08/13/2004 | W3IY/R Even though the propagation was extremely poor, we had
much fun in the 2004 UHF contest. The wx was fantastic as
for being comfortable and cool, but it's the heat and humidity
which, unfortunately, make for decent microwave propagation.

The beacons were way down in FM15vx before the contest got
underway. In June, were were hearing the WA4PGI beacons
on 432, 1296, and 5760 in FM15, and June was not any great
shakes either, as for propagation. This year, we heard nothing
except the 2m and the 222 W3CCX beacons very weakly...not
a good sign. As the contest started, it became quickly obvious
that working stations above 1296 was going to be difficult. FM25
was even harder for us, as it's slightly more out--of the way.

As we moved farther north, the activity seemed to expand, but
it was because were were getting within range of more stations,
not due to any gifts from the propagation lords. We found N2MH/R
in FM15, and we were finally able to work the grid from FM26...
a rare treat! Mark was also moving north, parallel to us, and
we had several additional rover-to-rover QSOs with him, which is
always exciting.

Conditions continued to be poor from the Chesapeake Bay, near Va
Beach. From the bridge-tunnel, we were finally able to make some
QSOs on 3.4GHz with K1RZ. Usually, we do well from here on 10G,
but this time, we were lucky to score a few on 3.4GHz. We were
also finally able to QSO K1TEO on 2.3/3.4 GHz from here...usually
something we accomplish from much farther south.

We wanted to catch some Zs in a motel to free our minds from the
sour tropo-less condx, but we discovered that every motel on the
Eastern Shore was booked solid! This meant another few hours sleep
in the MD Rest Area in the rover cockpit...not exactly an icon
of comfort!

Early morning from FM28 was the best propagation so far in this
contest. We finally broke the 5.7 & 10 GHz barriers from here
with K1RZ, & N3EMF. We have never had to wait this long for
some 10GHz QSOs, but this contest was shaping up to be some of
the worst condx we've seen from the area. All that cold/dry
air from the monster high pressure system made it comfortable,
and kept the mosquitoes dormant, but it sure messed up the
tropo possbilities. (...did I say the propagation was lousy?).

We pulled over in FM18 to QSO N3OC on 10 GHz, as QSOs on this
band were apparently quite rare this weekend...fortunately we made
it, shooting through a clearing in some trees, in a library
parking lot near Easton, MD.

The QSO pace was really picking up in FM19 and 29, and we had loads
of fun running up the QSO total on the lower bands. It was fun
bumping into WA3PTV/R and W3HMS/R in FM09 from here on bands
through 10GHz. All QSOs in the UHF contest are great, but man,
those 2.3G & up QSOs are big points! Keep 'em rolling in if you
can. We tried to break above 3.4GHz K1TEO, but the condx just
weren't there. It was great to QSO Jeff reliably through 3.4GHz
from these grids, however. I don't think we could have done this
in January, so I guess we have to admit that the UHF contest wasn't
quite that bad for propagation.

We managed to do slightly better than last year with about 345
QSOs in 59 grids.

Thanks to all who made the scene, and passed out some UHF joy to
us and others. This contest has always been fun, being slower-
paced than the big-3, but packed with microwave excitement. It's
always a pleasure to hear the dedicated UHF nuts on the bands. Keep
the flame burning! Even poor condx can't quell the excitement of
working stations on these bands. It's amazing what the microwaves
can do.

Tnx & 73,
Bill W3IY
Christophe ON4IY -- W3IY