[NLRS] 10 Ghz beacon report from WI

[Jim Hermanek]

Just a quick note...listened to the beacon for a few hours tonite...since I
had not located the beacon from my new QTH previously,  I was thinking I may
have a better opportunity to locate it  with snow scatter enhancement.  (Wx
radar showed light snow falling from south of the cities in a band throug
the St Croix River valley and Northeast.  The band was moving North.)

I found the beacon immediately at 0015  (tonite, 1-17) on the bearing
calculated...best strength when dish elevated to about 72-73 degrees pointed
230 from SCF.   Strength was S3-4 with aurora-like notes & consistent
strength for well over two hours until the snow started clearing in the
cities at about 0315-0330 or so...at that time signal strength dropped to S1
and at times, barely discernible...    I only noticed one peak on the 230
heading and fairly broad....and could be heard on each side for maybe 10-15
degrees or so...     My QTH is at EN35rj which is 44 miles from the IDS bld
downtown.

I used my 750mm offset dish located in the basement walkout looking out
mostly glass double patio doors (metal framed) at ground level.   The glass
in the doors is energy efficient glass of some kind with a label indicating
visible transmittance of  0.73...solar heat gain coefficient of  0.69....and
a "u-factor" of  0.34...  (I have to do a little research to see what this
actually means) but the difference with the doors open (burrrrr)  versus
closed was about a good S unit or so...  The tree line on the St Croix ridge
is about 4-5 miles away...the tops of which appear to be slightly higher
than ground level at my location when viewed through a contractor's sighting
level...

So...fyi... & Dave, thanks for the beacon and an interesting night of
experimenting!

73s

Jim    K0KFC

Come and join us July 27th 2006, (Bloomington, MN)  for the 40th annual
Central States VHF Society Conference, hosted by the NLRS.