432 MHz AND ABOVE EME NEWS
May VOL 28 #5
ALLEN KATZ, K2UYH
Editor
ENGR DEPT., THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, TRENTON, NJ 08650-4700 (W 609-490-2817
OR H 443- 3184, FAX 609-443-1713, AND EMAIL:
Allen Katz, K2UYH
PRODUCTION ASSIST:
TOM KIRK, KA2VAD (908-521-2049).
NETNEWS EDITOR: G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
SKEDS CORD & DIRECTORY: DL4EBY/DK0TU, KLAUS TIEDEMANN,
HALSKESTR.35, D-12167 BERLIN, (49-30-7955467), E-Mail:
Klaus Tiedemann.
EME WEB DIRECTORY by DL4EBY
***E-MAIL LIST CORD: Scott KD4LT***
*** NA EME BBS: 704-284-4854 ***
EME NETS
14.345, 10 AM ET SATURDAYS, AFTER VARO NET SUNDAYS:
CONDITIONS
The DUBUS/REF Contest generated plenty of activ-
ity on 70 cm, but conditions were far from ideal. Faraday
was optimum near 90 degs and signal quality was poor much of
the time. I am not sure if the poor copy was due to libra-
tion or atmospheric effects resulting from a recent aurora,
or a combination of both. I found copy especially bad on
Saturday, but not good at any time I was active. Conditions
were better on the microwave bands, but activity there was
down. On 3 cm, no reports of QSOs were received. The low
turnout on the microwave frequencies seems a strong justifi-
cation for a separate microwave EME contest weekend.
DUBUS/REF CONTEST HIGH SCORES: I have very few reports of
high scores on 70 cm, at least not from the so-called "big
guns". From the reports received SM3AKW is in the top stop
on 70 cm with 58x32. Carl also takes the lead on 23 cm with
42x27 from ZS6AXT who reported 38x23 last month. On 13 cm
LX1DB appears to be in the lead with 13x?, and is followed
by Ivo (ZS6AXT) with 10x7 .
AL7OB
Mike was active on 70 cm during the DUBUS/REF and
worked a number of stations. He reports that SM3AKW had a
very strange effect on his signal. It sounded like 2 sepa-
rate signals and he could copy them both. Mike is working on
a 30' dish.
DJ5MN
Bernhard reports on his 23 cm activity for the last
few months (using a 3 m dish and TH327) -- I added initials
with SV1OE, KD5IUV (same as K5JL?), F5PL, W1ZX, K9BCT,
LU8EDR, JF3HUC - TNX to PA3CSG for QSYing to allow me to
complete this QSO, VE6TA, W7SZ and last but not least DK5MV.
On 9 April I worked my brother Mike,
DK5MV, who was using my
old station. Mike is only about 3 m away, so this might be
the world shortest 23 cm EME QSO? I am now up to initials
#75 on 23 cm. I am still missing QSLs from the following
stations: K5JL, KB2AH, N2IQU, DH9FAG, F2TU, SM6CKU and
VE1ZJ. I am also looking for addresses for the following
stations to send them my QSL: KD5IUV, W1ZX, W7SZ, K9BCT and
JF3HUC. Send any info to .
DL7APV
Bern writes I was on for the REF/DUBUS Contest
with my new 8x13 wl 9BV antenna, but I did not get very good
results. The new antenna doesn't work as expected. Most of
the problems are on the mechanical side. The double H Frame
is not stable enough (swings) and the lift system of the
tower makes big trouble. So I decided today to take down the
whole array. My neighbor has a steel welding company and
will help with some parts. I will be QRT for a while, but
hope to be back on in the summer.
G3LTF
Peter's April EME report -- I concentrated solely on
13 cm for the last SW and had the good fortune to work
JA4BLC
for the 1st JA/G QSO on 13 cm and my best DX at 9,397
km. Sadly there was virtually no activity from NA. If anyone
doubts that we could lose this band, they should note that
the UK government is about to collect around $27 Billion for
auctioning a slice of spectrum just below 13 cm. I can now
set my predicted 2320 MHz Doppler very accurately, and simi-
larly set the declination on the polar mount. I then just
turn the HA axis until the echoes appear, this enables me to
find the moon on 13 cm without moon visibility, which I
could not do before. I have about 150 W in the shack, but
only about 70 W at the feed due to my 50 m feed run. Sun
noise is about 17.5 dB with flux of 175. I worked the fol-
lowing, (all are cross-band 2320/2304 unless noted), on 8
April OE9ERC, OE9XXI (2 way on 2320),
ZS6AXT, OK1CA for ini-
tial #16, OZ4MM and HB9SV, and on 9 April JA4BLC #17
(2320/2424), G3LQR (2way 2320).
Heard and called many times
were OH2AXH and LX1DB, presumably not looking on 2320. I
know that W5LUA was on, but I missed him. I have a long list
of things to do to improve the system, but I am pleased to
accept skeds with anyone who wants to try. I can now listen
on all 3 frequency segments, thanks to the kind gift of a
2424 down converter from Yoshi, JA4BLC. I had skeds on 23
cm, but heard nil from JA8IAD, LU8EDR and W1QC. I copied
SV1OE but I don't believe he was hearing me. He was weaker
than when I have heard him before.
F5PAU
Francis submits his European contest results for
1296. He QSO'd on 8/9 March ZS6AXT (579/559), F6CGJ
(569/569), OE9XXI (569/579), OE5EYM (569/569), F1ANH
(569/569), N2IQU (579/569), K5JL (579/579), W2UHI (569/569),
OZ4MM (579/579), SM3AKW (569/569), OZ6OL (559/559), W1QC
(559/449) for iinitial #122, W7SZ (559/559) #123, EA3UM
(559/559), WA9FWD (559/449), OE9ERC (569/579), W7QX (559/O)
#124, W5LUA (569/559), HB9BBD (589/579), JA8IAD (569/449),
S59DCD (559/559), DH9FAG (559/549), IK2MMB (559/559), F5AQC
(549/549), DL6YDH (559/549), KB2AH (569/569), K2UYH
(559/559), K4QI (559/559), VE6TA (559/O), CT1DMK (449/O),
DJ5MN (449/549), HA5SHF (559/O), G3LTF (579/559), F5PL
(569/559), G3LQR (569/549), DK5MV (559/559) #125 and LX1DB
(56/57) on SSB for a score of 37x27.
HA5SHF
Csaba (HA5BGL) group's results in DUBUS/REF EME Con-
test on 1296 -- We worked 11 stations with our new dish, a
3.1 m solid dish by Andrew. QSO'd were on 18 March OE9XXI,
HB9BBD, G3LTF, OE9ERC, F1ANH, SM3AKW and OZ4MM, and on 19
March N2IQU, OE5EYM, F5PAU and LX2DB for an initial.
I5TDJ
Piero's April 432 MHz activity report -- Unfortu-
nately, due to several problems, I have not been able to be
active during the past few months. On Saturday 8 April con-
ditions seemed below normal. Maybe the ionosphere had not
yet recovered from the proceeding day's aurora (WWV A index
was 50). I worked only SM2CEW,
CWNR were DL9KR (yes, Jan)
and SM3AKW. Heard were RW1AW, VK4AFL and N2IQU. On Sunday 9
April conditions seemed better, and I added HB9Q for initial
#112, VK4AFL #113 on sked - good sigs and only 10 minutes to
complete, K1FO, DK3WG, OE5EYM and DL9NDD. CWNR were DL9KR
and K0RZ - not bad for spring conditions.
IK5WJD
Alex sends news that he has retired. As a result he
has a new e-mail address:
Alex, IK5WJD
Please do not use his old address, which is not active anymore.
Alex hopes to now
have more time to devote to his 432 MHz and 10 GHz EME ac-
tivity.
JA4BLC
Yoshiro brings us up-to-date on his EME activity
since Oct I added initials on 432 on 23 Oct with JA8IAD
#255, on 25 Dec with JH1KRC #256, JH0WJF #257, PA0AVS #258
and RA3LE #259, and on 26 Dec AL7OB #260. On 1296, I had
success on 27 Nov with DJ5MN #74 running only 60 W on TX
into a 6 m dish. On 13 cm, I worked on 8 April OK1CA (O/O)
for initial #20, and on 9 April HB9SV (569/559) #21 and
G3LTF (O/O) on 2320/2424 #21. In the Euro EME Contest, as I
had business conflict on March, I was only able to active in
April. I made 10 QSOs on 432 and 8 QSOs on 2304-2424.
JA6AHB
Toshio at e-mail:
Toshia, JA6AHB
reports on his
March and April 70 cm activity -- I worked on 11 March
VVK4AFL, HB9SV, G3HUL, EA3DXU, DL1YMK and LX1DB for initial
#79, heard was DL9NDD, on 12 March N9AB, VK4AFL, DF3RU,
DL8OBU, JH0WJF, JH4JLV, UA6LGH and JR1RCH #80, heard was
WB0GGM, on 17 March JH4JLV and JA5OVU, on 18 March K5WXN,
heard K2UYH, on 8 April K1FO, K5JL #81, K2UYH, AL7OB,
JA4BLC, VK4AFL, W7CNK, JJ1NNJ, W7SZ, DK3WG, SM3AKW, DL9KR,
PA3AVS, UT1PA, G4ERG, OE5EYM, HB9Q #82, SM2CEW #83, F6KHM
#84, DL1YMK, JH4JLV, DL7APV, ON4KNG #85 and EA3DXU, on 9
April N2IQU, VE6TA, KB0VUK #86, JA2TY, DL4MEA, OH2PO,
OE5JFL, OZ6OL, ON5OF, YO2IS, G3HUL, UA6LGH and UA3PTW, on 15
April UT3LL and EA3UM #87, and on 16 April F6HYE #88,
VK4AFL, IK2EAD #89 and OE3JPC, and heard UT3LL and DL8OBU.
K0RZ
Bill reports on his 432 activity since last Nov -- I
QSO'd back on 21 Dec AL7OB for initial #281, W7CNK and W7SZ,
on 15 Jan RA3LE, RW1AW #282 and OZ4MM, on 9 April AL7OB,
DK0TU, DL3EAG #287, partial DL7APV - Bernd reported his fi-
nal flashed over, DL9KR, DL9NDD, EA3DXU, F6KHM #283, G4ERG,
HB9Q #286, K1FO, K5JL, KA0RYT, KB0VUK #285, N9AB, OE3JPC,
OE5EYM, ON4KNG, ON5OF, OZ6OL, RW1AW, S51ZO, S52CW, SM3AKW,
UA3PTW #284, VE6TA, W7BBM, W7CNK, W7GBI and W7SZ. Condx and
activity were good on 9 April.
K7LNP
Pat (DN30xp) reports that he is getting ready to put
Utah back on the 432 EME map. He has 4 x M2 9WL yagis fed
with Cellwave 3/8" Superflex line, a Henry 2004 PA running
at full power and a Michigan Microwave Group LNA. The array
is assembled, but he still has to mount it on his tower. Pat
expects to be full QRV by mid summer. You can reach him by
e-mail at:
Pat, K7LNP
His postal address is (Pat
Schouten, 6970 S. Foxflower Ct, West Jordan, Utah 84084),
tel H 801-963-6528 and W 801-961-3412.
K7XQ
Is now QRV on 432 EME with a small station consisting
of 2 x M2 432-9 WL (like IK5QLO), 8930 PA with 400 W out and
Yaesu FT-847. He hoped to make his 1st QSO during the 2nd part
of the REF/DUBUS Contest, and is available on weekends just
about anytime and between 0500 - 1400 weekdays for skeds. He
can be reached by e-mail at:
K7XQ
His QTH is in
Atwater, CA - grid (CM97qi).
KA0RYT
Ron is now using the stripline amp he had used port-
able from his home. He is running over 1 kW out and worked
18x15 in the DUBUS/REF Contest on 432. QSOs included one
initial with HB9Q. Ron reports calling KE2N and asks did
anyone else hear him around 432.020?
KD5FZX
Mats (x-SM6IKY) is now QRV from his new QTH. He is
using the same equipment as before (5 m Dish, 500 W at VE4MA
feed with polarizer, 4 x 7289 water-cooled PA and MGF 4318D
LNA with 0.25 dB NF). The new QTH has a greatly improved EME
window. Mats has a new e-mail address at:
Mats, KD5FZX
and also a new home address: Mats Bengtsson, 1206 Westminister
Ln, Duncanville, TX 75137.
LX1DB
Willie was QRV on 13 cm during the April part of the
REF/DUBUS Contest. He operated on 2304 expect during his JA
window when he was on 2320 and listen on both 2320 and on
2424. He notes that when he calls CQ on 2304.080, he listens
also around 2304.080, but when he is on 2320.080, he listens
on both 2320.080 and 2424.080. Willy worked 12 stations on
13 cm, but no NA stations were heard.
JA4BLC was very strong
on 13 cm. On 10 GHz he has 1.5 dB of moon noise. He is using
a new dish with many improvements. Willie's e-mail is:
Willie, LX1DB
OE5JFL
Hannes writes -- In the 70 cm part of the DUBUS con-
test I was only on for 2 1/2 hrs. Conditions were quite good
at that time, and I worked 35 stations including HB9Q,
F6KHM, DL1DWI, YU1EV for initials.
Back in March I tried
something very interesting on 23 cm -(similar to the EME
test with a dual-dipole-feed on 70 cm back in Nov.) Recently
I had extended my spare W2IMU horn with a cone and got a
´mouth´ diameter of 1 m with an overall length of 2.3 m. I
use this antenna for checking preamps. From simulation the
gain should be between 20 and 21 dBi; enough to make some 23
cm EME QSOs with it, considering that I can hear the big
guns more than 30 dB out of the noise (in 100 Hz bandwidth).
My big dish has 39 dBi gain. So the 18 ~ 19 dB difference
should still result in 10 ~ 14 dB of signal strength. Echo
testing was successful immediately, both ways (TX dish, RX
horn and vice versa). When I transmitted with the horn, the
signal was even better, because there was only 0.5 db cable
loss. I have 2 dB of loss to the dish. My best echoes were
13 dB, as predicted by my calculation. The DUBUS contest was
a good occasion to try some QSOs. Within 3 hours I worked 10
stations on random with this small antenna. QSO'd were
HB9BBD, OZ4MM, N2IQU, K2UYH, ZS6AXT, SM3AKW, OE9ERC, F6CGJ,
OE9XXI and OE5EYM. A few more replied with QRZ. A highlight
was my QSO with ZS6AXT, who is using only a 5 m dish. There-
fore it should be possible to work a 10 m dish station using
a 0.5 m horn! In another test I found that echoes were still
audible when receiving with the big dish and transmitting
with only 50 Watts at the horn. Although I will prefer to
use my big antenna for EME in the future, I think this was a
nice demonstration of what is possible on 23 cm. For those
interested, I have uploaded pictures and audio files to my
WEB page at
Small Antenna Experiments
on sub-page ´audio
samples´.
OK1CA
Franta was QRV on 13 cm on 8 April -- It was happy
day for me on 2.3 GHz. I worked JA4BLC (O/O) for initial #5
crossband 2304/2424 MHz, plus OE9XXI (569/549) #6, G3LTF
(O/O) #7 2304/2320 MHz, OH2AXH (449/439) #8, ZS6AXT
(449/449), LX1DB (549/449) #9 and W5LUA (559/O) #10. I also
heard OK1KIR, OZ4MM and CWNR HB9SV. I have a new e-mail ad-
dress at:
Franta, OK1CA
for my home and EME QTH.
OK1DFC
Zdeněk writes that he has been very busy and not had
much time for our hobby --
But in April I was able to in-
stall a new feed on my dish. It is new design by OK1CA with
septum polarizer. The advantage by this system is that it
does not require a hybrid for circular polarization. Connec-
tions are directly to the TX and RX ports. I save 1.5 dB in
loss on the RX and TX ports. My Sun noise is now 11.2 dB.
Before the new feed I had only 9 dB of Sun noise. My echoes
seem stronger and clearly. The main beam angle is also
sharper.
I QSO'd on 18 March at 2000 SM3AKW only. On 8 April
I added GW3XYW (559/559), W2UHI (559/559), DF4PV (539/429),
DK7LJ (55/36) on SSB for initial #86 and W6HD (559/559).
ON4KNG
Peter's April 70 cm News -- During the last DUBUS
Contest, I had the pleasure to contact on 432 27 stations in
20 multipliers (SM, DL, HB9, OE, JA, K1, K5, W7, G, EA3,
VE6, K0, PA, K4, ON, RW1, OZ and N9). Initials were made
with HB9Q, JA6AHB, W7BBM, W7SZ, RW1AW, and KB0VUK to bring
me to #144. I operated with my usual equipment consisting of
8 x 32 el (11 wl) opt-9BV yagis with open tubing (6 mm alum)
for phasing lines and a YL1050 power amplifier delivering 1
kW to the antenna.
OZ4MM
Stig says -- I have been a little behind in reporting
to NL, but as spring is coming, I have many projects around
the house. This year it's rebuilding my workshop including
new floors and walls. So little time has been spent at EME
in the last few months. It's a shame not to have been able
to put as much effort in the game as in the previous REF
Contests. Anyway I found time to be on for a few hours in
the 1st part of the contest on 1296 and in the last part on
2304. Sorry to miss 432 this year, but my moon time was so
limited that I decided to concentrate my few hours on 2304
only. In part one on 1296 I worked 39 stations (multi not
known yet). Among the new stations picked up were K9ZZH
(O/M), VE6NA (439/559) and after the contest on 1 April
F6KPF/P (449/569) for initial #165. In the last part I
worked 9 stations on 2304: OK1KIR (449/559), G3LTF
(429/559), ZS6AXT (549/579), HB9SV (569/579), G3LTF
(429/569) to confirm earlier contact, OE9ERC (579/559),
OE9XXI (579/569), LX1DB (569/569), JA4BLC (449/559) and
G3LQR (429/559) to bring me to initial #31. I did not hear a
single NA station during the weekend. I know from the NL
that a few new stations are prepared for 13 cm. I will let
my 2304 feed stay in the dish and would be very interested
in skeds with some of these stations - (K2UYH?). [I'll see
what I can do to get back on this summer.] I am also inter-
ested in skeds for 432 and 1296.
RW1AW
Alex made 26 QSOs with 4 initials including PA0AVS
and HB9Q during the contest in April on 70 cm. He working on
23 cm and should be QRV by June with about 500 w from 2 x
GS31b Cavities. He is getting about 600 w from one cavity
and expects 3 dB of line loss. His dish will be 3.8 m to
start.
S52CW
Uros' group had a good time on 70 cm during the last
part of the REF/DUBUS Contest. They QSO'd DL9KR (twice),
F6HYE, UT3LL, DL8OBU, VE6TA, EA3DXU, RW1AW, K5GW and K4QI
among others.
S57UUU
Marko was QRV on 3 cm for the DUBUS Contest, but
heard nil from anyone else -- I set up my 10 GHz rig on Sat-
urday (8 April) at 0900. The WX was super, 15 deg C, partly
sunny and almost no wind. The hardware worked flawlessly.
Echoes were UFB. The only QRM were the birds singing in the
trees. (Does that qualify as QRN?) But apart from my own
echoes, I didn't hear even a trace of any other signal.
Every half hour or so, I transmitted a couple of periods of
CQs, but with no reply. Did I miss any arrangements about
which day was for 10 GHz or something? At about 1800 I had
to power down because of a spring shower. Thus ZERO QSOs
this time. I felt a little demoralized and I didn't set up
on Sunday.
SM2CEW
Peter writes -- I had a rough winter with plenty of
snow and frequent storms, hence activity has been somewhat
low. Now the WX has improved and I'm able to use the dish
again. I was active on 1296 and worked on 11 March F1ANH,
W5DXL for initial #120 (any info on this station who also
was worked by OE9XXI at the same time), IK2MMB, W2UHI and
OZ6OL, and on 12 March SM3AKW, LX1DB, VE6NA #121, and LU8EDR
#122 and DXCC 28. Both VE6 and LU8 were on random. On 8/9
April in the contest I worked on 432 the following stations:
HB9Q for initial #363, DL9NDD, DL7APV, EA3DXU, JA6AHB,
DL1YMK, F6HKM, SM3AKW, ON4KNG, DL9KR, RA3LE, UT3LL, UA3PTW,
DK3WG, KB0VUK #365, WE2Y, I5TDJ, OH2PO, G3HUL, YO2IS,
OE3JPC, G3SEK, K5JL, K2UYH, ON5OF, DL4MEA, G4ALH, W7GBI,
RW1AW, UA6LGH, PA0AVS, DK3BU, JR1RCH #366, OZ6OL, G4ERG,
S52CW, K1FO, DL8OBU, VE6TA, K9BCT, K4QI, OE5EYM and AL7OB.
About 60-70% of these stations were the same ones I worked
8-10 years ago in the contests, so on one hand it is good to
see some old friends on the band, but also sad to see that
there are so few new stations coming on, at least for con-
testing. Polarization was never aligned H or V during the
time I operated, mostly Faraday was at about 45 degs.
SM3AKW
Carl reports on his contest efforts -- On 23 cm I
made scored 42x27 and on 70 cm 58x32. I also made a few QSOs
on 2 m. QSO'd on 1296, on 8 March at 0013 OE5EYM, 0016 K5JL,
0019 ZS6AXT, 0036 F6CGJ, 0047 OE9XXI, 0053 VE6TA, 0101
OZ6OL, 0114 CT1DMK, 0131 W4AD for an initial (#), 0140
WA9FWD #, 0150 F5PAU, 0221 W7SZ, 0230 K2UYH, 0235 OZ4MM,
0250 F1ANH, 0307 W5LUA, 0316 OE9ERC, 0323 N2IQU, 1647
OK1DFC, 1819 HB9BBD, 1920 JH5LUZ, 2000 G3LQR, 2011 S59DCD,
2026 DH9FAG, 2115 HA5SHF, 2130 IK2MMB, 2138 G4DZU, 2245
F5AQC, 2341 W1QC and 2356 W3XS, and on 9 March at 0013
KB2AH, 0015 W2UHI, 0100 K4QI, 0129 OE5JFL, 1734 JF3HUC, 1743
JA8IAD, 1803, DL0SHF, 1845 EA3UM, 1853 G3LTF, 2035 LX2DB,
2111 DK5MV and 2119 F5PL. QSO'd on 432, on 8 April at 0852
DK3BU, 0900 DK3WG, 0905 UT1PA, 0921 PA0AVS, 0925 JA6AHB,
0930 ON4KNG, 0937 VK4AFL, 0941 DL9NDD, 0955 EA3DXU, 1042
JA5NNS, 1104 JJ1NNJ for an initial (#), 1124 HB9Q #, 1130
JH4JLV, 1138 SM2CEW, 1228 OE5EYM, 1238 OH2PO, 1255 RA3LE,
1304 DL7APV, 1312 YO2IS, 1326, PA3DYN #, 1550 UA6LGH, 1559
F6KHM #, 1619 DL1YMK, 1627 G4ERG, 1636 K5JL, 1640 G3SEK,
1649 UT1PA (dup), 1715 K1FO, 1727 N2IQU, 1737 ON5OF, 1747
W7SZ, 1827 VE6TA, 1838 K2UYH, 1931 DL4MEA, 1942 OE5JFL, 1948
OZ6OL, 1954 W7GBI (569!), 2007 DL9KR, 2026 W7CNK, 2101
W7BBM, 2128 KB0VUK #, 2152 AL7OB, and on 9 April at 0924
RW1AW, 0941 JA4BLC, 1015 JA2TY #, 1250 UA3PTW, 1317 OZ6OL
(dup), 1431 S52CW, 1736 K0RZ, 1820 K4QI, 1828 K9BCT, 1841
UT3LL, 1838 G3HUL, 1848 PA2CSG, 1852 S51ZO #, 1911 KA0RYT,
1941 OE3JPC, 1947 DK0TU, 2039 WA4NJP and 2049 N9AB.
W5LUA
Al made 2 contacts on 13 cm during the 2nd part of the
REF/DUBUS Contest. He connected with OK1CA for an initial
and also worked OE9ERC. He called a few CQs with no answer.
Al also has a QSO on 5760. Al has a new e-mail address at:
Al, W5LUA
W7SZ
Larry spent his time on 70 cm in the 2nd part of the
contest. He worked 14x13 with 3 initials to K5JL, HB9Q and
ON4KNG. He also worked JA6AHB
and others. Larry used a 4 x
42 el cross yagis (21 el each pol) on 70 cm. He is working
on a new 12' dish.
WB4BKC
Andrew plans to be QRV on 1296 on 13 May with the
Georgia Tech 30' dish in Woodbury, GA. He will have 150 W
and be on from moonrise to moonset. Andrew will also try to
be QRV on 70 cm from his new home QTH during the May SW with
an array of 4 x 18FO yagis and an 8938 1.5 kW final.
ZS6AXT
Ivo sends his greetings and reports On Saturday, 8
April, on 13 cm I worked OE9ERC, HB9SV, G3LTF, OE9XXI,
OH2AXH, OK1KIR, OK1CA and OZ4MM. CWNR was JA4BLC. On Sunday,
9 April again on 13 cm, I added JA4BLC and LX1DB. Due to my
short moon window, I missed W5LUA and maybe others. Very
poor participation this year on 13 cm! 20 hours of operation
gave only 10 QSOs. I had good conditions most of the time
with a visible moon, and thus could use my CCTV camera for
moon tracking. My echoes were 559 ~ 569. We really need an-
other microwave EME Contest. I hope that it will be organ-
ized again this year!
K2UYH
I spent my available time during the April SW on 70
cm operating the DUBUS/REF Contest. My time was limited by
family and work commitments, but I was able to put in more
than 6 hours. I found conditions poor, particularly on Sat-
urday. Copy was very difficult for someone with limited CW
ability as myself. Thanks to those who persevered my numer-
ous QRZs. I QSO'd on 8 April at 0030 JH0WJF (O/O) for ini-
tial #625 on sked after several near misses, 0104 JA5OVU
(449/559), 0109 K1FO (569/569), 0116 AL7OB (449/O), 0123
JA6AHB (559/559), 1657 SM2CEW (569/559), 1702 N2IQU
(579.569), 1707 G3SEK (559/449), 1720 DL9KR (579/569), 1730
OE5EYM (569/559), 1735 G4ERG (559/559), 1750 OE3JPC (O/O),
1808 K5JL (579/569), 1815 DL9NDD (569/559), 1830 DL1YMK
(559/559), 1828 SM3AKW (559/559), 2030 G4RGK (559/559), 2042
HB9Q (559/549) #626, 2117 W7GBI (559/559), 2135 ON5OF
(559/559), 2146 W7BBM (559/539), 2157 VE6TA (459/559) and
2216 AL7OB (449/549) dup, and on 9 April at 0143 K4QIF
(559/559), 0217 KB0VUK (O/O), 0224 KA0RYT (O/O), 0232 JA4BLC
(559/559), 0242 JJ1JJN (O/O), 1942 RA1AW (459/559), 1945
W7SZ (o/O), 1955 partial RA3YCR (O/-) lost, 2006 OZ6OL
(459/559) and 2020 S52CW (O/559). I ended with 31x18 and
only wished I had more time despite the frustrating copy. I
was on 1296 on the post SW looking for the French Conference
demonstration station. I had no moon window at the start of
their announced operating period, so I called for about an
hour around 1200 on 1 April, but heard nil except for my own
echoes. This is the problem with open tests. At least a few
activity times in different moon windows should be set.
NETNEWS
G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
F5KDK was QRV on 70 cm in the contest from F1CH's place
(JN23vf).
EA8/LA8LF 3.75 m dish photos can be viewed at:
EA8/LA8LF
K2DH is QRV again on 23 cm, but currently has no 13 cm capa-
bility.
K6IBY is still QRT on the moon, but is working on his 70 cm
array.
K5JL worked 14 stations during the SW/contest on 70 cm. Jay
stayed vertical most of the time. Initials were AL7OB, K6JEY
and W7SZ.
K9BCT worked K1FO on 432 in April.
WE2Y reports that VK4AFL was very strong during the April
contest.
G4RGK is still not QRV, and hopes to get his winter damage
fixed soon.
K0YW is working on the control circuits for the TH-327.
W2UHI was on 23 cm during the April SW and QSO'd CT1DMK,
OK1DFC, DF4PV and DK7LJ on SSB.
NU7Z is now looking for 5760 skeds. He is using 130 W and a
4 m dish. On 6 cm he worked W5LUA, but missed OH2AXH and
still needs CT1DMK.
W6WE is currently QRT on EME, but should be back on in the
near future.
WB0GGM has lost the screen supply to his PA. DL9KR asks if
PA3DYN is the same station as PA0AVS? Jan worked 3 initials
on 70 cm in the contest with YU1IV, F6KMH and HB9Q.
VE4MA now has 16 W on 24 GHz using cascaded TWTs.
DK3WG finished the contest with 38x? on 70 cm. Initials were
F6KHM and HB9Q. Jurgen is looking for QSLs from N2HLT and
W8MQW.
G4ALH reports that he is still QRV on 432 EME.
VE6TA completed the 70 cm part of the DUBUS/REF Contest
with a score of 19x14. He had one initial with S52CW and
heard K9BCT for 2 sequences but then lost him.
WA1DMV in southern NH is interested in 70 cm EME.
SV1BTR hopes to be back on 70 cm in about a year.
W4AD has not been on 23 cm because of overcast skies. He has
only manual moon tracking via a TV camera.
AA2GF at:
AA2GF
is looking for info on a first
class 70 cm preamp design.
FOR SALE
LU8EDR Dany at Dany, is searching for a
LX1214E500X Philips Transistor (1.2-1.4 GHz, 50W CW Class
AB, 11dB Gain) for his 23 cm SSPA.
W5LBT has
an 8938 for sale.
W4TJ has
for sale 8938 tubes (new 88 datecode), an HP-346B
noise head and a GR-1236 IF noise amp. Call Bill at 804-978-
4853 or e-mail to: W4TJ
KA0Y is
looking for an Andrews air flange connector A-406 H,
type 87R for 1 5/8 Heliax. Send info by e-mail to KA0Y
TECHNICAL
This month I have information on a simple digital
elevation indicator discovered by W1GHz. Paul's article ap-
peared in the Feb/March issue of the North Texas Microwave
Society Newsletter (Feed Point). The unit was designed to
give the elevation angle of satellite TV dishes mounted on
trailers (RV/mobile homes). It consists of an angle to digi-
tal encoder and a digital readout unit. Four wires are used
to connect between the encoder and the display unit. The
display unit requires a 12 volt dc source or can be operated
from an internal 9 V battery. There are a number of limita-
tions for EME applications. 1) Its accuracy appears better
than a deg, but it has only 1 degree of precision (i.e.,
only a 2 digit display). This is adequate for most EME sta-
tions up through 1296 except for the largest dishes. With my
28' dish a readout to 0.1 deg would be better, but I can get
by with only 1 deg. 2) A bigger problem is that there is
only about 60 degs of range. I set my unit up so that it
reads out between about 10 and 70 degs. (When out of range
it displays "LL" or "HH".) I can not operate in any direc-
tion much below 10 degs and the moon never gets above 70
degs at my latitude, so this range is adequate for me, but
could be a problem for stations with a wider moon window. (I
also have my analog readout still in operation as a backup.)
To set up the unit, you must set your antenna accurately to
22 deg of elevation and then follow the calibration proce-
dure supplied with the unit. By adjusting the actual angle
of the encoder and re-calibrating (at 22 degs el) you can
achieve any desired 60 deg segment between 0 and 90 degs. 3)
The display stays on for only about a minute, and then a
button must be pushed to re-initiate the display. (This re-
quirement can be eliminated by the addition of some very
simple circuitry.) Despite these limitations this unit is a
quick and relatively inexpensive way of getting an accurate
elevation indicator. The unit costs about $US80. It can be
ordered by calling Stark Electronics in Worcester, MA
at 508-756-7136 and re-
questing a Winegard Model DE-4600 Elevation Sensing Unit.
Final
-- Every year I get requests for ARRL EME Contest results.
The scores are now out. The 70 cm and above related results
are shown at the end of this NL. Congratulations to DL9KR,
K5JL, OH2PO, JL1ZCG, ON5RR, OK1KIR and other winners.
-- RIO 2000 Conference Reminder; time has just about run out
for getting your reservation and digest material in. Please
help by sending your material to Don.
-- Even though there is no contest this month, there is no
shortage of interesting EME related events. WB4BKC will be
putting the big dish at Georgia Tech on 1296 EME on 13 May
see his report. All indications are that the OX2K Greenland
EME Dxpedition on 2 m, 70 cm and 23 cm, reported in last
month's NL is a "go" for 29 May to 5 June. There is also a
chance that Anders, EA/LA8LF may be QRV on 23 cm in May as
well.
-- Last month we asked for comments on the desirability of
distributing the e-mail version in PDF format to allow the
graphics to be included. The responses received have been
all positive. Another possibility suggested was to distrib-
ute the NL as an MS Word file with the graphics embedded.
Would this be a problem for anyone?
--Remember the deadline for DUBUS/REF Contest, log entries
must be postmarked no later than 9 May 2000. Send them to
Joachim Kraft, DL8HCZ, EME CONTEST, Gruetzmuehlenweg 23,22339
HAMBURG, GERMANY or e-mail to: DUBUS Email
Please keep sending the activity and technical reports.
More technical material is critically needed! I hope to CU
off the moon during the SW.
73, Al - K2UYH
SKEDS
6 May
Time 432.040 1296.050 5760.050
0730z OK1DFC-JA6AHB
0800z S52CW -JA6AHB
0830z GM0ONN-JA6AHB
0900z DK3FB -JA6AHB
0930z F5AQC -JA6AHB
1000z G4ALH -JA6AHB
1030z IK5WJD-JA6AHB
1300z DJ5MN -IK6EIW
1600z WD5AGO-DJ5MN
1830z NU7Z -CT1DMK
1900z AL7OB -KB8RQ
2200z AL7OB -K6JEY
2230z VE6TA -K9BCT
2300z VE6TA -KB0VUK
2330z VE6TA -K6JEY
Skeds for MAY 7
Time 432.040 1296.050
0030z JA6AHB-N2HLT
0100z JA6AHB-KA0RYT
0130z JA6AHB-WA9FWD
0200z JA6AHB-W7HAH
0230z JA6AHB-W0KJY
0930z DJ5MN -JA8IAD
1400z G4DZU -DJ5MN
1430z DJ5MN -DC6UW
1600z W1QC -DJ5MN
1630z WA9FWD-DJ5MN
1700z DJ5MN -HB9BHU
1730z VE6NA -DJ5MN
1900z KD4LT -OH2DG
2100z KJ7F -KD4LT
This information was obtained from: Scott, KD4LT
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Rein, W6/PA0ZN
19990615