For the April SHF UKAC I decided to focus again on 10GHz but this time from the back garden. It provided a great excuse to try out my Icom IC-275E as the 2M IF. The Icom is a higher performing radio with fantastic TX audio and a very sensitive RX - compared to the FT-290R Mk1 and FT-817ND I normally take /P.
Despite a slight wind I managed to hoist the 60cm offset dish up to 7m just above the tree line and this time with the weight at the top there was a need for it to be guyed. The weather was a bit drizzly so the transverter box was wrapped in thick clear plastic to provide protection from the rain.
I was eager to try out the 1W Driver RF Amp (DB6NT MKU PA 102C) that I'd added into the box. With my Marconi 6960 RF Meter I'd measured 0.856W out for 50mW in. After about 0.5dB of loss with the 18GHz Radiall relay and 45cm Semflex patch cable, a grand total of 0.762W was presented to the G4DGU brass feed horn. That's a healthy 5x my normal 10GHz flea power QRP of 150mW!
With the dish pointing to the South East I listened on 10368.850MHz
for the Reigate GB3SEE (IO91VG, 51km) beacon but with no success. However when beaming South
I was excited to be able to hear myself quite clearly for the first time into
the Farnham WebSDR (IO91OF, 28km). Swinging the dish I managed to peak my signal at a fully readable -77dBm off a
Scatterpoint to the South West, likely a rain cloud over Basingstoke!
The Met Office rainfall radarmap showed a large rain mass to the North over Northampton. Beaming that way I pinged Keith G4ODA (IO92WS, 153km) on ON4KST chat just before the start of the contest, and we worked easily with very strong enhanced signals with very little Rain Scatter (RS) distortion. Pete G4CLA (IO92JL, 114km) tailgated the QSO and was a massive 59++.
After the contest started the RS seemed to change into more of an absorptive barrier! Over the next 3 hours I failed to hear or be heard with just about everyone! I tried with G3PHO, G4ASR, GCLA, G4DBN, M0GHZ and G0WUS with no success. I did manage to hear John G4ZTR (JO01KW, 131km) but he could only just hear me and we were unable to complete a QSO. I was pleased to work G4ODA again at a much reduced signal strength for my only QSO. Overall another enjoyable evening of GHz experimentation and fun from home, plus a couple of additional SHF points to Northern Fells!
April has been a busy month with all 6 weekday UKAC contests (6-4-2-70-23-SHF) contests entered from home whilst self-isolating. I'm looking forward to more contests in May and finishing off a few more of my GHz reboxing projects, notably 9cm and 6cm SSB. Stay at home, keep healthy and stay safe, whilst having fun on the airwaves!
Despite a slight wind I managed to hoist the 60cm offset dish up to 7m just above the tree line and this time with the weight at the top there was a need for it to be guyed. The weather was a bit drizzly so the transverter box was wrapped in thick clear plastic to provide protection from the rain.
I was eager to try out the 1W Driver RF Amp (DB6NT MKU PA 102C) that I'd added into the box. With my Marconi 6960 RF Meter I'd measured 0.856W out for 50mW in. After about 0.5dB of loss with the 18GHz Radiall relay and 45cm Semflex patch cable, a grand total of 0.762W was presented to the G4DGU brass feed horn. That's a healthy 5x my normal 10GHz flea power QRP of 150mW!
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| 10GHz from a corner of the back garden! |
The Met Office rainfall radarmap showed a large rain mass to the North over Northampton. Beaming that way I pinged Keith G4ODA (IO92WS, 153km) on ON4KST chat just before the start of the contest, and we worked easily with very strong enhanced signals with very little Rain Scatter (RS) distortion. Pete G4CLA (IO92JL, 114km) tailgated the QSO and was a massive 59++.
After the contest started the RS seemed to change into more of an absorptive barrier! Over the next 3 hours I failed to hear or be heard with just about everyone! I tried with G3PHO, G4ASR, GCLA, G4DBN, M0GHZ and G0WUS with no success. I did manage to hear John G4ZTR (JO01KW, 131km) but he could only just hear me and we were unable to complete a QSO. I was pleased to work G4ODA again at a much reduced signal strength for my only QSO. Overall another enjoyable evening of GHz experimentation and fun from home, plus a couple of additional SHF points to Northern Fells!
April has been a busy month with all 6 weekday UKAC contests (6-4-2-70-23-SHF) contests entered from home whilst self-isolating. I'm looking forward to more contests in May and finishing off a few more of my GHz reboxing projects, notably 9cm and 6cm SSB. Stay at home, keep healthy and stay safe, whilst having fun on the airwaves!