Annual SLAMS/BARS Lunch 2024

We, the SLAMS group, have met at our favorite Chandler Hill Winery for the 8th annual lunch in a row. This is a traditional meeting that closes the year of our microwave activities, we use it to discuss the results and make plans for the next year. At least in theory. The weather wasn't really friendly today, so we only had a fewn participants. Evenn the winery was far less busy than usual

Kevin AD7OI with his wife Tammy KI7GVT, Ron KO0Z with his wife Debbie KC9ULA and myself (Herbert AF4JF) with my dog Darcey, soon to be licensed K9DOG. Darcey was too short to sit at the table, so she ate her lunch under it.

Chandler Hill Winery

KC9ULA, KO0Z, KI7GVT and AD7OI at the table

AF4JF taking selfie of himself

Darcey listening to the conversation

Some of our members expressed concerns about sitting outside in the cold .. this winery has indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor seating is either open or covered. We usually sit in the covered section, with big heaters. The place certainly is not cold.

Covered outdoor seating

One of nearby heaters

Heater installed above our table

The food was tasty as usual. We had lots of fun discussing the usual ham radio topics. In addition to that, Kevin just received his private pilot license, we discussed that in length. Two hours flew by and we took leave. Hope to meet there again in bigger numbers next year!

ARRL 10 GHz and Up 2024 Contest SLAMS Style

 This year, we plan to include two ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest narratives.  One provided by me, Ron KO0Z and the other by my friend Herbert AF4JF.  For the first round of the contest, Saturday, August 17, 2024 we got a late start.  I wanted to activate for the first time (as far as I know) a microwave station from Frenchmen's Bluff  EM49ma at Cuivre River State Park near Troy, MO. Debbie KC9ULA and I arrived there and were on the air by 10:25 am.  I was able to hear Greg WQ0P (EM19wf) on CW and he was able to see me in his waterfall, but my signal was in his noise level.   At 10:35 Pete N0OY EM18ct tried to work me but both of us couldn't hear each other.  We gave it the "good old college try." This was approximately 278/368 mile path between us.  On a side note, KO0Z waited a few minutes to transmit to give a hiker time to propose to his fiancee.  She accepted!

             Debbie KC9ULA and Toula at Frenchmen's Bluff EM49ma with a good westerly view.

From EM49ma, Debbie and Ron traveled along I-70 to EM38xw just west of Kingdom City, MO.  Around 2:09 pm, I tried working Gedas W8BYA from this spot via rain scatter centered over Indiana but to no avail.  I was able to put Pete N0OY EM18ct in my log with a 529 signal at 1:10 pm!  A 497 km (308 miles) path!  The weather was in the 80s and humidity was nice, partly sunny skies.  

                                         My dish aimed at Pete N0OY from EM38xw along I-70
 

Our next stop was the Moberly, MO regional airport EM39sl along MO Route 63.  We attempted a Q with Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS who arrived at Frenchmen's Bluff at 3:24 pm a distance of 136 km.  This should have been a slam dunk, but we were unable to hear each other.  Go figure!

                                       The easterly view from Moberly Airport EM39sl

After this disappointing attempt, Debbie and I made tracks for Hannibal, MO EM49hq for a 6:00 pm sked with rovers Gary WB0LJC, Larry WA9TT, Chris N0UK and Holly K0HAC.  We arrived in time, however my rig developed a short and blew a few fuses.  I was dead in the water.

                                                My rig with a blown fuse.  DRATS!

                                                  Kevin AD7OI, et.al. and a EM49hq sunset

                                            Herbert AF4JF making contacts from EM49hq

                          

                       Harry WA0CNS adjusting his rig at EM49hq overlooking the mighty Mississippi River

                                                  Leg #2 Saturday, September 21, 2024

For me the second weekend of the contest wasn't shaping up too well.  Most of the uW ops were up north along Lake Michigan.  Herbert AF4JF just got back home from a week long business trip.  Harry WA0CNS wasn't available for the weekend.  Simply put there wasn't anyone to work.  Or so it seemed.  A brand new microwaver and experienced HF contester Jim Smith KK0U was willing to try out the contest with our SLAMS loaner 10 GHz rig.  I met with Jim on Friday evening at the Kisker Road SSM Medical building and I showed him how to tune in the WB9PNU beacon, how to  employ panning, elevation and building reflection. Jim took to this like a duck to water!  He wasn't available Saturday, but he was open for Sunday.

Weather forecast wise, Saturday was the pick day.  Rain was expected Sunday AM and all through the day and into Monday.  Saturday, September 21st, the skies were sunny with a few clouds but there was rain scatter to my east.  Gedas gave me a phone call and persuaded me to give it a try.  Although it was somewhat of a long shot, nothing ventured nothing gained, right?  I set up in three different spots in EM48:  A levy just north of MidRivers Mall EM48qs, St. Roberts church also EM48qs (the trees have grown since I was there last) and finally at Kisker Road SSM Medical building where Jim and I were the night earlier.  At 4:30 pm, Gedas EN70jt could see my signal on his panadapter and he was able to hear my weak signal just above his noise floor.  Me, on the other hand, could not hear him.  Darn, another one-way contact. It was worth the effort.  Maybe Sunday will prove to be better but I wasn't hopeful.  The forecast called for rain and lots of it.

Around 3:00 am Sunday, September 22 I awoke to thunder.  Sure enough, it was raining.  Herbert called me at 4:45 am and we decided it didn't make too much sense to drive to Hannibal to try to work Gary WB0LJC in the rain.  Gary was impacted as well and he changed his plans.  Bruce W9FZ and his wife Janice KA9VVQ in southern WI were also rain impacted. I suggested to Herbert we take a wait and see approach  

As luck would have it, a dry slot developed and Herbert, Jim and myself made our way to Louisiana, MO EM49lk.  We arrived in rain but the dry slot appeared and we tried to work Gedas W8BYA to no avail.  The T-storms that woke us up, now to our east between us and Gedas, weakened.  No joy this time.  In the meantime, both Herbert and I wanted Jim KK0U to make his very first 10 GHz QSO.  So, I scurried across the Mississippi River to Illinois and EM49ll and a marina just over a km away.

                                    EM49ll in Illinois looking west towards KK0U and AF4JF in EM49lk

                             AF4JF looking east from EM49lk towards the EM49ll marina

 At 1:55 pm, I made both a CW and SSB contact with Jim and Herbert.  This was Jim's first 10 GHz QSO and his first interstate MO-IL contact!  After the QSOs, I packed up my gear and headed back to the Missouri side of the Mississippi to our EM49lk location.

 Around 2:20 pm, from EN42sv, Bruce W9FZ and his wife Janice KA9VVQ made a 385 km (239 miles) QSO with Jim KK0U and Herbert AF4JF! I wasn't able to hear them with my rig.  Bruce and Janice moved to EN42px and again made a two-way with Herbert and Jim!  

  

                                           

                                                     My view from the Illinois marina in EM49ll.

                                          Jim KK0U ready for 10 GHz DX from EM49lk!

                                     Herbert AF4JF tapping out CW for a successful QSO from EM49lk

                                        

           Ron KO0Z looking across the Mississippi at the lowest altitude rainbow he's ever seen!

                      

                                           Ron KO0Z looking towards Bruce and Janice in WI EM42px

All in all, the second leg of the contest was salvaged and I had a very fun time.Welcome to Jim KK0U our newest SLAMS member!  A big shout-out to all the participating ops.  THANK YOU! 

Field Day, SHF Style!

 When thinking about Field Day, typically hams think of the event in terms of the HF bands, 80, 40,20, 15 and 10 meters.  Some clubs include 6 and 2 meters.  This year, SLAMS decided to push the log ever so slightly into the UHF-SHF bands.  Namely, we decided to operate FD on 1.2  and 10 GHz!

Ron KO0Z operated with the St. Charles Amateur Club (SCARC) set up at Immaculate Conception Parish (ICD) soccer fields in Dardenne Prairie and Herbert AF4JF worked with the St. Louis QRP Society (SLQS) operating from Spanish Village Park near Earth City.

For approximately three months, Ron and Herbert talked about reflecting signals off the communications tower next to ICD.  We were inspired by Ben K4QF's MUD paper elaborating on 10 GHz propagation using commercial TV towers.  Although our tower is nowhere near as tall as a TV tower, approximately 250 ft as opposed to 1,000 ft, it was still worth a try!

This photo depicts Herbert AF4JF's view of the tower approximately one-third of a mile to the west, just left of the setting sun.

This view is from Ron KO0Z's perspective, approximately 200 yards away.  Herbert AF4JF would be northeast of Ron.

Both of us discovered illuminating the top half of the communications tower provided excellent results.  Moving our dishes a degree to either side of the azimuth heading towards the tower resulted of loss of signal.  SCARC members were impressed to see 3 cm propagation.  About 5 SCARC members made two-way contacts with Herbert!  Each received a "First Contact Award!"  

An even better point source turned out to be the WB9PNU/B approximately 18 miles away to the east.  We were copying it 599 off the top half of the communications tower.  Ron was unable to copy the beacon pointing his dish towards its location.  Too much vegetation.  Needless to say, SCARC members were very impressed.  So was I and Herbert.  We plan to be at opposite ends of the tower and see just how far we can copy each other's signals in the near future.  Somehow, I think the STL TV stations TV towers will be next!

The elevation profile between ICD (SCARC FD site) and the WB9PNU beacon is interesting.

After finishing up our demo and FD contacts on 10 GHz, Herbert AF4JF went back to the SLQS FD site near Earth City and Ron KO0Z went to SSM Medical offices near Kisker Road and Hwy 364 near Harvester, MO.  The distance between SSM and SLQS is approximately 9.5 miles.  Ron and Herbert exchanged 5x9 SSB signals on 1.2 GHz!  However, Ron's PTT RCA connector broke a lead and we weren't able to make a 10 GHz Q, but both of us are sure we could have made the 3 cm Q.

The elevation profile between SSM and SLQS is very interesting.  SSM is on the far left of the profile and SLQS is on the right.  The big "valley/dip" just right of center is the Missouri River.  We had two large obstructions between us.  Going right from SSM is the Caulk's Hill ridge in Harvester.  Further to the right is the Hwy 94/Hwy 364 interchange.

All in all, we had a great time adding microwave contacts to both club's FD logs!  Best of all, we experimented with Ben K4QF's MUD findings and met with success! Now, we want to experiment even more with this mode! Evidently uW tower propagation applies equally well in MO as it does in AL!  Tnx Ben!

More Radio-Activity

Warmer weather that accompanies the onset of Summer in Missouri always brings, besides the air temperatures and sunshine, also some VHF+ and general ham radio activity. 

Spring SPRINT 50MHz contest took place on May 11. Herbert AF4JF and Tony KT0AA went to Winfield area to test antennas - Tony used a nice loop and Herbert tested his dual-hamstick dipole. Both antennas were horizontally polarized. Comparing by asking several stations about our signal strengths gave us the expected answer - the loop antenna was a little better than the dipole.

AF4JF and KT0AA in Foley, MO (EM49oa)

The June ARRL VHF Contest kept us busy for two days in June, Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th. Ron KO0Z, Harry WA0CNS and Herbert AF4JF spent Saturday making VHF contacts from EM48 and EM49 grids in the Winfield area. As always, we combined the Sunday VHF activity with one of the local hamfests on the Illinois side of the river (the Egyptian Hamfest in Granite City), lunch at the famous Uncle Linny's restaurant and VHF operation from Edwardsville EM58.

AF4JF in Foley EM49oa

AF4JF and WA0CNS in Granite City EM48wq

AF4JF in Edwardsville EM58as

WA0CNS setting up in Edwardsville EM58as

SPRINT Microwave

The SLAMS group was planning on combining the Microwave SPRINT contest with MAD Day (Microwave Activity Day) and with Pere Marquette park activation (POTA). Our plans have changed last minute and we ended up just testing our microwave equipment after months of winter storage.

Herbert AF4JF set up at the Community College near Cottleville, Missouri. Ron KO0Z on Kisker Road behind the close SSM medical facility and Harry WA0CNS went to his favorite place on High Ridge, MO. Ron worked me (Herbert) from Kisker Road and then moved to my location to work Harry. We used 1296MHz and 10GHz, QSOs were made on both bands. Harry WA0CNS used his multi-band SDR transceiver he built from SDR ADALM PLUTO and Raspberry Pi with a touch screen with about 200mW output power on 23cm. That was enough to work both of us on SSB although we were both running > 10W. Distance between us and Harry was 33 km (21 miles, EM48qs to EM48rl) and there is NO line of sight between these locations but we always make the 10GHz contact anyway.

AF4JF in EM48qs

Elevation profile between EM48qs and EM48rl (right side)

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

Dose of January Radio-Activity

Once again, the Winterfest. Our biggest hamfest of the season. Lots of banquets, forums, commercial vendors and above all, the huge indoor flea market. Collinsville, IL on Saturday, January 27. Surprisingly, quite balmy weather this year compared to the freezing cold many years before.

Winterfest is always interesting. It would take pages of pictures to show the atmosphere and cover all the activities, so I will just add two that got my attention:

Display of Radio Scouting with some APRS equipment

Revolutionary portable ground system

Unfortunately, this was also the last day of a DX-pedition to Clipperton Island, TX5S. Many of us were trying to score last QSOs in the morning of the Winterfest:

TX5S Live Stream

To make it even more interesting, this was also the weekend of a major HF contest, the CQ 160m CW. Enough? Oh no .. this was also the weekend of the Winter Field Day. Quite a busy weekend! I have worked TX5S, made some CW QSOs on 160m, attended the Winterfest and even visited the portable location of the STL QRP Society in the Babler Park:

Cochran Shelter in the Babler Park

STL QRP Club guys during the WFD

I was very impressed by the outdoor activity the STL QRP guys set up in the Babler park. There was a fire place in the shelter, but the shelter itself is open, so the operation was far from convenient or "home-like". I have only visited for a short time, but I have seen enough challenging things to last me a year or two - nice QRP radios, portable antennas and above all very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Too bad that I spent the previous night operating in the 160m contest.

To my knowledge, there was at least one other group from our area, the Missouri Outdoor Club, W0MOC attending the Winter Field Day. They operated in about one hour driving distance West from Saint Louis close to I-70, but I was not able to visit them due to lack of sleep on my side. Fantastic activity, beating the elements while generating some waves!

To make things even more complex, the SLAMS club had the regular breakfast meeting at Denny's just the next Sunday morning. It was one of the nice meetings where everybody was having fun on top of eating the traditionally good food. Everything considered, one of the most active weekends we have ever had.

WB9PNU/B January RS

 Not much in the way of local microwave activity this winter.  Yesterday, January 25 the St. Louis metro area had a rainy day.  I decided to drag my 3cm rig next to my back porch doorway to see if I could hear the WB9PNU 3 cm beacon.  I am happy to report that it is working nicely!

                              Screenshot of the rain moving away from the area.  When I listened for RS, the rain was filling most of the above screenshot at the time.

ARRL VHF January 2024 Contest

It's that time of the year again - time to freeze while trying to be radio-active. At least in theory. Practically, some of us decided not to get exposed to the elements and the rest just minimized the exposure. We decided to avoid the predicted cold on Saturday and scheduled a limited activity for Sunday, January 21st. Well, it wasn't much warmer and the stay outdoors on the open spots where we usually go to for VHF+ contacts was far from pleasant.

Herbert AF4JF set up his SUV for the usual roving activity, just limited the number of bands to 3 and only worked on two of them - 144 and 432MHz. Harry WA0CNS set up his minivan in similar fashion and operated on 144MHz. Our new member Tony KB9LLD operated on 144 and 432 using a "drive-on" stand with a pole that carried very nice dual band beam. Ron KO0Z supported us from his home station.

We probably did not break any records and I am afraid that we won't win this contest either, but the activity was way higher than couple of last years combined. We have even worked some FM stations only using their handhelds! Hope this trend will spread, we need more activity!

Several pictures from today's outing:

Herbert AF4JF in EM48qs

Herbert AF4JF in EM49oa

Tony KB9LLD in EM48qs

Tony has a nice "drive-on" stand

Herbert worked Marshall WD9EXD in EM57
(142 miles) on the small 70cm loop