[NLRS] 10G Cumulative wrap up (long)

[Gary]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to everyone who got on during the two weekends. Those of us on 
the North Shore the first weekend and me, the second weekend appreciate 
all the contacts.

The first weekend, Saturday morning got off to a great start with strong 
signals from the UP and Canada to the Duluth area. This is the first 
time that we have been able to work all of the Canadians from Duluth to 
Marathon on SSB at 488 km. With those great signals I was hoping for a 
lot of quick, easy Q's down at lake level. It didn't turn out that way. 
Signals down at the lake were much weaker but we did manage to work 
everyone at Mt Brockway and most of the stations in Canada.

During the morning we did contact, from one or more sites, some other 
stations, AI9Z, WØZQ, W9FZ, KA9VVQ, and KØKFC

It was cool, humid and drizzly off and on during the afternoon. By the 
time we were at Grand Marais, EN47ur, we had moderate rain. That kept 
the tourists away. But the rain made us run the Q's as fast as we could. 
Pretty miserable.

Sunday started off with short, easy Q's to the UP, now down near the 
lake level. Then 205 km CW Q's with Canada. Canada was blocked by some 
terrain across the bay and we had high ground in the way too, but it was 
a few miles away. Things didn't get better from there with generally 
weak signals from everyone except Wyatt, ACØRA, with his EME capable 
setup on the UP. Signals picked up to the UP as the day went on, but the 
Canadians remained mostly CW level. We only had a couple of tries with 
other stations. We worked WØZQ, NØKP, KA9VVQ and W9FZ 
from EN47us, Pincushion overlook, all on CW. Along the way back South 
there were more contacts with K9JK, who had left the UP group and was in 
the Ontonagon area. There was also a try with Jim, KØKFC, from EN47mm 
but nothing was heard either way. After our last contacts with the UP 
from near Duluth we ended that day by moving to a boat launch in 
Superior to work Bill, KØAWU. Not the best path, as the ground on the 
Minnesota side is much higher but the path was short at 123 km.

Due to the number of ops who made the trip to the UP and the just OK 
conditions, there were no contacts made on 24 G between the MN North 
Shore and the Michigan sites. Pete tried a number of times, but even the 
shortest path was too long this time. I don't expect that there were any 
attempts with the Canadians from the UP.

There were the usual visits from Murphy. WA8WPI's borrowed rig never did 
work, so after a long drive to the UP, he made no Q's. Kermit, W9XA, had 
an accident with his rig resulting in a number of cables being pulled 
out of place. Unfortunately it was not field repairable. Barry was 
having some LO problems with one of his rigs but managed to make 
repairs. At our last Sunday site with Canada, EN47ea, I couldn't work 
them on CW. My rig wouldn't key. I only figured out the problem when 
packing to leave. My NE555 beacon keyer box has a plug for the hand key 
that is 1/4" but the key is 1/8". The adapter between the two had broken 
due to all of the bouncing around. Good thing we didn't need CW at the 
rest of the sites.

All-in-all, even with the weather, low turnout and Murphy visits it was 
a good weekend to spend on the lake with friends, while traveling the 
Minnesota North Shore.

The second weekend started of with a drizzly drive down I-35 to my first 
site. When I got close the rain just dumped on me causing a rain delay 
while it moved East. I managed to work the four Missouri ops and the 
lone Wisconsin op, Jim, KØKFC from EN32fg. Then I moved East along US 20 
working the same ops multiple times. A little later Jim, WØCHL, showed 
up and made his first 10 G contacts. Mike, KBØOZN, also joined the 
group. All three were at Jim's St Croix Falls,EN35rj site. I had planned 
to continue along US 20 south of Waterloo, but as often happens when you 
get off the planned route I ended up going somewhere else, this time 
north, not south, of Waterloo. That wasted a lot of time. I did end up 
at a few new sites that I had scouted using the internet and topo maps. 
Even though these sites were further away from EN35rj then those earlier 
in the day, signals picked up to easy SSB level.

I had 31 contacts on Saturday, only two were less then 300 km. I would 
call the conditions just barely OK as signal were weak all morning. 
Thanks to Kevin, AD7OI and Tammy, KI7GVT for all of the contacts from 
EM49hp. Herbert, AF4JF and Ron, KOØZ, were near by, at Lover's Leap, in 
EM49hq. I also tried a few times with Brian, NIØP, in EN00qt. 
Unfortunately nothing was heard either way. I missed trying with WQØP 
and NØOY, as neither of them were available when I was at a good site. I 
chose the route to give me some good chances to work them.

Sunday started just like Saturday, heavy rain at my first site. Only 
this time it didn't move out, it only got worse. I looked at the radar 
and decided to move north to get past the rain. I used a number of known 
sites working the same people as on Saturday. Donn, WA2VOI, made it to 
Jim's and I got him for a unique and a few Q's. When I got to Hanover, 
EN43fi, I was able to work two of the ops at Jim's. I tried with Bill, 
KØAWU, but nothing was heard in EN37ed. Nothing heard when beaconing to 
Bruce, W9FZ, and Janice, KA9VVQ in EN54ew. I think I discovered the 
reason why. While putting the rig away I noticed that the SMA on my feed 
horn had a broken solder joint so the hardline shield was disconnected.

Even though I had a couple of more sites and time to get to them, I 
decided to call it a day so I didn't risk damage to my power amp. Only 
15 contacts on Sunday. I don't think my daily Q count has been that low 
since the early WBFM days in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Overall, a lot of work for the score. By my count: 43993 distance 
points. 159 Q's and 25 uniques for a total of 46493. Longest Q's were 
488 km, with 73 over 300 km. Average distance was 276.7 km. I missed a 
number of "local" uniques. No NØUK, KØHAC, WØGHZ, KØSHF, WBØEBG (Ray 
made the trip to EN35rj but had rig problems). Only worked NØKP the once 
first weekend even though he was on for the second.

I look forward to working everyone next year.

73 Gary, WBØLJC