Friday was a big day for this VHF Man. It started with the news that my good
friend Jack, WA5UUD had successfully worked K5N. The chase was on for the
rarest grid east of the Mississippi.
Then I spent most of the afternoon at the home of Jimmy Long, W4ZRZ. He was in
the midst of repairing his recent antenna damage, getting ready for the June
contest. Despite his demanding workload, he took time off the towers to teach
me the basics of microwave operating.
Bill Capps, AF4OD has decided to forego the microwave effort for the June
contests, and agreed to loan me his microwave rover set-up for my first ever
attempt at roving. The gear consists of mainly DEMI transverters, along with
Toshiba power amps, all mounted on plywood bases. It includes 2.3ghz, 3.4, 5.7,
and 10ghz. The gear is "jointly" owned by Jimmy Long, W4ZRZ and Bill, with each
contributing parts to the cause.
We set the gear up "portable" in Jimmy's garage, and he helped me calibrate the
transverters with a frequency generator. He then walked me through setting up
each unit, the basics of finding the beam headings for the desired station, and
walking me through aiming the antennas. One by one, we worked quick QSO's on
SSB and CW on 5.7ghz, 10ghz, and then 3.4 and 2.3. It was quite a thrill to
make those QSO's, even if they were from a distance of 100 feet or so.
With Jimmy and Bill's generosity, I should be QRV on all bands with the
exception of 902mhz. I may even lug along the 902mhz FM rig just to round
things out.
This was followed by hours of conversation about roving, including a ton of
tips from Jimmy. Then a tour of his impressive shack. You haven't lived till
you've seen a water cooled 1.2ghz amplifier! And it's hard not to be jealous of
a rack full of Luna-Link amps, each with their own power supply! Wow!
I returned home in time for a great dinner with the XYL, and then a race home
to make my midnight schedule with K5N on JT6M. It took most of the half hour to
complete the QSO. But it was a great thrill to see "N1LF K5N EM58" decode on
the computer. In my haste, I had forgotten their proposed exchange, and wasn't
expecting to decode their grid square. But I struggled through it, sending both
my grid and signal report just to be sure.
When I received their "RRR" several minutes later, I happily replied with "73
TNX K5N". Like many, I'm very grateful for the hard work that went into that
effort.
How does that commercial go? "...working K5N on indoor antennas?" Priceless.
All in all, a great day to be a VHF Man.
73,
Les Rayburn, N1LF
EM63nf
121 Mayfair Park
Maylene, AL 35114
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