A New World Record on 10 GHz was Achieved from Israel

By Ahron Kirschner 4X1AT and Ron Gang 4X1MK

[Reprinted from the July 2000 HAGAL INTERNATIONAL / ISRAEL HAM NEWS]

On June 25, at 16.51 UTC, two German Radio Amateurs wrote a little piece of history, by breaking a long-standing distance record for communication on 10GHz. DJ4AM, Dieter Doerfler, staying in the upper floor of the Residence Hotel in Netanya, Israel managed to contact his friend DJ3KM, Adalbert Kaufmann, at that time on the Italian island of Lampedusa, in the Mediterranean Sea, 2079 km (1292 miles) away, from the Maidenhead square KM72KH in Israel to the square JM65HM on the Italien island of Lampedusa IOTA AF-019. The QSO lasted for about an hour. Thus they broke the previous record of 1912 km (1188 miles) achieved by VK6KZ/p and VK5NY/p on the 30th of December in 1994 by beaming their signals across the Great Australien Bight.

The equipment used by both parties was identical, it consisted of a transverter designed by DL1RQ and built at his laboratory near the Bavarian Forest. Both had dish antennas with a diameter of 60 centimeters with a calculated gain of 33dbi. The output power used was only 5 Watts. They made lengthy calculations, with the aid of maps and GPSs to get the correct pointing angel. Those dishes have an opening angle of about only one degree. Any miscalculation would result in failure. But they did succeed and claimed their record.

DJ4AM, Dieter, as well as DJ3KM, Adalbert, are members of a group of hams dedicated entirely to SHF activities. Dieter is retired and fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time on his hobby. In fact, it is not only time but these undertakings are also very costly, thus Dieter payes everything out of his own pocket. Back in 1997 the entire group together with other hams, were all around the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea to check for possible sites and propagation patterns. One of its members, DJ8CY, Guenter Koenig, gave Dieter and his colleague valuable advises for worthwhile locations and got them in touch with Israeli hams who could give a helping hand. That way Dieter met with Tommy Gruenfeld, DL2FDP, and the chairman of IARC Joseph Onstfeld, 4X6KJ, who supplied Dieter with a letter for the Israeli Customs, in case that there were any questions to be answered about the equipment he brought along.

Some time back Dieter was in Israel for two weeks, looking for, and finally choosing, a specific room at a specific floor at the ‘Residence Hotel’, near the Mediterranean shore, in Netanya, about 30 km north of Tel-Aviv. He thought that only this would lead him to a successful operation, and indeed it paid off. But success does not come easy.

He has now been in Israel 21 days and managed only once to establish contact. DJ4AM, Dieter Doerfler, will be leaving for Germany on July 17, 2000. He assured us that this wouldn’t be his last visit to our country, for sure he is going to aim for greater, record breaking distances in the future.

Once a bug like this has bitten a true Radio Amateur he will keep on running. Many of us do much more talking on the various bands than fiddling around with our equipment. With Dieter it is just the opposite. He does posses the true ‘Ham-Spirit’, which we all envy him for. We, the Israeli hams, do wish him and his colleges more success in the future.

North American Rainscatter Record?

On June 17, ARRL First Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, and noted VHF-UHFer Al Ward, W5LUA, completed a 515 km (321 mile) rainscatter QSO on 10 GHz. The contact could be a record for that mode of propagation. Details are at http://www.ntms.org. Harrison says the trick was to keep a sharp eye on the weather radar, looking for very strong, appropriately positioned storm cells. "We have tried this a few times before," Harrison reports, adding that the pair once managed a 5.7 GHz rainscatter contact. "This time, everything fell into place!" Harrison says the longest distance he's aware of for a 10 GHz rainscatter QSO is 240 miles.

Comment from DL

The report of the NA 10 GHz rainscatter QSO is good news and represents without doubt a North American record. As to the European record, honestly, I don’t know. However, the last DUBUS journal reported several rain scatter QSOs between Italien (I) and Austrian (OE) stations with a max. distance (ODX) of 760 km (=472 miles). My own best DX is 460 km (=286 miles). Ernst, DK3FF.

Go back to main page

Last updated October 24, 2000