November Slams Breakfast

I am in total admiration with SLAMS.  It would be hard to find a more caring, dedicated, fun-loving group of hams.  Our organization prides itself on being loosely structured and welcoming of all.  I appreciate that the group makes it a point to have our monthly breakfasts in Illinois a few times a year so the ops out here don't have so far to drive.  Here's a photo of our breakfast held on Sunday, November 1.  We made it in spite of the time change to standard time!

Vistas from Brown County State Park, Indiana, EM69vd

Here are some photos of our trip to Brown County State Park, EM69vd near Nashville, IN.  It is a good microwave site in most directions. The scenery is spectacular.  I bet the fall colors are extraordinary.  These pictures were taken around 1:00 pm CDT on Sunday, September 20, 2015.

                       Here is a me looking southeast towards Dave K4TO in EM77vx

                                   KO0Z and KC9ULA at Brown County State Park southeast vista

                                                    Looking towards the northeast

                                   Southwest is looking into the trees, but not bad west and northwest

                                  Debbie, KC9ULA and Kip at the North Tower.  Looks good towards
                                  the north, but a hefty climb up stone stairs.  We didn't even try the climb with
                                  radio gear.

                              View towards the northeast and Ron, W9ZIH in EN51nv

                                Woot, woot!  I just made a 135 mile Q with Dave K4TO in EM77vx

Brown County State Park EM69vd Microwave Sites

Here is a jpeg map of Brown County State Park near Nashville, Indiana in EM69vd.  KC9ULA and myself, KO0Z) mapped out the vistas which offer a clear view to the horizon.  The vistas are along a paved road on a ridge with typical elevations around 1,050 feet (320 meters).  I've marked the vista openings to the horizon in degrees so as to better plan where an optimum spot for QSO attempt could take place.

73, de Ron, KO0Z

ARRL 10 GHz & Up Contest 2015

Saturday, 5:30 am CDT, not too bright and way too early, my alarm awoke me to get showered, to get breakfast and to be out the door by 6:30 am to make the trek from Girard to Ohlman Cemetery EM59ji to participate in the first weekend of the ARRL 10 GHz and Up contest.  Since I had loaded the rig in my car the night before, all I had to do in the morning was to make a thermos of coffee, connect my 10 MHz OCXO to my car's 12 VDC so that it will be warmed up and stable when I arrived at the cemetery about 35 miles away.

By 7:45 am, I was not only up and running, but I was copying the WB9PNU beacon, 78.3 miles away, 599 +!  A personal first for me!  I tried to make a contact with Ron, W9ZIH, but I noticed that a juniper tree was directly in front of me about 70 yards.  I moved west about 60 feet and Ron's signal went from no reception to 559!  He was able to copy me at his QTH near Malta, IL EN51nv, 176.3 miles away at 8:15 am!  I made a video of our QSO which is posted here, but the other two videos (WB9PNU/B and W9SZ are too large to upload to this blog site, but they can be seen on my Facebook page.

My next QSO was with Jim, N5MU in Missouri, EM48qf (109 miles away) with a 519 report at 8:22 am.  Zack, W9SZ entered the log next with a 599 from EN50rl.  Zack was roaring in here and I've never heard him louder at 9:10 am!  I then tried to work Jim, W9SNR in EN62cc, 203.8 miles away, but we only heard bits and pieces of our signals - nowhere good enough to constitute a QSO.  After these QSOs I was feeling stoked!  I knew that Zack wasn't planning to operate on Sunday so, on the spur of the moment, I decided to drive to EN40 and EN50 to activate those grids!

An hour and  a half later, I was set up in EN50aa and I worked Zack, W9SZ at 1:22 pm in EN50xf (102.5 miles away with a report of 589.  He heard me just fine and then at 1:43 pm I made a two-way QSO with Steve, N4PZ in EN52gb (145 miles away with a 529 report.  At 1:52, Ron, W9ZIH and I made a Q - a distance of 105 miles.  Mike, AA9IL was not able to set up in EN52xi, so we were not able to try the path.  Next time!  Now on to EN40!

EN40 is only about a half of a mile away from my EN50aa spot, but trying to find a suitable microwave site proved to be quite a challenge.  When I had scoped it out last November, there were soy bean fields, but now there were tall, corn fields.  I spent the next 45 minutes driving around the countryside to find a good spot only to end up about a mile from the EN50aa location.  In about ten minutes I was now QRV from EN40xa.  It was flat and soybeans to the east and northeast, but tall corn to the north.  I gave Zack, W9SZ a call and after some trial and error, I arose out of the noise and we worked each other at 3:20 pm with a 529 report - a distance of 106.9 miles!  I tried calling Ron, W9ZIH on the phone, but he wasn 't home unfortunately.  I tried Steve, N4PZ and he could tell I was there, but I wasn't able to copy his signals.  The corn was just too tall and I didn't have a better spot to relocate.  A nice farmer came by to inquire about the set up and he was glad to see the operation.  After wishing me luck, he was on his way and I awaited Jim, W9SNR to arrive at his site.  Unfortunately, thunderstorms kept him from getting on the hill and he decided to call it a day.  By this time I was hot, tired and hungry, so I was ready to call it a day as well.

All in all, it was a great day to be out and about microwaving.  I am seriously thinking about activating EM69 and EM68 for the second half of the contest this September.  Debbie could visit her niece attending Indiana State U, as a freshman, in Terre Haute and she could also offer ops another call sign to work!  We will see what my search of Google Maps reveals in terms of potentially high locations.

                                         A great microwave tool - an engineering compass!

                                 Another important microwave tool - a thermos of hot coffee!

                                               EN40xa looking towards Zack, W9SZ

                               EN40xa looking towards Steve, N4PZ.  The corn was just too tall.

                 EN40xa looking southwest towards St. Louis.  Too hilly and corn is too tall.

SLAMS 24 GHz Breakfast -2015

Saturday, April 18, 2015, Troy, IL SLAMS met at the Country Pride restaurant for their annual 24 GHz breakfast.  The weather was very nice and welcome change from the rain.  At breakfast, Herbert AF4JF showed the group some great bargains on an RF noise source, a spectrum analyzer board with sweep generator that goes from 138 MHz to 4.4 GHz and a dongle that receives VLF frequencies all the way to 1.2 GHz!

After the breakfast, we went to a nearby park and Harry, WA0CNS set up the SLAMS 24 GHz beacon as well as his 24 GHz transverter.  Zack, W9SZ set up his 24 GHz transverter and Qs were exchanged in EM58br!

Dave, KB0PE is working on a second 24 GHz rig and Ron, KO0Z is very close to getting his station on the air.  Mike, N0OBI had a horn and a diode and he was able to detect the 24 GHz RF.

                          138 MHz-4.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer board with tracking generator.

                                         
                                                           RF Noise Source

                                                   VLF to UHF Dongle!

                                             Zack, W9SZ and Dave, KB0PE

 
                                           Herbert, AF4JF, Harry, WA0CNS and Zack, W9SZ

                                                         24 GHz 1/2 watt amp.

                                                     Zack, W9SZ's 24 GHz rig.

                                                       Dave, KB0PE's 24 GHz transverter.

                                                        Dave, KB0PE and Zack, W9SZ

                                                      Harry, WA0CNS 24 GHz Beacon.

                                                       Inner workings of the 24 GHz beacon.

                                                       Harry, WA0CNS with his 24 GHz rig.

                                          Cassegrain feed for 24 GHz also known as a penny or splash feed.

                                                       Zack, W9SZ's 24 GHz rig

                                                        W9SZ's 24 GHz dish antenna

                        SLAM members :  W9SZ, AF4JF, KO0Z, WA0CNS, N0OBI and KB0PE

                                          Zack, W9SZ looking for 24 GHz signals with his SDR radio

                   Zack, W9SZ to the left and Harry, WA0CNS to the right working each other on 24 GHz.

                                    Mike, N0OBI with his horn feed and diode detector.
       
                                    Below, Zack picking up some 24 GHz signals.

Main VHF+ Contests in 2015

We have an older posting with more contests on our blog site right here or here. Some of the links to contest rules weren't updated yet, so today's posting below only shows a few contests today. We will update this list as soon as the information becomes available.

First Saturday  of every month	Microwave Activity Day (MAD) Not a contest but a time to just get on and generate some RF!
January 24-26 2015	2015 ARRL Jan. VHF Sweepstakes link for 2015 has changed, new link here
April -  May  2015	SPRINT VHF+ Contests link for 2015 here
May 2-3 2015	SBMS Contest(San Bernardino Microwave Society) SBMS web site contest rules in the (old) SBMS newsletter here
June 13-15 2015	2015 ARRL Jun. VHF QSO Party link for 2015 has changed, new link here
July 18-19	CQ WW VHF ... T.B.D.
August 1-2 2015 ?	2015 ARRL UHF Contest (220MHz and Up) Rules here ?
August 15-16 2015	2015 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 1/2 Rules here
September 12-13 2015 ?	2015 ARRL Sept. VHF QSO Party Rules here ?
September 19-20 2015	2015 ARRL 10GHz+ Contest 2/2 Rules here
Sept - Oct 2015 ?	SPRINT VHF+ Contests ? Rules here - not updated yet

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