VA3ECO -- Aug 29, 2024

14:25Z  VA3ECO  WSJT Q65 Rainscatter Contact, 185 miles

Chris and I have worked on rainscatter before, but it had always been with him operating portable from a higher location. He now has 8watts and has his system located on a short tower on his roof. The path is much more difficult from the tower due to trees and terrain. I was using 5deg elevation.The mid point cell was at 47,700ft. It was strong enough for CW, but we were setup for Q65. We had tried many times before with no luck. With all the precip in the path on his end, I figured "no way". I was wrong!! Great FUN, Thanks Chris.

Rainscatter -- Aug 17 & 18, 2014 -- EN32hk New Grid.

After roving in the Red River Valley on the 16th, first day of the 10GHz and Above, I returned home to operate Sunday. The day started with considerable rain west of Minneapolis and it looked that the Buck Hill gang south of The Cities would be rained off the hill by early afternoon. In the end that is what happened. SO ... the rovers in IA were left to work other rovers or find someone else to work. In the end, I had 17 QSOs with rovers between 14:39 and 20:45 CDT. 14 of the QSOs were rainscatter with storms near Rochester MN and the other 3 were tropo QSOs. Rovers worked: WB0LJC(6), K9PW(4), KC0IYT(2), K0CQ(1), W9FZ(2), KA9VVQ(2). The average distance of these QSOs was 254miles (408Km) with the longest being K0CQ EN32nk at 327.5miles (527Km). Earlier I had worked KC0IYT in EN32hk just 5miles closer for the first new grid since 2009, what great fun!

I thought the fun was over after that, but storms developed again over north central WI Monday the 18th and I ended up working VE4MA (248m), W9ZIH(411m), K2YAZ(398m) and N4PZ(407m) on 10GHz rainscatter. This was the first time I had worked Bob K2YAZ in 4yrs. It had been a long dry spell for us.

KCØIYT/P EN34ju -- May 04, 2014 -- WSJT- JT4G QSO.

22:56Z  JT4G Tropo, 160 miles

 I may have TX issues here on 10GHz. It seemed that I was hearing better than I was being received while working K0KFC, W0ZQ and 
 W0GHZ (all portable) on 10GHz CW today. Gary and I have seen this all winter. All in shack RF samples look normal as well as the DC 
power reference from the DEM 10GHz 8watt amp at the top of the tower.


 Glen KC0IYT was out and about as was Donn WA2VOI with WSJT gear on 10GHz. Glen was "just" detectable on the waterfall in the panadapter
 peaking to about 5db on CW. He NEVER heard me after several attempts on CW. We was operating from a parking garage east of the Mall of 
 America. EN34ju 159.6 miles He had a tree issue that seemed to be unavoidable with the power cords he had. After repeated attempts and 
 moving about as much as he could, we switched to WSJT JT4G. (AU2014 presentation) Remember, he NEVER heard me on CW. We worked easily 
 with -10 to -11 db signals most of the time BOTH ends. Even though the CW signals were very different in apparent strength (5db above 
 to noise (IYT) to not heard (AWU)) The WSJT JT4G signals were seemed to be very much the same in signal strength.


  This was a VERY successful illustration of "No Q" to "pretty easy Q". The process is NOT speedy and DOES require considerable technological
 overhead, but is doable. At this point, given the scattering of the signal,I don't have a good idea of the signal strength margin for a QSO.


  GREAT WORK Glen. Thanks for the presentation at AU2014 and the WSJT fun today! (and the QSO).  Donn thank you too for our tests.. you were 
the first to decode my 10GHz JT4G signal and at a greater distance.

WØZQ/8 EN56et -- Sept 15, 2009 -- New Grid.

14:25Z  WØZQ/8  5-2 CW Tropo, 190 miles

Jon took a small vacation to enjoy our unusual Sept WX along Lake Superior in the Michigan UP. He had a great shot from the beach, but it is a difficult path with many sharp elevation changes of hundreds of feet. We set up a "odd -even" min schedule for 30mins. Little if anything was heard for the first 15min. and then at that point Jon & I began to hear/copy very weak signals, very close to the expected frequency and then the QSO had a chance. Calls and grids were copied with very weak signals at both ends and the the signals bounced up to S-2 "speaker copy" for "RRs and 73" sequences. Great QSO done the old fashion way, "no cell phones on that beach". Thanks Again Jon!"

NØAKC & NØEDV EN45eg -- August 16, 2009 -- New Grid.

00:49Z  NØAKC & NØEDV  S-1 CW QSO, 162 miles

Thanks Scott, Charlie and Joe AI9Z for the effort and time spent to make this QSO possible. It had been a grid that I was looking for for some time now, just so few chances to try. The guys found this location along Highway 53 just south of the US HWY 8 interchange south of Chetek, WI. It looks like one tree close to "in the path", but we made it. Not much "mid-day tropo" left it seemed.

KCØIYT/9 EN54gm -- July 28, 2009 -- New Grid.

00:49Z  KCØIYT/9  5-3 CW Rain Scatter, 270 miles

Thanks to Glen for trying several locations while he was returning from the CSVHF conference in Chicago and a quick stop at EAA in Oshkosh. There was some better stuff south, but too far from me. We had two QSOs in about a 15min period with the second QSO being the best, 5-3 with 8db peaks above the noise. The first QSO was about as weak as it could be and still copy. I had 5deg elevation in to clear the birch tree top in that direction, I suspect. I will have to climb the tower soon and verify that that was the case. Glen was running his 8 watt portable and 18" dish. Very nice QSO Glen, Thanks!

WØZQ/9 EN46BC -- Sept 23, 2008 -- New Grid.

19:29Z  WØZQ/9  5-2 CW Rain Scatter, 110 miles

Take look at that rig! Jon was using his "highly portable" 10GHz system. That is a 2 watt DEMI transverter and a 17db horn tie wrapped to his IF rig and just setting on the hood of his car. I had a small cell about 20 miles east of me and I used 7deg elevation. Signals peaked about 20db above the noise but were weaker when we signed as the cell was moving very rapidly. Jon first heard me beacon with the rig pointed through the windshield. He was just south of Minong,WI. Rain Scatter is just SO MUCH FUN .... Thanks Jon, great QSO.

WØGHZ/Ø EN25mi -- July 19, 2008 -- New Grid.

20:27Z  WØGHZ/Ø  5-9 FM Rain Scatter, 139 miles

Very nice FM rainscatter backscatter QSO with Gary. Signals were about 40db out of the noise on the path that was approaching 90 degrees again... Gary had his portable 10GHz system with him on a family outing near New London, MN. There were some pretty hot cells north of "The Cities" that gave us S9 signals from the first beacon. Thanks Gary

NTØV -- NORTH DAKOTA --EN08oc -- July 11, 2008 -- New State & Grid.

22:16Z  NTØV  5-5 CW Rain Scatter, 254 miles

At last we got a cell in the right spot and Dennis set things up for an attempt at 10GHz. The front was "nasty" looking and lightning was close by. As soon as Dennis started beaconing, he was observed on the SDR IF, signals were very good. I was using 10deg elevation to get over local trees and to couple into the cell close to our west.

Thanks Dennis for the new state and grid!

WØGHZ/Ø EN26xf -- April 22, 2008 -- New Grid.

01:52Z  WØGHZ/Ø  5-2 CW Rain Scatter, 67 miles

First Rainscatter contact of the season and a new grid. Grids to the west are difficult here due to elevations to the west. Nice CW backscatter QSO with Gary. Signals were about 8db out of the noise on the path that was approaching 90 degrees ... lots of precip in the path didn't help either.

K2YAZ EN74av -- June 26, 2007 -- New Grid and State (Michigan).

22:00Z  K2YAZ  5-9 CW,SSB,FM Rain Scatter, 398 miles

K2YAZ and I have tried the last two summers to work on 10Ghz rainscatter. I had heard him briefly last summer, but weak and very brief. Today, I had been gone all day, arriving home,I found a very high level of QRN. Looking at the WX radar,it showed a good cell in the path to Bob about 118miles from me and 280m from him. Bob beaconed and his signal was there instantly 30+db above the noise. There was fast QSB on the signal, that I think was from the tree tops in my yard, blowing in the breeze in front of the dish 40ft away. Great QSO on three modes. Later the same day I worked him again as well as N4PZ and W9ZIH, both are over 400miles distant.

KFØQ/Ø EN43 -- Sept 03, 2006 -- New grid.

15:53Z  KFØQ/Ø  5-2 CW Rain Scatter, 236 miles

Matt was kind enough to recall that I had not worked EN43 and observed the bit of precip in a front as it passed north of the "Twin Cities". There was very little in the system, but enough! I had turned the 10ghz system off some time prior to Matt calling, and the biggest problem we had was my drift as I warmed up. The moment he started to beacon I observed the signal on the SDReceiver. This is the weakest radar return I've had when a NEW grid was the result. Very little doppler on the signal T-8. A very nice contact. Thanks Matt!

N4PZ EN52 -- July 19, 2006 -- New grid.

15:05Z  N4PZ  5-2 CW Rain Scatter, 407 miles

This was my first contact and second attempt with N4PZ. The signals were not huge, but it was an easy contact. Steve had been beaconing on the storm for some time and we both were able to optimize headings well enough for the QSO. I had earlier worked Mike KMØT on this system with about the same signals. A very nice contact and only 25miles short of my personal best with W9ZIH.

WØPHD EN18 -- June 26, 2006 -- New grid.

22:19Z  WØPHD  5-1 CW Rain Scatter, 163 miles

16deg elevation required on this contact. This was Wally and my first 10Ghz contact from the home QTH. So a "new" grid. It was very windy at his end and it did not look promising at first. The radar data was "dated" just enough to make it difficult to decide on good headings. Wally suggested a try "direct" and "bing" he popped right up on the SDReceiver spectrum display. Easy QSO on my end followed, I didn't have the 30mph wind :>)

VE3KRP EN58gk -- May 28, 2006 -- New Province and grid.

  16:26Z  VE3KRP EN58gk  5-9 FM/SSB Rain Scatter, 216 miles.

A great RS contact and Eddie's first on 10Ghz. I had watched this system for several hours waiting for Eddie to become available. He was operating portable from a field about 20min from his home QTH. I was watching the Software defined panadaptor for his signal. I think that this contact can be credited to the use of the SoftRock Ver7 based 144mhz software defined receiver system. Being able to just watch for the signal without having to tune is "HUGE". On the first beacon nothing was seen at all. The cell was just too intense for there not to be a very good signal. I asked about changing elevation and "bang" there was the signal ... peaking almost 30db above the noise. We first worked on SSB, FM and CW. Great signals. Later Eddie worked Gary WØGHZ as well. Gary heard us as we had continued to ragchew on FM for almost an hour! VE3KRP runs 2W to a 18" DSS dish.

KFØQ EN44da -- Aug 04, 2005 -- New grid.

  01:48Z  KFØQ EN44da -- KØAWU  EN37ed 5-8 FM/SSB Rain Scatter, 235 miles or 378Km.

Matt had heard me very well once before in EN44 but we had never worked from there. The other time he was running quite low power vrs the 2 watts that I was using and I could not overcome the difference in power level. This contact was even nicer given the "non-direct" path. Most of my rainscatter contacts have been via forward scatter and it was suprising to have the excellent signal levels on this path. Matt requested FM and the contact was made with ease and then we worked on SSB. The doppler on SSB was at the limit of the RIT on the Yaesu 290RII.

W9ZIH EN51nv -- July 23, 2005 -- New state (Illinois) and grid.

  July 23,05  16:32Z  W9ZIH  EN52nv -- KØAWU  EN37ed 5-2 CW Rain Scatter, 432 miles or 695Km.

Ron and I had tried several times this summer to work on 10Ghz rainscatter but we had never heard each other. I had worked Gary WØGHZ several times as this system passed north of "The Cities". I got distracted and about missed this chance. I was visiting with Gary and he suggested that Ron and I try again. Gary had worked Ron on several bands via rainscatter earlier in the day. As Ron warmed up the TWT I beaconed and he found me with ease, 5-2. The path was about 10 degrees off direct. KØSM's Rainscatter program provided an excellent heading. The most likley cell providing the path, had tops at 48,700ft with the max "reflection" altitude of 29,500ft. The radar return on this cell was at 64dBz. Given the distance from Ron, this cell had to have supported propagation at nearly 50,000 ft. At the time of this 695km contact it was the third longest reported 10 Ghz rainscatter contact in North America. Thanks Ron, for the new grid and state on 10Ghz, nice signal and contact!

VE4MA EN19 -- June 20, 2005 -- "New" Province and grid.

   June 20, 2005 02:11Z  VE4MA  EN19 -- 5-9 SSB Rain Scatter, 248 miles or 400Km.

I have worked Barry many times via rainscatter on 10Ghz, but all of our contacts had been while using the portable system and a location about 2miles southwest of our home. From home, I have issues with trees and hills as I look any direction with a western component. So, I have been on the lookout for cells that are close enough so I could elevate to get over the trees etc and in a good position for Barry. In this case we had worked about 10 minutes earlier on CW with 5-8 signals and then the signals built even more to allow this great SSB contact. So now EN19 can be included in my 10Ghz grid list from the home QTH.

WØGHZ EN34lx -- Jan 12, 2005

  January 12,05  19:06Z  WØGHZ  EN34  5-4 SSB Snow Scatter, 155 miles.

Gary and I have had several snow scatter contacts on 10Ghz this winter. This contact was the one of best signal strengths of the snow scatter contacts. The SSB signal is quite "garbled", very much like rainscatter. We have seen many weaker Snowscatter contacts that were very much T-9. This was the second of several contacts this particular day.

Listen to WØGHZ SSB Snowscatter transmission

WØGHZ EN34 -- Nov 27, 2004

  November 27,04  16:43Z  WØGHZ  EN34  5-1-9 Snow Scatter, 155 miles.

Gary and I had tried snow scatter yesterday with radar returns that looked better, to me at least. We heard nothing. Today with light flurries on this end and not too much more than that at Gary's end, we tried again. The signal was very solid, (no QSB) and T-9. Gary could change elevation by almost 15deg and still have the signal solid. This was our first snow scatter contact and makes it look very exciting for the winter. Both of us running about 2watts to 18" DSS dishes at about 50ft high.

WØGHZ EN34 -- August 29, 2004

  August 29,04  18:12Z  WØGHZ  EN34  5-2 /5-5  SSB  155 Miles

Since getting the tower system on the air, I have wanted to get a better idea of what is required for a rain scatter QSO. This was a very weak system with quite light rain in it and at its best produced 5-5 SSB signals from Gary. It quickly lost "steam" and signals dropped off to S1 or 2. Working through a long band of moisture does not normally produce good signals. The WAV file below is when Gary was about S-5, he runs 2watts and an 18" DSS dish at 50ft.

Listen to WØGHZ SSB transmission

WAØSSN/Ø EN34li -- August 9, 2004

August 9, 2004  18:57Z   WAØSSN/Ø EN34li  5-2 SSB  197 miles

Hummm ... How about calling CQ on 10Ghz when your closest "Q" is 155 miles away?? During the ARRL UHF contest, I had worked WØGHZ on a QSY to 10Ghz rainscatter via a very small cell north of Minneapolis.(Sorry no radar image) Since I was busy on the UHF bands I left the 10Ghz "Tower System" on and would beacon every once in a while, since the cell was slow moving. I had no idea if anyone other than Gary or I were aware of the cell, or even on at that time. About 25min after working Gary, a beacon call was answered by WAØSSN in EN34li operating portable with 200mw! He was trying to work a few guys in the MSP. Don had never worked rain scatter and was using a loaner rig that he had borrowed from WØAUS. I don't know who was the most suprised once we discovered the nature of our QSO. I guess it sometimes pays to call CQ on 10ghz even from the North Woods!