[NLRS] UP Michigan 10GHz trip report (long)....
Bruce Richardson
[email protected]
Tue, 24 Sep 2002 21:19:07 -0500
Wow! Kinda like Roving (rovering :-) ).
I, along with K0SHF and WB0LJC, made the trek to the UP of Michigan for a
big weekend of 10g activity. We drove on Friday about 8 hours from the Twin
Cities to arrive in Copper Harbor, check in to the motel, and get a
dinner. Just prior to sunset, we reviewed potential operating locations for
our 2nd location on Saturday (the following day). Much of Friday was
drizzly and cold and made us wonder what the conditions would be like on
Saturday.
After a breakfast at a local restaurant in Copper Harbor--which we had to
encourage to open a few minutes early--we made it up the hill to atop
Brockway Mtn (EN67al) in order to be ready to go "right on time". Well,
overnight,
the rain and clouds moved out to be replaced by an incredible wind. I know,
it's supposed to be windy on mountain tops--this was 25 knots continuous
gusting to 40. We set up with a good view to the west and used some parking
barriers as wind supports for our tripods. We had 160watts and a 9-ele beam
for liaison on 2 meters. The other two guys were ready to go right on time.
However, I discovered that in transiting so many miles, the power supply
lead to my transverter had broken off right at the feed-thru cap with
nothing to solder to. Thank goodness K0SHF and WB0LJC were there for their
counsel and for their repair tools. LJC happened to bring a small inverter
and a 100w soldering gun. As you know, soldering outdoors is tough and
would have been impossible in the wind. I crouched in the front seat of the
vehicle while carrying out my repairs which consisted of opening the
transverter and running wire to the xverter side of the feed-thru.
In the meantime, the Twin Cities operators (consisting of WA2VOI, W0AUS,
N0NAS, K0KFC and W0LCP observing) were in Duluth for their hippity-hop trek
up the North Shore. Disappointingly, signals were VERY weak with either
side only hearing the other occasionally. Recall, that our location on
Brockway was about 700 feet above the lake. For the Minnesota crew's next
four stops, signals were VERY weak with only one completion. I think both
sides did a good job of putting rf in the right direction, but the sigs just
weren't getting through. I think the decisions to "give up and move on"
were just right. LJC and SHF noted that throughout the morning they saw a
haze right above the water out near the horizon.
Near noon on our end, the Minnesota crew seemed delayed longer than normal
before returning to the air. When they did return, they said that they had
gotten off the beach and gone to several hundred feet off the water at a
place called "Palisades". They were louder on 2m and "Boom" there they
were--loud on 10 GHz! Either it was the altitude change, but LJC and SHF
suspect that the haze layer they had seen, also seemed to disappear about
this time. Four ops on the west end completed easily with LJC and SHF. I
thought my equipment was operating just fine but they weren't hearing me
which made me wonder. LJC stuck an rf sniffer in front of my dish and
sniffed "nothing" but their other two rigs were hearing me fine. Sure,
potentially IF leakage, but something led us to believe that they were
hearing me on 10g despite the sniffer's indication (or lacktherof). But it
was time for us to move--I'd work on this problem at the next location.
We drove 17 miles west to Great Sand Bay west of Eagle Harbor, MI (EN57vk).
A very
nice location with a nice parking area and parking barriers with which to
prop up our tripods in the wind which had grown even more ferocious--even
down on the water. Although we neglected to take pictures on Brockway, we
did get some pictures of this location with the crashing waves in the
background. We got set up and again, contacts were easily completed with
four on the west end and two on the east end. I continued to troubleshoot
my problem. It seems that the relay power coming out of the xverter (which
is supposed to spike high and then maintain 12v) was staying on 12v even
after un-key. So the relay was not releasing. The solution was to snip the
wires and rig up smaller batteries as a 24v supply for the relay and then
hand-key the relay with alligator clips. Thanks to WB0LJC and K0SHF for the
encouragement and suggestions. Bingo! I was "on the air".
The west end relocated repeatedly the remainder of the afternoon and
contacts were EASY! The west end crew REALLY had their act together and
often only needed 30-35 minutes to take down, travel 10+ miles, and set up
again ready to go. AND, I note that every time I worked them, it took less
than 3 minutes to work 4 operators!!! Good show! No fiddle factor
required! Our goal was to be like them during our operations on Sunday.
But finally at their last location, at the Thompson Rest area, which is,
again, several hundred feat above the water, signals were VERY weak and only
had one completion. I wonder if they would have heard my last transmission
if I had remembered to key the relay in the heat of battle :-)
While it looked grim during the morning that the trip to Michigan's UP would
be a bust, the mood improved a great deal by finally making some nice
contacts. I note that the path lengths were 240, 262, 276, and 291 km with
a couple even longer than that. When things looked grim and potentially a
complete bust, K0SHF and WB0LJC considered returning to the Twin Cities that
night and not continuing with me to the North end of Lake Michigan. So we
analyzed what had changed and it was just that Saturday was not a home
run--but not a bust either--and that I was running hand-keyed. After
discussion, they decided to stick with me and make the trip to the
Manistique area.
Well, I was wrong about a lot of things all weekend--and K0SHF and WB0LJC
seemed to keep a good attitude despite all of the travel times being 25%+
longer than I estimated. I was wrong that WB9SPT's 10watts would be a "sure
thing" over Lake Michigan. I was wrong about some other things but they
escape me at the moment.
So we packed up and hit the road towards Manistique. We came south out of
the Keeweenaw and got some burgers in L'Anse. We blitzed through the night
via Marquette and arrived in Manistique at 1230am. We got about 5.5 hours
of sleep and were up getting ready to go at it again. We got a breakfast at
a cafe and then drove about 50 miles east to Naubinway (EN76gc) where we set
up at an
excellent location at the village marina. There is a good parking area and
you can set up right next to the car.
Our goal was to work K2YAZ and a contingent of Michigan Microwavers
consisting of NE8I, WW8M, WB8TGY, KB8VAO, WA8VPD, and W8HTB. We were on the
air about 8:45am Eastern. The Michigan operators were setting up at their
first location on the beach in EN64xv. After we got on each other, the
contacts were easy. Basically, there were 7 ops on the Lower Peninsula end
(LP) and three ops (us) on the UP end. Bob, K2YAZ was an excellent
coordinator while acting as relay between us and WB9SPT who was setting up
in Northern Illinois. We did hear Neil, but it was via rain scatter and not
terribly strong. He is running 10watts while we were running between 500mw
and 2w. This time and effort was frustrating because we spent an hour just
trying to work WB9SPT. Had we completed, it would have been a seriously
long distance qso. Thanks to both Neil and Bob for giving it a good shot.
Our next spot was the Gould city park (EN75dx). It is on the water, but you
have to
carry your equipment 100 yards right to the water to make sure you have a
good angle towards Milwaukee and the LP. We completed easily with all 7. I
got a little low on fuel and had to take valuable time to find a gas station
during our transit to our next spot. In retrospect, I should have filled up
first thing in the morning. As an experienced rover, I should have known
better.
Our next spot was near the Seul Choix Lighthouse (EN75aw) (pronounced "sis
shwa"). We intended to operate
right at the lighthouse. I ran in and secured permission but it was going
to require 150-200 yards of carrying to get down to the beach. Future
operators will have to do that. Our solution, which probably won't work for
others in the future was to track back to the west about 2miles and operate
from a home construction site right on the water. Again, signals were easy
with the K2YAZ and the four remaing on the beach. We had some trouble
getting hooked up with NE8I and WA8VPD. They had moved to near Northport,
MI and set up at EN75ee. It was windy on our end but apparently even
windier on their end. Completing the qso's took quite a while. The Seul
Choix Lighthouse is actually at EN75bw. They have a website at
http://www.reiters.net/lighthouse/ and future users may want to email
[email protected] to smooth the works.
Finally, we moved to our last spot (EN65vw) which is a parking area on the
east end
of the "boardwalk" in Manistique. An excellent location. We completed
easily with K2YAZ and the four on the beach ("the beach bums"). QSO's were
eventually made with WA8VPD and NE8I. Several ops on the LP side and K0SHF
and WB0LJC were anxious to finish because all were looking at long drives to
return to their homes. Very understandable.
I had the next day off so I operated from one more location SW of Manistique
(EN65tu) and contacted K2YAZ, WB8TGY, and KB8VAO. I don't recommend
operating from
west or southwest of Manistique. Consider Manistique your westernmost
location and pick 10 mile spots east from Manistique. I eventually asked an
older couple coming out of a forest lane if they knew of any access points
to the water in order for me to operate ham radio in a contest, they
graciously let me use their land. I got right down to the beach to find
that I was north of a point of land (Wiggins point) that blocked shots
towards K2YAZ and "the beach bums". Well, I coordinated with YAZ on 2m and
then there he was on 10g rain scatter. We completed, and then KB8VAO and
WB8TGY completed with me on SSB over a 60 mile shot. What I find amazing is
how loud the signals were considering how tall the trees were on Wiggins
point and that the point was only 1/3 mile away. There must have been some
enhancement over the water of Lake Michigan. We ended up ragchewing on
10Ghz for about 10 minutes. A great way to finish the day.
So, a great weekend of 10GHz RF. Many operators drove significant distances
in order to make this happen, but I'd like to think it was generally
rewarding for all. It sure was for me!
Great Lakes weather in mid-September is always iffy. In our case it was
cold, sunny, and windy. It could have been cold and rainy. I'd like to
think that if it had not been windy, perhaps 100% of the overwater shots
would have been completed. And this means LONG shots down the lake towards
Milw. and Chicago. I'm sure we'll have some good email conversations about
Great Lakes propagation and the role that altitude plays.
I had a great time this year in the contest. I operated from the
Illinois/Wisconsin border area on one day, Twin Cities area another day, and
at two different parts of Michigan's UP on the 2nd weekend. I'm sooooo glad
that K0SHF and WB0LJC made the trek to the UP as well. It was much more fun
having friends there. Further, the west end contingent probably wouldn't
have made the trip to the north shore just to work one operator on the east
end. Similarly on Sunday, it was much more rewarding for the LP ops to have
3 q's each time instead of one. I'm sooooooo glad that so many of them made
the trek north. Thanks!
Here's my score recap:
22 unique callsigns worked (2200) + 10993 distance points = 13193 total
score. Best DX was 311 km from Northern Illinois to K2YAZ.
I will be glad to QSL any of the QSO's, email me and let me know which ones
you need confirmed. You don't have to send me any QSL's.. No SASE
required.
Bruce Richardson - W9FZ
Thanks for coming to the Milwaukee CSVHFS conference. See you in Tulsa in
'03 http://www.csvhfs.org