ARRL 10 G & Up Contest, Leg 1, August 2026

 Leg one, August 15, 2026, of the ARRL 10 G & Up contest started with thunderstorms overnight early Saturday morning just past dawn. Today, it looked like it would only be Kevin AD7OI and myself and whoever else I could hear to operate leg one of the contest.  I decided to go for distance points. I, KO0Z left St. Peters EM48 amidst rain heading towards Litchfield, IL EM59ee at 7:00 am.  Plans are to be QRV by 9:00 am to work Kevin AD7OI located on one of our favorite microwave sites, Lover's Leap, high above Hannibal, MO EM49hq 100 miles away to my northwest.  

                        KO0Z set up at Litchfield, IL EM59ee ready to work Kevin AD7OI in EM49hq

                                               Rain just north of Litchfield early Saturday morning 

 Around 9:00 am Kevin and I tried to work one another but without any luck.  Kevin discovered an issue with rig. In the meantime,  I was able to hear the St. Louis 10 G beacon WB9PNU very well. Kevin's workshop is close by to EM49hq so while I waited for Kevin's return, I called CQ towards Chicago but with no response.  A very short while later, Kevin was back and both he and I tried again.  I could hear Kevin, but he could neither hear or see me on his Icom 705's display  We were 100 miles apart. Drats.  We attributed it to poor propagation.

I packed up and headed east 25 miles towards Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji.  It felt good to arrive at another one of my favorite microwave locations for it had been four years or more since I was there last.

           The sun was beginning to pop out between the rain clouds at Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji

 

             Pointing towards St. Louis and the WB9PNU/b from Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji

 While at the cemetery, I could easily copy the WB9PNU beacon 73 miles to my southwest.  I then tried to work Kevin from this location, now 118 miles away.  I could hear him but once again, he couldn't hear me.  I suspected my transverter or its relay were malfunctioning.  Since propagation wasn't too good for either of us. Kevin kindly made available his excellent workbench in Hannibal to test my rig. Darn, so much for working distance points plans. Now I needed to drive a distance.  Ah, the best laid plans of mice and a frustrated microwaver...

                                                 Kevin AD7OI testing my Xverter output 

 

                              AD7OI outside his Hannibal shack next to his VHF-SHF tower.

 I'm glad I made the trek over to Kevin's.  We measured my output at approximately 80 milliwatts.  No where near my normal 3 watts output. I'll be sending my Xverter back to Steve at DEMI for his expert repair.  Oh well, I can now claim I'm working 3 cm QRPp!  Tnx Kevin for making you and your bench available to test my 3 cm rig.

Sunday, August  16,2026

Armed with the knowledge I am now operating 3 cm QRPp, my strategy changed.  I planned to operate closer in to our Sunday location - the Farmersville, IL gob EM59ek.I again left St. Peters EM48 at 7:00 am amidst light to moderate rain heading towards a rendezvous with Jim N9LQF, the keeper of the gate, at the Farmersville, IL  gob wind turbine just east of I-55 exit 72. We were up on  the gob by 8:30 am.

                              Driving up towards the wind turbine atop the Farmersville gob EM59ek.

 

                                         Me set up next to  the wind turbine on the gob.

 Soon Herbert AF4JF arrived on site and together we were set up ready to work our fellow microwave enthusiast and SLAMS member,  Jim KK0U who was setting up at Litchfield, IL to our south by 22 miles, which we both did.  We were also ready to work Kevin AD7OI and his wife Tammy KI7GV at Hannibal EM49hq.

     IDOT left their mowing tractors on top of the gob and Herbert used the trailer's additional height.

Herbert was able to put Kevin and Tammy into his log, but my 80 milliwatts wasn't punching through the 118 mile path.  I was able to work Jim KK0U 22 miles away with my QRPp station! After that QSO, I decided to rove around the gob to give Herbert and Jim more points.  I went to Morrisonville, IL, Pawnee, IL and finally at Virden, IL. I was able to put Herbert and Jim in my log.

                                                      Me set up near Morrisonville, IL 

 

 

                                           Morrisonville looking west towards the gob's direction.

 

 

                                                        Storm clouds over Pawnee, IL.

 It was now around 2:30 pm and thunderstorms were rapidly approaching.  Herbert tried to work Mike KM0Tvia rainscatter but with no luck on two different occasions.  So we packed up, left the gob and headed west to Girard to try out a new Mexican restaurant El Campineo.

 

                                        Jim KK0U and Herbert AF4JF looking over the menu.

 

 After a late lunch, Herbert left and Jim and I decided to take the "scenic" route back to Missouri stopping every 10 miles to find a location and then one of us would travel another KM to make a two-way QSO. It was a lot of fun and quite an adventure!  We ended up arriving home in EM48 somewhere around 7:00 pm.

On Saturday, I managed to add 350 miles on my new Subaru Outback.  Sunday, I added over 200 miles. 

August 2022 ARRL 10 GHz and Up

 Saturday, 20 August, 5:00am, my alarm woke both me Ron KO0Z, and Debbie KC9ULA up.  After quickly showering, Debbie, Toula (our Aussie) and I met up with Herbert AF4JF and Harry WA0CNS in St. Peters by 6:00 am and formed a caravan up to Hannibal, MO EM49hq for the first leg of the ARRL August 2022 10 GHz and Up contest.  We were looking forward to meeting two, new SLAMS members Kevin AD7OI and his wife Tammy KI7GVT who recently moved from Arizona.  Kevin and Tammy are originally from Hannibal and both are experienced microwavers. 

 AD7OI has a very strong signal with his 10 GHz 60 watt signal!  We all met up just south of Hannibal at Lovers' Leap EM49hq.  This river ridge park is an excellent microwave location.  

Pictured left to right:  Debbie KC9ULA, Harry WA0CNS, Herbert AF4JF, Tammy KI7GVT and Kevin AD7OI at Lovers' Leap EM49hq, just south of Hannibal, MO.

 After our meet and greet, we set-up our rigs and began to make contacts.  One attempt was with some buddies near Cedar Rapids, but band conditions were not with us even with Kevin's 60 watt flame thrower.  However our group had much better luck working Gedas W8BYA, 337 miles (537 km) away near Ft. Wayne, IN!  We also succeeded working Zack W9SZ north of Champaign, IL in EN50rl 159 miles (256 km) to our east.  Zack went to another hill in EN50 for a successful 10 GHz Q.  

Ron KO0Z and Debbie KC9ULA crossed over the mighty Mississippi River to John Hays Recreation Area in EM49hr72. It is clearly visible a mile away as a gravel area from Lovers' Leap.

      The yellow arrow points to the Hays Recreational Area in East Hannibal about 1 mile away.
 

 Unfortunately Ron, Herbert and Harry were not able to make a successful two-way 24 GHz Q.  Herbert and Harry could hear me, but I was only able to copy one of them just for a short time, but not long enough to make a valid Q.  Drats.  But the weather was nice and the breeze across the river was welcome.

24 GHz dish pointing back across the Mississippi River towards Lovers' Leap EM49hq, 1 mile away from Hays Recreation Area EM49hr72.

 

Debbie KC9ULA is enjoying a good novel while her hubby Ron plays with 24 GHz.

 

                      

                                 Toula, our Aussie is taking in the sights and smells of EM49hr72.

 

              Larry KA9GWM spotted our uW activity and stopped by for a nice "eyeball" QSO.

 

 

Once we completed our EM49hq Qs, our next stop further down MO Hwy 79 is Lousiana, MO.  Zack W9SZ was making tracks for Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji and we needed a clear shot.  This was our first attempt to work Ohlman from this location.  We arrived on site after 2:00 pm and set-up. Although, we had partly cloudy skies, rain clouds were forming to our east which gave us rain scatter opportunities.

We worked Gedas W8BYA (322 miles, 518 km) and Zack W9SZ  ( 98 miles, 157 km) from that location.  Lousiana is another good uW location towards the northeast through southeast along the Mississippi River.

              Kevin AD7OI's dish aimed  towards Zack W9SZ in EM59ji from Louisana EM49lk.

 

 Kevin, Harry and Herbert made two-way 10 GHz Qs with Zack from Louisana to Ohoman cemetery!

Our next Saturday stop would be the park and Cottleville, MO  EM48qs and Dow, IL EM49ua.  Zack left Ohlman and headed towards Dow.  In the meantime, we parted company with Kevin.  He headed back home to Hannibal.  It was great meeting him and Tammy for the first time.  We made plans to continue with the contest on Sunday.

   Tired, but not exhausted 12 hours later Harry WA0CNS and Herbert AF4JF made a successful 10 GHz two-way Q with Zack 25 miles away at Dow, IL.  EM48qs to EM49ua.

 Twelve hours later Harry and Herbert made a ten gig contact with Zack W9SZ in Dow.  As luck would have it with microwaving, the shortest distance contact proved to be the most challenging.  It took a few tries, but the effort was worth it!  A huge rainbow complimented everyone's efforts.  Fortunately for us we had a few miles to go before home.  Poor Zack had at least a 3 hour drive for him back to Champaign, IL.  

Sunday, 21 August 2021  

 On Saturday we all agreed to not get up so early on Sunday.  Herbert called me around 9:40 am and asked if I'd like to accompany him to Kingdom City EM38xw to work Kevin planning to set up somewhere Macon, MO.  Sure!  A tall coffee cup later from Flying J Truck Stop and armed with a banana and two apples I was ready!  We arrived at our location along I-70 about 3 miles west of Kingdom City EM38xw to work Kevin AD7OI.

Successful 10 GHz Q with Kevin AD7OI Sunday afternoon from EM39xw and EM39uf.  About 25 miles.

 

Herbert AF4JF tried to work Harry WA0CNS in EM48pq, near High Ridge, MO but no luck on this attempt.

                            A close up screenshot of our uW site outside of Kingdom City EM38xw

 

                                       Darcy checking out the sights and smells of EM38xw
 
 EM38xw, about 3 miles west of Kingdom City alongside the I-70 south service road.  It's a good spot in almost all directions.  Noisy with all the interstate traffic, but not a bad contest location.  AD7OI and KI7GVT joined us for another meet and greet and to check out this location for future reference.  Afterwards we headed east towards St. Peters and Kevin and Tammy went into town for lunch.

All in all, a great contest and 10 GHz outing.  As luck would prevail, we got our 24 GHz rigs working towards the end of the contest.  Next month!

More contest photos