2004 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest
08/26/2004 |
W0ZQ
For the first weekend of the contest member of the Northern Lights Radio Society (NLRS), along with a group from Michigan, headed north to play 10 & 24 gigs around Lake Superior. A team of 10 Op's ran the Minnesota Northshore from Duluth to Grand Portage, a second group of 14 Op's were located in the UP of Michigan, two Op's were located near Herbster Wisc, a couple of VE's joined in the fun from Terrace Bay (Ontario), a small group of Op's headed to WaWa (Ontario), while lastly another small group of Op's posted themselves near Whitefish Point, Michigan. This made for a total of over thirty 10gig operators !
Unlike last year where we had very good propagtion over the lake, this year saw a real blend of conditions. Saturday started out very cold, record cold, as it was 38 degrees at 1200z. With the cold temperatures we saw no enhancement and signals were basically weak scatter. As the day progressed, conditions improved to the point where stations running 200mW to 17 dB horns were 20 to 40 over S9. At one point during this enhancement we also tried a contact on 1296 and found very strong signals there as well so whatever the enhancement mode is that is working at 10368 MHz is also working at 1296 MHz.
Then there was Sunday. The weather moved in with light rain and fog on our side while the UP Michigan side saw heavy rain. To make matters worse, conditons were poor with weak signals over short paths. As the day progressed, the weather did improve (some) but the conditions improved only a little. The headphones got a good work out and dish aiming skills were at a premium.
Although this year both the weather and the conditions were nothing like last year, it was still a hoot, and I'm already looking forward to the second weekend of the contest. If you have an interest in 10gigs, contact your local VHF club and get active on this very interesting band.
PS: If anyone has information on microwave propagation over cold water, and especially the Great Lakes (ex; Lake Superior), please drop me a note. -- W0ZQ
Unlike last year where we had very good propagtion over the lake, this year saw a real blend of conditions. Saturday started out very cold, record cold, as it was 38 degrees at 1200z. With the cold temperatures we saw no enhancement and signals were basically weak scatter. As the day progressed, conditions improved to the point where stations running 200mW to 17 dB horns were 20 to 40 over S9. At one point during this enhancement we also tried a contact on 1296 and found very strong signals there as well so whatever the enhancement mode is that is working at 10368 MHz is also working at 1296 MHz.
Then there was Sunday. The weather moved in with light rain and fog on our side while the UP Michigan side saw heavy rain. To make matters worse, conditons were poor with weak signals over short paths. As the day progressed, the weather did improve (some) but the conditions improved only a little. The headphones got a good work out and dish aiming skills were at a premium.
Although this year both the weather and the conditions were nothing like last year, it was still a hoot, and I'm already looking forward to the second weekend of the contest. If you have an interest in 10gigs, contact your local VHF club and get active on this very interesting band.
PS: If anyone has information on microwave propagation over cold water, and especially the Great Lakes (ex; Lake Superior), please drop me a note. -- W0ZQ
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W0ZQ Near Duluth, MN
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