[NLRS] 10 GHz Trip report - W0ZQ

[W0ZQ@aol.com]

I was one of the seven op's that traveled the MN north shore this weekend 
working the 10 Ghz contest.   I must say that it was one of the most fun 
operating events that I have participated in for some time .... it was a hoot.   

My alarm clock went off at 3:00 AM Saturday morning, the car was already 
packed, and by 3:30 AM I was northbound on 35w headed for Duluth.   My goal was to 
be at the Thompson Hill rest stop (just south of Duluth) in time to setup my 
10 GHz equipment and get it stabilized .... the plan was to meet up with my 
fellow North Shore (NS) team members and to look for 10 GHz signals from our 
Michigan counterparts.   The Michigan guys were located in the Upper Peninsula 
(UP) such that we had a straight shot across Lake Superior.   

At around 6:30 AM as I neared the Thompson Hill rest stop I heard Lenny, 
K0SHF, give me a call on 146.55 and from that point forward the game was a-foot.   
At around 6:45 AM there was a beautiful sunrise over Duluth ... a fire red 
ball rising out of the haze with temperatures around 63 degrees.   

Around 6:50 AM I put my headphone on, pointed the dish on a heading towards 
EN57vk, and started to listen for those weak, distance signals from far across 
the lake.   At around 6:55 AM or so W9FZs beacon was heard at S9 ... adjusting 
my dish followed by adjustments on the UP side brought signals up to S9+20 dB 
..... I put the headphones back in the box.    Signals were so strong that I 
took a picture of my S-meter for evidence.   It was amazing .... we worked 
W9FZ, WB0LJC, KD0JI, K0KFC, WA2VOI, KC0P, and N0HZO all with signals well over 
S9.   EN36vr to EN57vk is about a 195 mile path.   We were all "pleasantly 
surprised".

Over the rest of the day we traveled north along the NS making 13 more stops. 
  At several of these stops we were able to also work W0GHZ and K0FQA who 
started with us at the Thompson Hill rest stop but who then headed east along the 
Wiscoson shore to EN46gs.   Our longest path to these guys was around 106 
miles.   We had hoped to work them from our farthest north stop near Grand 
Portage but unfortunately there were no clear shots in their direction.     At three 
stops we also worked KF9US (Phil) who was located on a beach somewhere around 
EN56iv .... about a 75 mile path.   Phil was running 1 watt into a 17 dB horn 
and was 20 to 40 dB over S9.   

Saturday night the NS team enjoyed fine dining in Grand Maria (Chris even 
dressed up) and later an adult beverage on the beach while we watch the stars and 
talked about the days events.

Sunday morning, 5:00 AM, we were up and at it again.    Same route only in 
reverse.   By 7:00 AM we were set up and operational from our most northern stop 
and sure enough, those guys on the UP side were their again too.   Signals 
strengths were still very very strong.   This time we knew where all the stops 
were on the way back south along the NS and we worked our way at a pretty rapid 
rate down the coast arriving back where we had started at Thompson Hill by 
around 2:30 pm.   

I have no idea what my final score is as I haven't had time to figure that 
out.   I do know that tropo conditions over the lake were phenomenal.   Mid path 
buoy data indicates that the water temperature, air temperature, and dew 
point were all around 65 degrees while inland it was 90 to 95 degrees.  

Thanks to my NS traveling team mates; K0GCJ, W0AUS, N0UK, KT8O, K0SHF, N0KP, 
and N0NAS.   Thanks to the UP guys listed above for being there when I turned 
my rig on.   Thanks to W0GHZ and K0FQA for the Wisconsin contacts and thanks 
to KF9US for some really fun contacts.

73, Jon
W0ZQ


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
or had an attachment.  Attachments are not allowed.  To learn how
to post in Plain-Text go to: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html  ---