08/03/2009 | W1AUV/R Another good UHF Contest this year. This is usually a slower contest than say June or September but I always have fun.

Saturday I was on Mount Equinox in Vermont (FN33kd). The weather was beautiful. Activity started off slow but picked up as the day went on. I answered a lot of questions about ham radio to many curious folks. A few hams even stopped by; some active and some inactive. I think they were quite interested.

I was going to leave at 6 PM and head to Mount Greylock in FN32 but as the activity increased in the afternoon I found myself staying later and later. When I drove down the mountain it was nearly dark but it was worth it. I did stop at the bottom of Mount Greylock and made a few contacts from the visitor's center before heading home for a recharge and a few hours of sleep.

On Sunday I headed for Mohawk Mountain west of Goshen CT (FN31it). It is certainly not as high as Equinox but it is strategic in its location close to the more populated area around CT/NY/PA. It started to spit rain as the morning went on and I had to cover the 10 GHz dish with plastic bags.

Mohawk has some clear shots North and South but is mostly blocked with trees to the NE or SW. I have good luck here but it is not my best spot for microwaves. I usually work K2KIB on 10 GHz by bouncing off the big tower (see pictures). In fact, I was able to work K2KIB off the tower again but that is a scattering shot through the tower as he is generally in that direction anyway (hes in High Point State Park in New Jersey). The crazy thing that happened this contest was that I was also able to work K1WHS (FN43) AND N1KAT (FN53) by scattering off the tower. But this was almost in the exact OPPOSITE direction. Very strong signals from both stations too. See the attached photo of the direction I should be aiming versus the direction I actually aimed for the contacts.

As a goal I always try to improve my score from the last contest. I managed to do that: I was able to get over 8K more points than last year.

Thanks to everyone that worked me and especially those who hung in there when it got tough. 73 All. -- W1AUV