The first weekend of the ARRL 10GHz and Up Contest starts tomorrow (August 19) at 0600 local. https://contests.arrl.org/10g/ There will be plenty of activity in California, and probably other regions. It’s a fun contest, and everyone should get on the band!

I’ll be on a SOTA summit (W6/NC-151) on Saturday, not sure if I’ll be able to get out on Sunday.

  • @ham_bitiousOPMEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    Yes, it is ham radio. I think some people were planning to go up Potosi, but changed their plans with the incoming hurricane. That’s too far and too many mountains for NorCal, so I haven’t been watching their plans closely.

    Theoretically you could listen in, but you’d need to be somewhere in the beam of the stations. At 10GHz an 18" dish had a beamwidth of only a few degrees, so if you’re even a little off you’ll hear nothing.

    I believe there are LNBs people have used to get on the band. Those are probably the cheapest. SBMS is probably the closest microwave club, is check out their website.

    I have a video on YouTube of last year’s contest: https://youtu.be/Ch_j_zfCYgI

      • @ham_bitiousOPMEnglish
        2•1 year ago

        Yes. Usually one person is on a mountain top, and the other is on a different mountain or the valley. Microwaves are mostly LOS, but can and do go farther. Mt Diablo to Frazier Mountain is a popular path here in CA. Last year I heard people coordinating contracts from Frazier to somewhere near Quartzite.

        This weekend might provide a lot of rain scatter opportunities for the SoCal hams.