09/17/2007 | KC6QHP Best contest for me in several years. While I didn't increase my total points over previous years, I did manage to get some very satisfying contacts on 10, 24, and 47 GHz. During the first weekend I made an 1155 km contact to Mexico from Signal Hill, and then on the next day, made several 741 km contacts to Mexico from inside my apartment, looking the opposite direction! All this with just under a watt and an 18 inch dish.

On the second weekend, I managed to get my 24 Ghz radio completed and made a nice 64 km contact with N6TEB. I ran out of time and ended up with no antenna. So that contact was made with just an open waveguide on my end! That is a aperture area of just 0.05 square inches!

I also made it down to San Diego where I made another couple of short 24 Ghz contacts and another 47 GHz as well. Over the next year I'm going to upgrade my 47 Ghz radio with a low noise front end and some decent output power.

-Tony KC6QHP -- KC6QHP