10 GHz Beacon Testing in Seattle

10 GHz mobile? Not quite – mounted my CW beacon on my truck last weekend and tested a few transmitting locations around Seattle during a microwave test & tune day.

AG6QV was able to receive my signals via reflection off Puget Sound ferries, confirmed by aiming and tracking with his dish. This is known locally as Ferry Scatter. We were trying for bounce off the Olympic mountains, but that did not seem to work in this case, with rain attenuation and likely other factors.

Now I’m thinking about a mobile-mounted 10 GHz setup for quick 2-way contacts, which could be useful for contests and experiments without the overhead of setting up tripods & transverters.

Author: w7txt

W7TXT, currently located in the PNW.