New World Record on the 134 GHz Band

New IARU Region 1 records on the 134 GHz and 241 GHz bands

“Since our records last year, see https://tinyurl.com/vjyfszmm, my father, Michael DB6NT and me, Matthias DK5NJ, have been thinking about how we could further expand our distance records in the 122, 134 and 241 GHz amateur radio bands.

Our experience so far has shown that we rely on good weather conditions, e.g. very low humidity, no rain, little wind, low dew point and air temperatures that are as cold as possible. Michael DB6NT therefore observed the weather data on various websites on a daily basis, especially during the winter months.

The weather conditions meanwhile fluctuate frequently even in the winter months and therefore it was necessary to react quickly if the weather met the conditions. Until August 2021, I, DK5NJ, lived near Munich, but then moved back to my original home in Upper Franconia with my family. So now the spatial proximity to my father and QSO partner Michael, DB6NT was guaranteed and nothing stood in the way of a quick departure with suitable weather conditions.

But of course, the locations must also meet certain requirements for record attempts on the mmWave bands. The two locations must be in sight of each other. In practice, however, the optical view of each other always depends on the weather. That rules out most locations right from the start – as is almost always the case in amateur radio, the higher the mountains, the better.

Unfortunately, high mountains and hills often cause another problem: They are difficult to reach by car (no access possible or permission is missing). The dishes, feeds, transverters, etc. are almost all one-of-a-kind items that were developed in-house or built by friends (e.g. dish tnx to Rudi, OE5VRL). Since our sensitive equipment – which is almost irreplaceable if lost – is stowed in transport-safe boxes and is a bit heavy, it naturally had to be possible to bring and set it up safely on site.”

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