This past August, I finally completed, er no... I finally got my 10 Ghz to 2M transverter into working shape, and successfully participated in the second weekend of the ARRL 10 Ghz and Up contest. Best DX were a trio of QSO's between the hilltop I was on above Sylmar, CA, to Mt. Potosi, near Las Vegas, a distance of 318.6 km! Done with about 300 mW @10 Ghz. ;)
So, its a work in progress, and I'll certainly have more detail when I dig back into it to improve it's performance. For now, a couple of pictures of the contest setup will have to suffice. The gray and black box under the FT-817 is the transverter.
Back in early May I made my first, and so far only (CW) QSO with a Rockmite. Worked AC7KL in Oregon on 20M with 400 mW... Over 2000 miles per watt, (!!!) have the QSL card and the certificate from QRPARCI to prove it!!!
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What am I working on now?
Mainly fiddling with DDS modules as VFO's I'm presently working on building the direct-conversion receiver that is the first stage of Pete, N6QW, and Ben, KK6FUT's "Let's build something" series that will appear in QRP Quarterly in January. The first prototype can bee seen at Pete's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/N6QW/videos
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I still have not worked anyone on 3579 kc's, but I'm hoping that Winter will bring a quieter band and better conditions!
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Happy Thanksgiving, and have a "safe and sane" Black Friday!
I will be busy at work tomorrow, so no shopping for me. Earlier in the week I picked up a $39 7" Android tablet, for the sole purpose of seeing if I can find any state-sponsored malware inside of it. ;) I already have a really nice Nexus 7, so this one will be the "beater" I take to work.
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