432 AND ABOVE EME NEWS
NOVEMBER 2013 VOL 41 #12
EDITOR: AL KATZ, K2UYH; DEPT. ELECTRICAL/COMPUTER ENGINEERING, THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PO BOX 7718
EWING, NJ 08628, TEL (W 609-584-8424) OR (H 609-443-3184), FAX (609-631-0177), E-MAIL a.katz(x)ieee.org
NETNEWS EDITOR (BASED REFLECTOR NEWS) REIN, W6SZ pa0zn(x)arrl.net WITH HELP OF N4PZ AND WB2BYP
INITIAL LIST G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY, E-MAIL zen70432(x)zen.co.uk, AT: http://www.zen70432.zen.co.uk/Initials/index.html
EME NETS: 14.345, 1500 SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NET CONTROL: STEVE GROSS, N4PZ n4pz(x)live.com
ON0EME EME BEACON, 1296.000 IS QRV WHEN MOON >10°, SEND RX REPORTS TO WALTER (ON4BCB) on4bcb(x)gmail.com
NL EMAIL DISTRIBUTION and EMAIL LIST CORD: WARREN, W2WD wbutler(x)ieee.org [TXT OR PDF OR "ON WEB" NOTICE]
THE NL WEB VERSION IS PRODUCED BY REIN, W6SZ AND AVAILABLE AT http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/em70cm.html
CONDITION: I do not know where to start as so much has happened this past.
My empathy goes to those who suffered damage as a result of the major storms
that devastate many parts of the world. KL6M’s dish blew off its mount and
OZ4MM’s dish suffered substantial damage –- see Mike’s and Stig’s reports in
this newsletter (NL). Although there are some nay sayers, most contest reports
are positive. Although conditions may not have been the best, especially on
Saturday on 432, I found activity quite good. There was certainly plenty of CW
activity on 1296 and 432. The highest score reported for 1296 was from a CW
only station, SM4IVE with 86 QSOs (down only slightly from the 90 reported
last by OK1DFC) and is followed by I1NDP with 80. On 432 DL7APV is top
with 48 QSOs (one better than his tally last year). I have not received any
information on the BJ9TM or the H22HP/YJ0HP dxpeditions, I know that many
stations worked both YJ0HP and H22HP on 432 and 1296. I do not know of any
reports of 432 QSOs with BJ9TM, but this is not certain. W8ZN was on 1296
from KY – see their report. Dxpedition activity seems to have slowed down, but
there may be some surprises during the Nov contest weekend and more to come.
EA8/G4RGK will be active during the contest. The next 70 cm CW activity time
period is on 15 Dec between 0000-0200 and 1700-1900. Let’s keep the 432
activity going!
stations (W + VE). Heard were G4CCH, W5LUA and PE1LWT answering
other people’s CQs while searching the band. Unfortunately I never found them
CQing, nor did they answered my CQs. I also was called by SP6?JN shortly
before moonset (maybe SP6GWN) with the , dish partly blocked. Earlier I was
called twice by probably SF1D, who gave up too fast. I plan to active again for
the 2nd weekend. Hopefully I will catch them next time. Thanks to DK7LJ
(owner of DL0SHF) for keeping the station in such a great shape! We do feel
that our signal was not as strong as it used to be. We will try to find why before
the next contest weekend.
DL7APV: Bernd dl7apv(x)gmx.de was active during the EME contest on 70
cm, but not as a contestant – I worked 48 or so during the first part of the
contest, mixed CW and JT and with the logger just for fun. Some new calls
appeared, including EA3MS, F8KCF, LU8ENU, PI9CM, KN0WS and SP1JNY.
All the new calls were on JT. Prior to the contest I worked DL2NUD from YJ
and H44 for 2 new DXCCs. I will be QRV again for the Nov weekend, but not
all the time as we are away on Saturday evening.
EA3XU: Ben bpaloma(x)telefonica.net has been concentrating on 3 and now 6
cm EME and was not active in the recent EME contest -- I am QRV 10 GHz
with a 1.5 m offset dish (vert pol), 17 W SST, with PTS-160 oscillator and 10
MHz Rubidium reference. My window is limited to 264 degs AZ to the west and
a max EL of 32 degs. I have QSO’d OK1KIR on JT65C, LX1DB on CW and
recently OK1KIR on JT4F. Signals (12DB/17DB) and OK1KIR was able to
copy my audio. On 6 cm my LNA is not very good, but I will replace it with
Kuhne LNA. [Ben is looking for skeds on both bands.]
F5SE/p: Franck kozton(x)free.fr reports on his results during the first leg of the
ARRL EME Contest on 1296 -- I made 68 contacts with 31 multipliers for
213,900 points. New stations worked were YO2BCT for initial #140, SP6ITF
#141, RN3A #142, K1DS #143, JA8ERE #144, PI9CM #145 and VE4SA #146.
Earlier in Sept, I worked MJ/SA6BUN (M&M team) for #139. During this
contest we had a storm with plenty of rain, falling almost horizontal. During the
peak of the storm, a strange phenomenon was observed. There was a 4 to 5 dB
enhancement on all EME signals without exception! This was very strange,
indeed! Then after maybe one hour or so, signals went back to normal. Did
anyone notice a similar phenomenon? I am presently working on a kW SSPA,
but I do not think it will be ready for the second leg of the contest.
Future 1296 surprise – 4.5 m and 1.5 kW!
DJ8FR: Juergen juergen.friedrich(x)dj8fr.de is searching for a 23 cm
African QSO –- I am QRV on 1296 with a 5 m dish and 300 W SSPA at the
feed. My Sun noise is 18.5 dB at flux 129 and my moon noise is about 0.25 dB.
I was activie during the recent ARRL EME contest and am searching for a 23
cm CW EME sked with a station from Africa in order to complete WAC on 23
cm CW. Is anyone QRV? It would be nice to meet you off the Moon. [Try
ZS5Y, derek(x)fotogravett.com.]
DL0SHF: Carsten (DL6LAU) <dl6lau(x)appello.de> sends news on his 1296
CW operation during the first 50 to 1296 weekend of the ARRL EME Contest -I was able to complete 68 QSOs with 15 added on Sunday including 13 NA
G3LTF: Peter g3ltf(x)btinternet.com sends additional info on his Sept activity
and his results for the Oct part of the ARRL EME Contest – In Sept besides my
Microwave EME Contest activity, I also worked on 2 Sept on 23 cm CW
GM4PMK for initial #380 and VE3KRP, and on 8 Sept had a nice SSB chat
with I1NDP, and on 22 Sept MJ/SA6BUN #381 and DXCC 60. I QSO’d on 13
cm on 23 Sept OK1KKD and MJ/DL1YMK for initial #112 and DXCC 40. The
next day (24 Sept) I was on 9 cm and worked MJ/DL1YMK for initial #48 and
DXCC 26, and on 25 Sept I was on 6 cm to work MJ/DL1YMK for initial #43
and DXCC 21. Finally on 30 Sept I worked MJ/DL1YMK on 70 cm CW for
initial #451 and DXCC 74. In the ARRL contest I had a lot of problems with
high winds restricting operation. I worked on Saturday between 0000-0330 and
0630-0930 on 23 cm VK3UM, OE5JFL, DJ8FR, F5SE/P, G4CCH, OK1CS,
LZ2US, SD3F, SM4IVE, JA8IAD, DL3EBJ, SP6ITF, YO2BCT, JA4BLC,
IZ1BPN, SP7DCS, RA3AUB, SP6JLW, RD3BA, DL0SHF, CT1DMK, I1NDP,
SV1BTR, EA3UM, UA3PTW, DL6SH, RN3A, PA3FXB, DJ3FI, OK1CA,
K5GW, IW2FZR, IK5VLS, K1DS, DF3RU, WD5AGO, IK3COJ, SV3AAF,
NA4N, WA6PY, W6YX, K1JT, DL1YMK, N2UO and 9A5AA for a total of 46.
Heard working other stations were UA4AAV, UA4HTS, HB9BCD, WA2FGK,
W5LUA, VE4MA, N4PZ and VA7MM. I heard a total of 12 NA stations out of
a total of 54. (Hint to smaller stations: when you’ve just worked a big, loud,
station look carefully +/- 1 KHz for medium size stations calling you, net your
echo on them and reply; an SDR will help in this.) I was on 70 cm on Saturday
from 1000 to 1100 and worked SM6FHZ, VE6TA, SM2CEW and SP6JLW. I
heard F5JWF very briefly, then nothing. 70 cm conditions seemed awful with a
very broad polarization peak and Faraday about 45 degrees - maybe the high
solar activity was the cause. On Sunday I could only get on for about 3 hours
and even then the dish was waving about alarmingly in the wind. I thus could
only use 70 cm. Conditions were much better and I worked PI9CAM, K1JT,
N4GJV, UA3PTW, OH2PO, DL9KR, SP7DCS, SV1BTR, OZ4MM, W8TXT,
HB9Q, DF3RU, G4RGK and I2FHW for a total of 18 on 70 cm. I also heard
WA6PY and chased F6HLC around without success. It was disappointing not to
get the KY station on 23 cm on Sunday. Sadly, I am unable to operate in the
second leg. Thanks to all for the great CW QSOs. Also, I have been testing a
new feed for 6 cm from SM6FHZ’s design collection at
http://www.2ingandlin.se/A%20novel%205%20step%20septum%20feed%20sui
te_B.pdf. Comparing it to my RA3AQ feed, after I adjusted the position for
optimum the sun noise, the level was exactly the same 15 dB for an SF107. To
make a final check I removed the relay and fitted the preamp directly to each
feed, both improved by 0.4 dB. I pretty much confirmed the return loss and
isolation that Ingolf’s simulations predicted. Both feedhorns were made in my
workshop with hand tools, Ingolf’s design uses standard copper tubing and is
slightly easier to make.
IW5BHY: Andrea andrea(x)caen.it is now just about QRV on 1296 using a
solid 2 m dish on a polar mount with a square Septum feed and LNA. The TX
side is still to be completed. During the contest on 26/27 Oct they copied
ON5TA,
DF3RU, OH1LRY, RA3AUB, IK5VLS, RN3A, DL6SH, HB9Q, PA3FXB,
YO2BCT, UA3PTW, GM4PMK, ES6RQ, IK3COJ, UA4HTS, WA2FGK,
W5LUA, DL3EBJ, OK1KIR, LZ1DX, UA4AAV, VE3KRP, G4DZU, G4CBW,
K5GW, N1LF, OK2DL, LU1C, W6YX, YL6AG, IK5QLO and VA7MM on
JT65C and SV1BT, SM4IVE, OK1CS, OE5JFL, I1NDP and DL0SHF on CW.
[TNX to IK5QLO for forwarding this report.]
JA4BLC: Yoshiro ja4blc(x)web-sanin.co.jp reports on his Oct activity -Early in Oct I moved my 3 m solid dish several meters south to improve my
window to the west. I can now operate at 280 degs AZ/15 degs EL 15. I worked
on 10 GHz on 19 Oct OZ1LPR (O/O) for initial #13 and the 1st ever OZ-JA
QSO and F1PYR (559/539) #14, and on 20 Oct PA7JB (559/559) #15 and 1st
ever PA-JA. I also added on 30 0ct on 10450 JA1WQF (559/559). These 3
stations all used an 82 MHz-LO converter to listen 10450. If someone on 10
GHz has difficulty to listen 10450, contact me as I have two 82 MHz-LO
converters (10450-10368) available. During 1st leg of the ARRL EME Contest,
I worked on 1296 CW DL6SH, F5SE/p, OK1CA, SM4IVE, SP6JLW, OK1CS,
OE5JFL, UA4HTS for an initial (#), G3LTF, DL3EBJ, RA3AUB, G4CCH,
UA3PTW, 9A5AA, DL0SHF, K1JT, WD5AGO, N2UO, W6YX, K5GW,
VK3UM, W6YX (dupe), OZ6OL, IZ1BPN, JH1KRC, LZ1DX, DJ8FR, OK2DL
and I1NDP. I added on 31 Oct on 1296 JH3EAO (559/559).
JA6CZD: Shichirou ja6czdmx35.tiki.ne.jp QSO’d on 23 cm on 19 Oct
OZ1LPR and F1PYR, and on 20 Oct PA7JB. On 6 Nov he contacted on 24 GHz
JA1WQF (M/O) for the 1st ever JA-JA 1.25 cm EME QSO after several trials.
JA6CZD used his 2.4 m offset dish and a 30 W SSPA. JA1WQF used a 2.4 m
prime-focus dish and 23 W TWTA. {TNX to JA4BLC for forwarding this
report.]
G3LTF’s 432 dual dipole feed
G4RGK: Dave zen70432(x)zen.co.uk reports on his recent activity -I had no luck with H44HP. I'm afraid the window from here is just too small and
close to the horizon, which is full of vegetation that has grown up over the years.
I was able to get on 70 cm for some of the 1st contest weekend, but it was too
windy to allow the dish to be used on 23 cm. In the time I was on, I found
activity on 70 cm to be fairly good. I worked on 26/27 Oct I2FHW, UA3PTW,
SV1BTR, SM2CEW, OZ4MM, DL9KR, G3LTF, OH2DG, PA0PLY, HB9Q,
DL7APV, OH2PO, DF3RU, LZ1DX, LU8ENU, PY2BS, WQ0P, K4EME,
ES3RF, KN0WS, W6FCS, PI9CAM, PA2V, WA2FGK, KD7YZ, K1JT,
OK1YK, UX0FF, OH4LA, K5DOG, SP1JNY and ES5PC for a total of 33. I
missed around 15 stations that I am normally able to work, due to my shortage
of time. I chased LU1C around, but couldn't find him calling anywhere, and 3 or
4 Japanese stations also got away. I plan to be on 70 cm from EA8 during the
Nov contest weekend. I will call CQ around 432.054 ± qrm. My western
window is small (lose Moon around 30 degs) so station will have to work fairly
early.
JH1KRC: Mike jh1krc(x)syd.odn.ne.jp was QRV on 23 cm EME for the ARRL
EME Contest –- The JA-islands had two typhoons last month and the WX was
terrible on Saturday during the first EU window of the contest. High-way traffic
was slow, and I began operation 0100 only to work two big guns, SM4IVE for
initial #85 and DL0SHF. Both had booming signals. Soon after, the Moon set
behind forest trees at 14 degs. The weather improved by the evening, but sorry, I
slept away my NA window! (It was after mid-night, 1500). The Sunday EU
window was a great fun. I made 13 QSOs and 5 initials with OE5JFL, OK1CA,
JA4BLC, DL6SH for initial #86, SD3F #87, DJ8FR #88, JA8ERE #89, LZ1DX
#90, OK1CS, HB9Q, I1NDP, F5SE/p and IZ1BPN. Heard were DF3RU,
VK3UM, OK3DL, OZ6OL, RA3AQ, and G4CCH. In the second NA window I
enjoyed 6 QSO's and one initial with N2UO, WD5AGO #91, W6YX, K5GW,
W5LUA, JA6AHB and KL6M - not loud as usual. My newly built AZ/EL
mechanism, on a new pedestal worked very well with my old 4.4 m TVRO dish.
A OM6AA cylindrical septum feed with super choke ring also performs
excellently along with an HB9BBD LNA and 500 W at the feed.
I1NDP: Nando i1ndp.nando(x)gmail.com sends a short report on his contest
operation – I finished the first leg of the contest with 80 QSOs on 23 cm; 20 of
which were added in second moon pass. I missed N4PZ and hope to catch him
during leg II.
IK3COJ: Aldo ik3coj(x)gmail.com writes on his 23 cm ARRL EME Contest
activity -- The first round was very satisfactory. I made 54 QSOs (32 on CW and
22 on JT65C). I also heard SM7FWZ, VE4MA, VE4SA, SV3AAF, SD3F and
W8ZN. Last spring I expanded my parabolic dish to 4.15 m – the maximum
allowed me in the space availability. This added only 0.8 dB of gain, but it is
better than nothing! During the summer my old tracking system failed and it
took me a couple of months to complete a new VK5DJ system. It works very
well. I shall be looking for more QSOs and connecting with other friends in
Nov.
IK5QLO: Andrea ik5qlo(x)gmail.com was QRV for only 4 hours during the
EME contest and unfortunately will not be on for the 2nd leg -– I worked 15
stations on CW and 5 JT including RN3A for an initial via the JT mode. I am
proud to announce that we have yet another Tuscan 23 cm EMEer. My long
time friend IW5BHY joined the ranks with a tiny but very optimized system. I
think ours may be is the most crowded 1296 EME area in the world with
I5MPK, I5PLK, I5YDI, IK5QLO, IK5VLS, IK5EHI and now IW5BHY all
living in a 70 km radius.
K1RS’s contest operating site – 3 m dish and 275 W SSPA
K1DS: Rick rick1ds(x)hotmail.com reports on his first attempt to operate my
own station on 1296 during the ARRL contest -- Each time I operate, I need to
assemble the dish, feed, and cables and move my trailer to a suitable position for
the moon pass. Using a 3 m dish, OK1DFC feed and PE1RKI 275W amp and a
WD5AGO preamp, I managed to put 20 CW QSOs in the log, including
SM4IVE, DL0SHF, OK1CA, IZ1BPN, G3LTF, I1NDP, K1JT, SV1BTR,
OK1CA (dupe), N2UO, F5SE/p, K5GW, WD5AGO, VK3UM, OE5JFL,
OZ4MM, G4CCH, OK1CS, OK1KIR and OZ6OL. Many thanks to all for their
patience with my small signal and for providing me with such large signals to
hear. Heard but missed were JA8ERE, HB9SV and RA3AUB. I spent the first
night sitting in my van next to the trailer. The umbilical cord of cables and coax
from the rig and controls did not allow the door to close well and it was only a
little above 0 degs C, so I was running the engine for heat and dressed with
plenty of insulation. The second night’s pass had cloud cover so the cold was
not as bad. My neighbors were very cooperative and didn't complain about
having the van and trailer with the dish in my cul-de-sac. After pursuing this
EME dream for ten years, I am delighted with my results. I am hoping to be on
432 for the last leg in Nov.
K1JT: Russ (K2TXB), George (NE2U) and I (K2UYH) a.katz(x)ieee.org
operated on 70 and 23 cm during the Oct contest weekend. This year we had a
number of complications. I had problems with my 500 W SSPA and although
we made repairs before the contest, it failed about 15 minutes into the contest.
We had only about 300 W of power for the remainder of the contest. We also
had a problem with one of the sound cards in my computer that caused the lost
of our 1296 preamp during the first moon pass. Repairs were made very quickly
so we did not lose much time. We lost a lot more time because I needed H44HP
– see K2UYH’s report and took time off from K1JT operation to operate as
K2UYH. (I needed to switch from a circular to a linear feed and back, which ate
up more time.) I also connected to the HB9Q logger to determine if and when
H44HP was on. The situation was made worse when I called and QSO’d H44HP
as K1JT. I thought I was calling as K2UYH. This QSO was totally unintentional
and never meant to be a contest QSO. It also caused the loss of more contest
time while I reworked H44HP as K2UYH. We did the same thing in reverse,
when we first tried JT. It took us 4 QSOs to realize we were calling as K2UYH.
What a waste! I want to assure everyone that no information from any logger
was used to assist K1JT. We operated in the contest rules. Nevertheless because
of the controversy, K1JT will only submit check logs this year. The topper was
when my 7/8” feed line broke. Fortunately, this happened after the H44 QSO.
We ended the contest with my feedline literally duct taped together, but still
made QSOs on 432! Despite all these problems, we had a great time in the
contest. There seemed be plenty of activity especially on 1296. We started
operation on 1296 and stayed there the whole moon pass. The next day we
operated on 432 and except for my H44HP operation. QSO’d were 26 Oct on
1296 were SM4IVE (579/569), SV1BTR (579/579), OK1CA (579/579),
IW2FZR (559/559), OK1CS (549/569), DJ8FR (579/569), SP6JLW (579/569),
G4CCH (579/579), RA1AUB (449/559), OE5JFL (579/569), I1NDP (579/589),
0720 K1DS (559/559), 0740 RD3RA (589/579) , UA3PTW (579/579), DL6SH
(559/589), IK3COJ (569/569), 9A5AA (559/569), IZ1BPN (569/579), DL3EBJ
(559/579), SD3F (559/569), HB9BCD (579/579), IK5VLS (559/559), W5LUA
(579/569), F5SE/p (579/569), DF3RU (569/559), G3LTF (569/569), DJ3FI
(559/559), VA7MM (559/549), SP6DCS (569/589), NA4N (559/559), NU2O
(579/579), RD3DA (559/559), VE4MA (559/569), WA6PY (569/569), LU1C
(21DB/O) JT, HB9Q (14DB/O) JT, OK1KIR (15DB/O) JT, WA3GFZ (O/O) JT,
LU8ENU (19DB/O) JT, W3HMS (15DB/13DB), N8CQ (449/559), VE3KRP
(O/O) JT, PY2BS (14DB/5DB) JT, W6YX (14DB/O) JT, K5GW (579/589),
WD5AGO (579/569), VK3UM (569/569), JA8ERE (569/579) and JA4BLC
(569/559), and on 27 Oct on 432 SM2CEW (559/559), UA3PTW (569/579),
N4GJV (559/559), PI9CAM (579/589), SP7DCS (559/559), G3LTF (569/559),
OH2PO (579/569), I2FHW (559/559), K4EME (16DB/O) JT, OK1YK
(17DB/O) JT, G4FUF (17DB/O) JT, PA2V (16DB/O) JT, HB9Q (12DB/O) JT,
G4RGK (13DB/O) JT, 0916 ES3RF (O/O) JT, KN0WS (17DB/O) JT,
WA0ARM (26DB/O) JT, KD7YZ (21DB/O) JT, DL7APV (13DB/15DB) JT,
SM6FHZ (559/559), SP6JLW (559/569), ES5PC (14DB/O) JT, SP6JNY
(20DB/O) JT, DL5FN (15DB/0) JT, W6FCS (21DB/O) JT, NC1I (14DB/15DB)
JT, K5DOG (17DB/18DB) JT, 1649 W7AMI (O/O) JT and 1652 VK4EME
(O/O) JT. We ended with 48x26 on 1296 and 29x20 on 432. Our 1296 score is
down by about 30% from last year, while 432 score is actually slightly better.
K2DH: Dave k2dh1(x)frontier.com did not make it on for the contest in Oct, but
has plans for Nov -- I’m working on having 70 cm running for the 2nd weekend
of the ARRL EME contest. I have a W6PQL 1kW SSPA I’m bringing online,
and I’m borrowing 4 x 15 el K1FO yagis (FO-15’s) from WB2BYP. The setup
will be a kludge, but I should be able to work a few. I’ll have “Armstrong”
rotation of both Az and El, so I’ll be relying on decent weather when I run
outside to move the array. I should be on from contest start on the 16th till about
moonset, then late on the second evening due to a family commitment.
K4EME: Cowles candrus(x)mgwnet.com writes – I felt Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
on first night of the contest, but I still managed to bag a few contacts! I took off
from work Friday before the contest to make some last minute improvements to
my EME system. On the bench I saw a slight improvement maybe 0.05 to 0.08
dB in Noise Figure when cooling my preamps with a Peltier solid state cooler. I
already installed a cooler on the horizontal array with a remote on and off
switch, and it works great! I keep it turn off when not in use to keep the
condensation issue at a minimum. Since I did not have a way to turn on and off
the cooler on the Vertical array, I decided to wait a few hour before the contest
before installing the cooler. I had already done my sun noise and camera test
earlier on Friday and everything was working great. Right before sunset I
installed the cooler and came inside for a nap to prepare for the long night. I had
a very good friend, KR4V that helps me with coping weak CW scheduled to
come over around moonrise. I thought I had all the bases covered! But, I totally
forgot about my friend Murphy! At almost exactly the time I saw the Moon on
the horizontal tracking camera, Richard knocked at the door. Everything at this
point was going great! We turned up the volume and started to listen for CW
signals and heard nothing. S-meter reading was OK just no signals heard and my
echoes were weak! I figured, I had some Faraday, so I switched the receive to
the vertical array. My camera on the vertical array was not working, or at least
not correctly. I had some problems with the camera earlier and thought I had
fixed the problems, but that was no show stopper. I just went out to the array and
eyeballed the moon, and it was tracking properly. I did notice the noise was
lower on the vertical array, but maybe the cooler was working knocking the
noise floor down a little. I could hear my echoes a little in the vertical when
transmitting on the horizontal, but still very weak! Conditions did not seem
great, but soon we heard some weak signals off the moon and tried to work
them. Finally we switched back to the horizontal and were able to work a CW
station and a few JT stations. Even with the less than stellar EME conditions, I
made some contacts, but mostly on the horizontal array. In past years EU
usually was louder on the vertical. I somehow managed to work 15 stations.
They were HB9Q, SV1BTR, DL7APV, PI9CM, F6APE, UA3PTW, F8KCF,
G4RGK, OK1TEH, PA0PLY, DF3RU, WQ0P, JA6AHB, KN0WS and W6FCS.
I had several near misses, sorry! On Saturday, after moonset, I decided to check
the Sun Noise and found out I had a real receive issue with the vertical side.
When I went out to investigate, I found that the Peltier cooler was loading the
voltage down to the preamp and camera to the point that they were not
performing properly. The wire feeding the preamp, camera, and Peltier cooler
was very long and a relative small wire gauge. I removed the Peltier cooler and
the voltage came back up to 12 volts and the camera and preamp started working
properly again.(I guess the Peltier cooler was the straw that broke the camels
back! Peltier coolers requires several amps of current, unlike the milliamps the
camera and preamp pull!) I again had my Sun noise back! I decided to leave the
cooler off until I had time to rewire the cable going to the vertical array to allow
for the extra current draw. The extra 0.08 dB of reduced NF was not worth the
bother this time around! On the second night, I was hearing and seeing better on
the vertical side. I worked OH2PO and completed with ease. Matti was
extremely loud, unlike the night before. Then I work WA2FGK, PA2V,
OK1YK, G4FUF, YL20K, K1JT, DL9KR, ES5PC, NC1I, JK1YP and W7AMI.
This was the end of the first leg of the contest for me with 27 QSO's logged! I
was ready for a nap! Words to the wise, don't make last minute improvements
without testing everything, especially during a contest! Always test the final
product with all it's parts, not just the parts! Sometimes the improvements turn
out not to be improvements after all, HI, HI! I am working on trying to get
caught up on my backlog of EME QSL's. Sorry for those who have sent me
OSL's without a reply. Don't give up hope, I do try to QSL 100%, just way
behind. I am not dead yet!
KD7YZ: Bob kd7yz(x)denstarfarm.us is having problems with his 432 PA -My output has dropped from more than 600 W down to under 200 W and now is
nil. Nevertheless during Oct, I worked two CW stations. The first was WA4NJP
who was quite strong and steady on CW! During the contest I decided to listen
down at the bottom of 432 for CW stations. Suddenly I realized I was hearing
CW. With a little K3 narrow band filtering, I easily copied and worked DL9KR
for my only contest CW QSO. On JT, I heard and called K4EME more than a
dozen times but never got a reply. My log reads as follows: 18 Oct 0223
UA3PTW (18DB/17DB) JT65B, 0244 WA4NJP (16DB/18DB) JT65B and 0315
WA4NJP (439/O) CW, 19 Oct 0317 W7AMI (23DB/O) JT65B, 26 Oct 0510
LZ1DX (O/O) JT65B, 0620 DK3WG (26DB/12DB), 0837 DL5FN
(22DB/25DB) JT65B, 0838 DL7APV (9DB/17DB) JT65B, 0846 F8KCF
(22DB/18DB) JT65B, 0855 UA3PTW (14DB/O) JT65B, 1105 DF3RU
(17DB/O) JT65B and 1117 PY2BS (23DB/O) JT65B, and 27 Oct 0611
PI9CAM (19DB/9DB) JT65B, 0630 OH2PO (13DB/O), 0650 ES3RF (23DB/O)
JT65B, 0743 G4RGK (22DB/O) JT65B, 0938 DL9KR (539/549) CW and 0954
K1JT (26DB/O) JT65B - with my power was down to 200 W.
KL6M: Mike melum(x)alaska.net experienced a dish owner’s worst fears when
his dish was blew off its mount right after the end of the contest -- On 28 Oct at
0530 local time in the midst of a terrible wind storm with winds reaching 106
mph, my 30’ dish was blown off its mount. It was a combination of factors that
caused it, but the primary reason was a huge wind gust that caused my pinion
gear to separate from the main gear on the slew bearing. I normally park the dish
at 155 degs AZ, which is the typical direction of high winds, +/-5 degs. When
the gears separated, the dish “wind-vaned” to 90 degs from the wind direction
and another huge gust blew it off sideways. More information, pictures and
some diagrams, which further explain the cause are available at
http://kl6m.com/dish/dish.html. I have overcome my depression and I am now
full speed toward repairing the system. Amazingly, the dish surface has very
minimal damage. However there are dozens of small things that must be
repaired in order to become operational again. Believe it or not, my wife is
telling me that I should try to fix it. I think she realizes how big a part of my life
is EME. At this time I cannot say if I can be QRV before spring. Many thanks to
the over 80 fellow EMEers for your messages of support, and special thanks to a
few folks who actually donated to the repair effort.
LU8ENU’s 2 x 9 wl 432 yagis and 3 m dish used on 1296
N4GJV: Ron badl79(x)yahoo.com was QRV on 2 m and 70 cm CW during the
contest -- I had problems with my 70 cm system on Saturday and was not QRV.
I had a cascade type failure that affected my TX side on 70 cm. I was unaware
of the extent of the damage, and I underestimated the amount of time that would
be required for repairs. Thus, I was not QRV on 432 until Sunday. The repair
efforts included the removal of a wasp nest and many dozens of them from my
LNA/T/R relay enclosure! Fortunately, they were lethargic, thanks to recent cool
temperatures, and I was able to remove the wasps and their nest, without
receiving a single sting. My LNA was badly corroded by the excretions of the
wasps, and the performance of the LNA was suspect. However, there was no
opportunity to do anything about that issue, if I planned to be QRV, on Sunday
morning. I overslept, on Sunday, then initially found little activity, and only a
very few weak signals, which caused me suspect that the LNA was defunct.
Fortunately, however, the signal levels and the activity level soon improved
considerably! The activity level was surprisingly good for several hours, until
the EUs lost the Moon. Meanwhile, I was able to enjoy QSOs with SM2CEW,
K1JT, SP6JLW, G3LTF, OH2PO, DL9KR, PI9CAM, DL7APV, I2FHW for an
initial (#), SV1BTR, WA6PY (many thanks for hanging in there!), HB9Q,
DF3RU and K0RZ. Called with no reply included SP7DCS, SM6FHZ and
F6HLC. Also heard were OZ4MM, UA3PTW and W8TXT. The band seemed
full of signals, and I undoubtedly missed identifying many of the active stations
that were QRV! I keenly hope that they will be active again in Nov! On 432 I
am running 4 x 6.8 wl fixed horz pol yagis and a 2 x 4CX250 PA.
N4PZ: Steve n4pz(x)live.com during the first day of the Oct contest weekend
worked on 23 cm CW 17 EU and one NA (K5GW) stations before an SMA
relay failed at 0900. There were lots of huge CW signals. Only one station
weaker than (569) was heard; most were (579) or louder. The biggest signal was
SP6JWL at near (599) - very loud. OH1LRY was very loud also. I just called
CQ and sorted through the pile up. What happened to the NAs. [Maybe they
were doing the same thing as you?] Are they all working the JT65? I plan to be
on for the VK/JA window and again for the 2nd EU window. [I have not received
a follow up report from Steve.]
KL6M’s 30’ dish disaster – Mike will be back!
KL6UW: Ed kl7uw(x)acsalaska.net had instability problems with his 1296
transverter and was not able to be QRV in Oct. He at first thought the problem
was due to his preamps, but tracked it down to his transverter. Ed thinks he has
it fixed and now expects to be QRV on 23 cm for the Nov contest weekend.
LU8ENU: Juan lu8enu(x)gmail.com is a new station on 432 EME who has been
on 23 cm EME –- My 70 cm operation was delayed by the failure of my antenna
relay during final testing. I was finally able to be active on 432 with 2 x 9 WL
yagis and at moment only 300 W. When I correct a problem with my drive
power, I should have about 500 W. My first 432 QSO was on 13 Oct with
PY2BS (23DB/29DB) on JT. I added on 14 Oct OK1KIR (23DB/21DB), on 15
Oct HB9Q (12DB/12DB), DF3RU (22DB/19DB) and UA3PTW (18DB/12DB),
on 16 Oct I1NDP (27DB/18DB) and DL5FN (27DB/24DB), on 18 Oct
WA4NJP (27DB/23DB), on 21 Oct LZ1DX (18DB/25DB), on 26 Oct HB9Q
(12DB/O), DK3WG (23DB/O), PY2BS (21DB/O), G4RGK (24DB/O) and
DL7APV (16DB/17DB), on 27 Oct PI9CAM (19DB/11DB), UA3PTW
(18DB/O), OH2PO (14DB/O) and NC1I (21DB/O), and on 29 Oct I1NDP
(21DB/21DB) and OK1DFC (22DB/22DB). All QSOs were on JT65B. [More
information on Jan’s station can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/
lu8enu/eme-70cm.
NC1I: Frank frank(x)NC1I.COM reports on 70 cm activity -- We had hoped to
be more active on EME during the late summer and early fall but unfortunately
both W1QA and I have been tied up with work, family and travel. The first leg
of the ARRL EME contest coincided with "Family Weekend" at my son’s
university, so my wife and I spent the weekend in upstate NY visiting our son
who just started his freshman year. W1QA was able to activate the NC1I station
late on the second day of the contest and made a handful of JT65 QSO's. On 27
Oct Bob worked at 1248 K4EME, 1252 K1JT, 1304 KN0WS, 1310 WC7V,
1346 LU8ENU, 1408 WQ0P and 1514 VK4EME. Back on 21 Sept in the ARI
contest I worked on CW at 0330 OK1DFC (539/579), 0336 DF3RU (589/579),
0341 I2FHW (549/559), 0347 LZ1DX (569/579), 0406 K2UYH (539/599),
0418 K4EME (559/449) and 0429 SV1BTR (589/599). Conditions seemed
about average but I'm guessing I did not have the optimum receive polarity for
several of the stations worked. We are planning on being much more active in
the upcoming months including the second leg of the EME contest when we will
most likely concentrate on CW.
OE5JFL: Hannes oe5jfl(x)aon.at had a super signal in the ARRL contest on
1296 -- I am very pleased with the performance of my new HB 7.3 m offset
dish, especially on receive. At present, I am only QRV with it on 23 cm. The
Sun noise measured was 22.5 dB at an SFI 107, and the Moon noise is 0.85 dB
at perigee. I have a 500 W SSPA mounted directly at the feed. In the contest I
worked 75 stations, CW only. Heard were EA3UM, JA8ERE, PA3FXB,
JA8IAD, HB9BBD, K5AZU, OK1KIR, PE1LWT, W8ZN, W5LUA and
W3HMS. I will try to QSO them and more in the Nov part of the contest.
OE5JFL’s new 7.3 m offset dish used for 75 contest QSOs
OK1CA: Franta’s strihavka(x)upcmail.cz NL report follows -- I was QRV in
the Oct part of ARRL EME Contest on 23 cm. I installed new G4DDK LNA
before the contest. With it I measured a Sun noise of 24.5 dB (SF160.6) on 24
Oct! My Moon noise was 1.1 dB, Cassiopeia 2 dB and Taurus 0.85 dB. My
Contest score is 75x33. New stations worked were RD3BA, YO2BCT, RN3A,
UA4HTS, K1DS, SP6ITF, DK5MC, PI9CM and W8ZN to bring me to initial
#298. There was great activity from all regions during the contest.
OK1CS: Emil emil.ok1cs(x)gmail.com is back on 23 cm after longer absence –
I was QRV for my first time in ARI 23 cm CW EME Contest. I worked I1NDP,
ON5TA, SV3AAF, 9A5AA, N0OY, DF3RU, K2UYH, IK2RTI, N4PZ, I5MPK,
IK5VLS, G4CCH, IK3COJ, JA4BLC, IZ1BPN, JH1KRC, OK2ULQ, OE5JFL,
JA4LJB, OZ6OL, OH2DG, HB9BBD, VK3UM, F5SE/P, OZ4MM, SP7DCS
and MJ/SA6BUN for a total of 27 stations. My greatest pleasure was to QSO
Michael. I was also active in the ARRL contest on 23 cm. There I made 64
QSOs, all on CW. I worked 1x 9A, 1x CT, 7x DL, 1x F, 2x G, 3x HB, 6x I, 3x
JA, 9x K,W,N, 2x LZ, 1x OE, 1x OH, 4x OK, 2x OZ, 3x PA, 3x SM, 3x SP, 2x
SV, 6x UA, 3x VE and , 1x VK. I enjoyed this contest very well. My rig is dish
4.5 m dish with 400 W at the feed. Soon I plan to be also QRV on 9 cm.
Through the summer I worked on the equipment for 9 cm with help of OK1CA.
OK1DFC: Zdenek ok1dfc(x)seznam.cz sends more information on his past
activity but does not include the last 2 months and his completion of 70 cm
DXCC reported on in the last NL -- I am been very busy in QRL but find some
short windows to work a little bit of EME. We had some great EME dxpeditions
in past months and I am very close to my dream of DXCC on 432. I worked on
432 JT, on 15 June K5DOG (13DB/O), DL6YBF (27DB/O) for digital initial
{#273} and W7IUV (12DB/O), on 16 June K4MSG (26DB/O) {#274},
DL9LBH (27DB/O) {#275}, ZS6OB (9DB/O) and SP1JNY (21DB/O). Then I
was on vacation with my wife in GM, but due to the EME dxpedition to
Rwanda, I left Jana in Edinburg bought tickets to fly back to Prague. I worked
Rwanda and flied back to my vacation for another week; so crazy enough I
think! On 28 June I worked on 432 9X0EME (19DB/O) {#277}, DXCC 95 and
first 9X-OK with a great speaker copy signal, and VA3ELE (24DB/O) {#278}.
After this QSO I changed my feed to 1296 and worked on 30 June 9X0EME
(17DB/O) for digital initial {#174}, DXCC 86 and first 9X-OK again with a
very loud and easy for CW copy signal. I was expecting to work them also on 13
cm as my last continent for WAC on 2300, but I was in such a hurry that I made
an error and damaged my 13 cm SSPA. So I switched everything off and was on
my way back to my vacation. In July SK6OSO was on with their big antenna. I
worked them on 13 July (599/589) and (59/58) on SSB. On 13 July, I also
worked DL7YC (O/O) on CW for initial #347, PA3FXB (9DB/O) on JT65C,
W3HMS (10DB/O) JT65C, K1DS (559/579) #348, PA3CQE (10DB/O) {#175}
and (53/55) on SSB #349, VE3KRP (10DB/O) {#176} and LU8ENU (17DB/O).
I QSO’d on 1296 on 14 July SQ7DQX (53/55) on SSB #350, SK6OSO (1DB/O)
{#177}, DJ5BV (20DB/O) {#178}, PE1LWT (8DB/O), PA2CHR (28DB/O)
{#179} – Chris was using a single yagi for his 1st 23 cm EME QSO, EA3EMG
(22DB/O) {#180}, SV1CAL (12DB/O), TI2AEB (10DB/O) and W3HMS
(7DB/O). On 4 Aug I tested a new 432 SSPA build for EME dxpedition
operation with 1.2 kW output with DL7APV (5DB/3DB). On 22 Aug after
repairing my A2T elevation readout, I found at local midnight on the band
F8KCF (4DB/O) {#279} and (559/549) CW initial #167, PY2BS (1DB/O),
PE1DAB (20DB/O) {#280}, UX0FF (10DB/O) on V pol, then J45EME
(16DB/O) {#281} DXCC 96 and first J4-OK with a great signal, so we worked
on CW (O/O) #168, HL5QO (24DB/O) and UY5HF (29DB/O) {#282}. I then
changed feeds to 1296 and worked VK2AMS (15DB/O), R4YM (22DB/O),
RN3A (5DB/O) {#181} and also CW (579/599) #351, J45EME (18DB/O)
{#182}, DXCC 87 and first J4-OK, YL2GD (15DB/O) {#183} and (559/559)
CW #352. [To be continued…]
OK1KIR: Tonda and Vlada vladimir.masek2(x)seznam.cz this month report on
both their Sept and Oct activity due to an email problem at my end – Our group
worked during the ARI CW contest on 432 on 21 Sept at 2223 DF3RU
(559/559), 2227 LZ1DX (559/559) and 2237 I2FHW (569/559) for initial #375,
and on 22 Sept at 0501 UT3LL (O/O) #376, 0528 PA2V (O/O) #377 and 0642
SM2CEW (559/559). We also worked on 70 cm CW on 30 Sept at 0915 the
M&M dxpedition MJ/DL1YMK (O/O) #378. Using JT65B on 432 we QSO’d
on 7 Sept at 1338 PA2V (19DB/18DB) for digital initial {#91}, on 15 Sept at
2032 5B/OK5EME (19DB/18DB) {#92}, new DXCC and 1st 5B-OK 70 cm
QSO, on 17 Sept at 1948 EB5EEO (24DB/24DB) {#93}, 2131 FP/DL2NUD
(17DB/25DB {#94}, new DXCC and GN field, 2351 K4MSG (26DB/26DB)
{#95}, on 21 Sept at 2206 I5CTE (18DB/11DB) {#96}, and on 22 Sept at 0516
OH6UW (17DB/18DB) {#97}, 0605 PA0PLY (16DB/27DB and 2004
TA/PE1L (26DB/21DB) {#98} as new DXCC. On 296 CW we worked on 22
Sept at 2122 MJ/SA6BUN (569/569) {#357}, and on 1296 JT65C on 16 Sept at
2326 FP/DJ4TC (25DB/21DB) {#151}, new DXCC, 1st FP-OK 23 cm QSO
and GN field, and on 23 Sept at 2026 TA/PE1L (23DB/20DB) {#152} new
DXCC. On 2320 CW we worked 23 Sept at 2237 MJ/DL1YMK (559/559) for
initial #128, new DXCC and 1st GJ-OK on 13 cm and 2324 CT1DMK
(569/579) and (55/56) on SSB. On 2320 JT65C we worked on 18 Sept at 2152
FP/DL2NUD (17DB/21DB) for 13 cm digital initial {#14}, 1st FP-OK QSO on
13 cm and GN field. On 3400 CW we worked on 25 Sept at 0152 MJ/DL1YMK
(559/559) for initial #54 and a new DXCC. On 5760 CW we on 26 Sept at 0453
MJ/DL1YMK (O/O) for initial #69, a new DXCC and 1st GJ-OK 6 cm QSO
and 0526 SV3AAF (O/549). On 5760 JT65C we worked on 21 Sept at 1924
EA3XU (28DB/26DB) for 6 cm digital initial {#5} a new DXCC and the 1st
EA-OK 6 cm QSO. On 10368 CW in microwave part of ARRL EME Contest,
we completed in total 20 QSOs. We QSO’d on 28 Sept at 0213 only UR7D
(O/O), and then lost a WG switch. The complicated mechanical repair
swallowed the rest of our first Moon pass. In the second orbit, we added on 28
Sept at 2358 UA5Y (549/O), and on 29 Sept at 0007 SP6JLW (O/579), 0113
JA4BLC (559/559) (both on 10450), 0147 DL0EF (569/549), 0208 OH2DG
(549/559), 0353 DL7YC (549/569), 0401 PA7JB (549/559), 0436 F1PYR
(549/569), 0501 F5JWF (559/579), 0604 OZ1LPR (O/O), 0736 DL0SHF (O/O),
0912 LX1DB (579/579), 0930 IZ2DJP (O/O), 0949 PA0BAT (559/539), 1020
ES5PC (549/569), 1054 MJ/DL1YMK (O/O) initial #79, a new DXCC and 1st
GJ-OK on 3 cm, 1202 WA6PY (559/569) and 1322 W5LUA (569/559). On 1
Oct we had a repeat QSOs at 0501 MJ/DL1YMK (O/O) and 1209 DL0SHF
(55/52) on SSB. On10368 using JT4F, we worked on 29 Sept at 1125 OK2AQ
for 3 cm digital initial {#28}. This was Mirek’s first JT EME QSO on 3 cm. He
used a 1.8 m dish and a 20 W SSPA – see his report in the last NL. On the same
day at 1143 QSO’d W5LUA (12DB/11DB) {#29}on JT4F. Later F1PYR
decoded our signal but a TX failure prevented him from completing a QSO. In
Sept we added a total of 11 new DXCCs. Our sincere appreciation to all the
dxpedition operators (GJ, 5B, FP and TA ), and especially to the M&M
dxpedition team for providing Jersey Island on 6 bands! In Oct on 432 JT65B
we added on 14 Oct at 1914 LU8ENU (21DB/23DB) {#99} and a new DXCC,
on 18 Oct at 1648 YJ0HP (27DB/O) {#100}, a new DXCC and RH field, on 23
Oct at 2130 JE1TNL (18DB/19DB) {#101}, and on 24 Oct at 2058 H44HP
(25DB/20DB) {#102}, a new DXCC, first H4–OK 70 cm QSO and QI field. In
the ARRL contest using JT65B we worked on 26 Oct at 0229 S57SU (22DB/O)
{#103}, 0243 JA6AHB (12DB/9DB), 0254 PA0PLY (13DB/24DB) and 0300
LZ1DX (10DB/13DB). On 1296 CW we worked on 19 Oct at 2307 I5YDI
(O/O) #358 and on 20 Oct at 0359 WA2FGK (559/559) #359. In the ARRL
contest, we QSO’d on 27 Oct at 0657 OK1CA (569/589), 0922 OK1CS
(569/589) and 0932 K1DS (559/589) #360. On 1296 JT65C we worked on 19
Oct at 1746 UA4LCF (27DB/17DB) {#153}, 1819 EA3XU (23DB/O) {#154},
1857 DL6SH (5DB/O), 1909 DL3LBJ (9DB/O) {#155}, 2204 I5YDI
(11DB/14DB) {#156}, 2326 YO2BCT (13DB/O), 0351 WA2FGK
(15DB/14DB) {#157}, 0411 K5DOG (15DB/14DB) {#158} and 1850 YJ0HP
(27DB/O) {#159} for new DXCC and RH field. All these QSOs were done
with linear rotatable feed. In the ARRL contest using JT65C, we worked on 26
Oct at 0855 EA3EMG (26DB/18DB) {#160}, 0926 OH1RLY (10DB/9DB)
{#161}, 0931 PA3DXB (11DB/8DB), 1053 W3HMS (12DB/10DB), 1119
WA3GFZ (18DB/O) {#162}, 1125 K1JT (8DB/O) and 2232 with linear our
rotatable feed H44HP (28DB/21DB) {#163} for new DXCC, first H4–OK on 23
cm and QI field, and on 27 Oct at 0001 SP1JNY (20DB/18DB) {#164}, 0621
UA4AAV (9DB/O) {#165}, 0723 RA4A (20DB/13DB) {#166}, 0730 VE3KRP
(10DB/8DB), 0737 SV1CAL (18DB/11DB), 0824 YL2GD (16DB/O), 0845
OM1TF (28DB/O) {#167} for new DXCC and 1006 OK2DL (3DB/8DB). On
2320 using JT65C we QSO’d on 29 Oct with linear rotatable feed at 0112
H44HP (20DB/23DB) {#15} for new DXCC, first H4–OK 13 cm QSO and QI
field. On 5760 CW on 14 Oct nothing was received from UN6PD in a CW test
but we worked at 1730 PA0BAT (569/569). On 10368 using JT4, we had on 5
Oct and 10 Oct only partials with EA3XU, but on 26 Oct we QSO’d at
0006(19DB/17DB). On 24048 using JT4, on 14 Oct we tried (along with
G3WDG) for a new world distance record on 24 GHz with VK7MO at a
temporary portable site (QE37UC). But only a single sync tone was copied from
Rex because we did not have a GPS lock. Immediately our sked, we found the
cause of the trouble. After repair of the GPS lock, we watched G3WDG run with
VK7MO. We continuously decoded G3WDG (13DB and 7 sync) during his
unsuccessful test with VK7MO, but nothing further was received from VK7MO
due to the low elevation on his end.
OZ4MM: Stig Stig Vestergaard vestergaard(x)os.dk also had serious wind
damage to his dish as a result of the storm that hit EU during and after the EME
contest -- As you probably know, some parts of northern EU were hit by a very
big storm on Monday, just after the first part of the contest. I had prepared my
10 m dish and done what I could to protect it. It was parked in the birdbath
position with several guy wires to ground with the counterweights locked to the
tower. We were hit in the afternoon local time by the first of some very strong
wind gusts. Unfortunately, I was called away to QRL just at that time and
returned just after the worst of the wind had passed. I found that the lock
between counterweight and tower had slipped. I tried to secure the
counterweight again so that the dish would not crash into the tower every time a
wind gust hit. After the wind calmed down, I found 2 steel wires between the
back of counterweight and the dish rim had broken. Also the elevation hinge,
which is a solid (55 mm) rod was bend, and the rolled rings that the dish sits on
were skewed and bend, so that the dish is now offset about 6 deg from the
normal axis. There appears to be only slight damage on the underside of the rim.
I hope to be able to adjust the parabolic surface to true with some solid bars
going from the outer rims to the back of the counter weight. The elevation
readout is also damaged. The Sun is now too low here for a Sun noise check, so
my first test will be during second part of the EME contest. I will only be able to
on for a little while, but better something than nothing. In the first part I was
active on CW. On Saturday, I spent most of my operating hours on 432 to give
some activity there. On Sunday, I was active on both 432 and 1296 until my
SWR increased on 432. I stopped during a call from W8TXT - sorry. On 432, I
worked 20 stations including an initial with N8DJB. My best QSO was with
OK1TEH who was using a single 23 el yagi and 800 W. On 1296 I put 46 QSOs
in my log with initials from RD3BA, UA4THS, I5YDI, SP6ITF, PI9CM (who is
this), K1DS and W8ZN. Prior the contest I worked all the great dxpeditions:
J45EME, TA/PE1L, MJ/DL1YMK (great on CW), YJ0HP and H44HP on both
432 and 1296 (M&M used MJ/SA6BUN on 1296).
PA2DW: Dick qtc(x)kpnmail.nl reports on the storm is PA land -- The antennas
at PA2DW fortunately survived the “near-hurricane” that passed our country.
Wind speeds of 120 km/h were measured in my QTH (154 km/h on the islands
in the north!), but the parking arrangements that I made to protect my dish did
the job. A big advantage of the storm is that most leaves of the trees in my
moon-window have now blown away. Hurray! I keep my fingers crossed for our
friends in Scandinavia where the giant storm seems headed.
PA2V: Peter peter(x)pa2v.com writes on his 432 activity -- I keep working new
stations off the Moon with my single Yagi. I now have all continents confirmed
and will soon apply for 432 WAC - all with 1 yagi within a year! I did very well
the weeks before the contest. I worked VK4EME with his 100 W into a 16 yagi
array. During the contest I worked some new stations on random. A first time
experience was to I see/hear stations that did not hear or decoded me. So it
seems the receiver end is quite OK. I QSO’d all on JT65B in the contest on 26
Oct at 0933 UA3PTW (18DB/O), 1028 DL7APV (20DB/O), 2321 HB9Q
(20DB/O), and on 27 Oct at 0554 PI9CAM (14DB/O) for mixed initial #28* and
0619 G4RGK (28DB/O), 0640 OH2PO (24DB/O) #29*, 0734 K4EME
(27DB/O) #30*, 0821 ES3RF (28DB/O) #31* and 0845 K1JT (19DB/O) for at
total of 9x9.
PI9CAM: Jan (PA3FXB)jvmmap(x)bart.nl and the other members of the team
(PE0SHF, PE1CHQ, PA3DSS, PA2DW and PA3CEG)send news about the big
Dwingeloo dish -- On 28 April 2012 PI9CAM stopped operating because the
dish restoration started a few days later. On 5 June 2012 the dish was taken off
its pedestal by a huge crane. On 19 Nov 2012 the dish was fully restored and the
same huge crane took the dish up to the pedestal again. From that moment
CAMRAS (the foundation that runs the dish) started to reinstall all motors,
furniture, coax cables, radio gear, etc. Like all big projects it took more time
than expected. Not because of problems, but simply because this time we knew
we were installing things for a long period of time! The dish is now fully
restored and as good as new, so we hope it will live at least for another 50 years
or so. So our gear and installations should also be high quality; and that took
more time. But after many months of work we finally reached the moment of the
first big test! The decision was to start up again during the ARRL contest. The
final decision was made only on Friday, 25 October; so it was pretty close. We
did not want to create high expectations, so we did not announce our possible
return. Many things could still go wrong during a first try. The Sun noise looked
good, 32 dB on 23 cm, 27 dB on 70 cm. But how would our TX system behave?
We put our PA’s up in the focus box after the restoration. This location gives us
more room and less noise in the operating room, but also less control. The
SSPA’s give us 400 W at the feed on 70 cm and 120 W at the feed on 23 cm.
It’s always nice to find a special way to celebrate a special moment, so we
thought it would be a nice thing to try to have the first H44-PA QSO on 23 cm
as our first QSO after the restoration. So there we were, in the early hours of
Sunday morning waiting for the moon to clear the trees and trying to see
Hermann’s signal. It took some time, but we made it and we were all very
happy! Thanks to Hermann for making the start of the second new life of the
Dwingeloo dish so special! Our joy was short as only few minutes after this first
QSO, we lost RX on 23 cm. We still have no clue why, but the problem cured
itself some 8 hours later. Not completely 100% though as it appeared our signal
on 23 cm was a bit unstable. We use the same radio as before the restoration. So
after the H44 QSO we went to 70 cm. We thought RX was not quite OK there
too, but in retrospect it must have been the trees because RX improved with time
until it reached the levels we were used to before the restoration. We started
making QSO’s on 70 cm and it was like old times again! When 23 cm cured
itself, we started making QSO’s there and found great activity there too! We
ended up with 29 QSO’s on 23 cm and 34 QSO’s on 70 cm. It’s great to be
back, but we still have some work to do. We will investigate the problems we
encountered and we hope to be able to solve them soon! And we hope to add 2
m and 13 cm in a permanent way. We will let you know about our next
activation in advance!
SM4IVE: Lars sm4ive(x)telia.com was operational again on 23 cm for the EME
contest to give out contacts and increase activity -- I took some days off from
my company to finish up the repair of my big dish after the crash. At the time
for the contest I was only QRV 23 cm as I have not run new cables to the 70 cm
dipoles. With the new feed structure, I am able to move the feed position much
easier and found what I think is the optimum position. I got the first sidlobes
down to -10 dB and the total Sun noise up to 24 dB at an SFI of 129. I am using
as SDRIQ for measurements. My tracking in AZ is not quite optimum as the
main lob is only 1.25 degs and I need to be on spot or I lose 3 dB. I have to find
a solution that gives smaller backlash. But its really nice to be back on again.
Last Saturday I spent 1 hour in service tower with a safety belt on mounting 3 x
7/16 connectors. It was a bit scary as if drop anything, I will never find the parts
in the grass. So now the 432 system is also working. The first part of the contest
was quite OK. It was not so good on activity, but OK as I did work 86 stations
and 18 initials. I did have some minor struggles, both days. On Saturday XYL
started the washing machine, which made one of the main 20 A fuses blow and
everything in my shack died. On Sunday I had a flash over when I had about 1.5
H of Moon left. I had to QRT. A major problem is when several stations call on
same freq at the same time. Its impossible to get anything. I am thinking about
working spit – hi, hi. I worked on 26 Oct at 0002 IZ1BPN (579/599),
0005 JA8ERE (579/589), 0007 JA8IAD (569/579), 0014 I1NDP (589/589),
0017 OE5JFL (579/589), 0018 DJ8FR (569/599), 0025 DF3RU (569/579), 0031
OK1CA (579/589), 0040 JA4BLC (569/589), 0046 SV1BTR (589/599), 0049
G3LTF (569/589), 0052 LZ2US (579/589), 0105 RD3BA (549/569), 0108
DL6SH (579/589), 0111 JH1KRC (559/579) for an initial (#), 0114 EA3UM
(569/589), 0118 SP6JLW (569/589), 0123 F5SE/p (579/579), 0131 SP6ITF
(529/599) (#), 0135 PA3FXB (539/579), 0146 UA4HTS (559/579),
0150 CT1DMK (559/579), 0200 RA3AUB (559/589), 0215 SD3F (549/589),
0217 OK1CS (559/589), 0226 DLØSHF (599/599), 0235 UA3PTW (579/599),
0248 9A5AA (549/569), 0310 SP7DCS (579/599), 0340 G4CCH (579/599),
0404 IK3COJ (559/579), 0409 YO2BCT (549/579) (#), 0413 SM3JQU
(549/579), 0437 UA4AAV (549/579), 0445 HB9BBD (599/599), 0449 DJ3FI
(549/569), 0503 K1DS (529/559) (#), 0506 SV3AAF (579/589), 0509 DL3EBJ
(559/589), 0525 IW2FZR (559/589), 0555 SM6PGP (539/579) (#), 0601 K5GW
(579/599), 0606 K1JT (569/579), 0610 OH1LRY (549/599) (#), 0618 WA8RJF
(529/579), 0704 WD5AGO (559/599), 0708 LU1C (529/549), 0714 IK5VLS
(549/569) (#), 0731 N2UO (569/579), 0741 HB9BCD (569/589) (#), 0747
SM4DHN (569/579), 0755 I5YDI (539/539), 0800 W6YX (559/589), 0808
PI9CM (529/559) (#), 0814 SV1CAL (O/O), 0820 K5AZU (559/569), 0837
W5LUA (579/589), 0841 DL1YMK (559/579), 0850 VA7MM (549/569), 0855
VE4MA (549/579) (#), 0906 NA4N (549/579), 0911 VE4SA (559/559) (#),
0916 PA3DZL (559/579), 0924 WA2FGK (549/569), 1006 WA6PY (569/589),
1023 VE6BGT (559/599) (#), 1120 W3HMS (549/O) (#), 1127 PAØSSB
(559/569) (#), 2202 VK3UM (579/579), 2232 OK2DL (599/599), 2254
VK2JDS (529/559), 2312 JA4LJB (549/589) (#), 2324 VK5MC (O/O) and 2334
HB9Q (599/579), and on 27 Oct on 0021 OK2ULQ (549/589), 0045 LZ1DX
(549/599), 0205 JA6AHB (549/599), 0240 OZ6OL (569/589), 0408 OZ4MM
(599/599), 0538 W8ZN (569/579) (#), 0553 IK5QLO (529/559), 0631
SM7FWZ (559/589), 0651 RN3A (559/599) (#), 0849 HB9SV (599/599), 0917
VE6TA (559/579), 0939 PI9CAM (599/599).
SM6FHZ: Ingolf ingolf.fhz(x)gmail.com writes on the Oct leg of the contest –Fortunately the storm arrived after the contest was over. I tied my down my dish
with heavy steel cables to make it stable enough to withstand the storm. In the
contest, I spent two mornings on 70 cm and had a lot of fun. I have not been on
70 cm EME for more than a year, but the rig worked fine. I worked 8 stations on
Saturday and 7 more on Sunday for a total of 15 QSOs and 2 initials. Five more
stations were heard and called without reply. They were K4EME, SP6JLW,
F6HLC, DF3RU and W8TXT. F6HLC and W8TXT would have been initials.
One station answered my CQ at about 1045 Sunday on about 015.5. The Moon
elevation at that time was about 15 deg and the Moon was well into the foliage
on my western horizon. I was probably hearing much worse than what my TX
signal indicated. I would very much like to know who called me? I will leave
my 70 cm feed in the dish until the ARRL Nov leg and am open for skeds.
When the Moon is in the south, I can use it all the way down to -25 degs dec,
but not when it moves too much to the west. There was quite good activity on
Sunday morning. I made some SDR recordings that I have put on my web site.
Please respond to my request by email.
SM7FWZ: Ronny sm7fwz(x)arlembke.se is QRV again on 23 cm after quite
some time off the Moon – I have rebuilt much of my EME station with a lot
more attention to detail than that the quick and dirty approach that I used to get
initially on. Also, I had a lightning strike very close to our house that destroyed
some of my equipment a couple of months ago. Most of the repairs and rebuilt is
now complete. I had an especially hard time getting my elevation control
working again. During the contest I worked 22 stations. I am now looking
forward to seeing the rest of you in the next leg.
SV1BTR: Jimmy jimmyv(x)hol.gr was active on 2 m, 70 and 23 cm CW in the
ARRL contest -- Thank you to all who were active on CW during the Oct
contest weekend. It was a joy to work you and sorry to those I missed. I finished
the 1st leg with 25 on 70 cm and 59 on 23 cm plus several on 2 m. These figures
are down from last year. Moon conditions were pretty bad, with deep long QSB
minimums due to the libration - it was a very poor choice of contest weekend. A
decision based solely on having a high declination is narrow minded. Other
factors should be considered that affect 2 m the most but also impact the higher
bands. 70 and 23 cm normally have a shorter QSB duration but can be affected
by distortion, especially on 23 cm. Please try to avoid apogee with its high path
loss. It and bad libration fading can be a deadly combo. On 70 cm polarity was
most of the time close to 45 degs. [I included only Jimmy’s comment that
related to 70 cm and up. He was very unhappy with the drop of CW activity on 2
m.]
VA7MM: Mark (VA7MM) and Toby (VE7CNF) va7mm(x)rac.ca send their
Oct contest report – We were active on 1296 during the ARRL contest weekend,
26/27 Oct. This was our 11th year participating in the contest. We operated for a
total of 11 hours over two moon passes and have in our log 34 QSOs (20 CW
and 14 on digital) with 3 initials worked: IK5VLS, LU8ENU and G4CBW. We
intend to operate in the next leg of the contest on 16/17 Nov. We used
a 3 m parabolic dish with about 200 W RF power at the feed and a 0.33 dB NF
RX preamp. We are available for scheduled contacts, please e-mail us.
VE3KRP: Eddie eddie(x)tbaytel.net reports on his Oct 23 cm EME activity –- I
worked on 14 Oct W3HMS (JT), on 16 Oct OK1CS (CW), on 18 Oct WA2FGK
(JT) for a digital initial {#}, UA3PTW (CW) for a (#) and LU8ENU (JT), on 19
Oct PY2BS (JT), UA4HTS {JT} and (CW) for (#), and on 20 Oct EA1RJ (JT)
{#}, LU8ENU (JT), RD3DA (JT) {#} and K5DOG(JT) {#}. I missed the first
day of the Oct ARRL EME contest weekend due to bad weather and winds, but
managed to work the second day on 23 cm. I QSO’d OK1CA (CW), SP6JLW
(CW), LU8ENU (JT), DF3RU (JT), IK3COJ (JT), HB9Q (JT), OK1DIR (JT),
GM4PMK (JT), RN3A (JT) {#}, LZ1DX (JT), OE5JFL (CW), F5SE/P (CW),
N2UO (CW), OH1LRY (JT), IK5VLS (JT), G4CBW (JT) {#}, PY2BS (JT),
W5LUA (JT) {#} and JA6AHB (JT). During the second part of the contest I
hope to work those who I missed. Hopefully the weather will be better for all of
us!
VE4MA: Barry ve4ma(x)shaw.ca reports on the 1296 EME CW contest so far –
There were nice signals in the contest and it is nice to be active again. I have
worked 16 so far including N2UO and WA6PY. Get a ways include W6YX,
VE6TA, WD5AGO. [This report is only for the first Moon pass. Barry planned
to be on for the second pass, but I have received no follow up information.]
VE6TA: Grant ve6ta(x)clearwave.ca sends his ARRL 432/1296 update -- I
started as usual with the 432 feed in. This is typical for me as the weather can
deteriorate rapidly in Nov and make it difficult to change feeds. I worked on 432
the first pass were SM2CEW, I2FHW for an initial (#), SM6FHZ (#), OZ4MM,
DG1KJG, G4RGK, DF3RU, DL7APV, UA3PTW, F6HLC, G3LTF, SP6JLW,
VK3UM, JA9BOH and JA6AHB for a total of 15 QSOs. After installing the 23
cm feed I was ready to go for the next pass. Unfortunately I was busy at work
this weekend so my second pass was limited to a few hours at moonrise. The
following stations were worked on 23 cm: SM4IVE, DJ8FR for an initial (#),
VE4MA, VA7MM, OK1CS, SD3F, RA3AUB, I1NDP, SM7FWZ, 9A5A,
F5SE/p, OE5JFL, G4CCH, W5LUA, OK2DL, PI9CAM, WA6PY, OZ6OL,
DL0SHF, N2UO and CT1DMK. I plan to be on 1296 next weekend to catch the
stations I missed in my short window to the populated centers of the world. 432
may be a remote possibility if the weather cooperates and 23 cm activity gets
slow. I would like to comment on declination versus path loss during the contest
weekend selection. With little or no Moon window the contest periods are
almost non-existent. For those of us far from EU, high declination is necessary
to give more than a few hours of activity in the contest. At least until we
generate more activity in NA and the Pacific rim. Has any thought ever been
given to awarding certificates to high scores in each continent or geographic
area for EME contests? It may even generate more activity where it is sparse
now and level the playing field a bit.
W6YX: John (K2YY) johnhill5000(x)gmail.com on the Stanford club’s ARRL
contest effort – I hope everyone had fun in the ARRL contest. I know we did.
W6YX was QRV on 1296 and 144 for the Oct leg of the ARRL
EME Contest. Draft 1296 totals show over 40 CW and digital contacts
were made using our 6 m dish with 200 W on CW and 100 W on JT65C.
Operating mixed-mode allows a larger number of hams to experience the thrill
of an EME contact, which is always a good thing. The rules for this contest are
great as operating 100% random helps improve operator skill, and motivates us
to improve our station's capability with technology such as software defined
radios. We're hustling to make some notable 1296 improvements to our station
for the next leg. We will also be throwing together a small 432 station. If anyone
has the means to host it, we have a 15 GB Linrad.raw recording from 1296.000
to 1296.080 for the entire first night of the contest. It's always interesting to
replay the entire EME sub-band and decode CW and JT65 stations you missed,
or hear what you sound like on the other end. We'll be looking for many more
contacts the Nov weekend of the contest; please call CQ and call it often, so we
can find you on our waterfall. We do not go to sleep when EU leaves the
footprint.
W8ZN: Terry w8zn54(x)verizon.net reports on his group’s effort from KY
during the Oct part of the ARRL contest -– Our plans were to have the 21 m
dish at Moorehead State Univ. operational on both 432 and 1296 did not work
out as well as we had hoped. We had problems on 432 and did not work anyone.
On 1296, we only could muster 50 W to the feed and our preamp was suspect.
To make matters worse, we think we had the feed set to the wrong circular pol
sense, but still worked 13 folks. We were only able to be QRV on Sunday; there
was just too much to do to get ready. A BIG thanks goes to Jeff, WA3ZKR and
his staff at Morehead State for all their help. Do to customer requirements, the
dish is not available for the next leg of the contest, but we will be back on in the
near future.
WA0ARM: Bill Bill.Glynn(x)westarenergy.com was QRV on 432 from KS -With my 8x15 horz pol yagis and 120 W, I worked on Saturday UA3PTW
(14DB/O) and on Sunday DL7APV (19DB/O), HB9Q (21DB/O), DF3RU
(17DB/O) and K1JT (25DB/O). My PA was down for the first several hours on
Saturday. I copied but did not work LZ1DX (17DB), DK3WG (22DB), K4EME
(27DB), G4RGK (20DB), YL2OK (27DB) and ES3RF (23DB). On Sunday I
copied but did not work OH2PO (16DB), PI9CAM (17DB), K4EME (25DB),
PA0PLY (25DB) and UA3PTW (21DB). I observed more activity here in
Kansas on Sunday than I did Saturday. I did not work the Asian window on
Saturday and only spent three hours on Sunday, but saw no signals to the west.
My station performed as expected with my ability to hear outperforming my
signal potency. I plan to be QRV with the same operating conditions for second
segment of the contest.
WA2FGK: Herb (K2LNS) wa2fgk(x)yahoo.com reports on 1296 and the first
leg of the ARRL EME Contest -- After many hours of preparation, I was
rewarded with my first EME QSOs on 1296 17 Oct with G3LTF, OZ6OL and
DF3RU all on CW. I was reluctant to try JT because of my sequencing. But the
next evening I worked VE3KRP for my first JT contact on 1296. Immediately
afterwards UA3PTW was contacted on CW with very big signals. Over the next
weekend I was on for the ARRL contest. My primary reason to operate was to
try our new 1296 system. On Friday night I started very slow as the Moon rose
after midnight. On 1296 I worked HB9Q, W5LUA, GM4PMK, PA3FXB,
UA4HTS, UA3PTW, ES6RQ, RA3AUB, OH1LRY, G4CCH, DL3EBJ,
SM4IVE and DL0SHF using both CW and JT. 1296 seems to be our best band.
Many contacts can be done on SSB. Massive amounts of very large dish
antennas around the world produce very big signals. I operated for about 5 hours
Friday (local) into Saturday morning and was very pleased with my 1296
system. The 12’ dish turns very slow, but effortlessly and is very precise. I also
operated a bit on 432, but am still waiting for our 432 mast mounted preamp to
be completed. My transmit power is very high, but I have some trouble with
peanut butter in my ears. So I didn’t stay on the band to long. On 432, I worked
DK3WG, DF3RU, UA3PTW, K4EME, ES3RF and G4RGK. I had a sked with
WD5AGO on 1296 at 5 am. So I switched over to that band even though I was
still able to run stations on 432. On 1296, I added WD5AGO, OE5JFL, I1NDP,
SP6JLW, SV1BTR, PI9CAM, IV5VLS, IK3COJ, OK2DL and W6YX. After
the contest I saw several items that need correcting. But overall our small system
has the ability to make many contacts around the world off the Moon. My 1296
station consists of a 12’ dish with 350 W at the feed. Also noted were very few
stations that participated in the USA. Asia and Russia are like ham radio in the
USA in the 1970s - very active. I hope to have my problems corrected and will
again operate the 2nd leg of this contest in Nov.
WA6PY: Paul pchominski(x)maxlinear.com Sept report -– I QSO’d on 23 Sept
on 1296 MJ/SA6BUN, and on 24 Sept on 13 cm ON5TA and MJ/DL1YMK. I
couldn’t be QRV on 9 cm during the weekend. During the ARRL EME MW
Contest I QSO’d on 28 Sept on 13 cm K5GW, OZ4MM, VE6TA, UA5Y,
CT1DMK, OH1LRY, ON5TA, HB9Q, SV1BTR, F5JWF, PA3DZL, SP6OPN,
MJ/DL1YMK, WA9FWD, K1JT and WD5AGO, and on 29 Sept on 9 cm
HB9Q, W5LUA, PY2BS, K1JT, SP6OPN, G3LTF, OK1CA, and both days on
10 GHz W6YFK, DL0EF, LX1DB, ES5PC, UA5Y and OK1KIR. I also heard
MJ/DL1YMK in QSO with ES5PC but couldn’t find Michael later on the band.
[Paul’s Oct report has not yet arrived.]
WD5AGO: Tommy wd5ago(x)hotmail.com writes on the Sept/Oct activity -Our group was on for both the Sept (MW) and Oct contest weekends with one
more to follow in Nov. In Sept we worked 25 QSO on 13 cm only. Intitals were
MJ/DL1YKM #83 - both before and in the contest, SM6CKU #84, LA8LF #85
and OH1LRY #86. I am stilling looking for someone to work in SA to complete
WAC on 13 cm. We expanded my 3 m dish in Oct. For the 23 cm portion to 3.5
m (11.5’). A dB always helps and with it at 0.34 f/D Ta measures are well below
30 degs. A custom scalar ring was built and added to our round 90 deg hybrid
feed horn. Measured performance today was 16.5 dB Sun noise (SFU 150),
which is on target with observations done though out the month and 0.15 dB
Moon noise. We had 43 QSOs on 23 cm in Oct and hope to add to that in Nov
with a full report in Dec. A few 23 cm getaways were HB9BBD, WA6PY,
SV3AAF, VK5MC, LZ2US, EA3UM, UA3PTW and others. We will also try to
get the 70 cm array going for the 2nd Moon pass along with the school group
working the ARRL SS, BUSY, BUSY!
WQ0P: Lyke lykethat(x)gmail.com sends his small station Oct contest results -This was a return to 432 EME for me. I am running the same equipment from a
different location. I have visual now on the Moon from moonrise to moonset!
Actually about 15 mile horizon in both east and west for me on top of a hill out
in the middle of the country so it is very quiet also - a 32 year dream coming
true! I was running a Kenwood TS-790A into a WB0TEM 2X8930 amp with
+500 watts out. I have 1 5/8” hardline to the trailer mounted tower (borrowed
from WA0ARM again) into 2 X M2 13 wavelength antennas. I was pleased with
the stations that I worked, but there seemed to be very little activity? The
preamp that I ended up using was inside the shack at the amp. The tower
mounted preamp blew up 2 times in testing on Friday before the contest. I will
have to work on that. I am not sure how long I will have this setup as I will have
to return the trailer sometime. I just need to get a short tower in concrete and be
done with it. Plans are to add two more 13 wl antennas for a total of 4 X 13 wl
yagis. I have the antennas and just need the time and effort to do the work. I
hope to be on again for the Nov pat. I sure hope more stations show up on 432! I
worked DK3WG (14DB/O), OH2DG (18DB/O), HB9Q (23DB/O), DL7APV
(15DB/O), G4RGK (21DB/O), F8KCF (21DB/O), DF3RU (17DB/O), K4EME
(22DB/O), JA6AHB (22DB/O) and NC1I (16DB/O). Heard but not worked
were LZ1DX and K1JT (22DB - answered my CQ and never returned). On CW
I heard possibly OZ4MM but was not sure of the prefix. I have no Internet
available at the new location but I am willing to make schedules with anyone.
K2UYH: I a.katz(x)ieee.org put my main operating effort into the ARRL EME
contest as part of the K1JT team, and have little to add besides my pursuit of the
dxpeditions. I had no information on the YJ0HP operation and was only learned
about their being QRV until it too late. I do not believe they were ever QRV on
432 or 1296 during their NA window. I had better luck with H44PH thanks to
PE1L who has been extremely helpful. Thanks to Rene I was able to catch
H44HP on 25 Oct on 432 for mixed DXCC 116. It was strange as I could not
copy them at first at all, but just as I was about to give up after an hour of
looking, I called them blindly and they came right back. I expected them on
1296 the next day and stopped K1JT operation to look for them, but they never
showed. Fortunately they QRV during the NA window the next day (27 Oct)
and we worked at 1530 H44HP (O/O) for mixed initial #457* and DXCC 91*.
The irony was that they were very weak and I mistakenly initially QSO’d them
as K1JT, whose call was programmed into my JT software. It took me another
30 minutes to complete a K2UYH QSO. I should have learned from the previous
day (26 Oct) when I worked at 1017 EA1RJ (21DB/16DB), 024 OH1LRY
(13DB/9DB), 1034 DL3EBL (17DB/8DB) and 1038 WA3GFZ (O/O) as
K2UYH when I forgot to change to K1JT’s call for contest operation. I also
looked for the BJ9TM dxpedition on 432 without any success. My common
window with them was very short.
NETNEWS: SM7SJR was on late and missed much of the activity on 1296
during the Nov contest weekend. Bjorn will try to be on again in Nov. W7CS
expects to be QRV on 1296 for the Nov contest weekend with my 5 m dish and
about 600 W in the shack. YL2GD is working on a 6 m dish that he plans to use
on both 70 and 23 cm. Gunar is currently QRV on 1296 with a 3 m dish.
YO8RHI will be QRV on 13 cm soon with 3 m dish and 200 W. VE4SA will be
active for Nov leg of the EME contest on 1296. W7MEM is working gear for
1296 EME. VE5KKZ is planning on being on 1296 for the Nov contest
weekend.
FOR SALE: G4RGK is looking for a good 3CX800A7. If you have one,
contact Dave at zen70432(x)zen.co.uk. PA3CMC has for sale a 70 cm SSPA
made by Telefunken for professional broadcast use that has been modified for
432 operation. It is 10 W in and 1 kW out and includes all protections circuits
and PTT. SSPA is plug and play and include 3 phase PSU. He also has a 70 cm
SSPA made by Rode & Schwarz for professional broadcast use that has been
modified 432. It is 10 W in and 1.5 kW out. It includes all protections circuits
and PTT. This SSPA is also plug and play, but needs needs a 30 V at 100 A
PSU. He also has GS35 tubes used but good; EMEprecision UHF direction
coupler good for 70, 23 and 13 cm, type 2320/30A; a 3 phase 30 V, 85 A Rohde
& Schwarz PSU; Spinner 600 W dummy load good to 3 GHz with 7/16
connector; and more. Contact Lins at info(x)pa3cmc.nl. He will be at INTER
RADIO in HANNOVER on 30 Nov. K4EME wants to let everyone know that
he is still building and selling extremely low noise 432 E-pHEMT preamps. The
link for more information is http://cowlesradio.webs.com/drrf.html. Cowles
email is candrus(x)mgwnet.com. KD7YZ is looking for a 432 kW PA or
greater. The seller must be willing to ship. If you have something contact Bob at
kd7yz(x)denstarfarm.us. G4URT reports a DEMI L432-28 Transverter is for
sale - brand new and unused. See http://www.thedxshop.com/thedxshop-usedequipment-for-sale-amplifiers.html. Cost is £250.
TECHNICAL: For those needing an inexpensive elevation sensor, HB9CAT
suggests the MMA7361 chip. It just costs a couple of bucks and seems fit for
purpose providing analog outputs. It could be coupled with an Arduino to
provide digital display and/or remote control.
FINAL: There has been a lot of discord lately between the proponents of CW
and JT. I think this is a mistake. There is more activity than ever on EME. If you
are proponent of CW EME as I am, you really do not want to discourage new
stations getting on EME using JT modes. JT EME operates are the best source
of new CW EMEers. There is a place for both modes. Those of us operate both
should be encouraging and helping those on JT to also try CW.
EME2014 – F2CT reports that the official conference web page should be up
by the end of Nov. Please start planning your talks and technical papers. After
the conference 3 extension stays will be proposed: 1) A leisure stay at Belambra
TREGASTEL from 27 to 30 Aug (with half board arrangement). 2) Discover
SAINT MALO - MONT SAINT MICHEL and others famous places at spa
NOVOTEL DINARD from 27 to 30 Aug (with half board arrangement), Airport
Rennes and Train to Paris. 3) Come with us to discover BASK COUNTRY from
27 to 31 Aug. Transfer by bus from TREGASTEL, stop over night in LA
ROCHELLE (27 Aug), stop lunch in the Bordeaux vinynard (28 Aug), 3 nights
and 2 full days for discovering Bask country, with Corine, F2CT and other EME
Hams. Tapas diner in Spain and many other surprises, full board arrangement,
airport Biarritz direct to Paris. All info and prices will in the program.
2014 SSB EME Contest - I hope I am not making a mistake, but I will
schedule the 2014 SSB EME Contest for Feb 1th on 432 and Feb 2nd on 1296.
This weekend has a low (near 0) dec, but gives low path loss and good operating
hours. The 70 cm contest will actually start at 2200 on 31 Jan and run to 2200
on Feb 1. The 23 cm contest will start at 2200 Feb 1 and run to 2200 on Feb 2.
I hope to CU all on for the Nov EME contest finally whether you run CW
or JT. Please try to operate as much as possible and at the end of your windows
to keep stations on from further out and less populated areas. 73, Al – K2UYH