Like a lot of Microwavers, I seem to spend a lot of time looking at online topographic maps, satellite images and path profiler apps, planning and deliberating over which sites to operate from! Prior to the 2nd mmWave contest which took place on Sunday 11th July I'd decided to go to Hackpen (IO91CL19) near Swindon on The Ridgeway. However there was a 100km running race with 2,500 entrants taking place, so driving along the track and setting up multiple tripods suddenly seemed like a bad idea!
Choosing suitable locations is of course very much dependent on where everyone else goes. For this contest it looked like activity would be clustered around Walbury Hill, Brown Clee and The Bloringe. Hackpen whch is another popular mmWave site was going to be out-of-bounds. Sparsholt Firs (IO91FN86), Lockinge (IO91GN83) and Chilton (IO91IN22) would also be full of runners in the same event.
On the day the weather forecast was for a dry morning with rain later afternoon. I decided to head for Coombe Gibbet to try out 47GHz and 76GHz. Before that I was keen to get off to a good start and get some early 24GHz QSO's. First stop was Bisham Hill (IO91ON71) which is 90m ASL between Marlow and Maidenhead and a farm gate facing South West. Parking at this site is very restricted by a large tree log and 6ft high stinging nettles. Also entering the site and then reversing out is quite tricky being close to a sharp bend in the road. Despite these obstacles, this is a great little site and very clear to Hannington, Basingstoke and Walbury Hill. Easy contacts were made with Dave G1EHF/P and Barry G4SJH/P on Walbury (IO91GI44, 53km). It was a real "splash and dash" and I was packed-up and back in the car within 30 minutes, so well worth the visit and quick points being just 15 minutes from home.
After a pleasing start I was soon on the M4 travelling westwards. Instead of going straight to Coombe Gibbet I diverted towards Compton thinking it would be a good idea to grab a few more 24GHz QSO's at Applepie Hill. This is another farm gate next to a Trig Point off the Aldworth Road and faces South. Easy 24GHz QSO's were had with Dave and Barry onWalbury at 26km. I also at one point heard a signal from Dave on 47GHz but it was weaker than the last time I visited back in October when we were able to complete a QSO. At this point I realised that I'd left the 2m Talkback aerial at home! I did manage to make a makeshift 2m aerial and heard G3ZME/P but I realised this was a big oversight and would hamper my ability to work longer distances. Also my laptop would not connect to my mobile hotspot, which meant no ON4KST. My only talkback option was 70cm FM 433.450MHz using a Baofeng handheld. 70cm has become popular in IO91 in mmWave contests and is fine for organising <50km paths.
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| The view North from Coombe Gibbet |
The problem with stopping twice was that I was now late getting to Coombe Gibbet and didn't arrive until 2.30pm. Unfortunately this meant that I'd missed Neil G4LDR/P who was at Stockbridge with 47GHz and 76GHz in the morning. Sadly it also meant that I'd missed the chance to try long distance QSO's with Roger GW8CUB/P, Keith GW3TKH/P on Blorenge and G3ZME/P on Brown Clee who has also packed up. Band conditions were not that great and these paths may not have gone on 24GHz.
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| 24GHz,47GHz and 76GHz pointing at Walbury Hill |
Fortunately it was still quite busy with lots of local activity and I quickly worked G1EHF/P and G4SJH/P who I could see on Walbury at just over 1km. It was great to get John G8ACE/P at Lane End (IO91JA47, 41km) near Winchester and Noel G8GTZ/P in Stockbridge (IO91GC68, 27km) in the log both with very loud signals for my 7th and 8th QSO's on 24GHz. Neil was back at home and I was grateful that he waited for me. We tried a QSO but the 29km path was obstructed and unfortunately nothing was heard at either end.
On 47GHz I worked G1EHF/P and G8GTZ/P for a total of 2 QSO's. Noel at 27km was a massive signal for a new PB, beating our previous 26km QSO from Applepie. I did hear an FM carrier from John at 40km but signals were very weak. Hopefully that path will go another day.
This was the first outing with the 76GHz mixer kit kindly on loan from Roger G8CUB who at the end of last year also loaned me his spare 47GHz modified Pasolink 50 system. I was pleased with the bracket I'd finished making the night before which enabled the transverter to sit securely on the top of my surveyors tripod. 76GHz seemed to potentially be working OK but I was unable to find Dave G1EHF/P and he could not find me! We agreed to meet up and test across a pub car park (like we did on 24GHz and 47GHz) to find each others signals and any offsets. Noel had packed away his 76GHz UKuG loan gear so a QSO was not possible. I'm really looking forward to my first QSO on that band, having had 4 proper contest QSO's to-date on 47GHz.
All in all, despite arriving late at Coombe Gibbet, it was a fun day out and a total of 10 QSO's is not a bad result on the mmWave bands. I was pleased with how things went. Next time I will head straight to Coombe Gibbet or Hackpen, and bring 2m to try out some longer distance QSO's on 24GHz. I learnt that the path to Stockbridge from Coombe Gibbet is absolutely amazing! I am definitely hopeful of many more QSO's on 47GHz and trying out 76GHz with stations located down that way at some point.