[NLRS] January VHF - W0ZQ/R

[jcplatt1 at mmm.com]

Band......Qs....Grids
6m............5..........2
2m..........14..........2
222...........6..........2
432...........7..........2
5760.........6..........2
10G........10..........3
Total......48........13    Score = 2,595 pts

Sunday morning I loaded up the Subaru with my FT897, a 6m hamstik, a 2m and
a 222 omni loop, and my 5760 & 10gig dishes and headed to the Burnsville
site (EN34is) for the first ever "Freeze Your Fingers To Your Dish" event.
As all of you know the weather was interesting - about 36 degrees with
mist, drizzle, and a slight wind.  We had N0KP, KC0IYT and N0HJZ show up
all with the goal of working K0AWU (EN37ed) on 10 gigs along with whomever
else showed up too.  The distance to Bill is about 265 km and we have made
this path many times in the past.   At 10:00 am, per our prearranged
schedule, we starting beaconing back and forth on the minute and found
Bill, but very very weak.  Because of conditions, I was the only 10gig
station able to make the grade on a very weak CW contact - this part of the
operation was a disappointment, but Ma nature just wasn't helping us out
much here.  We did proceed to work WB0LJC and W0GHZ off of downtown on both
5.7 and 10 gigs, which was a lot of fun, then proceed up to Ridgeway
Parkway to EN35 to do the same thing.  With my micro-rover I was also able
to work K0SIX, W0GHZ, WB0LJC, KC0LXB, KC0VFP, and W0XG on the lower bands.
On 432 I was using the 2m omni - it loads on 432 but its a really bad
antenna !   Because the temperature was 36 degrees, we never actually froze
our fingers to our dishes, but we did get fairly damp in the mist and
drizzle and one always wonders what is going on inside your equipment when
you see the ingress of water.

Thanks to all those who looked for us.  Thanks to Bill for giving this a
go ..... next time we will be more successful.

73, Jon
W0ZQ and W0ZQ/R too.