x 432 and Above Newsletter for June (7) 1997 (W6/PA0ZN)

432 MHz MHz AND ABOVE EME NEWS

JUNE 1997 VOL 25 # 8

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).

SKEDS CORD & DIRECTORY: DL4EBY/DK0TU, KLAUS TIEDEMANN,
HALSKESTR.35, D-12167 BERLIN, (49-30-7955467), E-Mail: Klaus Tiedemann.

***E-MAIL LIST CORD: Scott KD4LT***

*** NA EME BBS: 704-284-4854 ***

EME NETS

14.345 KHz at 1600 Z SAT/SUN

CONDITIONS
Activity was lower than expected during the June SW and the following ARRL June VHF Contest weekend. I thought that the presence of NA stations operating portable from rare grid squares might have generated some excitement, but this was not the case. I do not believe that any of the announced portable stations completed an EME QSO. It is difficult for me to comment on conditions because of the low density of reports this month and the fact that I was out of town for both weekends. Conditions were certainly not exceptional. If there was a bright spot it was the level of activity on 13 cm and above. This month we have a short turn around and are blessed with 2 SWs. Let's make the 2nd June SW a better one than the 1st with a good showing.

8th 432 MHz AND ABOVE INTERNATIONAL EME CONFERENCE - PARIS 1998

The next conference is little more than a year away. Now is the time to start making your plans to attend.
The organizing committee is already hard at work as can be seen from the following report -- We have created an association to help with the official negotiations. This association, called EME PARIS 1998, is guided by F1EHN, F6DLA, F5MZN and F5HRY. It is definitely not restricted to the 4 of us. We are expecting help from French operators as F5FLN, F6ETI, F6CGJ and others. We choose PARIS (or its near suburbs) because it is PARIS, one of the famous cities in the world, with an almost infinite number of entertainment possibilities. Some of you may have never been to PARIS, and wish to both join the EME talks and visit the amusements/nightlife, etc ... Maybe, for the 1st time, your wife (spouse), family or friends, will be happy to attend an EME conference! Our goal is to provide you with both possibilities: an enjoyable conference mixed with more classical holiday programs. We believe Aug is the optimum month for this conference. It is probably the period when people can most easily take off for a holiday. It also a desirable time for the reservation of hotels, conference area, etc. 8/9 Aug appears the right weekend, but this is not yet fully confirmed. I will let you know just as soon as it is sure, but you can start thinking about this date. We had other date requests from some operators, but please understand that it is impossible to make everybody happy.

At this stage the likely program is:
- Friday 1500-on, welcome of 1st attendees, dinner together, and open discussion in the conference hall with video projection, slides, recordings and so on available. Night in the hotel.
- Saturday 0800-0900, official opening of the conference. Lectures 0900- 1200. Lunch together. Lectures 1400-1900. Dinner together. A "Paris by night" can be organized on request. Night in the hotel. Possible "spouses' program" include: Versailles castle, Paris monuments and museums (Eiffel tower, Arc de Triumph, Louvre museum), shopping ...
- Sunday trip to Nancay radio telescope at around 0800, visit from 1000-1200. Lunch in the Nancay area. Free speaking, debriefing, proposal for the next conference (and so on) after lunch. Trip back to Paris at 1700. The parallel "spouses' program" could be the castles on the border of the Loire river.
End of the conference. The conference fee will include, at least, the full Saturday program with access to the conference hall, lunch, dinner, one night stay and breakfast, proceedings, gadgets etc. The Friday and Sunday programs, and the "spouses' program" will be options. Projected registration cost is around $US90 for Friday, $ US 180 for Saturday and $ US 60 Sunday. Final cost will depend on the number of people who attend. Of course, we will try to keep these prices as low as possible, but life in Paris is rather expensive, as it is in most European capitals. At this stage of the organization, the major information we need is the approximate number of people we can expect. We would like you to fill the following pre-registration sheet - see the end of this NL. You will not be under any obligation by sending in this form. Likewise, if a lot of people wish to attend the conference, we cannot guarantee that we will be able accommodate everyone. You can pre-registration by sending the sheet via mail to: Olivier LE CAM (F5MZN), Citi Victor Hugo, app 1214 - A2, 95200 SARCELLES; or via fax to: TCAR, Jean Jacques, MAINTOUX (F1EHN) @ 33 1 30 67 87 86; or connect to our WWW site at: EME PARIS 1998 . This site is held by F5MZN. You can also have more details by sending mail or e- mail to: Hervi BIRAUD (F5HRY), 37 rue Pierre Brossolette, 91600 SAVIGNY SUR ORGE, FRANCE, tel 33 1 69 96 68 79, or e-mail F5HRY . The pre-registrations must be done very soon (weeks) for us to more accurately figure costs, and to choose a definite place for the conference. The official registrations will open in 1998, with your payment. More information will follow, via the NL and the WEB page.

AA5C
Greg writes -- A busy month on 3 cm EME. CT1DMK, Luis called on the landline on 10 May, and 40 min later we were sequencing. We completed with (M/O) reports for initial #9. Luis had made some improvements to his receiver and was running 20 w. My schedule with VK2ALU, Lyle on 17 May ended well, although I didn't hear him until 40 min into the sked. Later I found out that Lyle had blockage of his dish by a corner of the house early in the sked. We completed with (M/O) reports for initial #10. My sked with OK1KIR was interrupted by a wet TWT power supply at their end. Antonin called and said their wet weather had resulted in condensation inside the TWT supply which caused it to trip out. 30 min later he called again and said they had dried it and were on the air again. We completed before running out of moon with (M/O) reports for initial #11. He was running 16 w. WX was windy at my end and I've had problems keeping the dish on the moon in those conditions. A make-shift azimuth brake I installed a few weeks ago worked well enough to allow completion of the sked.

DL3EAG
Stephan was QRV during the 1st June SW -- I had only 2 skeds via the Internet, both with JA2KRW. After the 1st was successful (O/M), I gave the 2nd to Ridiger, DK3FB. DK3FB was also successful (O/O) with JA2KRW, but nil was heard from K5JL on sked -just some pings, so Jay was there. Ridiger has tried now several times with Jay, but nothing more than some pings or nil. I (DL3EAG) will be on vacation until 26 June. I'm still limited in el (40 deg at moonrise and 30 deg at moonset). I hope to eliminate this restriction during this summer.

DL4MEA
Guenter has had some problems which has limited his activity. At the end of April doctors detected a broken "Meniscus" at his knee, and he had to go to the hospital. When he was checked for the operation, they additionally detected a knot in his thyroid, so a 2nd operation was necessary. As if this was not enough, his father died on 15 May. [I know Guenter has the sympathy of all of us on his loss, and our sincere wish that events go better for him in the future.] He is getting back to normal and stresses his continuing interest in EME. He can be reached at DL4MEA@DB0KCP.#BAY.DEU.EU (AX.25), or at Guenther or DL4MAE on the WEB.

DL9KR
Jan sends an update on his recent activity. Like many of us increased responsibilities are chipping away at his moon time. Jan added initials with on 19 Jan N4UK #664 and WA8ZWG #665, on 15 Feb NC7K #666, tailend by EA2LY in IN93 #667, on 16 Mar K6IBY #668, and on 12 April F5AQC #669 - his only initial in the REF/DUBUS Contest. Jan is looking for QSLs from NC7K, VE7QH and IK2DDR.

HP3XUG
Louie is still not on-line yet with his e-mail, but was QRV during the SW -- I heard nil from EA8FF, W7QX and JA9BOH, but did catch UR5LX (O/M) - he was much weaker than I have heard him in the past and his CW speed made copy more difficult. I had high VSWR and only 300 w out of my aging 8874 at the time. I guess I must find another one. [Anyone have any suggestions?]

JA4BLC
Yoshiro reports on his 1st June SW activity -- I lost my 2424 PA during the SW. The HV fuse of the klystron blew. I hope the trouble is in the heater transformer and not the tube. Before this problem, I worked JA7BMB (33/43) on 2424 SSB. Also heard on 13 cm were W4HHK, W7GBI, OK1KIR, DF9QX (?), ZS6AXT, OE9ERC, OE9XXI and LX1DB. Sun/CS noise was 13.5 dB on 2304 and 11.5 dB on 2424. On 1296, I worked VE3BQN (O/O) for initial #69, DD1XF (O/O), DJ9YW (549/549), OK1KIR(549/549) and ZS6AXT (549/569).

JA7BMB
Hiroshi is now QRV on 13 cm EME after several years of absences. During the early June SW he QSO'd W4HHK, ZS6AXT, OE9XXI and OE9ERC on 2304/2424 cross frequency. Later he added W7GBI (O/O) and LX1DB (449/439). He lost his final during the SW, but still managed to make QSOs with his driver amp during the EU window. Hiroshi will have his PA repaired soon, and is interested in skeds between NA/EU and JA for the July SW. They can be sent via e-mail to JA4BLC.

K1FO
Steve found conditions fair to good over the May and June SWs. The daylight hours made for convenient operating times but the daytime Faraday rotation may have made conditions appear worse than they really were. He also had very limited operating time during both weekends. There just seems to be too much to do in the short time that the weather is good in the higher latitudes. Spring in Connecticut was dismal this year with weeks of cold windy weather and lots of rain. Steve's array has taken quite a beating due to the windy weather. In June he had limited polarity rotation as the array apparently windmilled 180 deg and moved the limit switch positions. There doesn't appear to be any damage other than his polarity rotor has again become very sloppy with +/- 15 deg of play. Steve comments regarding Ian's (G3SEK) excellent article about rear mount arrays in DUBUS, that he had no problems with his polarity rotors with his 16 yagi arrays. However, when he went to 24 yagis the rotor problems started. Physically a 24 yagi array is 2 times the size of a 16 yagi array and its unsymmetrical shape adds to the wind problems. Steve also has problems apparently with contamination of the LDF4-50 phasing lines in the array. He feels that the array is down at least 1 dB in Sun noise. Unfortunately, repairs will require dropping all the yagi bays of 4 to the ground as the LDF phasing lines are permanently attached to the open wire phasing lines. Stations worked on 70 cm were on 11 May K4QI and JA5OVU, on 07 Jun VE1ALQ and G4ERG, on 08 Jun JH4JLV and JA5OVU with very strong signals (569/579), on 15 June with VHF contest grid square exchanges WB6IMC, W7QX and KA0RYT. Steve just received an envelope from the W1 QSL Bureau that had quite a few EME QSL cards in it. If anyone has been waiting for a card from him he will get around to sending cards. Please understand that since Steve is not really active on HF. He only receives cards from the QSL bureau every 18 months to 2 years, which means that cards sent to Steve via the bureau can take years to receive a reply. [This applies to most EMEers.] 70 cm EME totals for K1FO are now up to #511 initials, 49 states and 75 DXCC.

LA8LF
Anders is now QRV on 13 cm EME -- I can TX on 2304 and RX on 2304 and on 2424 - thanks to JA4BLC - with 15 w from an SSPA mounted at the feed. Sun noise on 2304 is 16 dB at a flux of 73, and CS/G noise is 6.3 dB. I worked on 2304 MHz on 14 May OE9ERC (579/339), OZ4MM (549/O) and OE9XXI (559/449) - (569), on 16 May ZS6AXT (539/M) - Ivo reported later that he copied me (O) towards the end, and on 18 May LX1DB (559/449) - very heavy wind at my location). During the early June SW I had problems with high winds and heard nil on 13 cm from VE4MA, NU7Z and JA7BMB. On 23 cm during the DUBUS/REF contest I was only on for 4 hrs on Sunday. I was released from hospital late Sunday morning. I worked 32 stations with ON5RR #96 as the only initial. I worked I5MPK #95 on 16 Feb. I will be only on 13 cm in June, but back on 1296 in July with my new W2IMU feed.

NC1I
Frank has identified the source of his EME array problems as contamination of several of the LDF4-50 phasing lines. He is attempting to schedule a crane to take the array down within the next 2 weeks. Frank is obviously QRT until the array is repaired and back in place, which he hopes will be by Sept.

N7LQ
Shawn operated portable from DN01 with 4 yagis and 1 KW on 70 cm EME during the ARRL VHF Contest. His tel is (702-626-8607) and e-mail is: Shawn, N7LQ . I do not believe he made any moon QSOs. I also understand that no operation is planned from his home. Shawn reports that he hopes to be active again from DM01 in the September contest and possibly next June as well ( the xyl is still grumbling about last June ) He is also looking for a better location in DM09 for future operations from home. Shawn has a K1FO 8938 Stripline legal limit PA and 4 * FO25 yagis. His transverter and IF section are presently under review.

OZ4MM
Stig says -- I will be QRV again in the coming SW, 28-29 June on 13 cm Saturday and 23 cm Sunday. The house is now near finished so I should be more active again. I have made some sked requests, and hopefully there will be good activity!

S59DCD
Silvo (S50X) sends his group's apology to all who did not work S59DCD in skeds -- We spent almost all our free time in the spring building a new dish. It's not an easy job. We tried hard to have the dish finished for June, but we are still not ready. Everything is on the floor yet. The new system will be a 6.15 m dish with an f/d of 0.56, W2IMU dual mode horn feed, 2 x 2C39BA PA, and .4 dB NF 2 stage NEC32184/MGF1402 LNA. Our last QSO was in the DUBUS REF Contest on 15 March. We made only 4 QSOs. After that the preamp broken due to "demons" from the Halle-Bopp comet - HI! Between 18 Jan and 15 March we QSO'd on 1296 N2IQU, CT1DMK, F1ANH, W2UHI, OK1KIR, GW3XYW, OH2AXH, OZ4MM, LX1DB, WB5LUA, JA4BLC, ZS4AXT, PA3CSG, KB2AH, OE9ERC, OE9XXI, HB9SV, LA8LF, WA8WZG and F6CGJ. We now hope to be QRV again for the July SW. (Our e-mail is S59DCD

VE1ALQ
Darrell sends -- Since my last report, I have added initials on 70 cm with WA8WZG, VE6TA, WI7Z and DL3EAG to bring me to #121. On 23 cm I have added WA8WZG, W4PO, JH5LUZ for a total of #83. There are a number of 23 cm and 70 cm stations that I have heard, or know of, that I will be looking for. All skeds for initials are very welcome. I recently installed a new Dual Dipole Diagonal Waveguide feed designed by N7ART, Russ. This feed is designed for a dish f/d of 0.41 to 0.47. It is providing excellent results. My side lobes are very minimal and my cold sky to sunnoise is as good or better than it has ever been. Plus I now have the 70 cm feed combined with the 23 cm feed with a 27.5" circular back-plane. I also installed a short air line on the RX dipoles that substantially improved sun noise levels. This feed also exhibits very symmetrical E & H fields. A circularity of 1dB is also very attainable with the dual dipoles, and return losses of -30 db are very easily achieved when properly tuned. Over the past 3 years I have built several dual band 23/70 cm feeds for my .47 f/d dish with marginal to poor results. This feed should work well with deeper dishes as well. I strongly recommend this Waveguide feed. [Darrell incooperation with Art have promised to send details on this feed for the NL. Darrell will also provide copies by mail in return for a SASE (large envelope and funds for postage).]

VE4MA
Barry was very not active during the 1st June SW. He reports that GS9B tubes are all good for 13 cm use. They should put out 120 w or so on 13 cm. He expects to have his new dish ready for 10 GHz operation very soon, but it will take longer for the lower bands.

W6/SM0PYP
Paul is just about ready to go on 3 cm -- On 15 June I ran receiving tests with Jim, WA7CJO on 10 GHz. I found him immediately with very strong signals. Later I copied Jim on SSB with strong signals, but very difficult copy. I am now concentrating on repairing the power supply of my TWTA and should be QRV before the ARRL EME Contest.

W7KK
was to be QRV during the ARRL VHF Contest on moonrise from DN10he in central NV with 4 x FO22 yagis and a Lunarlink amp on 432.025. Times were on the 14th 2122 - 2300 plus, and on the 15th 2220 - 0000 plus. Operators were W7KK (ex-NR6E) and K7XC (ex- NC7K). Word is that they ran into problems and never made it on the air.

WA4OFS
Harry's plans to move have been indefinitely postponed. He is thus setting up again for EME. He no longer has his 432 yagi array, but his 11'dish is still available. He will concentrate on 23 cm, but may also try the small dish on 432. Harry asks if any one has prepared a list of the new US calls and their old equivalents. [If anyone can provide me with a copy of such a list, I would be pleased to print it in the NL]. He considered changing his call, but did not get his 1st choice and decided to stay with his call of 35 years.

ZS6AXT
Ivo sends his greetings -- On Thursday, before the 1st June SW, I replaced my LNA for 23 cm with a DJ9BV preamp with added 2nd stage using an MGA86576 for higher gain. Even though this was not well optimized, I got 15.5 dB of sunnoise! The previous WD5AGO LNA with 0.45 dB NF was giving me only 13.5 to 14 dB of sunnoise. However in the process of putting the feed back into position my foot slipped on the ladder and I quite badly injured my right hand. I mention this just to explain my bad CW during the SW - HI. On Saturday I worked on 13 cm JA7BMB for initial #18 - who was quite weak, OE9ERC - "cross-band" test 2304/2320, DF9QX (539/O) #19 and I6PNN. I heard OK1KIR and NU7Z. Due to lack of activity, I changed to 23 cm, where I worked KB2AH and W2UHI. The new LNA is quite an improvement. On Sunday on 23cm I worked JA4BLC, DJ9YW, DD1XF, W2UHI (449 with his 70 w!) and VE1ALQ. I also heard N2IQU. Since activity was really poor I closed early, with the satisfaction that my new 23 cm LNA works well. Nil was heard in my 23 cm sked with KB0PYO.

NETNEWS

W7QX reports EME conditions poor during the ARRL VHF Contest. He only worked K1FO.

W2UHI was only running 70 w on 1296 in June.

KA0RYT also reports poor moon condx during the VHF contest, and worked K1FO and VE6TA. N7LQ was heard but no 2 way.

LX1DB worked JA7BMB (449) and WA8WZG on 13 cm in June. A bad T-storm during the WA8WZG sked was the reason for QSB.

CT1DMK worked AA5C and F6KSX on 10 GHz. Luis will be on 70 cm for 2nd June SW and is looking for reports of improved performance.

UR5LX will not be QRV for the 28/29 June SW. He will be in Germany.

JH3EAO has 1296 feed back in place, but could not be QRV during the 1st June SW because of a business trip.

KD4LT was out of town for most of the SW and the VHF contest weekend.

WB5LUA is now getting 1.5 dB of Moon noise on 10 GHz and 15.5 dB of Sun noise. Al will be on 23 cm with 2 KW at the feed.

F5SDD will be QRV on 70 cm on 26/27 July.

W4HHK QSO'd JA7BMB for initial #37 on 13 cm during the early June SW.

W0RAP has his 18'dish back up, but is not yet on the air. The new dish he wanted to use was too heavy for his mount.

DK3WG worked NA4N in June for initial #333 on 70 cm.

KL7HFQ completed with W7QX at the end of May.

FOR SALE

FP5EK is looking for 432 equipment to get on 70 cm EME. His e-mail address is FP5EK

K1FO - The Lunar- Link Systems LA-200 2 meter amplifiers are presently sold out. Steve has started to order parts for another run of both LA-200's and LA-70B, 70 cm, amplifiers for fall '97 delivery. There are a few LA-135 222 MHz and LA-70B, 70 cm amplifiers still available form the last production run. All are compact desk top RF decks that run 1500 w output and use (2) 3CX800A7 tubes. A rack mount option for the RF decks has been added. PS-70 power supplies are again available as parts for the new production run of PS-70's have arrived. PS-7-'s are now available in different voltage options allowing their use with other amplifiers such as 7289 23 cm amps or 8877 2 m amplifiers. Full load dc voltages can be provided from 1200 Vdc to 2750 Vdc. Typical ICAS current ratings are 2.0 A @ 1500 V, 1.4A @ 2300 V and 1.2A @ 2750 V. Contact Steve, K1FO at 203-421-3377.

KB2AH has a full line of cavity amps and 1, 2, 4 and 6 tube ring amps, lin/circular feed horns and LNAs for 432 and 1296... And recently he has added mounting blocks for K1FO yagis. For full details see Tom's 1296 WEB page, for more details and info e-mail at , Pricing or phone 908-223-5067, FAX 908-223- 0901 (24 hrs) or voice 908-223-8124

FINAL

This NL will probably arrive late because of the short turn around - only 3 weeks this time, and travel on my part. I was at the IEEE/MTT International Microwave Conference, which was held in Denver this year. This gave me the opportunity to meet Jim, W0KJY and visit his impressive antenna farm. Unfortunately K0RZ was out of town at the time of my visit. We also eye-balled with W6/SM0PYP who was also attending the conference.

More news, (i.e. more activity!) and some technical material are needed! E-mail is the preferred way to submit information. I will be looking for you all off the Moon in the June SW (the 2nd SW), on 70 cm the 1st day, 23 cm the 2nd, and on 3 cm again soon.

73, Al - K2UYH 

		432MHz & UP EME SKEDS
		======================

28 JUN

Time   432.004          432.040        432.060        432.070

0800z                 KB3PD -LU4HO
0830z                 KB3PD -IK0EQJ
0900z                 KB3PD -HA1YA
0930z                 KB3PD -HA1YA
1000z  VE6TA -IW5AVM
1100z  KL7HFQ-DK3WG
1600z                                HP3XUG-W7QX    JA2KRW-KB3PD

29 JUN

Time   432.004

1200z  HP3XUG-KB3PD

Skeds for SEP 15

Time   432.040




28 JUN

Time     1296.050

0930z  W4OP  -OZ4MM

29 JUN

Time     1296.050

0700z  OZ4MM -4X6UJ
0830z  W4TJ  -ZS6AXT
0900z  NP4B  -OZ4MM

28 JUN

Time     2304.050       2304.100

0200z                 OZ4MM -JA7BMB
0230z                 OZ4MM -JH3EAO
0800z                 OZ4MM -G3LTF
1000z  NU7Z  -I5MPK
1030z  NU7Z  -WA8WZG
1100z  NU7Z  -IK6EIW

5 JULY

Time   2304.100       2304.150       2304.200

0630z  OH2AXT-JA7BMB                 LA8LF -JA4BLC
0700z  LA8LF -JA7BMB  OH2AXH-JH3EAO  DF9QX -JA4BLC
0730z  OK1KIR-JA7BMB  OZ4MM -JH3EAO  LX1DB -JA4BLC
0800z  OZ4MM -JA7BMB  LX1DB -JH3EAO
0830z                 ZS6AXT-JH3EAO
1630z  WB5LUA-LX1DB
1700z  WB5LUA-DF9QX
2300z  JA7BMB-W7GBI
2330z  JH3EAO-W7GBI
Skeds for June 7/8 1997

This information was obtained from Scott, KD4LT

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For Comments or corrections: Rein, W6/PA0ZN