We went about 90 miles North from St. Louis for the contest this year. Found nice new contest
locations open in the right direction.

Here's Bill Rogers, K2TER during the recent ARRL 10GHz contest - spending his BIRTHDAY contesting in
FN23ca (18 September, 2021).

Bill's best that day N3RG -  FM29ki.

This was the first time the new gear was used... finishing it up literally days before the contest.

Along for the ride, W2FU, WA2TMC and K2CS.


Chris Shalvoy, K2CS

DXAC Chairman

Didn't get much time to be on.  We did get a chance to make a QSO on 122GHz with our just completed
new rig on FM horn to horn. Doug  K6JEY

Conditions and WX good in August and a decent turnout.
Low turnout in September due to closure of National Forests due to fire danger, so we could not go
to some of our favorite mountain tops.
I roved all 4 days; thanks to the mountaintop stations for QSOs. 
Good DX both months, but twice as many QSOs in August. 
Used CW for more than a dozen DX QSOs, SSB for the rest.

This year I operated from the shores of Lake Erie in August and
the shores of Lake Michigan in September.  I started in Marblehead, Ohio (EN91pm) and later went to
Perry Township Park, Ohio (EN91kt). It didn't take long for Murphy to rear his ugly head. I had a
relay fail and fried the 10 GHz transverter and 47 GHz at the same time. Luckily I had my 10 GHz
spare and was able to continue on. Early morning signals were good as expected and easily worked
VE3KH, N2WK,and K0SM in short order. I was surprised to work VA3TO, VA3ELE, and VE2UG who would have
been tough through all the ground clutter, but by aiming across the lake at Cedar Point Amusement
Park, signals were super strong.I know I missed many QSO'S while trying to get gear running again,
but I still had a great time. I'm amazed at the signals on 10 GHz & Up! 
   In September I made the long drive to Northern Michigan. I operated from Empire Beach, MI and
Manistee Beach, MI. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the sunsets were beautiful. After a
short time, on Saturday the spare 10 GHz transverter kept blowing fuses so I had to become a
spectator at that point. The 122 GHz would not lock on frequency, so I packed it up. I was able to
work K9PW, K2YAZ, WB8TGY, WA8VPD, AA9IL,K9TMS, before that transverter went kaput. Sunday I met
Tony, K8ZR at Manistee Beach, MI and the transverter seemed to work good. I later found out that it
had only a few mW of output but good enough to make the trip for most QSO'S.  Around sunset I was
able to hear W9FZ, and KA9VVQ on 10 GHz in WI but they couldn't hear my low power signal. In spite
of broken gear I had a blast! I'm already looking forward to next years contest!
73,
Steve KB8VAO

My very first 10 GHz contest!
I jumped in at the last minute, unprepared.
The 10 GHz community is amazing.

Missed the first weekend due to flooding issues at home. Was really glad to get out for the Sept
weekend with my new-to-me 24GHz gear, some minor improvements to the 10GHz setup and, of course,
K2UA and K2DH, two great friends who make the effort twice as fun.

My second 10G contest Added 24G for 2021. Doubled my score from last year. Conditions were better
this year. I stayed home (Fixed) for the entire contest as opposed to operating potable/fixed in
2020. I had better distance totals on 10G and enjoyed operating 24G for the first time even though
24G is completely different then 10G as far as making Q's over the long haul. Worked VUCC on 24G
during the contest.

Mountaintops:											
  Pleasants (DM13et)											
  Angeles Nat'l Forest (DM04ti), (including outreach to AJ6KZ and KI6EPH)											
  Signal (DM13co)											
Roving											
  DM04ti, DM04vf, DM14gi, DM14fv, DM05xa											
Fire closures in September scrubbed Frazier & others 											
Lower turnout in September											
Many thanks to WA6JBD, W6DL, and WA6BBQ for hosting N5BF on Pleasant's 8/21/20.											
Many thanks to WA6CDR for hosting N5BF on Signal 9/19/20.											
Many thanks to WA6JBD for roving advice.											
Best DX 608 km Signal Peak to Diablo - also toughest CW QSO!											
Best DX per watt was 200 km to N7DA running 5 mW, CW, but SSB on closer QSOs											
Non credit QSO made by being on 432.100 on the IF radio while Ralph K6TSK											
  was calling the Sunday evening net on 432.100!

Once again I had a great time roving with Peter VA3ELE and with Rene VE2UG who drove 850km (9.5 hrs)
to join us at the west end of Lake Erie on Friday of the August weekend. For the September weekend
me and Peter drove out to the west end of Montreal on the Friday and were joined by Rene on Saturday
morning.


AUGUST 21/22

We kicked off Saturday morning in grid EN82oa near the west end of the north shore of Lake Erie and
took in 4 more grids through the day as we traveled east. Conditions on 10 GHz were quite good but
the high humidity made work of 24 and 47 GHz contacts. Many of our points through the day came from
K9PW and K8ZR who were working the south shore of the lake with 10, 24 and 47 GHz. Operating in the
high heat and humidity (mid 90°'s) was brutal so I went for a nice swim in the lake between skeds
at one of our stops. Signals on the higher bands were on the weak side until later in the evening
when we had a bit of lake enhancement as the air temperature cooled. Highlights of the day include a
contact with KB8U on a blocked path to the NW behind us by knife-edging off some trees in the near
distance, and also a nice tropo contact with K0SM at 434km straight up the span of Lake Erie, both
from our first stop at EN82oa. We ended the night in grid EN92dl at 10:30 pm then made the 90 minute
drive home.

We began Sunday morning close to home at the west end of Lake Ontario in grid FN03bi, working east
along the north shore. This site has a great view to the SSE thru E but is blocked to the West by
the Niagara escarpment, however we managed to work K8ZR in EN91ov about 180km to the SW on a
seemingly impossible blocked path by tilting our dishes up at a fairly steep angle to knife-edge off
a forest of trees atop the escarpment. ("Just try it !").  The weather was once again very hot and
humid. We made a few close range 24 and 47 GHz contacts with VE3KH and VE3SMA at the start of the
day but the humidity put the kibosh on the higher bands until later in the evening when conditions
improved as the temperature cooled. My best 10 GHz DX of the contest came from a chance rain scatter
contact with W8BYA in EN70jt at 626km off a small rogue storm cell near SW Ontario just before we
packed it in for the night in FN03ou. We only covered 3 grids (plus 2 brief stops while traveling to
work single stations) but they all yielded a good number of contacts.


SEPTEMBER 18/19

On Friday afternoon me and Peter drove 5-1/2 hours to Salaberry-du-Valleyfield just west of Montreal
in grid FN25wf where we started our day on Saturday morning. The conditions on 10 GHz were quite
favorable so we easily worked VE3KH and VE3SMA at the west end of Lake Ontario (~500km & ~488km) as
well as K1RZ and K3WHC in FN21be (~470km). It was threatening to rain so we banged off a couple of
more contacts then moved on to our second grid in FN25sd where Rene met up with us. Conditions on 10
GHz seemed to degrade a little through the day. We tried to reach W1GHz in FN41ee on Block Island
from a couple of our stops but were unsuccessful. I was able to hear dashes during one attempt but
it was too marginal to complete. Once again 24 & 47 GHz were unworkable due to high humidity so all
of Saturday's contacts were made on 10 GHz over 5 different grids. We ended the night around 11:00
pm in grid FN14sg.

Sunday morning's start was in grid FN14la at a beautiful mountaintop lake in Prince Edward County
near the midpoint of Lake Ontario where we worked a handful of stations, then moved on to some beach
locations in the area. It was another humid day so we focused on 10 GHz until later in the evening
when some tropo enhancement lit up the bands. I took advantage of the improved conditions and was
finally able to make a few decent contacts on 24 GHz including my best DX of the contest with VE3KH
at 167km. 8 grids were covered including a couple of short stops to work VE3FN to the north-east
since most of our locations favor the east to west thru south. My last stop for the night was in
FN03vw. After working a few other stations I arranged a sked with K2UA in FN23bf to the east but his
path was not ideal in my direction so we gave up after a few minutes of trying. Shortly thereafter I
swung my dish further south and caught NU2F in FN13he finishing up a QSO with K2UA, K2DH and N2MG
whom I was also hearing, presumably off a bounce path from the Rochester NY area. I tail-ended with
NU2F then worked the other three stations which was a nice surprise. I logged a couple of more
contacts on 10 and 24 GHz then made my way home at around 10:30pm after the reliable repeat stations
announced that they were going QRT.

Aside from a few small pop-up cells there were no great rainscatter opportunities to speak of on
either weekend of the contest. There were no remarkable contacts on the higher bands and no broken
DX records either. Despite that, working a lot of medium haul stuff repeatedly seems to have paid
off !  This was by far my best finish for this contest surpassing my previous best score by over
10,000 points. I've never been a big contester but this one is challenging and a lot of fun, and
roving gives us the opportunity to visit some beautiful sites along the St.Lawrence River and lower
Great Lakes which never gets tired.

73, Hugh VA3TO

Personal Best for VE3KH, operating year round on 10GHz from my station made me a better operator -
knowing how to use the available tools, what is possible, what to look for, who to look for, etc

Good activity 2nd weekend,after 1st weekend in New England washed out by hurricane

A lot of fun but rainstorms limited activity on the second weekend.  Also got a 5.7 Ghz contact in
to W7RNB and his homemade horn.

Only able to operate the September weekend but had a great time.  Thanks to WQ5S and W5VY for
revering and all the contacts.  Station runs 8 watts to a 32" dish at 20ft.  Home Brew W5lua preamp
and Demi transverter to and FT-847 for the 144 MHz if.

Great Fun on the Microwave Bands in North Texas. My best score ever! 
Thanks to W5LUA for all the help in adding 24 GHZ and optimizing my 10 GHZ setup.
I really appreciate all the stations who followed me around and worked us from 28 different
locations over the 2 weekends to include AA5C, AA5AM, W5AFY, W5LUA, WA5TKU and W5VY Pat who also was
roving and was my best DX 353 KM on 10 GHZ!
W5LUA was my best 24 GHZ DX at 83 KM. Not bad for the flat lands of North and West Texas. Looking
forward and planning for next year!
Only bad part was the temperatures for both weekends in the mid to upper 90s with humidity making it
even hotter.
Anyone game to move this contest to Sept and October?