432 MHz AND ABOVE EME NEWS
DECEMBER 2002 VOL 31 # 13
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: BRIAN MULLANEY, KB2TIS or (609-883-6390)
NETNEWS EDITOR: G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
EME DIRECTORY: DL4EBY/DK0TU, KLAUS TIEDEMANN,
HALSKESTR.35, D-12167 BERLIN, (49-30-7955467), E-Mail:
Klaus Tiedemann.
EME Directory
***E-MAIL LIST COORD: Warren, W2WD ***
EME NETS
14.345, 10 AM ET SATURDAYS, AFTER VARO NET SUNDAYS:
CONDITIONS
The 2002 EME Contest will be remembered for some of
the "Best of times" and some of the "Worst of times":
The unexpected death of W6HD was a shock. The absence of CA from
many logs on 23 and 3 cm is a result of Tay's "silent key"
during the second part of the contest. He was killed in an
aircraft crash on Nov 13th. The engine of his private plane
failed during a routine takeoff. Tay was not only a leading
EMEer, but also a noted microwave engineer and educator. He was
considered the father of Satellite Television. While a professor
at Stanford University, he helped found Chaparral, Inc. and
developed the scalar feed and polar rotator for satellite
reception.
Propagation on 70 cm was reported by many to be some of the
worst ever experienced. I found copy very difficult, yet WA6PY
and DL9KR were able to achieve a truly amazing QSO. Paul was
able to work Jan purely on random using only his dipole - see
WA6PY's report. This contact proves that EME is not limited to
stations having big antennas. It is also a tribute to DL9KR's
operating and technical ability. Jan is a master of detail and
has left no stone unturned to insure that his station is
optimum. But a big signal and a low noise system is not enough
to achieve this one! It also required exceptional operating
skill. It is no wonder that Jan is number one on the initials
list. Congratulations to Paul and Jan. I hope this QSO receives
the recognition it deserves!
Nov also included the first of great significance, the first10
GHz EME QSOs from Asia. JA7BMB worked OK1UWA and F2TU on 3 cm -
see Hiroshi's report.
HIGH COTEST SCORES: Unfortunately I cannot give a full picture
of big gun scores as many are missing. This may be due to poor
showings resulting from this year's WX and conditions. At the
end of the first leg OH2PO had a strong lead on 70 cm with
62x31, but has not reported his final score. In the mean time
DL9KR has moved up to 77x32 and is likely the leader. He is
followed by DJ5NV with 71x31. On the other side of the world
VK3UM has made a very impressive showing with 58x30. On 1296
HB9BBD reports the top score with 63x29 followed by OZ6OL with
56x27, F2TU 51x26 and HB9Q 50x24. From Asia JA6ABH reports
26x16. On 2.3 GHz OZ4MM reports 10x10 followed by F2TU with
10x9. On 10 GHz W5LUA leads with 9x8 followed by F6KXS with 9x7
and F2TU with 7x6. Philippe also reports 4x3 on 6 cm.
EME Directory Survey: Klaus, DL4EBY has
been circulating a survey in an attempt to update the EME
Directory. It took 400 emails with nearly 80% replies and lots
of time. The result can be found on his Website at:
DL4EBY
If there are any EMEers that read the
Newsletter, but didn't received a request for an update from
him, please email Klaus, and also to W2WD
if your email address has changed. Klaus
sends his thanks for your help with this project, but we all
must thank Klaus for all that he has done for EME as a Sked
Coordinator in the past and his work on the EME directory!
AA5C
Greg writes -- I was saddened to hear of the death of
W6HD. We had worked on 10 GHz EME several years ago and
maintained an email dialog on TWTs. He was very much a learned
gentlemen and had my utmost respect. He will be missed. In prep
for the contest I tried several different preamps for 10 GHz. I
have issues with low level out of band oscillations when
connecting the preamps to the waveguide transition. I was not
able to do better than my original configuration. My sun noise
is holding at 12 dB and with 1 dB of moon noise.
CT1DMK
Luiz was on 10 GHz exclusively, but had problems because
his moon window is limited at very high moon declinations. The
moon is too high for Luis. He tried to call WA7CJO about 5
minutes before he lost the moon without success. He ended with a
total of 5x4.
DF4PV
Gunter reports on his 23 cm contest
activity -- Very strong winds in the first part of the EME
contest and QRL every weekend prevented me from making a lot of
contacts. I also still have some tracking problems, which I hope
to solve next spring. I ended with 45 QSOs. In Oct HS2JFW
visited me to get some impressions about EME. It was able to
give him a nice demonstration of 23 cm echoes with only 500 mW
in WSJT. He was very motivated to try 2m EME, and with HS2CRU
and others made the first EME contacts from Thailand with W5UN
and KB8RQ! [How about 70 or 23 cm?]
DK3WG
Jurgenoperated on 144 and 432 in the EME
contest as usual. He plans to send in a contest only check log
because of the bad WX conditions this year. On 432 he worked on
sked OK1DIG (539) for initial #389.
DL4KG
Gerald's EME newsletter report --
Weather was cooperative for the 2nd leg of ARRL contest. I
worked 3 hours in the first pass (NA window) and 4 hours in the
second pass (JA window and a short time in NA window).
Unfortunately my time was limited by a local exhibition, which I
had to attend on Sunday. But I was pleased by 16 QSOs in this
short time. I worked on 432 DJ5NV, K2UYH, W7CI, OH2PO, UA3PTW,
DL9KR (moving my S-meter to 579/589, normally the meter on the
TS-2000 does not move!), HB9Q, DJ3FI, F6KHM, VK3UM, HB9JAW for
initial #79, DF3RU, JL1ZCG #80, PA3CSG, SM2CEW and finally
DL7APV for a score of 16x11. I called N9AB many times for long
periods, but he never came back. Also heard were G3LQR, DJ6MB,
DL1YMK and HA1YA. I did not hear some big ones like K1FO, N2IQ,
OE5JFL and OE5EYM... My equipment was Kenwood TS-2000, GS-23B PA
with 700 W at the feed, and ATF36077 and CF300 (second stage in
shack) preamps. The antenna is still 4x29 el DJ9BV array with
coax feed. I wanted to change to open tube feeder, but WX didn't
permit. Everything is ready, so I will get the job done in the
spring. See my web page at www.qsl.net/dl4kg for more details.
DL5LF
Frank's (JO54af) contest news -
Conditions seemed poor, and only one US station was heard on 70
cm during the Nov contest weekend. Signals from known stations
were found weaker than usual, as in the 1st leg. I only heard
OH2PO every time with a really good signal. I heard DL9KR on 23
Nov loud, but on the 24th his signal was not nearly as readable.
I had a partial QSO with DJ5NV, but did not receive his 'R'.
There was only one new this weekend, HB9Q. His signal was very
weak, but they copied me on my first call. I also heard DL7AVP
really strong, but he vanished. The WX was foggy and rainy, 4
deg C, but improved on Sunday afternoon when I heard JL1ZCG and
N9AB, and CWNR OE5JFL. My station is a single 8 wl yagi with 800
W PA and a 0.4 dB NF LNA.
DL7APV
Bernd reports that his station didn't worked very well
this time around -- After missing the first leg of the contest
because of the storm, this time I had hoped for better luck...
But on Saturday morning I had wet feed lines with high SWR and
on Sunday night at 0200 my HV transformer gave up and 10 minutes
later my TR-7 stopped working. As a result I went to bed after
only 20 QSOs. The HV transformer is now replaced and I am
working on fixing the TR-7. Contest conditions were mixed, but
activity was less then last year.
DL7UDA
Dietmar's report for the 2nd leg ARRL
EME contest -- I was QRV on Saturday from 0200 to 0800 and 1900
to 2300 and Sunday from 0200 to 0800. WX here was bad. On
Saturday there was heavy rain and on Sunday 100 percent
humidity. I also feel the conditions were bad. I worked only
DL9KR (449/549) and DJ5NV (O/O). Heard were OH2PO, HB9Q, DL7APV,
HA1YA, N9AB, K1FO, VK3UM, OE5JFL and DL5LF? Because of the bad
condx and activity, I checked my rig with JT44 echo mode with
results ranging from -32 to -19 dB. It looks like I will not be
QRV for the Dec SW because of visitors, but will be active in
the future and are interested in skeds.
EA8/LA8LF
Ander's report his 23 cm dxpedition
from EA8 - I was somewhat disappointed by activity on 23 cm the
weekend prior to the contest. I made only 1 initial and worked
all the stations I could hear. QSO'd on Saturday 16 Nov were
G3CCH, G3LTF, ZS6AXT and OZ6OL. On Sunday 17 Nov I worked G3LTF,
SM2CEW, OZ6OL, K5GW, K0YW, K5GW, K5JL, N2IQ and WA6PY for my
initial #. I thought everybody QRV on 23 cm EME, which were not
worked when I was QRV in Oct 2000 would be very anxious to work
me before the contest. I did do reasonably well in the contest.
I contacted on Saturday G4CCH, HB9BBD #, DF4PV #, ZS6AXT, OZ6OL,
F2TU #, IK2MMB #, OK1CA #, N2IQ, KA0Y #, W2UHI, K5JL, HB9Q,
OE9XXI, G3LTF, K0YW, N7AM #, K2UYH, W7BBM #, OE5JFL, DL4WUP #,
OE5EYM # and HB9SV, and on Sunday GW3XYW #, G3RQG # [?], KU4F #,
W7SZ #, F5HRY #, SM2CEW, F6CGJ #, DJ9YW, OE9ERC, JH5LUZ # and
JA6AHB #. My score was 34x18 and my initial total from EA8 is
now 47. I could hear weakly several small stations calling me,
but due to a local continuous FSK signal centered at 1295.998
with several harmonics every 3 kHz up the band and a noise floor
2-3 dB above sky noise, I had difficulties copying small
stations. At 1296.015 kHz, I measured on the following Monday
15.2 dB of Sun noise and 4.1 dB CS/G. At 1296.500 I measured 6.3
dB CS/G noise and 17.8 dB Sun noise. The Island of Lanzarote is
usually a windy place, and so it also was during the contest.
But my HB developed linearAZ drive using an 18" screw jack and a
large garage door spring took care of this problem. More details
can be found at www.qsl.net/LA8LF. I also want to make clear
that I am not connected with EA8FF. He resides on the Island of
Tenerife. I will not be QRV from EA8 on 23 cm for some years,
maybe never. I will bring my 40 kG HPA back to Norway on 29 Nov
plus all the other 1296 gear. Left will be the dish taken off
the mast, the feed stored inside the house as well as the tower.
Maybe I will try 13 cm EME in the European EME contest next
spring, but I am not for sure. I hope to be QRV again from
Norway on 23 cm soon.
F2TU
Philippe's reports on his contest results and
the 1st 10 GHz QSO between France and Japan - On 24 Nov I worked
at 2230 JA7BMB (M/M) on 10.4501 GHz for initial #26 and DXCC 14.
We also tried on 10.450 to 10.368, but had dispersion > 100 Hz.
In the EME Contest I ended on 70 cm with 26x17 and one initial
with F5FLN for #231, on 23 cm with 51x26 and initials with
DL8OBU #188, EA8/LA8LF #189 and N2UO #190, on 13 cm 10x9, on 6
cm 4x3, and on 3 cm 7x6. My overall total was 98x6 all with the
same dish and single operator.
F6KSX
J-Jacques (F1EHN) reports on his
group's 3 cm contest log -- The F6KSX EME group was active on 10
GHz during both legs of the ARRL EME Contest. Our activity was
good only during the Eur/NA windows. All QSOs were made on
random activity (no skeds!) with good reports. We contacted on
26 Oct at 0455 W5LUA (549/O), 0530 WA7CJO (569/549), 0535 I5PPE
(O/O), 0710 CT1DMK (O/O) and 0855 OK1UWA (549/559), on 27 Oct at
0425 I4TTZ (539/O) for initial #38 and 0830 F2TU (M/O), on 23
Nov at 0425 WA7CJO (569/549) dup and 0715 PA0EHG (O/O) #39, and
on 24 Nov at 0420 I4TTZ (539/519) dup, 0500 I5PPE (O/O) and 0610
OK1CA (559/M). CWNR were DK7LJ on SSB, IK2RTI, DJ5MN and HB9BHU.
We ended with a score of 9x7 for 6,300 points and 2 initials.
The operators were F1EHN, F6DLA and F6ECX. Our station consisted
of a 3.3 m dish with vertical polar and automatic tracking with
the F1EHN EME System, 50 W TWTA with 40 W at the horn and a 0.7
dB NF LNA. We received about 16 dB of sun noise and 2 dB of moon
noise. We were pleased by all the random activity. We feel the
current contest rules damage activity on the microwave bands by
promoting skeds and not encouraging random activity. It is now
probably the right time to modify the rules (reward the random
QSO and separate the bands to improve the random activity). We
believe there should be separate contest weekends for different
bands. Because the number of active stations on microwave bands
is still low, perhaps 2 separate weekends might be a good
compromise. For example there could be one weekend for 2.3 and
10 GHz and the other for 5.7 GHz and 24 GHz. F6KSX will not be
active during the winter period because we have not permanent
electricity at our station. We have removed the RX/TX to protect
and improve the system for the next year.
G3LTF
Peter had a little better luck
with WX in Nov -- It was a relief to have no wind during the
weekend, but the rain tested the waterproofing and feed changing
wasn't pleasant. Activity was up and I added considerably to my
score for the multiband entry. Conditions were quite variable
and there were definitely periods when 23 cm exhibited
absorption probably as much as 2 dB. One could observe this
easily on the weaker signals. 70 cm conditions also varied with
polarization changing between well defined and spread.
Conditions and activity were particularly good on the final leg
on Sunday evening. On 13cm there was more activity than last
year, but several regulars were missing. I worked the following
stations on 432 on 23 Nov DJ5NV, S52CW, HB9JAW, OK2BDQ for
initial #359, DL9KR, UA3PTW, K1FO, G4RGK, DF3RU, RA3LE, N9AB,
OK1DIG #360, OH2PO, K4EME, K2UYH, K0RZ, DJ3FI, F2TU, F6KHM,
HB9Q, SM2CEW and K5WXN, and on 24 Nov KJ7F #361, W7CI, OH2PO,
S51ZO, VE6TA and HA1YA, and on the final pass VK3UM, EA3DXU,
DL7APV, F5FLN, JA4BLC, JA6AHB, G3LQR, I5CTE, G4ALH, DK3WG and
DB6NT #? - checking. Heard were OE5EYM, CWNR was F/ON5FF, K9SLQ,
DL1YMK and SP6JLW for a total of 39x22. I worked on 1296 on 23
Nov W2UHI, K5JL, DF4PV, HB9BBD, KA0Y, N2IQ, OK1CA, ZS6AXT, N2UO,
HA5SHF, W7SZ, EA8/LA8LF, WA4NJP, I0UGB, ON5RR, JH5LUZ, OE5EYM,
HB9SV, HB9BHU, DF3RU, DL1YMK, JA6AHB and G3LQR, and on 24 Nov
GW3XYW, W9IIX, W7BBM, W7SZ, PA3CSG, F5HRY, SM2CEW, F6CGJ and
OZ6OL. Heard was OE9ERC and CWNR was JA6CZD for a total of
48x23. Contacted on 2320 on 23 Nov were W5LUA, F2TU, OZ4MM,
OE9XXI, JA4BLC and LX1DB - all crossband except OE9. CWNR were
OH2AXH, OK1CA, DK7LJ on SSB and WA6PY. Missing those 4
multipliers really hurt! My total was 6x6. I also had one QSO on
2 m, so I did manage to work 4 bands again.
G4RGK
Dave had the 1st contest weekend wiped out due to the
storms that blew through Eur -- The 2nd weekend was better, but
activity was much lower than in previous years with very few
North American stations worked. The station for once performed
without any problems. Some stations seemed to have problems
hearing. I called K2UYH for 25 mins just getting QRZ back, and
like wise EA3DXU. Stations worked from here were: OH2PO, DF3RU,
K0RZ, N9AB, F6KHM, K5GW, DL9KR, JL1ZCG, DJ5NV, HB9JAW, K1FO,
G3LTF, I5CTE, UA3PTW, RA3LE, HB9Q, S52CW, OK1DIG, VK3UM, DL7APV,
SM2CEW, DJ6MB, HA1YA, F5FLN, OE5EYM, DK3WG and ON5OF. CWNR were
K4EME, K9SLQ, F2TU, DL1YMK, WA6PY and EA3DXU. Heard but not
called were VE6TA, PA3CSG, G4ALH, G3LQR and JA6AHB.
HB9BBD
Dominique's ARRL Contest
results -- My final score is 63x29 on 23 cm. Conditions seemed
fine, this in contrast to some other observations. Many regulars
were missing; no CT, LX and very few SM, PA and ON were heard.
The rig was doing fine, so I really enjoy the contest. My
initials count went up to #187 tnx to JH1EFA. Also note that I
will be in Dayton in May and be looking forward to seeing many
of the EME gang.
HB9Q
Dan's group (HB9CRQ) was disappointed by
their Oct results, but improved stations worked and RX in Nov --
We finished the contest on 432 with 57x28 and on 1296 50x24. Our
full EME Contest Logs for 144, 432 and 1296 MHz can be found on
our homepage at www.hb9q.ch. During the first leg of the contest
we had a RX problem on 1296 MHz. After the contest we found out
that our sun-noise was only 15 dB. It used to be at approx. 22
dB before. HB9BBD helped us to optimize our 1296 MHz RX before
the second leg of the contest. The result is great. We now have
25 dB of sun noise, 3 dB more then Ever before! We used a HB9BBD
designed and built preamp. For more detail see www.hb9bbd.ch. We
are very thankful to Dominique for his help.
I5PPE
Pietro, I5PPE and Alex, IK5WJD operated 10
GHz during the EME Contest -- We worked on 26 Oct WA7CJO
(559/569), F6KSX (O/O), W5LUA (549/559), CT1DMK (O/O) and OK1UWA
(559/559), and on 27 Oct I4TTZ (529/549), on 23 Nov WA7CJO
(569/579)- dup and OK1UWA (O/O) dup, and 24 Nov I4TTZ (529/559),
F6KSX (O/O), HB9BHU (O/O), F2TU (O/O), PAOEHG (559/559) and
W5LUA (559/569) dup for a total of 14x8 in the contest. We have
noted a remarkable level of activity despite the bad WX in Eur
with never-ending rain and wind. We are very satisfied with our
results. We reached initial #21 during the contest. We also now
have made 45 EME QSOs since 1999 on 10 GHz band with our 3 m
dish.
JA6AHB
Toshio had good WX, but found
conditions not very good with much QSB -- I was able to work
K1FO in both my west and east windows on 23 Nov. I QSO'd on 70
cm on 27 Oct 0037 OE5EYM (559/559), 0042 UA3PTW (559/559), 0056
HA1YA (559/559), 0104 OH2PO (579/559), 1524 K1FO (569/559), 1534
N9AB (569/569), 1540 JL1ZCG (569/549), 1549 VK3UM (559/549),
1558 K5WXN (439/559), 1623 VK4AFL (449/559), 1631 K0RZ
(449/559), 2255 EA3DXU (O/O), 2313 RA3LE (539/539) and 2336
JH4JLV (549/449), on 23 Nov at 0005 K1FO (559/549), 0012 DL9KR
[?], 1208 JJ1NNJ (339/449), 1223 JA2TY (559/449), 1311 K1FO
(569/449), 1424 JH0WJF (559/559), 1450 VE6TA (549/449), 2127
DJ5NV (579/579), 2135 HB9Q (559/439), 2210 SM2CEW (559/559),
2215 DF3RU (569/559), 2225 DL7APV (559/559), 2241 OK2BDQ (O/O),
2258 F5FLN (559/559) and 2307 DJ3FI (559/449), and on 24 Nov at
1518 K9SLQ (O/O), 2212 DL9KR (589/579) [for sure], 2238 S52CW
(559/559), 2244 G3LTF (559/559), 2310 F2TU (559/559) and 2322
DK3WG (559/559) for 32x19. On 1296 I worked on 26 Oct at 0014
OZ6OL (559/559), 0022 HB9BBD (579/569), 0031 G4CCH (569/559),
0103 OE9ERC (589/569), 1434 K0YW (559/559), 1445 KU4F (569/449),
1455 K5GW (569/569), 1500 VE6TA (O/O), 1515 K5JL (579/569), 1522
N7AM (559/459), 1558 W7BBM (549/559), 2220 DL4MUP (O/O), 2234
OE9XXI (579/569), 2316 IK2MMB (559/549), 2329 DK0ZAB (449/439),
2344 HB9Q (579/429) and 2353 DF4PV (579/579), on 27 Oct at 1359
KA0Y (569/559), 1439 K2UYH (O/O) and 1450 W5LUA (559/559), on 23
Nov 2338 GW3XYW (559/559), 2349 ZS6AXT (559/569), 2353 G3LTF
(559/559), 24 Nov at 0004 F2TU (579/559), 1355 KA0Y (569/569) -
dup, 1403 N2IQ (569/569), 1422 WA6PY (O/O) and EA8/LA8LF (O/O)
for 26x16, or a total on 70 and 23 cm of 58x35.
JA7BMB
Hiroshi has become the 1st JA station to become QRV on 3
cm. He operated on 10.450 GHz during the 2nd Part of the ARRL
contest and made 2 QSOs. His 1st contact was with OK1UWA (M/O)
and his 2nd with F2TU (M/M). He also tried working F2TU on
10.450/10.368 GHz but was not sure of the final Rs. Besides 10
GHz, Hiroshi was on 2.424 GHz and worked W5LUA (549/559) on
2.304 GHz. He heard JA4BLC on 2.424 GHz and 10 other stations.
He CWNR OK1CA, ZS6AXT and G3LTF on 2.304 GHz and 2.320 GHz.
Hiroshi reports that his echoes were 10 dB weaker than those of
JA4BLC, but still at a reasonable level.
JJ1NNJ
Seki's Nov ARRL contest report -- I
worked on 70 cm on 23 Nov JH4JLV (O/O), JA6AHB (449/339), K1FO
(459/439), VK3UM (559/449), JL1ZCG (579/449), OH2PO (O/O), DL9KR
(O/O), HB9JAW (O/O) for initial #77, PA3CSG (559/449), DJ5NV
(O/O) and HB9Q (449/339), and on 24 Nov UA3PTW (O/O), DF3RU
(O/O), DL7APV (O/O) and OE5EYM (O/O) for a total of 15x9. Condx
were unstable and caused many CWNRs. I was not QRV in Oct. My
station is 16 x 13 el yagis LR with 250 W and FHX35LG LNA.
K1JT
Joe writes -- Many thanks to all who have sent reports and
screen images with examples of successful use of the EME Echo
mode in WSJT. In my shack, and evidently in many others, this
new tool has already established itself as a very useful way of
evaluating station performance. Results seem to be excellent up
through 432 MHz. At 1296 MHz and above, you must compensate for
most of the predicted Doppler shift as follows: 1. Enter 1296
(or whatever) in the "Freq MHz" box in Setup | Options. 2. Check
the predicted Doppler shift, say X Hz. 3. Enter a round number
close to X in the RIT box. 4. Put that same offset X into your
receiver tuning, relative to the transmitter frequency you will
be using. 5. Then hit Auto Mode On to start running. I would be
most interested to hear of successful echo tests on 1296 MHz and
above. Several small bugs have shown up and have been fixed.
More importantly, a few people using older and slower computers
have reported that echo mode does not work properly on their
machines. Although the program seems to cycle through TX and RX
periods, they never see any gray and red curves or any text
displaying echo measurement results. I have now been able to
reproduce this problem on an old 100 MHz Pentium that I keep in
the shack, so I should be able to diagnose the problem as soon
as I get some time to work on it. I do not think that it should
be impossible for Echo mode to run on a machine as slow as 100
MHz -- but I have not yet proven this hypothesis. The Doppler
calculation in WSJT needs to be made more accurate. There is no
reason why echoes should not always come back at DF = 0, at
least within the measurement uncertainty. Please keep the
reports coming in, and be patient in waiting for the needed
improvements! For complete details of the echo mode see:
JT44 Echo Mode
K4EME
Cowles reports not a good ARRL Contest on 70 cm -- Copy
was not good and I had to replace a preamp the 2nd night. The 1st
night I worked 5, but did have an initial with HB9JAW. I only
added only 2 more stations the last night (HA1YA and K2UYH). I
was hoping to work some JAs, but my noise level came up too high
to copy. I worked more in one night last year than the whole
contest this year.
K7XQ
Jeff is making improvements to his 23 cm
system -- I have a LT-23S on the way that I will use with my HF
rig for improved 1296 RX performance. My old Icom-1271A did not
seem to work very well for EME. The 23 cm system is 3.1 M Dish
and 200 W on TX. I have also optimized my 1296 dish and am
running tests with K5JL. Jay has been a great help. I have not
completed a QSO on 1296, but hope to soon. On 70 cm I have
completed 5 initials with 2 x 9 wl yagis (soon 4 x 9 wl yagis)
and 800 W. My web page is at:
K7XQ's WEB Page
[Jeff has since completed
a 1296 QSO with K5JL].
K9SLQ
Wayne shares his contest frustration over the very bad 70
cm conditions that many of us experienced this year -- I throw
this report on the table because sometimes it helps others to
share the bad along with the good. Like Bob Dole, I think I have
EME dysfunction seemingly unable to get it up during a contest
weekend. This was my 2nd ARRL contest. I had twice the antenna,
500 W more power (16 FO-22s and 1.5 kW) and a 10 x better
receiver than last year, but only made 3 contacts the 1st night.
Last year I had 9 contacts at this time. I ended with a pitiful
15 contacts. On a more pleasant note I would also like to
announce that next summer I will also be joining the 1296 ranks
as K9ZZH Dick has generously given me his 5.5 m dish antenna
system. It was delivered during the night and my wife has not
noticed it stacked behind my shack yet, so I am still alive to
publicly thank him. My TNX to W9IIX who helped arrange the
exchange.
KL7HFQ
Roger reported working on 70 cm on 1 Dec VK4AFL (O/O)
and running with K9SLQ with nil results. Roger is not sure if
will be around for the Dec SW.
LX1DB
Willie was only on in the contest for a few hours. Bad WX
the first weekend and work the second weekend limited his
operating time. The bad WX has slowed his progress, but he will
have a new dish for 24 GHz on soon. He will use on both 10 and
24 GHz.
N2UO
Marc was active in the 2nd part of the
contest on 1296 using only 2 x 7289s -- I was only able to
operate on Saturday for a couple of hours. On Sunday, I had
N0YMV visiting, for his first EME experience and we didn't pay
too much attention to the contest, but we worked a few more
stations anyway. The total with 90 W and my 10' dish was 12
stations (HB9BBD, HB9Q, N2IQ, KA0Y, K5JL, W2UHI, G4CCH, F2TU,
G3LTF, K0YW, K2UYH and OE9XXI). I am still working on a 2 x GI7B
amplifier. I finished the first cavity, and right now I am in
the process of testing it.
OK1CA
Franta reports on the 2nd leg of ARRL EME
Contest -- I was active on Saturday morning on 23 cm and I
worked 9 stations with initials from EA8/LA8LF #101 and a new
country for first OK-EA8 on 23 cm, and F5HRY #102. I worked on
13 cm on Saturday evening JA4BLC, F2TU, LX1DB and DK7LJ (55/549)
for initial #19 - very good SSB signal. I QSY to 3 cm on Sunday
morning, but I worked only F6KSX (559/M) and CWNR PA0EHG. I
heard OK1UWA, F2TU, I4TTZ, I5PPE, WA7CJO and W5LUA. I
consistently heard my own echoes on 10 GHz with only 12 W out.
OK1DFC
Zdenek was not on during the second leg of the ARRL
contest. His AZ readout was broken and could not be repaired in
time. He may be QRV in Dec, but due to his move there is still a
lot to be done. A 5 m mast is being constructed for a 10 m dish
to be used from his new QTH in JN79fw - about 20 km south of
Prague. Zdenek hopes to have the dish on in the spring.
OK2BDQ
Ivo in JN99hq was active in the 2nd leg of the ARRL EME
Contest on 432. He used a new antenna system consisting of 4 x
28 el yagis designed by OK2ZZ, GS35b PA at 1 kW and MGF1302
preamp with a 0.4 dB NF. Ivo QSO'd on 22 Nov DL9KR, G3LTF for
initial #27, OH2PO, UA3PTW and DJ5NV, and on 23 Nov VK3UM,
DF3RU, OK1DIG #28, RA3LE #29, PA3CSG, HA1ZA #30, DL7APV, JL1YCG
#31 and SM2CEW, and on 24 Nov K1FO, HB9JAW #32, HB9Q and F2TU.
[Tnx OK1CA for forwarding this report.]
ON5FF
Dirk's contest report follows -
The first part of the contest I operated 70 cm with the help of
ON7WP and ON4CDF. We used my 16 23 el FlexaYagis with coax feed
and 1.6 kW from Belgium (JO21ff). QSO were on 26 Oct 0331 HB9Q
(432/449), 0356 K2UYH (559/O), 0407 K1FO (559/569), 0422 OH2PO
(579/579), 0542 DF3RU (O/O), 0910 K5GW (559/559), 2120 JL1ZCG
(559/O), 2130 DL9KR (569/579), 2140 VK3UM (559/569), 2148 DJ5NV
(569/569), 2237 SM2CEW (559/559) and 2347 DF3RU (559/559), and
27 Nov 0108 HB9JAW (559/559), 0118 HA1YA (559/559), 0317 N9AB
(559/559), 0410 K4EME [?] (559/559) and 0557 K5GW (559/579) for
a score of 15 x 12 = 18,000 points. There was a storm on Sunday
27 Oct with hurricane force winds of 130 km/h and much damage.
Luckily I cranked the tower down at moonset that morning. I was
not active on my moonrise that evening as it was still too
windy! Nothing was damaged on my antennas, but my neighbor's
roof went flying away. The second weekend I operated alone from
France as F/ON5OF with the 8 x 11 wl BV open feed yagis and 600
W in (JN33mr). I QSO'd on 23 Nov at 0317 K1FO (O/O), 0318 DL9KR
(569/569), 0323 OH2PO (569/569), 0324 DJ5NV (559/569) and 2246
HB9Q (549/O), and on 24 Nov at 0045 HB9JAW (449/O), 0529 S52CW
(O/O), 0555 OH2PO (O/O) dup, 0827 heard N9AB, 0828 heard OE5JFL,
0847 N9AB QRZ, 2202 DL7APV (559/O), 2303 F5FLN (559/O), 2345
UA3PTW (O/O) and 2353 G4RGK (O/O) for a score of 11x8 = 8,800
points. I found very low activity compared to other years. It
seems that everybody is moving to 23 cm or on JT44? In Nov the
first night I had good visibility, but the second night I had
high winds and it was difficult to keep the antennas on the
moon. Has anybody a readout pot mechanism for a chain driven
elevation motor?
OM6AA
Rasto is a new EME enthusiast -- I am
using 3m solid dish with 0.29 f/d, VE4MA feed horn, quadrature
hybrid, YD1270 PA with 150 W from about 10 m of 7/8" and 5 m of
1/2" coaxial cable. On RX I have a 0.5 dB NF LNA with ATF 36077.
I was hearing HB9BBD, HB9Q, KA0Y, OE9ERC, OE9XXI, F2TU and W7SZ
during first part of ARRL contest. I was then not quite ready
for transmission, and was looking forward to the second part,
but strong gusting wind broke my azimuth gearbox a week before.
I took the drive apart and turned the antenna manually. I
received HB9BBD, HB9Q, HB9SV, G3LTF, ON5RR, F2TU, G4CCH, K5JL,
KU4F, OE9ERC and OE9XXI, but am sorry to write that I was not
able to establish a QSO. One problem was that I did not
appreciate the Doppler's shift affect and I was calling stations
on the same frequency as I was receiving them. I have parked my
dish for the winter, but I will try again in the spring.
OZ4MM
Stig was on 13 cm during the ARRL
Contest -- I have been very busy with my house and was only able
to spend a little time in the contest. As a consequence I
decided to only participate on 2304. I had hoped for better
activity this year, but apparently only a few stations put in
the extra effort to change their feed to 2304 during the
contest. 10 stations were worked here. Unfortunately my 2424
receiver was broken and I couldn't work to JA. I QSO'd on 26 Oct
at 0610 F2TU (549/569) and 0621 OK1CA (539/559), on 27 Oct at
0632 ES5PC (O/O), on 23 Nov at 0454 W5LUA (559/569), 0524 WA6PY
(429/559), 0552 G3LTF (449/559), 0626 DK7LJ (54/54) for initial
#42, 2016 LX1DB (569/559), 2038 OH2AXH (549/559) and 2124 OE9XXI
(569/569) for a score of 10x10.
OZ6OL
Hans was QRV on 23 cm in the second part
of the contest - I was on full time and did the best I could! I
worked DF4PV, ZS6AXT, EA8/LA8F, HA5SHF, W4AD, DL1YMK, W9IIX,
OE5EYM, PA3CSG, JH5LUZ, OE5JFL, HB9BHU, ON5RR, F5HRY, G3LQR,
GW3XYW, WA4NJP, DF3RU, OZ4MM, F6CGJ and LX1DB for an overall
score of 56x27. I was using a new IF xtal Q multiplier I
constructed on 10.7 MHz. I can get 100 Hz BW with nearly no
"ringing", so after a short time I switched my DSP off and went
back on analog processing only.
PA0EHG
Hans writes about IRAU action on a 24
GHz EME freq -- I just found out that during the IARU region 1
conference last Nov a decision was made to move narrowband
activity on 24 GHz from 24,192 to 24,048 MHz. I would like to
know what the worldwide EME frequency will be after this
decision. If the EME frequency stays on 24,192 MHz, than I don't
want to move to 24,048 MHz, even for the normal tropo work. I
don't know if IARU region 1 has taken any steps to coordinate
this decision to become a worldwide EME frequency. I am very
interested in learning how other 24 GHz EMEers feel about this
action? I was QRV on 10 GHz EME during the recent contest. PA5DD
did most of the operating because I am not a very experienced CW
operator. We managed to make 7 QSOs all on random. 5 of these
were initials. We had some problems with HB9BHU who we copied as
"HK9KHU" as first. After listening to the audiotapes we realized
our mistake. There are audio recordings from all our QSOs on my
web page at:
PA0EHG's WEB Page
We heard
several other stations, and CWNR OK1KIR and DK7LJ on SSB. We
missed F2TU who copied us and CT1DMK because the moon elevation
was too high for him. I hope to be more active with the help of
PA5DD, who did a great job as our CW operator.
RA3LE
Valeri was active on 70 cm in the contest and added
initials with HB9Q, OK2BDQ and HB9JAW to bring him to initial
#175.
SM2CEW
Petet writes -- The second leg of the
contest treated us with calm but cold weather and a light
snowfall. But what really caused problems was the aurora that
created a lot of QSB and Faraday rotation. 144 MHz was
especially badly affected by this. As usual I did not burn the
midnight oil, the old body is too tired these days, but I had
good fun in the contest and found activity quite decent. I think
we will have to accept somewhat lower scores on each band as
people sure spread out more among all EME bands these days. So,
rather than complain I am thankful for all the contacts made and
the enhanced activity that the EME contest produces. The
following stations were worked on 432: VK3UM, DL9KR, DF3RU,
HB9Q, JL1ZCG, ON5OF, DJ5NV, UA3PTW, OH2PO, K5GW, OE5EYM, HB9JAW,
K5WXN, HA1YA, DJ3FI, SM3BYA, SP6JLW, UA6LGH, S52CW, N9AB,
EA3DXU, F6KHM, DL1YMK, G3LTF, SK0CC, DL4KG, DJ6MB, DL7APV,
I5CTE, G4RGK, JA6AHB, JA4BLC, OK2BDQ, YO2IS, VE6TA, S51ZO and
K2UYH. On 1296 I worked the following: K5JL, HB9BBD, K0YW, N7AM,
WA6PY, K2UYH, W5LUA, KA0Y, OZ6OL, I0UGB, OE9ERC, OE9XXI, VE6TA,
F2TU, IK2MMB, G3LTF, EA8/LA8LF, LX1DB, F5HRY, F6CGJ, KU4F and
JH5LUZ. Some more QSOs were made but they were dupes in the
contest. Special thanks to Anders, LA8LF who despite health
problems made a huge effort to put EA8 on 1296 MHz EME in the
contest. We need more people with that kind of ham spirit! I
will not submit my log to the ARRL any more since they lost my
personal record high score (>2 million points) a few years back,
but I urge people who send in their log to consider the rules as
plenty of coordination/scheduling was being done on clusters,
reflectors and loggers and this is not allowed in the single op
category. I will be active on 432 and 1296 during the Dec
activity weekend if the weather permits. Skeds are welcome on CW
or JT44.
SM3BYA
Gudmund reports that the ARRL
Contest was pretty much a disaster - The first leg on 432 was
spoiled by my wife having to work overtime, so we didn't get to
the farm until late Saturday night. We found a water leak in the
bathroom that took all evening to fix. After that was so beat I
only managed to work a few QSOs before sacking in. After the
contest on 2 Nov I worked PA4FP on sked with excellent sigs for
an initial. The second leg was wiped out by a sudden weather
change bringing freezing rain. On 22 Nov (Friday pm), I checked
out the rig. The VSWR was 1.1, Pout 850 W and everything just
fine. I went to bed early and set the alarm for 0200. I was up
at 0200 and at the rig by 0300. The outdoor temperature was - 4
C. Tuning the band, I heard only DL9KR with a weak, watery
signal. The antenna pattern was all screwed up and about 40 deg
wide between -3 dB points. I powered up the TX, hit the key and
the screen current meters on the K2RIW went off scale! Looking
out the front door, trying to see the antennas, got me soaking
wet. Everything had iced up overnight. The tower was encased in
5 mm thick clear ice. There was no way to tell how much was on
the antennas, but the VSWR was 3.0. I backed off the drive until
the screen currents were down to 20 mA each. At that point with
250 W going to the antenna and 65 W coming back, I eventually
managed to raise DL9KR, who had great trouble picking out my
call. DJ5NV was barely copyable and CWNR for a little while. The
rain continued to fall all Saturday and there was more ice
forming all the time. On Sunday morning I had to leave for a
business trip, but understand it rained until late Monday. I
consider myself lucky to not have lost the antennas. My grand
total for both weekends was a puny 10 QSOs (1 dupe). I was
pleased to work HB9JAW for another initial. I will be back at
the farm for the holidays and plan to be QRV on 26-28 Dec. If
anyone wants skeds, please email.
UA3PTW
Dima was QRV during the contest on 432 and ended with a
score of 55x27. He added no new stations.
VE1ALQ
Darell sends his greetings and is
sorry that he was unable to be QRV for the contest. He has had
some medical problems and is recovering surgery. He also is
trying to get things back in shape after a recent storm that
broke all existing records in this area for the past 115 years!
VE4MA
Barry made it on 1296 during the 2nd part of the contest
and worked about 7 stations during the 1 hour he was active.
These included 2 initials with DF4PV and N7AM. He is looking for
23 cm skeds on the 21/22 Dec SW. Barry may also get on 24 GHz
for the Dec SW.
VE6TA
Grant's contest results -- I found
good conditions and activity during the Nov weekend of the
contest. I tried to get on 222 for WA4NJP, W5AGO and VE3AX, but
had too much ice on the roof. Instead I spent the time on 432
fighting Murphy in between QSOs. The majority of activity was
once again vertically polarized, and I had to TX mostly at 90
degrees to the received signals. Most likely this was caused by
the disturbed ionospheric conditions. We had a beautiful aurora
to watch as well. Stations contacted this weekend were DL9KR
(very loud), HB9JAW (initial #), DJ5NV, OH2PO (loud too), K2UYH,
UA3PTW, HB9Q, F6KHM, N9AB, K5WXN, JA6AHB, K0RZ, JL1ZCG, VK3UM,
UA3PTW (dupe), K1FO, OE5EYM, DJ3FI, DL1YMK, G3LTF, W7CI, OK1DIG
(#), OE5JFL, SM2CEW and DF3RU for 24x17. This is probably on par
or better than some of my previous years - so good to see the
turnout. Coupled with my 27x22 score from 1296, it was a
successful contest. My thanks to all who persevered and got on
the moon despite difficult weather or equipment problems...
After all if we wanted something easy to do, we would still be
chasing DX on 20 m.
VK3UM
Doug is safe and sound back at home
although he reports a large increase in the local snake
population -- The current snake score here is Doug 7 (6 tigers
and a brown), the snakes 1. I was too slow for a black one...
Not very pleasant as all have the potential to kill or make you
very sick. Anyway we are thinning them out one by one even
though summer has not quite arrived. The contest (EME) was a lot
of fun. The first half was dominated by limited activity due to
the WX. I was fortunate WX wise, apart from being in the mid
30'c, we had no wind to contend with. The second half saw quite
an improvement in activity and I managed to work 2 new ones. The
solar activity created some of the worst libration fading I have
heard. Signals below a certain level were impossible to copy.
They sounded like very high speed CW and were totally (for me)
in comprehendible. Persistence was the order of the day waiting
for signals to peak. I complement many guys who persisted with
me for 20 minutes or so before I finally copied the call. I have
never sent so many "Y"s in ages, but I don't think I missed
anyone. My final score was 58x30, which was down on previous
years, but reflects activity levels due to WX. There were a
noticeable number of "regulars" that did not make it on this
year. This was a shame. I would like to add my complements to
the Prague boys (and girls) for a great job. It was a brilliant
Conference and my only regret was that there was insufficient
time to spend with all the "gang". Having it all under the one
roof is the only way to go and hopefully this is considered most
seriously for future conferences. Bev and I enjoyed our trip
immensely, and the time we spent with Jan and Graham (F5VHX),
Peter and Boel (SM2CEW) and Carol and Jay (K5JL) are treasured
memories never to be forgotten. No was on 23 in Nov! This was
wishful thinking by some one I won't name! But now that the
contest is over I will spend some quality time getting it all
put together.
W2UHI
Frank found condx good on 23 cm during both contest
weekends, but activity a bit down. Frank finished with a score
of 31x20. He worked among others F6CGJ and W9IIX, but missed
VE4MA. He also heard WA4NJP, but not readable.
W2WD
Warren writes -- There is little to
report on my MB activities in the contest. With the prospect of
little activity from Eur because of storms during the first
weekend of the ARRL contest, I did not get up at 4 am to even
listen. The prediction of high winds here for the second weekend
made me decide against putting up the dish. This was a good
thing because the winds came as predicted and were high enough
to damage my 9 wl CP yagi. The VSWR on the vertical array was so
high, it was unusable and the sun noise on the horizontal was a
few dB below normal. I did some listening and heard your direct
ground wave signal, but no echoes. There were four very weak
signals, which could not be identified. DL9KR was Q5 and I
called him several times, but not even a QRZ.
W5LUA
Al reports having a good time in Nov - Conditions seemed
good on 3 cm. I ended with a score on 23 cm of 31x20, on 13 cm
6x5 and on 3 cm 9x8. [Al needs to arrange transportation of TWT
and P/S for 24 GHz to G3WDG. If anyone going over that way can
carry it, please get in touch with Al.]
W7SZ
Larry reports good condx on 23 cm during the last half of
the contest - I added 14 this weekend for a contest total of 27
QSOs. DL4MUP and DL1YMK were heard well, but I was unable
complete with them.
W7UPF
Don writes -- I have a 3 m dish that is
currently used for AO-40, but has the capability of being used
for 432 EME. I would like to see if I can "monitor" any of the
EME skeds. A few years ago I had reasonable success with 144 MHz
EME, but had to take down the array due to neighborhood
complaints. I am now using a less obvious dish and considering
432 EME. I'd like to receive information on 70 cm EME and
activities.
W9IIX
Doug had a good time over the contest weekend - I added 8
contacts and ended with a final score of 17x8 in 24 hours of
operation. I heard 8 others, but could not get their attention,
and was unable to make it with W5LUA in a sked.
WA4NJP
Ray was active in the 2nd part of the contest. He worked
DL4PV and N7AM, and called KU4F with no reply on 23 cm. He also
worked K2UYH on 70 cm and VE3AX On 222 MHz.
WA6PY
Paul was on 13 cm in the second
part of the contest -- On 23 Nov I spent some time on 13 cm. I
QSO'd OZ4MM, F2TU and W5LUA. I did not hear G3LTF or JA4BLC.
Performance of my RX system is down on 2320 and 2424 due to poor
high signal level performance. 2424 is completely jammed now.
Even on 2320 I have some extra noise, but 2304 is clean. On 24
Nov I switched back to 1296 and worked PA3CSG and DF4PV -
libration was so bad that I gave only (459) reports to N7AM,
JH5LUZ and JA6AHB. I was periodically checking 432 with dual my
dipole - dual polarization feed as an antenna. I heard OH2PO,
HB9Q, K1FO and DL9KR who was definitely the strongest. I got
attention only from DL9KR. I heard Jan on horizontal
polarization and called him few times. When I switched my TX to
vertical polarization, I got an immediately response. This QSO
gave me my fourth band in the contest as I was also on 144 MHz.
I ended the contest scores on 144 of 9x11, on 432 of 1x1, on
1296 of 19x29 and on 2304 of 3x3. I hope to have bigger antennas
for the next year.
ZS6AXT
Ivo was quiet for few months - On 29
Sept I tried 23 cm and while working GW3XYW, G4CCH and IK3COJ
found that the chain of my AZ drive was in danger breaking.
Shopping around for used motorbike chain and replacing it with
such did not work. I still worked G4CCH on 6 Oct, but did not
manage to get another chain before the Oct leg of the contest. I
finally got a new industrial grade of chain in Nov and installed
it (with difficulties, thanks to my partially crippled left
hand). On 16 Nov I worked on 23 cm G4CCH, IK3COJ, G3LTF,
EA8/LA8LF and K9BCT. It was in apogee, but conditions were
really bad with heavy QSB and on occasions I could hardly copy
my own echoes! I suspected some fault in coax or a bird's nest
in the horn, but nothing there. Peter G3LTF told me that he
experienced similar conditions. Some auroras and solar flares
were reported that day. On 23 Nov on 23 cm, I worked HB9BBD,
OZ6OL, EA8/LA8LF, DF4PV, G4CCH, F2TU, HB9Q, N2IQ, W2UHI, F5FEN
for initial #185, KA0Y, K0YW, K5JL, W5LUA, N7AM, W7BBM, G3LTF,
W7SZ and OE9XXI. In the next pass of the moon, I got ready with
my 13 cm gear, but could not lower the dish due to high winds.
Only after 2200 did I managed to move the dish, by then wind was
not so bad. With dish still waving in the wind, I worked on 23
cm ON5RR, OE5JFL, HB9SV, OE5EYM, DL4MUP, HB9BHU, JH5LUZ, F5HRY,
IK2MMB, DL1YMK, JA6AHB and continued on 24 Nov with OE9ERC,
GW3XYW, G3LQR, KU4F #186, K2UYH and PA3CSG. I also called CQ on
2304.100 from 0300 till 0400 with my own echoes (579), but no
takers. I heard OE9XXI (589) calling 15 minutes of CQ on
2320.100, but he did not respond to my calls on 2304.100. Not a
good show on 13 cm for me. I was hoping for more initials on 23
cm. Conditions were a bit up and down, but not as bad as the
previous weekend. I hope to have some final plans before
Christmas how to mount my 2.4 m solid dish for 3 cm. The
equipment with the exception of horn is ready!
K2UYH
During the 2nd leg of the EME contest, I was joined by
K1DS the 1st night. Rick edits the Pack Rat Newsletter (W3CCX)
and had attended the Prague EME Conference. Conditions again
seemed very poor on 70 cm. I had to QRZ just about every station
that called. Part of the problem may have been my preamp. I
checked it on Saturday afternoon and found the NF had degraded
to 1.75 dB! I was able to retune it back to the 0.3 ~ 0.4 dB
range. To be safe, I switched preamps. Copy seemed better on
Sunday, but still was not very good. We worked on 432 on 23 Nov
at 0224 G3LTF (449/559), 0218 DL9KR (589/589), 0245 OK2BDQ
(449/339) partial - had call wrong, 0300 OK1DIG (O/O) for
initial #654, 0310 G4RGK (449/559), 0340 RA3LE (449/539), 0419
I5CTE (449/449), 0430 DL1YMK (449/539), 0444 W7CI (449/559),
0511 VE6TA (449/559) and 0530 DL4KG (O/O), then switched to 1296
at 0606 EA8/LA8LF (559/559), 0613 W7BBM (569/559), 0623 OK1CA
(559/559), 0630 HA5SHF (549/559), 0638 N2IQ (579/579), 0643
DL1YMK (569/559), 0652 DF3RU (559/O), 0701 W9XXI (449/559), 0707
F5HRY (559/449), 0116 HB9BHU (559/559), 0723 DL4MUP (559/539)
dup, 0730 N7AM (569/559) and 0815 K0YW (55/55) on SSB dup, and
on 23 Nov on 432 at 0215 HB9Q (569/569), 0314 K4EME (559/-)
partial, 0945 SP6JWL (549/O) dup, then switched to 1296 for at
0445 N2UO (449/559) - no trace of tropo in RX BW, 0453 DF2PV
(579/579), 0459 ZS6AXT (569/569), 0510 VE4MA (549/449), 0616
K9BCT (559/569), 0634 WA4NJP (447/559) and 0638 OE5EYM (56/559),
then back to 432 at 0719 S51ZO (459/559), 0729 YU1EV (449/559)
#655, 0846 K4EME (559/549), 0905 DJ6MB (559/549), 0943 SM2CEW
(569/569), 1251 JA6AHB (O/-) - lost and 1309 JH4JLV (O/559),
then to 1296 to catch at 2034 JH5LUZ (O/O) as the moon
disappeared in the brush. Although the leaves were off the
trees, I did not do as well during the JA/VK window as expected.
I called for several hours on Saturday on 432 with nil results.
My echoes were always heard, but little else. Results were
better on Sunday (2 QSOs). We ended with 36x24 on 432 and 47x24
on 1296. A number of people have reported problems reaching me
by postal mail at my home QTH. I have not moved, but my mailing
address has changed due to a change of zip codes for my town. My
home mailing address should now read (Allen Katz, 1621 Old
Trenton Road, West Windsor, NJ 08550).
NETNEWS
by
G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
K0YW caught JH0YSI for an initial in the contest.
JA8IAD is not QRV until next spring.
JA4BLC was QRV in the contest on 2424.080,
JA7BMB operated on 2424.090, and JA6CZD on 2424.100. All
listened on 2304 and 2320.
VK4AFL has a new e-mail address bentont@acenet.net.au.
KD4LT has a new email address cscott@emecom.com.
F5HRY has a new email address f5hry@ wanadoo.fr.
UA9FAD added no new stations on 70 cm during the contest. He can
be reached by email at rosmet@perm.raid.ru.
F6KHM is currently running a 34' dish (10.3 m) and 2.5 kW on 70
cm. On 23 cm they have only 100 W but will be upgrading shortly
to TH-313 PA (getting 700 W Out). In the 2nd leg of the contest,
they made only 12 QSOs because of the bad WX.
DL9KR finished the contest with a score 77x32.
K5JL says that the propagation on 1296 was good, but the
population bad during the last part of the contest. Jay has sent
a preamp for 23 cm to ZL1KA.
RA4AOR (LN29la) is working on a 70 cm array consisting of 12 x 6
m BV yagis and hopes to be QRV on EME by Jan or Feb.
WA1JOF is making good progress at his new location.
W1ZX is looking for 23 cm skeds for Dec and 432 skeds for 2003.
Willie did not make it on in Dec because of bad WX.
DL1YMK is looking for LU8EDR to complete WAC on 23 cm. Can
anyone help him contact Danny?
VE6NA has not be active lately because Brian is dealing with
chemo therapy.
DJ5NV ended the contest with 71x31 on 432. He plans to be QRV
next year on 23 cm with a 7 m dish.
PA3CSG was QRV in the contest and worked DL4MUP for a new one on
23 cm. Geert was also active on 70 cm and reports that 432 was
very good during his JA window, but activity low.
K0RZ ended with 42x23 on 432. SP6JLW had a good signal, but was
never worked. Bill did add an initial with OK1DIG.
W7MEM did not work anyone during the 2nd part of the contest on
432. K0RZ, K1FO, N9AB were all heard, but no contacts.
KU4F was only active on Sunday during the Nov contest weekend on
1296.
N2IQ did not have good WX, but was active on 23cm and worked a
bunch. Mark felt the activity was nothing to rave about, but
notes that he picked up a few JAs.
F5VHX was not on 23 cm in Nov because of the bad WX.
FOR SALE
W0RAP has decided to sell his EME equipment
because of health reasons. It is probably best to contact him by
e-mail. Among the gear available are for 1296: 1 x 7289 PA, 2 x
7289 PA, TH328 PA, K2AH/VE4MA cir pol feed horn, a feed horn
with hybrid for cir pol and FT 736R with 1296 module, for 903:
transverter and 1 tube PA and for 432 N7ART 2 x 3CX800a7 PA,
K1FO 1.5 kW with power supply, various 432 LNAs of W7CJO type
and others, and lots of other goodies.
Alex, UR4LL has
for sale new (NOS) power
tubes: GS35b (1500 W @1000 MHz) - $US105,
GS9b (> 100 W on 13 cm) - $US30,
GI7b (350-300 W on 23 cm) - $US30,
GS15b (280 W on 23 cm) - $US25,
GS23b 1.5 kW on 70 cm - $US150,
GS36b - $US50,
GU74b - $US70
plus sockets, REW-15 coaxial 1500 W relay - $US20,
and much more:
Russian Tubes and More
W9IIX has for sale for 2304 2 x 45 el loop yagis, a SSB
Electronics xverter (144 IF) and 3 W amp - needs a 1302 GaAs FET
in receive for $US250 plus shipping.
KJ4SO has
for sale three 4 port, WR-90, switches
with 4-hole choke flanges, that were made by Microlab AB/FXR for
RCA. The Microlab AB/FXR model # is RQ-A96 and the RCA part # is
1711576-2. The switches are 1 - 15/16" square, excluding the
control cable connector, which protrudes an additional 1", and
they are 4 - 3/8" high. There are 2 microswitches inside of each
switch that can be used to determine what position (T/R) the
switch is in. The switches are in excellent condition. Woody has
checked all of them out and will sell them for $US125 each,
or
all three for $350 plus shipping.
TECHNICAL
CT1DMK, Luiz has developed a simple circuit to lock
any microwave local oscillators to a reference (10 MHz, 5 MHz or
1 pps signal from a GPS receiver. The circuit can be quite
useful for the upper EME bands and JT44 operation. It is orders
of magnitude smaller and less complex than any previous designs.
You can find it on Luiz's web page at:
CT1DMK
TIME MACHINE: The ability to record the whole band so that you
can go back in time to re-tune (but unfortunately no call)
stations you may have missed has been a dream of hams for year -
especially of VHF/EMEers. This dream has been accomplishable for
sometime, but not easily or inexpensively.
Rick, N4ESS has come up with an easy and inexpensive
solution using the audio channels of HI-FI VCRs. He writes -- I
was reading some of your information on EME and wanted to
introduce a means of listening to and capturing a large piece of
a band, approximately 80 kHz. This can also be recorded and
listened to, and tuned across at a later time. Roger Rehr, W3SZ,
is already using a pair of our Time Machine receivers in his EME
operation. The Time Machine is actually a high performance I-Q
demodulator and modulator (another name for a phasing type SSB
receiver and transmitter). For recording and playback functions,
the usual audio 90 deg phase shift networks are not needed with
a stereo recorder, because the relative phase is preserved in
the left and right audio recording channels. So, in record, the Time
Machine is a single sideband receiver, and in playback, the Time
Machine is a single sideband transmitter. I must now clarify
that "lower sideband" in this case means all signals, of
whatever type, that fall below the LO frequency. Likewise,
"upper sideband" is all signals that fall above the LO. With the
40 kHz audio bandwidth of a Hi-Fi VCR, signals can be recorded
40 kHz above and below the crystal frequency in the Time
Machine's LO. Any type of signal can be recorded and played
back. Pretty cool, eh? The link listed below will take you to
our web site. The manual and schematics are also included on
this page for download at:
Time Machine
FINAL
We received disappointing news that plans for 432 EME
during the 3B8 dxpedition have been cancelled due to the loss of
an operator. ON4ANT will continue his work on a portable 70 cm
EME station that Johan on4ant@pandora.be hopes to use from
another location in the future.
G3SEK's 2003 EME calendar is at the end of this NL with the
recommended SWs marked with **. Ian and I are in full agreement
on these dates. The weekends and proposed contest dates are
18/19 Jan, 15/16 Feb (SSB Contest on 1296), 15/16 March (REF 432
& 2.3-5.7 GHz), 12/13 April (REF 2 m 1296 & 10 GHz), 10/11 May,
7/8 Jun, 5/6 July, 23/24 Aug, 20/21 Sept, 18/19 Oct, (ARRL I
proposed), 15/16 Nov (ARRL II proposed), and 13/14 Dec.
Please note that the EME SSB Contest will again be during the
Feb SW. We will print the rules that month, but they will be
pretty much the same as last year.
Please keep the HB9Q www.hb9bbd.ch updated on your initials
tally. We plan to run
KU4F's mother passed away in Nov. Our condolences and that of
the EME community to Les on his loss.
That about covers the news for this month. Please keep the
reports and technical info coming. I hope everyone has a
wonderful holiday. Season's greeting
73, Al - K2UYH
SKEDS INFO: For the latest skeds info goto: DL4EBY's SKED List
Lunar Weekends by G3SEK
Netnotes by K1RQG
This information was obtained from:Scott, KD4LT
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Rein, W6/PA0ZN
19990615