[MAMS] June MAD report, EN74 etc

[Lloyd Ellsworth]

Saturday was a good morning for June MAD. Started at AJ scenic overlook, EN74at. Lake Michigan propagation was not good. Cold Lake, warm wet air over it. Result; Heavy haze. Fog. 3 to 5 mile visibility.  Worked K2YAZ on 24 GHz. Listened to Bob work W9SNR. I could not hear him. So drove the 2 hours down to Ludington State Park. EN63sx get close enough to try. A real nice day on the Lake. Sunny. Sceanery.

Ran with K2YAZ. Heard each other on 903. Tried other bands. Jim W9SNR drove down to EN62cn. We worked across Lake Michigan on 903 through 10 GHz. No problem. Much improved conditions and propagation over the last 2 months. 2304 was pin the s meter. We tried for quite a while on 24 GHz, but just could not get across the Lake. Doing that, can easily take, hours, or days, for conditions to happen.  

After, drove over to Walkerville Hill. Tried that with K2YAZ. Not bad on VHF, but no luck on any of the higher bands. Site looks great on Google Earth and the maps. In person, trying it. Another story. Not to the North. Maybe in other directions. High noise. Personal verification and testing is a basic must. 

Bob and I spent the rest of the afternoon, 350 driving miles worth in total, checking on other potential Michigan inland sites. Trying to find one that would produce good Microwave path to the North. No luck. So for me, it made for a long Microwave Activity Day. Till 7PM. 

Saturday July 2, good question. I am currently thinking Start at Ludington SP. Come back North to AJ, if conditions are really good. Or to Tustin Knob. Muskegon, if they are not. June Contest, plans are still brewing. August MAD, is the morning of the UHF contest. Too hard to predict now. Then add weather concerns.  

Sunday, went to the Chelsea Michigan Swap. Besides selling stuff. Had Rover in the parking lot. Like at Dayton. Demmoed a pile of the microwave things. Had lots of people asking questions and such. Talked with a few of the stations active on Lake Erie for June MAD. They are also busy making plans for 10 GHz August weekend Cumulative. Looks like there will be several stations on. Last year I am told, they even had "surprize", unannounced stations on. 

73, Lloyd NE8I/r
EN74 etc