Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! 

(picture courtesy of NASA)

73 from Herbert, AF4JF

Seasons Greetings!

InSight and MarCOs

Kudos to the scientists and engineers with JPL, NASA and everyone involved with the successful Martian landing of InSight and the MarCOs satellites!  I'm especially intrigued with the X band refectantenna array used with MarCOs.  It's compact during lift-off, but deploys during spaceflight.  It acts as a parabolic antenna. The MarCOs are the first cubesats to leave Earth orbit and they performed as planned relaying InSight's telemetry back to Earth during its descent and landing on the Martian surface. 

Bob Gormley WA5YWC SK

It is with profound sadness that I post the following news from Al Ward W5LUA:


Hello microwave community
It is with great sadness that I am informing you that Bob Gormley WA5YWC
passed away in his sleep on Saturday night. He was 74.
Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly and they will be locally in
the DFW area.
Bob was a great person and a great friend and I will miss him.
733
Al W5LUA

On the air from the gob

Herbert AF4JF and Ron KO0Z were still waiting for the sun to rise on Saturday, October 20 at 6:30 am.  The wind was brisk and the temps in the 40s.  Ron made a quick stop to get some coffee and before long,  the chained gate leading to the gob site and wind turbine was unlocked and both of us were setting up beneath the "whoosh, whoosh" blades of the wind turbine. Zack, W9SZ was operational at his hilltop location in EN50rl about 97 miles away.

We weren't successful in hearing each other on 10 GHz, but Herbert and Zack made a great two-way 1.2 GHz QSO this morning.  Herbert used a 1.2 GHz yagi and two watts of power.

We started operations at 7:00 am and we were on the road by 8:45.  Ron KO0Z needed to travel to Pana for a Boy Scout jamboree at Rhodes France Scout Camp.  With about 5 other hams we operated three stations and gave scouts a chance to get on the air.  It was great fun!

                                 
                                                           AF4JF's 1.2 GHz yagi

                            The dish, on top of the gob EM59ek, is aimed at Zack in EN50rl 97 miles away.

                                                    Herbert's new travel companion

Planning Meetings

BARS and SLAMS will have a set of 3 planning meetings aimed at setting up the plans and schedule for events in 2019. Here are they:

2018-11-10: TA in Troy, IL

2018-12-15: Waffle House, Dorsett STL

2019-01-27: Denny's, STL

Everybody interested in our activities is welcome, does not matter if you are a member of one or both of our groups! Should you be interested, then please join us for one of the meetings above!

73 Herbert

AF4JF

MUD in our eyes, 2018 Dayton, OH

"Attending a seminar has numerous benefits, including improving communication skills, gaining expert knowledge, networking with others and renewing motivation and confidence."  This quote is taken from a higher education, but it applies quite nicely to MUD 2018 which was held in Fairborn, OH nearby to Dayton.  The organizers did an outstanding job putting on this year's MUD.

Our trip to Dayton started off on Thursday, October 11th.  Zack W9SZ met me, KO0Z, in Girard and we carpooled to Vandalia where we met Herbert AF4JF.  I left my car with my sister-in-law and all three of us carpooled to Fairborn, OH in Herbert's new Chevrolet Traverse.  Lunch at Cracker Barrel and soon we were in Dayton/Fairborn.  

In addition to Zack, Herbert and Ron, Mel K0PFX and Bob N0IS rounded up the BARS/SLAMS attendees.  

There was a lot of excitement at the conference and neat projects were going on.  Machining and mill work is vital to uW construction; especially, on the higher frequencies and Rich N0PQU and Mike N0OBI would have walked away with new, exciting ideas of that I am sure.  There was some 131 GHz work done at the conference!  SDR is becoming an even stronger presence in uW technology.  

Perhaps, the next time MUD is "close" to St. Louis, we should consider car pooling our resources.  MUD 2019 will be in the Dallas area.  

                                 Herbert AF4JF and Zack W9SZ at the MUD Hospitality sweet

                                           
                                        Lime SDR transceiver can run up to 4 transverters!

           The long awaited Lime LMS8001 Companion Board extends coverage to 5 and 10 GHz

                                             Tom, WA1MBA's Quadrupler for 47 GHz

            Paul Wade W1GHz is milling out 47 GHz parts at a Maker Faire machine shop

                         
                                         Home brewed 47 GHz horn antenna

                           
                                                 Pete, Mel and Herbert at the MUD banquet

BARS October 2018 Brunch

Even with the threat of rain, BARS members converged on Ponderosa in Arnold, MO on Saturday, October 6th for our monthly brunch.  Discussion centered on the upcoming MUD conference in Dayton, OH, Herbert's return from his business trip in Boston and Harry's WA0CNS SDR HF QRP rig manufactured in China.  It has a very clear, colorful display with a built in pan adapter.

                                            Harry, WA0CNS with his SDR HF QRP rig.

                 A close up view of the SDR HF QRP rig.  Note the spectrum display towards the screen bottom.

Seated from left to right:  Sam W0PCE, Rich N0PQU, Harry WA0CNS, Herbert AF4JF, Armand KD0PXF and Debbie KC9ULA.  Not pictured is Ron KO0Z

2018 ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest

Part deux of the ARRL's 10 GHz and Up Contest, September 15 and 16, doesn't always offer the best contest conditions.  Many of the uW ops up north contest along the Great Lakes, which leaves few of us in the "black hole" a lot of options.  This year, Herbert AF4JF and I decided to leapfrog each other, which meant a lot of traveling in a "shoot and scoot" strategy.  We made elaborate plans.  Debbie KC9ULA and I, KO0Z even scouted out a potential location near Mason City, IL for the contest.

Since Herbert wasn't available until after 3:00 pm on Saturday, we decided that he'd start off in St. Charles County in EM48rt near Red Lobster along I-70.  KO0Z went to the Aerie's winery in Grafton up on the bluffs and worked Herbert on cw with 599 signals for a path 20 km at 3:35 pm.  We even did SSB.  Next, Ron went to the Dow site, EM59ua and Herbert went to the YMCA in EM48sq.  We worked each other on cw for path of 40 km at 4:19 pm.  Ron packed up and proceeded to Edwardsville, EM58as and worked Herbert at 5:44 pm with 599 cw signals for a 44 km path.  Ron drove close to 200 miles round trip.

Sunday was to be the big travel day.  But the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray came into play.  KO0Z's daughter-in-law's mother passed away and the visitation was scheduled for Sunday from 11 to 2.  Ron wanted to contest but he also wanted to be there, but that meant cutting the contest day short.  It's about a 90 minute drive from Girard, IL to St. Peters, MO.   Ron would have to leave for St. Peters no later than 11:30 am to be in St. Peters by 2 pm with some time to spare. Originally, Herbert and Ron planned to end up at Zack, W9SZ's EN50rl hilltop location, but that will have to wait for another day.  Instead, Ron and Herbert decided to start their contest Sunday off by meeting for breakfast  at the Litchfield, IL Denny's at 5:30 am!  Ron actually made it!

A hearty breakfast and many cups of coffee later, Ron and Herbert were tooling down IL Route 16 by 6:30 am to Ohlman cemetery, EM59ji.  We were set up on the hill by 7:10 am.  We were unable to hear the St. Louis beacon, 125 km, 78 miles away, and we didn't have any luck hearing Ron W9ZIH's powerhouse signal from Malta, IL EN51nv, 176 miles (283 km) away.  Not to be skunked, KO0Z drove 5 km away and worked AF4JF.

Our next stop was the one we were most looking forward to visiting.  Ron secured permission to go on top of the gob nob from the old Crown 1 mine just east of the Farmersville and I-55 exit (exit 72) near Farmersville, IL, EM59ek.  Jim N9LQF had the key to open the gate and we drove to the top of the gob just below Ameren UE's huge wind turbine.  The view is awesome!  It is high and clear of any obstructions.  There was no detectable interference to our 10 GHz rigs.

We tried to work Ron W9ZIH and we could hear his signal, but it wasn't much above the noise and there was QSB a distance of 174 miles (280 km).  He was unable to hear us.  We were unable to hear the WB9PNU beacon from that location, 64 miles (102 km) to the southwest.

                         
                       Saturday afternoon   AF4JF set up in EM48 rt ready to work KO0Z in EM48sx

                         Herbert looking towards EM48sx (Grafton, IL) from EM48 rt (St. Peters, MO)

       AF4JF setup at the YMCA EM48sq (Bridgeton, MO ready to work KO0Z in EM49ua (Dow, IL)

                                                     Herbert's EM48sq location

                AF4JF's dish at Ohlman cemetery, EM58ji aiming towards KO0Z 5 km away in EM59jj

                                        AF4JF setup in Ohlman cemetery EM58ji

                                   KO0Z's view across the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers from EM48sx

                              KO0Z aiming from EM48sx (Grafton, IL) to St. Peters in EM48rt

                                               EM48sx above Grafton, IL on the bluffs

                                                            Dow, IL EM49ua

                    Ron KO0Z's view from Edwardsville, IL EM58sa west to EM48sq

The wind turbine at EM59ek just east of Farmersville, IL

                       
                            Herbert AF4JF getting ready at EM59ek on top of the gob.

                                                     View from EM59ek

                                         Looking north from the gob at EM59ek.

                                           
                                         AF4JF loves this uW site on the EM59ek gob.

                              KO0Z's view, 2 km westward towards the EM59ek wind turbine

Entrance to the EM59ek gob site near Farmersville, IL

Unfortunately, KO0Z needed to call it quits for the day.  Ron, Debbie KC9ULA and Roman KD9COA needed to leave in time for the visitation.  A big shout out to Herbert for his understanding and to Jim N9LQF for securing permission and the key to the gob site!