOs on both band, 144 and 432MHz, even with antennas for opposite polarization.

Several pictures to document the rover setups:

WA0CNS in EM48

AF4JF in EM49

SPRINT Contest 144MHz - Spring 2023

Herbert AF4JF and Ron KO0Z went to the usual location in Winfield, MO (EM49). Since we both live relatively close in EM48, it was easy for us to activate two grids during the short time this contest gives the participants to do so. AF4JF has started in EM49 while KO0Z started in EM48, so we both worked each other from - to all combinations you can make of the two grids.

The longest QSO (ODX) we made was between AF4JF and Pete K9PW who was in EN52, about 370km away. Note that this was 144MHz.

The SPRINT contest continues with its 222MHz section next week. You can find details here (click).

AF4JF/R at the gas station in Winfield

KO0Z/R arriving at the same gas station

FYB0 (Freeze Your Buns Off) Microwave Attempt

The weather forecast wasn't especially encouraging.  Debbie and I were up before dawn and we were almost ready to go by our planned time of 7:00 am and we were only 15 minutes late.  That's good for me, since I am on "Ochu time" which translates into at least being 30 - 45 minutes later.  Our eleven old son, Roman didn't complain and he, too, was ready for the trip.  My idea of putting some Anderson power poles on one end of a pair of wires and a cigarette lighter plug on the other as a means of hooking up my 10 GHz rig in the car to warm up the 10 MHz oscillator worked well.  I did not have my usual 20 - 45 minute waiting period.

By 9:00 am, I am up and running at the grid corner of EN50aa and EM59ax and not far at all from the corner of EN40xa and EM49xx (about 200 yards).  I first try  to work Zack, W9SZ on the hill in EN50rl about 81 miles away.  I can copy his signal just out of the noise and there is severe QSB.  Likewise with Zack.  We both are experiencing 30-35 mile/hour winds and the temperature is about 42 degrees.  It is cold outside. The 1.2 GHz antennas behave more like wind vanes so we didn't even attempt that band.  So, Zack and I almost made a two-way, but not quite.  Oh well.

I next called Jim, N5MU at the Y in EM48sq about 96 miles away and we tried, but neither one of us heard even a peep.  The same story with Jim and Zack.  At this point we are struggling to keep our dishes from toppling over in the wind.  The wind broke up any ducts that may have formed so we called it a day.

I gave Ron, W9ZIH a call, but he was in the middle of a 2 meter QSO and he'd be happy to work me later and that was very nice of Ron, but I decided not to struggle with the winds and raw temps so we agreed to make it another day.

The grid corner of EN40, EN50, EM49 and EM59 looks like it will work.  I met the manager  of the property and he'd check with his boss to see if I could set up in the actual corner.  Otherwise, he was fine with me staying of the field edges. 

So what did I learn on this excursion?
*  Zack, Jim, Debbie, Roman and myself are microwave troopers.
* It was COLD outside!
* Strong winds are not conducive to good microwaving
* My DC power cord from the van's cigarette lighter to my rig is a great idea!
* Quicker set-up time to get on the air.
* The new grid site looks promising.
* Starbucks coffee tastes even better in 42 F temperatures and strong, gusty winds!
* A big THANK YOU to Zack and Jim for braving the elements!

                          A view of EN50aa/EM59ax looking  towards St. Louis and Jim, N5MU in EM48 sq.

                        This a view of EN50aa/EM59ax looking towards Zack, W9SV at EN50rl



       Debbie, Roman and I stopped for lunch at the Golden Corral in Springfield, IL.  Notice the landmark smoke stacks from the electrical plant along I-55 about 2 miles away from us.

73,  de Ron, KO0Z