Yesterday Alan GM0USI and I went to Gatehouse (IO74WV) and had contacts on 24 GHz with Tony G(W)4CBW in IO83HH near Prestatyn. Signals were 59 each way and we ended up working on FM. There appeared to be some type of "lift" on as were were able hear each other on open waveguide. Distance is 181 km.

We started off on 10 GHz to align the dishes and noticed that the signals there were very strong. On changing to 24 GHz Tony was immediately heard on SSB and I jumped in and worked him. We believe it is the first GM-GW on the band. It certainly is not listed. We were both running about 1 W from Endwave/Nortel/TRW units. All LOs were GPS or Rubidium locked.  I had my 30 cm BSB dish and Alan had a 60 cm Gibartini Sat-tv offset. There is video and Pics taken by Alan on Dropbox at:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ed3r3y583yq6gud/wetransfer-06965b.zip?dl=0

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  The Wx at GoF was very pleasant yesterday and it was possible to see dark layers over the Irish Sea that looked like ducts. It was the best Wx I have experienced there for years. Next step the 200 km barrier!

The only other signal we heard was the Manchester 10 GHz beacon. It is a reliable signal at the site and was not unusually strong and had RS on it most of the time.

73s

Brian. GM8BJF