10/23/2004 | N1SZ This was my second 10 GHz contest. Like the first one, I had a blast. In August, due to other activities, I was only able to operate on Sunday from the peak of Mt. Evans, CO at an elevation of 14,130 feet. This is one of the two mountains in Colorado where you can drive all the way to the top, essentially giving you a 9,000' antenna elevation over the terrain to the east of the Rocky Mountain Front Range. The operating setup was a 2 foot dish with a DEMI 10 GHz transverter, a 1 Watt PA and an FT-817 IF radio.

Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful atop Mt. Evans, clear sky, light winds and a balmy 34 Deg. F. When I arrived at 6:40 am, I was the only one at the top except for the herd of mountain goats at the top. They stopped by to visit and see what I was up to. Mr. Murphy showed up a few minutes later... While removing the dish from the car, I sheared the +13V pin off the feed through capacitor to the transverter. Oops. Game over. I left the house at 5 am and drove all that way for nothing now. Fortunately for me, I left a roll of electrical tape in the car. I managed to tape the +13V supply to the feed through cap which allowed me to continue that day. I managed to work 49 QSOs, 4 grids with a best DX of 175 km with N0UGY and WB0WNV in DN71nb. Not too bad for one days work that almost ended in disaster before it even began. Before the day ended, while the Denver metro area baked in 90+ Deg. temperatures, I experienced in true Colorado form: sun, rain, wind and finally an inch of snow!

September I was able to work both days of the contest from Pikes Peak, CO at an elevation of 14,110 feet. Pikes Peak is the other 14,000+ foot mountain in Colorado that you can drive to the top. Again it was cold! Arrival at 6:50am on Saturday morning it was 34 Deg. F. On Saturday I was joined by N0IO and his son (unfortunately I lost his callsign..sri). Saturday's QSO total was 56, 5 grids and a best DX of 261 km with N0UGY in DN71ne. Sunday I returned to Pikes Peak and worked an additional 41 QSOs, and a best DX of 261 km with W1XE. Unfortunately the WX went downhill on Sunday. I spent the entire day in the clouds with no visual reference for pointing, other than a few rocks that I had vaguely remembered the day before and used a reference. I had a compass, so all wasn't lost, but it sure slowed things down. Fortunately for me Murphy did not show up again in September...maybe it was just too cold for him. In Colorado fashion, I had to leave the hill a bit early as it started snowing and I really didn't want to start my winter driving experience driving an hour down the mountain on snow covered roads with no guard rail. I'll wait for ski season for that!

Claimed Summary: 146 QSOs, 5 Unique Grids, 12 Unique Calls, 22798 km for a total of 23,998 points.

See you next year! -- N1SZ