I'm wrestling with the thought of moving up in frequency from 432. While I have a working system (2x28el and 550W) and made 26 QSOs in last year's contest, I'm plagued with all kinds of local noise at 432. I have bursts from ISM devices every 18 seconds (still not found the source), which I can live with since they are short (200ms) and infrequent. What's worse Is I just "mapped" part of the sky to measure noise. In some areas I see 5 to 6 dB more noise than my 50 ohm load (it's not real sky noise of course, it's too loud and it doesn't move as the earth rotates). In the quietest directions I see about 2.5-3dB less noise than my 50 ohm load (should be closer to 4.5 dB less in theory if everything is working right). The excess noise varies as I rotate polarization which might be due to the pattern of the antenna changing or the noise may be polarized. There van be as much as 5dB difference in noise between H and V polarization. When I'm seeing 5dB higher noise from the antenna than a 50 ohm load, I'm pretty deaf to weak EME signals. On top of all that, this is what my local 432 spectrum looks like: [cid:fc5bf29d-5fac-43c5-af63-16604b31290a] You can see why my preferred operating frequency is 432.075 (the horizontal line half way up is a broadband burst of ISM noise). I doubt there's anything I can do to clean up the local RF environment enough to make much of a difference. I think I'm fighting a loosing battle on 432. In the hope of getting away from all the RF crud, I'm considering moving up in frequency. The obvious choices are 1296 and 10GHz from the point of view of activity level and available equipment. I have an old SOTA transverter from the 1970s which probably still works OK. I also have 10W solid state and 1, 2 and 6 tube (2C39) amps for 1296. None have been on the air in a few decades, but they can probably be revived. I have a solid 100W+ from the 2 tube amp in a case with power supplies and bias. Should be turnkey operation. The 6 tube hasn't really been tested. I remember it as a bit of a pig to tune up. I've also got a bunch of 1980's vintage GaAsFET preamps, so getting a 1296 station with 100W out should be postly a case of connecting up wires! On 10Ghz I have the component parts of the old SSB electronics 10GHz transverter. They may need some work to get a signal on the air and power out would be 100-200mW at best. No amplifier. The other part of the equation is antenna limitation. The biggest dish I can accommodate would be a 6ft (or 2m). For multiple reasons I cant do 8ft or bigger. 6ft is very small for 1296, but a fair size on 10GHz (requiring precision aiming). So the question is, where to put resources? I can probably (relatively) quite easily get on 1296 with a 6ft dish and 100W. Hopefully the noise level will be much better than on 432 (I'm going to try to check that out pretty soon). I know that's enough to make a few contacts, but does anyone with a similar system have a comment on just how effective it might be? There's a chance I could get to 400W, but I still only have a small dish so my hearing ability would be limited. 10GHz would be more work and more uncertain (can I get the parts I have assembled into a working transverter - with good frequency stability? Can I generate enough power? Can I get/buld the needed components such as feed horns, relays etc.). How hard is it going to be to generate enough power (and how much power do I need). From rough calculations it seems like 10W might be enough to start, but how hard to build/buy (and expensive) is that kind of power on 10GHz these days? How much harder is it working 10GHz (fading, frequency stability, pointing accuracy etc.) than 1296? I guess the way to go would be to try to get a 6ft dish installed and then listen on both bands before looking at power generation, but I'd appreciate comments from small 1296 stations and from anyone who has built a 10GHz system from commercially available (surplus or new) components (or kits). I'm not giving up on 432 yet and I now have working motorized Alt, AZ and polarization control. It's just that it's a real battle fighting the noise and it's a battle I'm not likely to win. I'll be QRV on 432 again later in the year. Bob, KA1GT