Very first two-way 3.4 GHz QSO between Sweden and Finland:
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initial tests between SM0DFP and OH2AUE/P (Roger Hedin's very nice GCM software) were made on 27.07.2010 (NAC microwave contest) with Per at home in JP90JC and myself at Sappee, KP21GJ
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Per heard me very well on CW and SSB, but I could not hear anything from his 100 mW fed to a 1.3 GHz dipole feed on his dish some, 344 km away
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Since then he has updated his 3400 MHz station with a 30 W power amplifier, so I decided to make a suddenly cropped work trip to the coastal region to coincide with a sked with Per for this QRB 172.9 km QSO
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I did have a complete two-way QSO on 3.4 GHz with OH7JKL (Himos) however, 58/59
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for the sked I drove to Rihtniemi/Pyhäranta, KP01PB, the same location where we made the first ever 24 GHz two-way contact between SM and OH
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this location happens to be the point where Finland and Sweded are already "connected" by a DC power grid path, not obvious from the beautiful scenery ;-)
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here is a view out to sea from behind the already aligned 90 cm TVRO dish pointing towards SM0DFP on this evening of 10.08.2010.
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and this is what my portable setup looks like from the sea for the KP01PB <-> JP90JC QSO
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I practically always use my 120 cm dish for the bands 2.3/3.4/5.7/10 GHz band when portable, but most unfortunately this dish does not fit into my business vehicle :-( Transporting it on the roof rack is no problem of course, but undesirable for distances of hundreds of kilometers
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usually I use the good old ICOM IC-202S or IC-402 as an IF radio, but also the Yaesu FT-290, 690 or 790 radios, depending on the microwave transverter or experimental optical communications device in question
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for this reason I used my 3.4 GHz French Coffee can feed on a more portable 90 cm dish
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the comple portable 3.4 GHz station is reasonably easily transported over tough terrain with the car battery being perhaps the bulkiest object this time
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I set up the operating position by a comfy stone ledge using my kit box as a seat with the IF radio on the ledge along with the Morse key and precalculated sun calibration data for dish pointing (the horisontal wooden strip on the dish is part of the pointing calibration system)
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the dish is mounted on a short mast tube fixed to a plywood base with wingnuts. The base is weighed down with the 75 Ah car battery, the DC distribution system and the 3.4 GHz transverter (built into an old Storno aluminium diecast enclosure)
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here is a photo of myself doing some SSB testing, but this the conditions were totally flat over the sea
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fairly solidly a troposcatter QSO, the signal strengths were not confortable enough for voice this time
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and of course a short video (about 10 Mb of data !!!)
of the signals from SM0DFP with a quick run round the setup
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after happily exchanging 559/559 reports in CW it was time to haul all the equipment back to the car for the 2 hour drive back to my temporary residence
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the next plan is to break the current OH record (made 29.08.2000 when I used my equipment from OH2Z to work OH3TR at 251 km) - unless somebody beats me to it ;-)
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P.S. here are a couple of videos of my signals from SM0DFP during the very first one way tests between myself/Sappee and Per/Grisslehamn:
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SM0DFP Video 1 (7.6 Mb)
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SM0DFP Video 2 (13.5 Mb)
- P.P.S. the record is now broken ! (20.08.2010)
Created 11.08.2010 and latest update 19.01.2019/OH2AUE
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