=  NOW 40 WPM  =  

PORTABLE OR MOBILE STATIONS WORK IN EXPANDING CONCENTRIC CIRCLES.
SOMETIMES WE VARY THAT THEME BY TRAVELING ALONG AN INTERSTATE AND
LEAP FROGGING EACH OTHER.  ITS FUN, BUT ALSO A LOT OF WORK, WITH
LONG WAITING TIMES.  BUT IF WE COULD GET MORE OPERATORS TO RUN ALONG
THE ROUTES, WE WOULD HAVE A LOT MORE FUN AND LESS WAITING.  AS AN
ONGOING PROJECT, WEVE ALSO INVITED PROSPECTIVE MICROWAVE OPERATORS
TO JOIN US ON EXCURSIONS AND HAVE GIVEN THEM A LOANER RIG TO WHET
THE MICROWAVELENGTHS ST. LOUIS AREA MICROWAVE SOCIETY  RECENTLY,
HERBERT ULLMANN, AF4JF, MET ARRL CEO DAVID MINSTER, NA2AA, AT AN
AIRPORT, AFTER SPOTTING DAVIDS ARRL MASK.  A DISCUSSION ABOUT
MICROWAVES ENSUED.  DAVID SUGGESTED THAT HERBERTS CLUB, THE ST.
LOUIS AREA MICROWAVE SOCIETY SLAMS, MIGHT BE A WORTHWHILE SUBJECT
FOR A MICRO WAVE LENGTHS COLUMN.  SLAMS IS ONE OF THE NEWER
MICROWAVE GROUPS.  HERBERT AND RON OCHU, KO0Z, WILL FILL US IN ON
HOW IT WAS STARTED AND SUSTAINED.  SLAMS BY HERBERT ULLMANN, AF4JF,
AND RON OCHU, KO0Z ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH ANTENNA THEORY UNDERSTANDS
THAT AS RADIO FREQUENCY INCREASES, ANTENNA ELEMENT LENGTH DECREASES.
EVIDENTLY, A SIMILAR RULE APPLIES TO HAM RADIO CLUBS, BECAUSE AS
FREQUENCIES APPROACH THE MICROWAVE RANGE, THE NUMBER OF CLUBS
DEDICATED TO USING THEM DECREASES.  TO BE SURE, MICROWAVE
ENTHUSIASTS ARE AN ESOTERIC BUNCH.  PUTTING TOGETHER A MICROWAVE
STATION CAN APPEAR DAUNTING, ESPECIALLY TO A NEWCOMER.  WE
MICROWAVERS ARE OFTEN ASKED BY NON MICROWAVE HAMS WHAT THE OVERALL
COST PER CONTACT IS.  LIKE MUCH OF TECHNOLOGY, MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
TRENDS TOWARD BECOMING LESS EXPENSIVE, BUT THEY DO HAVE A POINT IT
STILL TENDS TO BE A LITTLE MORE COSTLY THAN THE LOWER BANDS.
ANOTHER PERCEIVED HINDRANCE IS, WHO ELSE IS OUT THERE TO CONTACT?
UNLIKE HF, MICROWAVE BANDS DO NOT USUALLY HAVE AVAILABLE QSOS 24/7.
MICROWAVE CLUBS SOLVE THESE CHALLENGES BY OFFERING ENCOURAGEMENT,
ADVICE, AND JUST PLAIN OLD FUN.  CLUBS CAN OFFER ACCESS TO MICROWAVE
TEST GEAR, AS WELL AS MENTORS WHO ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO ASSIST
WITH GETTING ON THE AIR, STATION MAINTENANCE, AND QSO OPPORTUNITIES.
TYPICALLY, MICROWAVE CLUBS TEND TO BE FOUND IN HIGHER DENSITY
POPULATION AREAS WITH HIGH TECH ELECTRONIC COMPANIES AND SURPLUS
ELECTRONICS SOURCES.  ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI DOESNT HAVE AN ABUNDANCE
OF MICROWAVE OPPORTUNITIES.  YOU MIGHT SAY WE ARE IN A BLACK HOLE.
STILL, A SMALL GROUP OF ENTHUSIASTS DECIDED THAT IF THERES A WILL,
THERE IS A WAY, AND SO THEY CREATED SLAMS IN NOVEMBER 2008.  THE
IDEA FOR SLAMS CAME 2 YEARS EARLIER, WHEN HERBERT ULLMANN, AF4JF,
AND JOHN GERMANOS, WB9PNU, DECIDED TO EXPERIMENT WITH 2 METER EME
USING WSJT.  THEY WANTED TO TRY 23 CM NEXT, BUT NEITHER HAD MUCH
EXPERIENCE WITH MICROWAVES.  SO, THEY FOUND DAVE CALVERT, KB0PE SK,
TO LEND HIS EXPERTISE.  WHILE ATTENDING THE 2008 CENTRAL STATES VHF
SOCIETY CSVHFS CONFERENCE IN WICHITA, JOHN AND HERBERT BECAME
FASCINATED WITH 10 GHZ, AND THEY PURCHASED DEMI 3 CM TRANSVERTERS.
SOON, THEY HAD A 10 GHZ BEACON, WB9PNU/B,
=  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  =  QST DE W1AW  <