3cm Contact with Block Island Achieved

Wow, I just worked Block Island on 10GHz! I feel a lot like the first time I made a simplex contact on two meters… a little confused on how I was able to connect with another station over such a vast distance without the aid of a repeater, and at such a high frequency. Now, of course, I understand atmospheric conditions and propagation better than I did back in 1997. But it’s still really cool to think about a simplex contact over such a great distance.

At the end of July I finally had all the pieces I needed to build a 3cm (10GHz) transceiver. Using an Elecraft KX3 transceiver, Downeast Microwave (DEMI) 10368-144 transverter, and Directive Systems Dual Band Feed (for 5 and 10GHz), and a Directive Systems 60cm aluminum dish, I was finally on the air.

After a couple of failures to make contact with local hams, I took all of my gear to Dave K1RZ’s house to troubleshoot. It was determined that everything seemed to be working appropriately and, since I was over that way, I took everything to Gambrill State Park's Frederick Overlook to test at a more reasonable distance. On 4 August 2024, my first contact on 3cm was made at a distance of 32km. At least I knew that my gear was working but how well it was working was still in question.

Fast forward to today and I was setup along the west shore of the Chesapeake Bay pointing in the direction of Block Island. With half of the operating group in town searching for ice cream, I lined up my dish to attempt to work AF1T. Contact was made using CW at 16:37Z with AF1T’s signal a decent Q4. Very cool.

At least I know my system works and I’m looking forward to the upcoming ARRL 10GHz and Up Contest and making contacts from the southern shore of Lake Erie in Ohio.

Sparks's Journal

Other articles

N6NB VHF/UHF Quad Antenna

New antennas up in the air.

Found a UT-10