. Of course, Klaus will pass on requests that
land in Berlin. Remember, that requests for the Newsletter
Schedules are needed at least 2 weeks before the SW. This is the
weekend the NL is compiled. Please continue to send address and
equipment changes to Klaus at:
Klaus, DL4EBY
as he is still maintaining the EME Directory.
9H1ES
Fortunato is making good progress on his 3 cm EME station.
He has his full size long feedhorn completed and his homemade
coaxial relays are almost ready. He hopes to be ready for skeds
soon.
AL7OB
Mike reports – I worked on 27 Aug KAØY (559/529) for
initial #57 and JA6AHB (539/339), despite the close proximity of
the sun. I participated very little in the Italian contest and
worked only OE9ERC (549/549) and K1FO (M/O). Conditions were
very poor due to a visually beautiful but radio devastating
aurora. I have been racing the weather (and darkness) to get the
big dish up. I hope to have it going for the ARRL EME Contest in
Oct.
DL0AO
Tom (DJ5RE) reports that DL0AO is getting prepared for 70
cm EME, possibly during the contest -- As a 1st step we have put
up 2 x 38 el M2 yagis. I am working on a TH 327 PA from a Plisch
[?] cavity. I'm looking for a piece of Kapton or Ultem, 0.25 mm
thick, 140x 140mm. The original anode capacitor is in very bad
shape, and shows traces of high-voltage arcs. [Can anyone help?
Tom can be reached at:
Tom, DL8AO
DK3WG
Jurgen says to look for on 70 cm in the contest from
Russia/Eur RW1AW, RA3LE, RW3PF, UA3PTW, UA4API and UA6LGH,
Russia/Asia UA9FAD, and Ukraine UT1PA, UT3LL, UT5DL and UT5EC. He
also reports that a group from St Petersburg is working on the
equipment for an R1M EME dxpedition for 70 cm and higher. He
promises more info in the future. During the SW Jurgen added
initials with G4YTL (539/449) and K8UC (559/559) to bring him to
initial #371.
DL4KG
Gerald is giving out 70 cm initials from his new QTH in
JN48. Even before Sept, he worked GW3XYW (449/449), DK3FB
(439/449), PA3CSG (549/549), KA0Y (549/559) for initial #54 all
on random. During the Sept SW he added RW1AW (O/O) #55 and K2UYH
(449/449) both on sked. Heard were UT3LL, HG100BAY, G4ERG,
DF3RU, OE9ERC (very loud) and GW3XYW. His time was limited
because of his daughter's birthday and problems with his PA
(down to 600 W). Gerald is interested in skeds and can be
reached at:
Gerald, DL4KG
Monday to Friday (no e-mail at home).
DL6LAU
Carsten (JO53cf) is now QRV on 1296 in a big way -- Its
time to let the EME community know that I took over Frank's
(DD1XF) station. I should be QRV for the ARRL Contest and will
concentrate on 23 cm. My equipment on 23 cm is now a 4.5 m dish,
W2IMU feed and YL1050 PA with about 800 W. On 13 cm I will use
the same dish, W2IMU feed and about 200 W. I want to express my
special thanks to Frank, DD1XF, who spent several weekends at my
QTH helping to put everything together. I'll take no skeds for
the time being, but will be QRV on random.
EA3DXU
Josep has completed what is believed to be the 1st 2 yagi
to 2 yagi EME QSO on 70 cm -- I predicted back in Dec of '99
that day that in 2000 it would be possible to complete a 2Y-2Y
Random QSO on 432. I am very pleased to announce that in only 8
months such a QSO has been accomplished. On 26 Aug at 1204
EA3DXU using 2 x 38 el M^2 yagis worked UA3PTW using 2 x 35 el BV
yagis in an absolutely random QSO. I was calling CQ and UA3PTW
replied. I didn't know UA3PTW's equipment. I supposed he was
running 4 or 6 LY because QSO was not too difficult. On the 11
Sept when DK3WG published the activity report of the R/U
stations for Aug, I discovered that the event had occurred
between UA3PTW and me. Other initials added here include on 16
Jan K4AR (O/O) sked for initial #115, on 22 Jan W7SZ (M/O) sked
#116, on 11 March WB0GGM (M/M) sked #117, on 8 April HB9Q
(439/539) #118 and PA0AVS (O/O) #119, on 9 April UA6LGH (O/O)
#120 and F6KHM (O/O) #121, on 15 April S52CW (O/O) sked #122, on
11 May DJ3FI (439/439) #123, on 26 Aug UA3PTW (O/O) #124, on 27
Aug GW3XYW (O/O) #125 and new DXCC 37 and KA0Y (O/539) #126.
F2TU
Philippe sends good news – I have rebuilt my dish damaged
in the storm of Dec '99. I am now QRV with a new 8 m dish that
was finished on 20 Sept. It is not yet optimized 100%, but my
results are very encouraging. On 1296 I am receiving 22 dB of
sun noise with a flux 210, and hear my echoes with only 1 W out!
I get very strong signals on SSB with 500 W out. The surface is
a soldered mesh of 6.3 m/m squares. I hope to be QRV 70, 23 and
13 cm in Oct for the contest. In Sept I QSO'd on 23 cm JS5LUZ
(559/569), JA7BMB (549/439), JA8IAAD (559/559), JA4BLC (O/O),
ZS6AXT (559/569), G4CCH (569/579) and (55/55) on SSB, JS5LUZ
(55/54) on SSB, HA5SHF (549/559), HB9BBD (579/579) and (57/57)
on SSB, ON5RR (559/539), W1ZXW (559/559), W7SZ (549/559), W2UHI
(559/559), HB9Q (55/54) on SSB, I0UGB (44/43) on SSB, G4CCH
(55/56) on SSB, OK1DFC (559/559), OH2AXH (55/56) on SSB, ON5RR
(44/45) on SSB, OZ6OL (569/579) and (55/53) on SSB, W7GBI
(556/559), W2UHI (55/44) on SSB and WD5AGO (539/559).
G3LTF
Peter writes that his activity has been low and moon
times not as domestically convenient as in the winter -- On 23
July I worked on 1296 OH2DG, W2UHI, ON5RR, F5PAU, W1QC for
initial #155, HG100BAY and OZ4MM. I also heard DF4PU and KD5FZX.
I ran a test with OH2DG on 2320/2304 and heard him, but we did
not complete a QSO. On 27 Aug I was on 432 and worked only YO2IS
and GW3XYW. Echoes were good but activity was zilch! Sept was
much better. I had QSOs on 3
bands. I worked on 23 Sept on 1296 G4CCH, IK2MMB, HB9BBD on SSB,
ZS6AXT, ON5RR, W2UHI, W7QX, W7SZ and HB9QQ #156, and on 24 Sept
on 432 DJ3FI, OE9JPC, UA6LGH, K2UYH, DL4MEA, K8UC for initial
#351, F5FLN, IN3AGI #352, F6KHM #353, EA3DXU, OE9ERC and KA0Y -
long time no hear! Also heard on 70 were GW3XYW,KJ7F, RZ1AB.
CWNR were HG100BAY and G4YTL. I was also on 13 cm on 23 Sept and
worked ZX6AXT and CWNR OH2AXH. I am working to improve my
tracking and the general stability of the dish and its mount. I
am cleaning up the mess of tube drivers to get the station all
solid state except the PAs!
G4CCH
Howard sends news of his latest EME activity -- I have
not made any changes to the station since my last report, and
everything appears to be in good shape for the ARRL Contest next
month. I checked the calibration of my tracking system with the
Sun, and measured Sun noise at 17.5 dB for a SF = 154. The last
SW was a great weekend with a high level of JA activity, but I
was a little disappointed that most of the regular USA stations
did not appear. I made a total of 36 QSOs and added 7 Initials
and 1 new country. This makes my total to date - #121 Initials,
28 Countries, 6 Continents, 19 US States. As for the ARI VII
Italian EME contest, my score in the contest was 402 points. I
QSO'd on 23 Sept at 0352 JH5LUZ (549/559), F2TU (579/569) and
(56/55) on SSB, ZS6AXT (549/569), JA8IAD (559/549) for initial
#115, JA7BMB (549/559) #116, HA5SHF (549/559), PA3DZL (539/539),
IK2MMB (549/559), G3LTF (559/559), HB9BBD (59/57) on SSB, ON5RR
(559/549) #117 and country 28, DK5MV (539/539), W1QC (559/559)
#118, CT1DMK (549/549), W1ZX (559/559), W7QX (529/549), W7SZ
(549/569), W2UHI (559/559), HB9SV (599/569) and HB9Q (559/539),
and on 24 Sept at 0445 OZ4MM (559/569), JA4BLC (539/559), JA8ERE
(539/559) #119, OK1DFC (569/569), JA6CZD (559/559), DF3RU
(529/539) #120, I0UGB (559/559) #121, OH2AXH (569/569), OZ6OL
(559/569), HB9BHU (559/549), OE9XXI (599/569), DJ5MN (549/559),
W7GBI (569/559), W5LUA (559/559), WD5AGO (549/559) and KD4LT
(569/549). Getaways were OE5JFL and OE5EYM. While testing on 30
Sept I added DC6UW (45/55) on SSB #122. I have added some more
"Real Audio" files to my web site at:
G4CCH's WEB Site
that should be of interest. I will be active again during the ARRL EME Contest.
G4YTL
Dave writes -- Now that I am reasonably confident that my
system is working OK, I am up to initial #13, I am open to sked
proposals. I can run during my night time, but I can't operate
weekdays between 0700 and 1900. Weekend availability is variable.
I am running 1 kW from the shack (~700 W at the masthead) to 6 x
11 WL BV yagis. I prefer to avoid the last hour before my moonset
because of some obstructions, although they may not be critical.
My locator is IO92mb and you can reach me via e-mail at:
Dave, G4YTL
GM0ONN
Iain will be on 70 cm for the Oct contest weekend with 4
x 21 el FT yagis, 2 x 8874 or maybe 2 x 3cx 800a7 PA (not sure
yet) and 0.6 dB NF LNA. They will be active from around 0100 to
1300 each day. Iain will be assisted by GM4ILS - a local VHF
DXer. They are not sure about Nov, and will probably only be on
70 cm in Oct. 1296 is a possibility in Nov, but they need a
bigger dish.
GW3XYW
Stu was active on Sunday only during the Sept SW, and
that was limited to 70 cm operation. He attended a radio
conference on Saturay. Stu contacted on 24 Sept DF3RU (559/559),
CWNR I5TDJ (329), DL4MEA (549/539), CWNR F6KHM (439), G4ERG
(539/549), OE9ERC (559/559), PA3CSG (569/559) and K2UYH
(559/559). Pol was not well defined with Eur best at 45 deg and
NA at horz. Stu asks if the was any discussion on the 2320/2304
split problem at Rio? He would like to see some sort of
agreement on a common 13 cm EME band. [Nothing was said on this
issue at Rio.]
I5TDJ
Piero was active during the last SW, on both Saturday and
Sunday. Conditions were fairly good on the 23rd, but below
normal on the 24th. Particularly on Sunday, the band seemed
rather empty -- I worked on 23 Sept JA6AHB, OE5EYM, DK3WG, DF3RU
and K1FO - CWNR were JA5OVU, OE9ERC and K5AZU, and on 24 Sept
DL4MEA. I have built up 2 1296 preamps based on W7CNK's design
that appeared on page 34 of the 1999 Proceedings of Microwave
Update. I got several helpful suggestions from Lucky, W7CNK. I
brought the LNAs to the annual Orvieto VHF Symposium (near Rome)
where antenna and preamp performances are measured from 144 MHz
and up. Both performed as said by W7CNK: 0.22/0.25 dB NF and
17.5/18.5 dB of gain. This design is very reliable and easy to
duplicate thanks to the way the input stripline is made up. [A
picture of one of Piero's preamps is shown at the end of this
NL.] Piero was active on 432 during the ARI EME Contest and will
be QRV again for the ARRL Contest.
JA4BLC
Yoshiro's EME report on operation since May follows --
My activity has been limited by business commitments, but I have
managed to add some 23 cm initials. I QSO'd for initials on 4
June on 1296 HB9Q for #75, JF3HUC #76, G4CCH #77 and OX2K #78,
on 26 Aug HA5SHF #79, on 23 Sept W7QX #80, and on 24 Sept OK1DFC
#81 and JA8IAD #82. During the ARI Contest I worked 2 stations
on 432 and 11 on 1296. I visited Eur in mid Sept on business (I
attended the IBC-2000 show in Amsterdam) and managed to visit
PA3DZL, PA2CHR and DL5MAE/DL7MAT/DL1MAJ. Jac, Chris and Wolfgang
showed me very nice hospitality and I had a truly enjoyable
meeting with them.
JH4JLV
Kaz now has both vert and horz pol on 432 EME. He added
4 x 32 el BOH yagis (vert pol) to the 6 x 24 el FO yagis (horz
pol). The yagis are mounted on the same stacking frame. [I will
have a picture next month]. Sun noise is 10 dB on vert and 12 dB
on Horz. In the ARI Contest he worked G4YTL for initial #94,
DJ3FI #95, JA6AHB, OZ4MM, DL4MEA, VK4AFL and DK3WG. He CWNR
IN3AGI and heard JR4NWC, JH0WJF and DL5LF. Kaz took 2nd place in
the ARI EME Marathon Contest.
K1RQG
Joe is making great progress on his dish and should be
QRV on the moon again soon. Since taking over as Skeds
Coordinator he has not received many sked requests and would
like to receive more. Joe observes -- Remember how I used to say
that the INTERNET would ruin EME. Well I think it has its good
points and bad points. It sure has (in my opinion) done a great
disservice as far as group discussions go and other issues. But
having said that, I have noticed a resurgence of NET
participation and technical discussion, even during the summer,
when activity is usually very low. I hope that EME continues to
be active, as for one, I am putting a lot of time, effort, and
$$ into my dish project.
K8UC
Curt is QRV on 432 and is interested in skeds -- I use an
FT 736-R transceiver. My 25' dish is scratch built from rusty
steel tubing formed with a HB bender/roller. The center 15' of
the dish is covered with " X " galvanized mesh. The outer part
is 1" chicken wire. The weight about 1000 lbs. It is elevated
through gearboxes with a garage door opener. Rotation uses a 1/8
HP gear motor driving a gear box from an old German Extruder. As
a result of this project, I am now a little better using my wire
feed welder. During the Sept SW I worked RW1AW on random and
DK3WG, but heard nil from S52CW. My address is (Curtis Fouse,
Route 2 Box 10, Washington, WV 26181), tel is 304-863-3597 and e-
mail is:
Curt, K8UC
[Are you at the same QTH as when you were QRV on 432 EME before? What is your grid?]
K4EME
Cowles (x-KB4CNI) has relocated in VA and is setting up
for EME on 432 again. He has the EME array back up and has heard
some weak echoes, but is not yet ready for skeds. His new address
is (Cowles Andrus III, 73 Hundley Mill Rd, Staunton, VA) and his
e-mail address is:
Cowles, K4EME
K6JEY
Doug will be on 70 cm both weekends of the contest with
the station in full swing – I am now using a KA0RYT pre-amp for
RX and have an FT-847. I found that using a 2nd preamp between
the mast-mounted one and the rig helped out on S/N and the 300 Hz
CW filter is great. I still use my Timewave 59+ for audio
filtering. I'm looking forward to lots of contacts and even
schedules. I will be on for the full time. I can be contacted via
e-mail at:
Doug, K6JEY
LA0BY
Steve with some other radio amateurs is setting up an
array of 6 x 38 el yagis for 432 MHz EME. They expect to be
active for both legs of the ARRL EME Contest running about 1 kW
of RF. You can reach Steve at email:
Steve, LA8BY
He is looking forward to working many stations during the
contest.
OK1DFC
Zdenek sends info on his recent EME activity – I QSO'd
on 1296 in Aug SM3AKW (559/569), G4CCH (559/549), F5PL
(539/539), HB9BBD (579/579), IK2MMB (559/559), OZ6OL (539/549),
HB9SV (579/559), K5JL (559/559), W2UHI (559/539) and K2UYH
(559/559), and in Sept during the ARI Contest JA4BLC (559/549)
for initial #95, JH5LUZ (559/539), ON5RR (O/539), ZS6AXT
(559/559), G4CCH (569/549), HB9Q (579/529) #96, I0UGB (559/O),
HB9BBD (579/549), IK2MMB (O/549), OE9XXI (579/559), W2UHI
(559/559) and HB9SV 589/559. On the 2nd weekend in Sept I
attended the UHF meeting in Weinheim, where I met SM3AKW,
SM4IVE, PA3CSG, G3SEK and many other EMEers. Besides myself, OK
was represented at Weinheim by OK1KIR, OK1DCI, OK1VAO and OK1CA.
OK1DIG, Dan is a new EMEer. He is presently QRV on 144 MHz, but
in near future will be on 432 MHz and up. We are activity
preparing The EME2002 Conference. Info can be found at:
EME2002 Conference
The site is still under construction and will be upgraded every month.
OZ4MM
Stig's report -- Back in the activity weekend of Aug, I
found very good activity from UA on 432, and a couple of new
ones on random. Worked were JA7BMB(549/449) for an initial (#),
G4YTL (449/559) #, HB9SV (579/569), UT3LL (429/549), RW1AW
(429/559) - Alex was playing QRP, RZ3BA/1 (O/O) # - using 1 yagi
and 800 W in KO56, EA3DXU (439/539) and UA3PTW (439/569). In the
Sept SW I worked only JA6AHB (549/559), JH4JLV (539/559) and
DJ3FI(539/529) on 70 cm. On 1296 in Sept I worked JA4BLC
(559/569), JA8IAD (539/559), PA3DZL (429/539), JA7BMB (549/569),
G4CCH (569/559), HA5SHF (439/569), ON5RR (559/569), JH5LUZ
(559/579), ZS6AXT (559/579), JA6CZD (569/569) and JA8ERE
(439/549). There was much better random activity on 1296
compared with 432. As this weekend had very good WX, I
concentrated on doing the last preparing around the house,
instead of working EME. It's the reason I only managed to be on
in the early morning of the activity weekend. If WX permit I
should be around for the Oct contest on 432 and 1296, and
possibly also on 2304 depending on activity.
PA0PLY
Jan writes -- Since the summer holidays I have been
working on my new 432 EME antennas. They were in the garage for
over 2 years waiting for some space on the roof. I expect to
have 8 x 3 m WU yagis up and running before the ARRL EME
Contest. I have also improved the loss for the TX feedline by 2
dB by replacing the old feedline with Flexwell cable. Power is
now 750 W at the cable end. For more details on my station you
can visit my new WEB site at:
PA0PLY's WEB Site
PA3DZL
Jac's latest results for 432/1296 follows –- I worked on
70 cm, on 24 Sept OE5JFL (449/449), DL4MEA (O/O) for initial
#123 and K1FO (339/449), and heard PA3CSG (also on tropo), and
on 23 cm on 26 Aug G4CCH (449/549), W2UHI (O/O) for initial #13,
27 Aug HB9Q (519/539), G4CCH (439/449), HB9Q (41/42) and my 1st
SSB random QSO - Dan peaked (52), W2UHI (O/O) and K5JL (549/549)
– no initial because I worked KØYW/5 when he was operating from
K5JL's QTH, heard were K2DH and K2UYH, on 23 Sept G4CCH
(539/539), HB9BBD (429/539) #14, F2TU (O/O) #15, W5LUA (O/O) #16
and HB9SV (539/539) #17, heard were W1ZX and OE5EYM, and on 24
Sept JA4BLC (O/O) #18, OZ4MM (429/539), ON5RR (O/O) #19, OH2AXH
(O/O) #20, OE9XXI (549/559) #21 - replied to my CQ, HB9BBD
(549/549) – also to my CQ, HB9Q (419/529). I hope to work
everyone again in Oct for the contest.
PA4PF
Frank is a new station on 70 cm EME. He is running 4 x 26
el (8.5 wl) BV-OPT70 yagis with 750 W at the feedpoint and a 0.4
dB MGF1302 LNA. During Aug he QSO'd W2WD and in Sept K2UYH
(539/449). Frank can be reached via e-mail at:
Frank, PA4PF
RA1AW
Alex was active on 432 during the Aug SW and added
initials with G4YTL #81, W2WD #82, DJ3FI #83, KA0Y #84 and DL4KG
#85. He also had very good QSOs with OZ4MM, HB9SV, VE1ALQ,
PA3CSG and UA3PTW. In Sept Alex added K8UC #86, OE9ERC (569/569)
#87 on random, K5AZU #88, RW3PF #89 and IN3KLG #90. He also
contacted PY5ZBU.
W1ZX
Willie has not been on EME, since 4 Jun. Willie spent 3.5
weeks in Maine during Aug working on K1RQG's new 32'dish. He is
hoping to return to Joe's QTH at the end of Oct to help put the
dish in the air on a new tower. Willie was QRV on 23 cm for the
Sept SW. He worked 23 Sept at 1146 ON5RR (539/549), 1156 F2TU
for initial #46, 1207 W7SZ (339/559), 1216 G4CCH (559/569).
Regarding the question about old timers who ZE5JJ in G8VR's
report in last month's NL, Willie notes that both he and K3LFO
worked Peter (W.S. Carey) from the K3NSS-84' dish on 70 cm many
times. Checking the K3NSS log he reports they contacted Peter on
4/30/77 (M/M), on 5/28/77 (449/559), on 7/23/77 (O/529), on
9/3/77 (O/O), on 3/12/78 (M/539), on 5/20/78 (529/O), on
5/21/78 (559/569), on 8/26/78 (539/549), on 9/23/78 (539/549),
on 3/3/79 (529/539), on 5/18/80 (0/529), on 9/22/80 (579/579)
and on 9/6/82 (559/559) – their last QSO with him. W1ZX worked
Peter in SA from his home station, W1ZX-ZS6JT on 11/1/86 (O/O).
Willie would like to know the stations still around that worked
YV5ZZ? W1ZX worked YV5ZZ for the last time on 6/10/84 (O/M). [We
QSO'd Edgar on both 432 and 1296.]
W2UHI
Frank was QRV on 1296 during the Sept SW and found
conditions good. He worked ON5RR, G4CCH, IK2MMB, FT2U, W7SZ,
G3LTF and W7QX (439).
W5LUA
Al during the Sept SW QSO'd OK1UWA on 13 cm and 8 more
stations on 23 cm. Nil was copied from N7AM. He is working on 24
GHz and now has a 2.4 dB system NF.
W7QX
Jerry QSO'd on 1296 prior to the SW G4CCH and SM2CEW.
During the SW he worked 4 stations (HB9Q, W2UHI, G3LTF and G4CCH)
and heard 12 more including a partial with HA5SHF - sent (O) and
for the first time heard F2TU and IK2MMB.
W7SZ
Larry in Sept worked before the SW G4CCH (52/53) on SSB and
had a partial with W7QX. During the SW he made 7 QSOs, and
reports copying K3AX very well.
WA1JOF (FN44xv)
is QRV again on 23 cm with 70 W. He gained
about 3 dB by replacing his feedline and is now hearing echoes.
Since coming back on 1296, he has worked K5JL (529), W5LUA and
WD5AGO.
WW2R
Dave is now in UK as G4FRE. He will be there until at least
Xmas, so there will be no activity from WW2R during the ARRL EME
Contest. However there is a possibility of G4FRE activity from
IO91. It will depend on Dave's ability to get some his equipment
to the UK. He would like to get his 10 GHz equipment over as his
apartment is at the end of the Heathrow runway giving him a very
good opportunity to experiments with aircraft scatter.
ZS6AXT
Ivo reports very disappointing time during the ARI EME
Contest weekend -- It was like an average SW or even worse.
Virtually no W stations, even the "permanent" operators did not
show up. I worked on 23 cm: on 23 Sept F2TU, JA4BLC, JH5LUZ,
G3CCH, JA7BMB, HA5SHF, HB9BBD, IK2MMB, ON5RR, G3LTF, HB9SV,
DK5MV, W1QC and K3AX, and heard PA3DZL, and on 24 Sept JA8IAD,
OK1DFC, OZ4MM, HB9Q, OH2AXH, OZ6OL and OE5JFL, and CWNR HB9BHU,
DF3RU and DJ5MN. On 13 cm I worked OH2AXH and G3LTF, while I
heard and CWNR OK1UWA. I also noticed that some of the "big
guns" are not much good on hearing, while I copied PA3DZL with
no problems, he had problems. I'm not sure now what to do for
ARRL Contest, but will probably concentrate on 13 cm. If there
is no activity their, I'll go to 23 cm. I hope that somebody
will come up with some sort of schedule for operation on the
higher bands. For 6 cm the time is not too good for me, since
main activity will be during daytime. Then I cannot use my CCTV
camera. Accurate tracking with Moon noise is quite exhausting
for me - Hi. Never mind that due to the poor performance of my
(23 cm) dish, I have strong sidelobes thus ground noise becomes
too strong and Moon noise is low, below say 20 deg of el. I
would like to run skeds with somebody on my new 6 cm setup:
W2IMU horn with circular pol and new 40 W SSPA. Skeds should be
during the nighttime and must be when I have clear sky. I have
over 6.5 dB of CS/G noise ratio. I have been busy working on 3
cm. I built a few preamps and am getting 4.7 dB CS/G noise
ratio. This is with SMA connectors on LNA and WG, plus male-male
adapter. For this measurement I built 20 dB horn and SMA/WG
transition (G3WDG), and have well over 20 dB return loss from
both combined. My next step is to build an LNA with direct input
to WG. I hope this will give better NF. I will also use a better
device - NE32984. I have only one. Does anyone know where to get
these for a reasonable price? In the present LNAs I used NE32584
in the 1st stage, extracted from sat TV LNBs, Hi. I found that
the best technique to take them out is to heat the PCB from the
bottom with a hot soldering iron and remove the HEMT with
tweezers. I have only a 1.5 m dish, as I cannot find a bigger
one for 3 cm. I hope to make some progress soon on the PSUs for
the (20 and 40 W) TWTs I have. But even with the 200 mW from my
transverter connected to my 20 dB horn, I can feel warmth when
I put my hand into the horn! So I am very careful now. I would
appreciate any helpful ideas for this project.
K2UYH
I had planned to operate both 23 and 70 cm, but had
problems with the cable that supplies voltage to my preamps.
This caused me to get on 70 cm fairly late moon window wise. I
ended up operating only on 432 during the weekend. I contacted
on 23 Sept at 1519 K8UC (549/549) – I believe Curt is in the
same grid as his earlier activity and thus this QSO would not
count for an initial, 1515 W2WD (559/559) – both echoes and
direct signals could be heard clearly and 1603 KL7HFQ (549/559),
and on 24 Sept at 1150 K5WXN (559/559), 1110 DL4MEA (559/559),
1118 DJ4FI (559/559), 1123 GW3XYW (559/559), 1129 OE9ERC
(559/559), 1141 G4YTL (559/559) – [I believe I worked G4YTL many
years ago, is this operation from a different grid?], 1147 G3LTF
(559/559), 1200 DL4KG (449/449) definitely an initial #630, 1223
HG100BAY (549/559), 1230 PA4FP (449/539) #631 and 1337 K1FO
(579/569).
NETNEWS
by
G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
N2IQ is the new call of N2IQU.
DL9NDD will not be QRV in the ARRL Contest. Gunter is doing work
on his home and does not expect to be QRV on the moon until next
Jan.
ON4KNG has a new address (Kamerijklaan 30, 1700 Dilbeek) and
Phone 32.2.460.89.30. Peter can be reached by e-mail at:
Peter, ON4KNG
John
will be QRT until he gets a
replacement transformer for his 432 PA. He needs a 220/1800 volt
with a current rating of 1 A.
KL7HFQ worked KA0Y in early Sept. During the SW Roger had a
partial with OE9ERC the 1st day but completed with him on the 2nd.
OZ9AAR is making progress with storm repairs. He hopes to have
his 8 m dish back on by the spring.
K0YW's dish is up and he is very close to operational. He should
definitely be on the moon for the contest.
WA9FWD will be active in the contest.
NU7Z is looking for skeds on 5.7 GHz and will be on this band in
the contest.
N7EIJ have 4 x 9 WL M2 yagis up, but only 60 W on TX. He will be
listening during the next SW.
VK4AFL, look for Trevor on 70 cm during the contest.
W7CI's new e-mail
address is at:
W7CI
DK5MV will be looking for QSOs during the contest on 23 cm with 2
x 70 el yagis and 1 kW.
KJ7F (DN13vo) will be active on 432 with 800 W and 4 x 33 el FO
yagis. Terry is still tweaking his system but is already up to
initial #12.
W4OP in NC is working on 10 GHz EME and will be listening during
the contest.
WD5AGO is looking for info on how to have the FT-726 clarifier
track with the VFO. [?]
OK1UWA is QRV on 2320 EME.
VE6TA has a new 4 x 7289 cavity PA for 23 cm made by K4QI.
CT1DMK worked W1QC and G4CCH on 23 cm during the SW. Luis is
getting 1.6 dB NF on 24 GHz.
PA3CSG was on 70 cm during the Sept SW and worked 3 new ones
RZ3BA/1 (KO56), IN3AGI and OE9ERC.
KA0Y is presently on 70 cm only. He will try 23 cm later on in
the fall.
K5UGM has a 10' dish and 300 W. Bill hopes to be on [1296] in 3
or 4 months.
KB8IFE has 16' dish and is interested in 432 EME.
K6IBY reports that all systems are go and that he is QRV again on
70 cm EME.
K5WXN added K8UC and partial with K6IBY on 432 in Sept.
VE4MA maybe on 10 GHz for the EME contest.
RZ3BA/1 is a new single yagi station on 70 cm. He worked K1FO,
OE5JFL and partial RW1AW in Sept.
UA3PTW added DJ3FI in Sept on 432.
DL9KR is looking for QSLs from VE7QH, W7EME and W7ALW.
W7FN plans to be on 70 cm in Oct.
WB0GGM will be active on 70 cm during the contest with a new
array of 4 x 24 el HB yagis.
SM2LKW is a new 432 station with 4 x 23 el yagis and 800 W in
(KP15).
SM4IVE is thinking about getting back on EME.
VK3UM is working on a new version of his tracking software. His
dish is up, but still needs considerable control and interface
work before it is ready to go.
DJ5MN worked W7GBI and 3 other stations on random on 1296 in
Sept.
FOR SALE
EME Conference Digests – see start of NL.
DJ5RE is
looking for a piece of Kapton or Ultem dielectric 0.25
mm thick and about 140 x 140 mm size – see DL0OA's report
. Tom
can be reached at:
DJ5RE
K9BCT has a complete "Plug & Play" 400 W 23 cm amplifier in a
12" x 17" x 27" rolling floor cabinet. Contact
Randy at:
K9BCT
for more details.
VK4ZBW is looking for info on the benefits of super cooling an
MGF1402 LNA on 432 and 1296. Contact Warren at:
Warren, VK4ZBW
YZ7REA, Vladimir is looking for dish
construction ideas for 1296 MHz (or higher). He is interested in
building a 4 – 8 m dish.
N2IQ has
EW-90 waveguide of various lengths and some connectors
available for sale. Cost is $US3.00/ft. Connectors are extra.
Contact Mark for more details at 315-635-9310 or at:
Mark,N2IQ
K6JEY has an Icom 471h for sale with an internal ARR preamp and
ac power supply in mint condition. Contact Joe
via e-mail at:
Joe, K6JEY
WE2Y needs a 220/1800 volt 1 Amp transformer
bad – see note
above.
K9BCT
is still looking for a GR-1236.
K8UC
has a pair of Dynamics Research Corp encoders and is looking
for information on model #771-40-b04-1000.
Contact Curt at:
K8UC
WA6KBL has working 10 GHz TWTs and Power Supplies for Sale. He
will have 5 or 6 sets of Hughes TWTs plus their power supplies
for sale soon. One set is already spoken for. These will be
tested and guaranteed working on 10.368 GHz with a minimum of 150
W output from an input of approximately 10 mW.
Price including complete documentation is $US1500 for the set. There will also be
extra power supplies for sale. Please see my temporary webpage
for more complete information and photos at:
Jeffrey's 10 Ghz TWT Page
or contact Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL
at email:
Jeffrey Pawlan, WA6KBL
or phone (408) 371-0256 (pse only 1500-0300Z).
FINAL
I had the opportunity to attend the Microwave Update
Conference for the 1st time a few weeks ago. The large number of
EMEers that attended surprised me. Some were not even that
involved with the higher bands. I had a great time and recommend
future conferences.
There are no skeds this month because of the ARRL Contest. It is
NL policy to keep skeds to a minimum on contest weekends.
This was a very busy weekend and I am running very late, so I am
going to keep this short and pick up on some of the more
important issues next time.
I hope to work all of you during the contest.
73, Al - K2UYH
This information was obtained from:
Scott, KD4LT
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Rein, W6/PA0ZN
19990615