The weather was looking bleak for the November SHF UKAC with heavy rain and wind forecast. I decide to brave the elements and head to Lacey Green to maximise my chance of any QSO's. It was a horrible evening with gusty winds and heavy rain. The Pink Road lay-by was completely rutted with squidgy 6-8 inch deep mud and a puddle. It was also pitch black. I had 4 bands with me, but for simplicity I decided to raise just a single dish for 3cm and 9cm to start with.
I soon discovered that the 9cm feed had been knocked in the car boot and was misaligned which meant that my first (albeit local) QSO with G4BRK was surprisingly a struggle. Then I turned around and the tripod which was tied down blew over, fortunately it pivoted over the farm gate into the field, so a soft landing. I extricated it by pulling it up over the barbed wire fence in heavy rain! That was an interesting moment! I took the opportunity to re-position the dish feed and worked G4CLA (IO92JL, 93km) for my ODX and 2nd and final QSO on that band. I heard but failed to complete with Leslie G3ZUD and Keith G4ODA. Nothing was heard from David M0GHZ. The 3.4GHz Beacons GB3LPC at Bampton and G1EHF/A at Farnham were received at good signal strength.
On 10GHz (3cm) activity was much better although band conditions were equally as poor with no RS. I managed 4 QSO's but the dish wanted to be a sail, and I had to stand on one of the tripod legs to stop the whole thing flying across the road! My ODX was with Peter G3PHO (IO93GG) at 182km. I also worked G4CLA, G4ODA and G4RGK. I failed with G4ASR and M0GHZ.
 |
| 4 QSO's on 3cm |
It was a tough outing with both Wx and band conditions being very poor. Few folks were on so lots of callsigns were missing. I got a bit wet taking everything down. In a weird way it was a lot of fun of course!
Not a great end to the 2019 GHz season but pleased to be out and on the bands. I desperately need to upgrade my /P system so that I can stay dry inside a warm car! This will involve deploying my G-450 rotator and acquiring a heavy duty drive-on plate. One for my Christmas list!
Not a great end to the 2019 GHz season but pleased to be out and on the bands. I desperately need to upgrade my /P system so that I can stay dry inside a warm car! This will involve deploying my G-450 rotator and acquiring a heavy duty drive-on plate. One for my Christmas list!