[NLRS] W0ZQ EN15 trip report (long)

[W0ZQ at aol.com]

Last Saturday I loaded up 5.7, 10, and 24 GHz in  the car and drove out to 
Madison, MN, aka EN15.   My goal was to work  Mike, KM0T, on 24 GHz as a new 
grid for him (his VUCC) and a new grid for me (my  VUCC/R).   I took the 5.7 
along to gain some experience with using a  new dish that I have on that band.

The NWS was forecasting a nice day ;  mid-50's and sunshine.   When I got 
there the clouds were on the deck,  it was 43 degrees, and the wind was constant 
at about 15 mph out of the  SE.   I set up in my normal spot in EN15wb and 
proceeded to find Mike  on 10 GHz without too much trouble.   The path from 
EN13vc to EN15wb  is 135.3 miles, or 217.7 km.   Signals on 10 GHz were not great, 
about  S6 on peaks.   We then went to 5.7 where I had Mike and his higher  
power at S9, an easy SSB QSO but Mike needed CW from me and my 2 watts, none the  
less an easy CW contact.   I had Mike turn on his beacon for a minute  or two 
which allowed me to play with the new dish to see how it peaked on  elevation 
and azmith.   As expected, its somewhat broader on its peak  than my 10 GHz 
dish, but now I feel I understand it better.    We  then went to 24 GHz and 
tried for about 20 minutes with no signals heard either  way.   

I then spent the next several hours exploring that  portion of EN15.   The 
best ground is definitely just north of  Madison, between there and the River.   
I stopped at two other spots  in EN15 that had a nice view towards KM0T and 
we tried again on 24 GHz, both  times it was a no go.   

Around mid-afternoon I packed it in  and headed down Hwy 75 down to Mikes to 
spend the evening playing with his  SDR1000 on 40m CW and to learn more about 
how it works.   I did stop  at Pipestone and worked him on 24 GHz SSB with S9 
signals (just to help confirm  it was all still working ! ).   I think the 
path was about 60 miles or  so.   

Sunday morning brought us awesome 10 GHz RS weather  !    Temperature was 42 
degrees, dew point about 39 degrees,  light to moderate rain, and a east wind 
that started out at about 15 mph but  that did drop through the late morning 
hours before it swung around the the  NW.   The drive up from Mikes house to 
EN15 was almost entirely in  rain.   The area was under several flood watches 
and  warnings.    I arrived in EN15wb around 11:30 am, pointed the  nose of my 
car into the wind, and set up as best I could under my raised tail  gate.   You 
can see the pictures on Mikes website at  www.kmot.com  .   

I found Mike right away on 10 GHz with  a huge signal ; 20 over S9 via RS.   
We peaked up the dishes, I then  put the 24 GHz dish on that heading, and we 
tried & tried on 24 GHz with no  luck.   After about 20 minutes of this I 
realized that the dishes were  cocked compared to the N/S/E/W road junction that I 
was on .... Mike should be  on a heading of nearly due south, 181 degrees, and 
I was aimed at about 165 or  so.   Hmmm, well, that is where the signal 
peaked on 10  gigs.    After consulting with Mike, we went back to 10gigs to  
repeak on the direct path.    When we went to 10 gigs, what I  found was a mess 
.... Mike had no less than six distinct, S9+ signals all over a  range of several 
KHz.   Obviously the massive rain between us coupled  with the relatively 
short distance and Mikes higher power was making it  difficult to find out which 
of these six signals is the direct path  signal.    A lack of high precision 
frequency readout on my end  makes this more difficult.   In the end, I went 
with my best compass  reading for the direct path, found the strongest of the 
six different signals,  and peaked up a bit on that.   A new heading, what 
looked like it  should be the direct path, was determined for the 24 GHz dish.

Mike &  I worked on that heading, the direct heading, for a few minutes with 
no  luck.   It was then that Mike suggested that I slowly start to elevate  
the dish while he watch for my signal on the SDR, a trick that he and Gene had  
used on some other RS paths.    When I got to about 7 degrees or  so, Mike 
said that he saw me (in a somewhat excited tone), I locked the dish, he  peaked 
then beaconed, I peaked a bit, and then we made a CW exchange before  touching 
anything else.    After the Q was in the book, I found a  somewhat stronger 
peak with a few more degrees of elevation and ended up at  around 10 degrees up. 
   The signal from Mike was 52RS where the  tone was only slightly rough.   
Aiming was moderately critical ; not  super critical, but definitely much more 
sharp than on 10 GHz.     Again, you can check out the pictures of W0ZQ/EN15 
on www.km0t.com  .

Things learned:
1.   RS on 24 GHz works.   It is  DEFINATELY not as strong a RS band is 10 
GHz, but it does  work.
2.   You have to be very careful when using RS to peak up on  a heading on 10 
GHz when the plan is to then go to 24 GHz.    The  problem is that 10 GHz is 
such a strong RS band and 24 GHz  isn't.
3.   When trying 24 GHz RS, consider dialing in some  elevation.   At 217 km 
I had 10 degrees up.   Mike stated  that Gene has used as much as 15 to 20 
degrees on shorter 24 GHz RS  paths.
4.   Keep trying.   Including previous attempts  during RoverMania, I think 
this was the fourth attempt on 24 GHz from EN15 for  us.   We have tried during 
very cold weather (0 degrees F .... cold  enough for this rover) and during 
warm humid weather.   The trick is  to keep trying.   

On the way home I stopped at the Howard Lake  EN24/25/34/35 grid corner to 
work anyone who I could dig up.    I  did hear the Twin Cities 10 GHz beacon via 
RS with no problem.   I  worked both KC0IYT (EN34) and W0AUS (EN35) .... AUS 
on FM .... to give them both  EN24 & EN25.   I tried with K0AWU but nothing 
was heard either way  ... I don't think that rain extended northward.   At that 
point, as  the rain came down harder and as water was starting to pour into 
the IF rig, I  decided that I had pushed my luck far enough for one day, packed 
it in, and went  home to a hot cup of coffee.   

73, Jon
W0ZQ

Come and  join us here in Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Mall of 
America, July 27  & 28, 2006 for the 40th annual Central States VHF Society 
Conference hosted  once again by the NLRS.