432 AND ABOVE EME NEWS MARCH 2010 VOL 38 #3 Note: E-mail addresses have been modified [ "XX" ] EDITOR: AL KATZ, K2UYH; DEPT. ELECTRICAL/COMPUTER ENGINEERING, THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PO BOX 7718 EWING, NJ 08628, TEL (W 609-584-8424) OR (H 609-443-3184), FAX (609-631-0177), E-MAIL a.katzXXieee.org PROD/MAIL: TOM KIRK, KA2VAD (609-584/8424), E-MAIL kirktXXlintech.com NETNEWS EDITOR & INITIAL LISTS: G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY, E-MAIL zen70432XXzen.co.uk (based on K1RQG's Netnotes & Reflector News) EME NETS: 14.345, 10 AM ET SATURDAY AND SUNDAY (AFTER VARO NET ENDS ON SUNDAY) NET CONTROL AND SKEDS COORDINATOR: JOE, K1RQG*, TEL (207-469-3492), E-MAIL k1rqgXXaol.com EME DIRECTORY: http://www.dl4eby.de/, DL4EBY/DK0TU, KLAUS TIEDEMANN, TEL (49-30-7955467), E-MAIL: tklausXXsnafu.de NL EMAIL DISTRIBUTION and EMAIL LIST CORD: WARREN, W2WD wbutlerXXieee.org [TXT OR PDF OR "ON WEB" NOTICE] THE NL WEB VERSION IS PRODUCED BY REIN, W6SZ AND AVAILABLE AT http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/em70cm.html CONDITIONS: A combination of bad weather (WX) and the absence of any contests (or dxpeditions) tended to slow the pace a bit during the end of Jan/start of Feb period covered by this NL. The 70 cm CW activity time period (ATP) was a week before the designated EME activity weekend (AW) and corresponded with the ARRL’s popular Jan VHF Contest. There was certainly more 432 action during this weekend because of EME related contest activity than during the AW. The Jan contest is primarily intended as a tropo contest, but unlike in European (EU) contests, in North America (NA) EME counts for QSO points and multipliers. T here is thus quite an incentive to try EME during the contest. Conditions were not particularly great, but there were stations on looking for QSOs. The AW produced better conditions, but not a huge amount of activity. The presence of the big 8J1AXA dish on 23 cm caused a little spike on 1296 during their window. Activity should be better at the end of Feb. The 432 ATP is again a week before the AW on 20 Feb from 2000 to 2200 and 21 Feb from 1000 to 1200, and will not conflict with the popular 1296 EME SSB Contest that runs for just one Moon pass from Friday (Z) 26 Feb at 2000 to 27 Feb at 2000. There is a chance that the EOA group will be testing on 432 on 24 and/or 25 Feb around 0000 to 0130 – see EOA II announcement. DXPEDITION NEWS: Although there were no dxpeditions in Jan, Kazakhstan in the form of UN7GK showed up for the first time on EME to my knowledge on both 1296 and 432 – see Vlad’s report. In Feb there is news that DL2NUD will be QRV on 432 from French Guiana (GJ35sa) using the call FY/DL2NUD with a 38 el M2 yagi and BEKO PA (400 W at dipol). Hermann is reported to already QRV on 144, but there is no information as yet on when he will be QRV on 70 cm. FY has been QRV on 70 cm at least twice before but I am sure still needed by many stations. It would be nice to also have some 23 cm activity there. Activity is to continue until 1 March, so there is still time for some 432 QSOs. W0PW/W0EYE A SK: I am sorry to report that we have lost another EME pioneer, Don Hilliard. He was a regular on 432 EME in the 70’s and 80’s. Don will especially be remembered for his many technical contributions for which he received the CSVHF Society’s Chambers Award in 1985. I have no information on his death. He was getting on in years and had not been in good health for sometime. We will miss Don. ECHOES OF APPOLO (EOA) EME II: Pat (AA6EG) apolloemeXXlive.com is organizing a follow up celebration for the weekend of 16/19 April corresponding to the Apollo 13 Moon Anniversary. This time the focus will be on 432 EME with participation by Arecibo on 432 and possibly 1296 – see the end of this newsletter (NL). The goal is still to attract young people to Science and Technology in general and amateur radio in particular. EOA I had some excellent successes in achieving this goal with several outstanding science out reach experiences especially by HB9MOON and VK7MO and world class publicity in the New York Times. We also had some terrific SSB EME TNX to the efforts of VK2UM and K1RQG. Pat does not want just another QSOfest, and is looking for ideas on how to better achieve EOA’s goal. He has commitments from Dwingeloo and the MIT Radio Club and their associated Haystack assets. See the EOA web page at http://www.echoesofapollo.com for more information. [Unfortunately there are some problems with the scheduled weekend. It is a high northern declination weekend (+24 degs), which is good for NA activity but as pointed out by VK3UM a problem in the southern hemisphere where some of the big dishes cannot be tilted low enough to even participate. Another problem is that this weekend conflicts with the 13 cm leg of the DUBUS/REF EME Contest. It is hard to run a serious science outreach activity and still give this contest the attention it deserves. MICROWAVE ACTIVITY WEEKENDS PLANS FOR 6 CM AND 9 CM: G3LTF writes -- The consensus is that this year we use the DUBUS Contest weekend of 21/22 March as the 9 cm AW and have a 6 cm AW on 10/11 July. Nearer the July time we can organize skeds, identify some "big guns", and co-ordinate windows for JA and VK/ZL. The idea of an AW is just to encourage activity and to enable people to test out their station, hopefully with some big signals on the band. See http://www.nitehawk.com/rasmit/NLD/eme0909.pdf for a report on last year’s microwave AW… So now let’s get building! 8J1AXA: Mike (JH1KRC) jh1krcXXsyd.odn.ne.j reports that the first JAXA dish 23 cm operating event on 23/24 Jan was very successful -- We made 29 QSOs despite unstable conditions and much QSB and cosmic noise. Mostly the reports received were better than those sent. Perhaps a low pass filter installed in front of LNA to cut-off possible interference may have deteriorated our receive performance. Our JT echoes also sounded strange. This effect may have been caused by some interaction between our computer and the TS2000. G4CCH wrote that we sounded like “a pipe organ in a cathedral” – a Katsuura Radio Cathedral! The crew enjoyed many QSOs including a YL-YL SSB contact by Kathy, LX1WB and Naomi. The operating team consisted of JE1BNZ, JA0GPT, JF1AKD, JH1KRC, JF6DEA, JA9COB and YL/Naomi. QSO’d on CW were JA8ERE, JA8IAD, JA4LJB, JA6AHB, OK1DFC, G4CCH, OK1KIR, LA9NEA, LA8LF, HB9IZ, LX1DB, OH2DG, WA6PY and K7XQ, on SSB OK1DFC, JA4BLC (SSB/CW), G4CCH, LA8LF, LX1DB, F5VHX (SSB/CW) and LX1WB, and on JT65c VK4CDI, JA1WQF, UA3PTW, G4CCH, OK1DFC, RW3BP, PA3CSG and RD3DA. South America to JA contacts were planned with PY2BR, and Bruce did record our signals while in contact with JA8ERE and JA8IAD, but unfortunately we missed him. We need to re-calibrate the offset of our AZ/EL indications for better tracking and need to get used to the TS2000’s remote control display. We used the 18 m dish of JAXA with a septum feed of OK1DFC design, HB9BBD LNA and 200 W SSPA/TS2000 behind the dish remotely controlled from the shack. Our QSL Mgr is JH6RTO/5.8J1AXA 18 m dish F5SE: Franck koztonXXfree.fr reports on his dish progress -- Things are going at slow speed due to cold weather. Despite of this, I still hope to be QRV for the SSB contest weekend in late Feb. Yesterday, we "suffered" our fourth "snow attack", and I had to drive back home in a hurry in order not to be stuck on the hill-top... Otherwise, I would have been able to run my first echo tests with only 25 W for a beginning. Today and the next few days, weather services predict some more snow falls all over the country, as well as frost temperatures until next Sunday. Last night, we had -9°C in our garden, and -12°C at the Reims weather station. Next week, WX should warm up back and Moon will be in a better position, so... patience is the rule. FR5DN: Phil fr5dnpmXXwanadoo.fr had a disaster and is now QRT on EME for an unknown period. His 70 cm array was destroyed when the winch cable broke while lowering his array. The array went down the tower. The yagis were broken, H-frame bent, coax and rotators cables cut including flexible low loss coax between the divider and relay. It is a very bad situation. Phil is sorry for missing the skeds he had planned to run. G3LTF: Peter g3ltfXXbtinternet.com reports no EME activity in Jan –- I am afraid that in early Jan the WX was awful, we needed snow chains on the car to get in and out for 10 days. We then took a break and were basking in the Sun in FJ for 10 days (vy nice!!). When we got back the WX was awful again. The 6 cm system rebuild is making good progress and the new arrangement with a 20 W SSPA will enable a fairly rapid feed change over. Unfortunately I shan't be QRV again until March due to bad planning of holidays. I will QRV again for the DUBUS contests and will be looking for many QSOs. IK5QLO: Andrea andreaXXisaacasimov.it sends news on his 23 cm EME on 24/31 Jan -- I was QRV for several hours around the Jan perigee and found nice conditions. Since my last report I added a crystal oven to my FT-847, which was the main cause of my frequency drift while TXing. It appears to have cured most of the problem. I still have some drift due to my transverter, which is mounted at my dish. I will work on this fix next. The highlight of my activity was a CW QSO with OE5JFL. Hannes was remotely operating his beacon station (5 m dish and 100 W). He initially copied me while I was calling (without success) 8J1AXA. I was also very pleased to able to see my weak echoes (2.4 m dish and 150 W CW) on my waterfall display. I also worked on 24 Jan HB9IZ and LA8LF for an initial (#) on CW, and JA6AHB (#), PA3CSG (#), PA3DZL (#), RD3DA and VE7BBG (#) on JT65C, on 28 Jan RW3BP on JT65C, on 29 Jan G4CCH (#) on CW, 30 Jan OE5JFL (#) on CW and heard K8EB and 8J1AXA, and on 31 Jan UE3FWC (special call of RD3DA), K7XQ (#), VK2JDS (#) and DF3RU (#) all on JT65C. K1RQG: Joe k1rqgXXaol.com was finally able to QRV on 432 during the Jan AW, but had problems –- I was able to snow-shoe out to the dish and release the tie downs. I got the dish moving around 1930 on 24 Jan, but no receive and it took forever to track the Moon. Around 2100 I heard DL7APV calling CQ, but weak. I obviously had receive problems. I also had transmit frequency control problems (mostly operator problems). I finally found that the power was turned off to the preamp. Latter I had nice CW 70 cm EME contact with W7MEM. K3MF: Wayde k3mfXXaol.com found excellent conditions on 432 during the second half of Jan –- My echoes were S4 or higher most of the nights. During the ARRL VHF January contest I worked DF3RU, OK2POI, W7XQ, W7AMI, F6APE, DL7APV and W7MEM. All were random QSOs on JT65b using a SoftRock IF and LINRAD hooked up to my TS-2000x. I was able to see 20 kHz at a time to find the signals. I worked on 26 Jan DL5FN and VE6ZT for an initial on JT65b, and on 30 Jan EA3XU (22DB) on JT65b, WE2Y (549/559) on CW, NC1I (8DB) on JT65b and W7AMI (10DB) on JT65b. A feedline problem occurred on 29 Jan. I ran LMR 600 as a temporary fix until the weather gets warmer to allow digging up my buried 7/8" line. It will probably have to be replaced. I have received the final QSL card to confirm WAC on 432. The station is 8 x 25 el FO yagis and 1.2 kW. K6JEY: Doug doughnhelenXXmoonlink.net has upgraded his 432 array changing both the phasing lines and feedlines -- Many thanks to Rein W6SZ for helping. The first signal heard was DL9APV (12DB) and the second DF3RU (19DB) on JT65B. I didn't hear any signals on CW, but the JT were good. I’m running 800 W to 4 x 25 el K1FO yagis and am open for skeds. K8EB: Erv mrdxccXXsbcglobal.net was QRV during the Jan AW and post AW on 1296. He QSO’d on 24 Jan with low power G4CCH, K5PJR and LX1DB on CW, and LU1CGB, PA3CSG and RW3BP on JT65c. During the 30/31 Jan weekend he listened in on 8J1AXA and PY2BS trying to Complete, and added contacts with about 10 on CW and 5 on JT. He was also back on high power. He finished repairs of his PA. It is back in rack and working well. LX1DB: Willie wbauerXXpt.lu was on 23 cm during the Jan AW. He QSO’d on 23 Jan 8J1AXA (599/59) on CW to SSB, UT2EG (559/59) also CW to SSB and UA3PTW (55/57) on SSB,, then his daughter Kathy, LX1WB, made what maybe the first possible YL to YL QSO on the Moon with a YL at 8J1AXA. He also heard HB9IZ. Conditions seemed very good. The next day he worked K8EB on CW and W4OP (57/57) on SSB. Willie measured 0.8 dB of Moon noise. He did not make it on for 30/31 Jan activity due to bad weather. He had lots of snow and could not get on Moon. N4GJV: Ron’s qstdembXXyahoo.com Jan EME activity report -- The precipitation here fell in the form of (much) rain, but fell as freezing rain not far away in the foothills and mountains to the NW of my QTH. Many trees were unfortunately damaged. I was late for the 70 cm ATP due to an overlap with the 2M EME activity period. I found conditions to be down somewhat from most recent months, but the main problem seemed to be a polarity issue. I called K0RZ without success, but called him again 1.5 hours later when we easily exchanged RST reports and grid square info. DL7APV was also easily worked with an RST exchange. However, I heard and called LZ1DX and DF3RU without success. I also called G4RGK, who may have replied to me, but I experienced QRM and could not copy him after my reply. The crowning blow came when I called K1RQG several times without reply, even though I could hear my own echoes very FB at the time! Joe normally has "golden ears", so I nearly decided to find another hobby! I later learned that he had forgotten to turn on the DC power to his LNA! Others heard included OZ6OL and DG1KJG. I will be looking forward to hopefully better condx in Feb! NC1I: Frank emeXXnc1i.com reports that W1QA operated his station on 432 JT65b on 30 Jan and QSO’d on random at 0427 K3MF (6DB later heard at 2DB), 0547 W7AMI (6DB), 0657 K7XQ (11DB later heard 7DB) and 0701 G4ZFJ (24DB) - right on his horizon and copied K6JEY. The array was horizontal for both TX and RX as there wasn't really enough time to adjust the polarity during the short WSJT sequences. OK1DFC: Zdenek ok1dfcXXseznam.cz was QRV on 1296 on 23 Jan -- It was nice to work today 8J1AXA via Moon. I reached thanks to them initial #267 on CW and {#84} on JT on 1296. Signal was pretty good, (5DB) on JT, (599) on CW and (55) on SSB. At Moonset I also worked LA8LF (579) and LA9NEA (579). Both produced great signals on CW. Unfortunately the following two weeks I was traveling in TA and UA3 and could not be QRV on the Moon. I’m looking forward to SSB EME contest 1296 if WX permit me to operate my dish. ON4BCB: Walter crauwels.walterXXtelenet.be reports no activity off the moon in late Jan due to snow and ice – The WX did not permit me to control the dish. I did attend the Heelweg Microwave Meeting and it was a pleasure to meet EMEers G4DDK, G4HUP, DL1YMK, DF6NA, the PI9CAM crew and many others there. SM2CEW: Peter sm2cewXXtelia.com was occupied with the 160 m contest operation in Jan but make a few QSOs -- I had plans to come on 432/1296 EME on 31 Jan but then it started snowing and the wind picked up. Last weekend on 24 Jan I had a 432 CW sked with OK1TEH (single yagi) and heard him quite OK, but we did not complete. Conditions were not good at the time. Just before the sked I worked DG1KJG and noted that signals were down. The last two times I have been QRV, I have noticed that my return echoes have been louder on the vertical elements (dual dipoles). I am not sure why, but the dish feed is covered in ice and snow so maybe the pattern of the horizontal dual dipoles is a bit distorted because of this. I plan to do some checking. On another note, I am disturbed by the distorted way that EME is now presented in the new ARRL Handbook. For example, the very useful tables 6 and 7 presenting the TMO report system have been omitted this time, probably because this information is considered by K1JT as obsolete in the digital world. However, in real EME we know that good understanding of the TMO report system is mandatory to complete a QSO when signal levels are low. And we also know that the TMO report system is different on 144 and 432 &up. The tables were excellent in displaying the TMO report system and the differences between high and low bands. Apparently there was no space left in the text for this vital information. There was enough space to present links to loggers and chatboards for live communication via the Internet in detail. SM4IVE: Lars sm4iveXXtelia.com had a major set back during the Jan Aw and was not able to be QRV. The gearbox in his dish was damaged when he tried to move the dish when it was frozen. Lars is QRT until he makes repairs. A new gearbox is available. SV1BTR: Jimmy’s jimmyvXXhol.gr QRL situation has changed! He will not have to relocate and can stay with his current post based in Greece. He will still be traveling a lot, but will be able to on EME when back in SV. He is still waiting for a motor for his dish, but hopes to make it on for the 23 cm EME SSB contest. UN7GK: Vladimir UN7GKXXmail.ru is now QRV on 23 and 70 cm EME from Kazakhstan, MN83lj using JT. On 1296 he is running 4 x 55 el H loop yagis, 400 W PA and 0.2 dB NF LNA. He has already QSO’d on 23 cm RW3BP, ES6RQ, RD3DA, UA3PTW, G4CCH, PA3FXB, OK1DFC, ES4PC, OK1KIR, JA6AHB, ES5PC, PA3CSG, LA9NEA, PA3DZL, VK2JDS, K2UYH, K8EB, UE3FWC, UT2EG, DJ9YW and DF3RU. He is not as well equipped for 70 cm, but has worked using JT65B DL7APV, DF3RU and UA3PTW. UA3PTW: Dmitrij ua3ptwXXinbox.ru was active on 432 and 1296 during the past month. He added on 432 using JT65B EA8/G4RGK, VK7JG, VE6ZT, W4RBO, SW6IED, UT5UAS, UN7GK, OK1YK and VK3AXH, and on 1296 on SSB LX1DB (57/55), on CW F5VHX, UT2EG, OZ4MM and CT1DMK and on JT65C ES6RQ, UN7GK, HB9IZ, 8J1AXA and PA3CSG. All QSOs are believed initials except LX1DB. UA4AQL: Al ua4aqlXXkrts.pp.ru reports fantastic 70 cm conditions on 29 Jan -- I worked using JT65B DF3RU, YL2OK and RU4HU (28DB) was using onlya single  23 el RA3AQ yagi and 150 W. I am using 2 x 26 el RA3LE yagis and 700 W. VE3KRP: Eddie eddieXXtbaytel.net had real bad weather during the Jan AW, but did get on the Moon. On 23 cm he copied SV3AAF and LA8LF, but made no QSOs. He found conditions much better on the post AW on 30/31 Jan. Echoes were very good and he worked NA4N for initial #60. He also heard VE4SA work N4PZ and K8EB. VE4SA: Shawn ve4saXXrac.ca was on 23 cm on 30/31 Jan -- Friday night (local) was quiet, but on 31st, I made 2 initials with K8EB and N4PZ. Nothing else was heard. WA8RJF: Tony TEmanueleXXkentdisplays.com was QRV on 1296 during the 23/24 Jan AW. On Friday (local) – I copied 8J1AXA and PY2BS, but made no QSOs. Later in Eur window T worked G4CCH and only heard one other station - might have been K5GW echo testing or thunder (loud)! Howard had his usual nice signal also. On Saturday, I worked W4OP and K8EB. W4OP's signal seemed louder than in past – has he done something? The only other station heard was LA8LF calling CQ, but I could not get his attention. He had a loud signal, S7 or S8 on my meter. The band was quiet with strange, deep fades. It was also raining like crazy. My solid panel dish acting like a bird bath - maybe the fades were on this end! I could see my reflected power change! Later I added K5GW, but was not able to QRV on 30/31 due to bad WX. I am now working on 3400 dish feed. K2UYH: I a.katzXXieee.org missed the ATP and EME activity on the 23/24 Jan weekend because of business travel, but had some good luck the night I returned from India (no sleep - hi). I finally QSO'd on 26 Jan on 432 at 0550 BX1AD (28DB/O) JT65B for mixed initial #782* and DXCC 95* after over a year of trying.  I also caught on 30 Jan on 1296 at 0020 UN7GK (18DB/15DB) JT65C for mixed initial #363* and DXCC 72*. I tried to get him to go to CW, but Vlad said he was not set up for CW. Signals were certainly strong enough for CW. I also added an initial on 1296 on 1 Feb at 1058 VK4CDI (16DB/8DB) JT65c #364* and at 1110 VK4CDI (O/O) on CW for #304. All QSOs were made by sked. It is not always easy to get stations to take skeds. Many seem to feel you must be on a reflector to make an EME QSO. NETNEWS BY G4RGK: F2QY, operator Yan, located on the Mediterranean coast, is presently building a 6 m dish and intends to be active on 23 cm EME. WD5AGO has 9 cm feed working well and anxious to try in DUBUS contest. Also working on cooled LNAs. K2DH was away during the Jan AW. Dave is anxious to put a 13 cm feed in his dish and get this band working on EME, but plans to be on 1296 for the SSB contest. G4ALH will be back on Moon soon. He needs to work on the mechanics and just needs a little time to get the job done. WB7QBS copied on 432 during the AW DL7APV working a lot of stations, but no contacts. K5GW has trued his dish and is now getting 15 db of Sun noise on 10 GHz. W7MEM is QRV on 432 EME. DL1YMK is working on a 1 kW SSPA for 23 cm. It will monitor SWR, overdrive input, temperature and imbalance of output hybrid. He is also preparing for his May dxpedition that will run from the 13th to 23rd. WE2Y was active during the Jan AW on 70 cm and worked W8TXT and K3MF. Also heard was K1RQG. DK3WG added on 432 VK7JG (for field 53 and grid square 443) and DL7FF using JT65B. 4L1FP will coming on 70 and 23 cm EME. SM7WSJ is working on 4 m dish for 23 cm. W7MEM plans to put dish up for 1296. CT1DMK is working on good 13 cm. good preamp. W8TXT had lots of snow, but should be QRV for the Feb 70 cm ATP. VE6TA will put his 23 cm feed back in for the SSB contest. FOR SALE: WW2R has 902 EME gear for sale. 2 x Motorola PA with input and output combiners ~600 W, dual dipole feed (for 0.4 f/d dish) with 7/16 female din connector. More info is on www.g4fre.com/emebits.htm. N4PZ has for sale a new set of ribs and screen for a 16’ (5 m) Orion dish – no hub for $250 plus shipping in the USA or Canada. If interested call Steve at 1-815-734-4255. W2DRZ and K2TXB have updated their Moon Tracking System to include a South Stop – see their web page at http://www.w2drz.ramcoinc.com/. W7MEM is looking for 23 cm fed for a TVRO dish. GM4XBF has a 13 cm SSB Electronics Transceiver (made from kits) 0.5 W output for sale. He is open to offers. E-mail Mike at mikeXXkelpie.demon.co.uk or tel at +01875 819158. EME2010 NEWS: It is with great pleasure that W5LUA, VE4MA, WA8RJF and the North Texas Microwave Society officially announce the 14th International EME Conference. We cordially invite you and your family to Dallas, Texas on 12-14 Aug for the premier technical and social EME event of the year. Whether you are an experienced EMEer or new to the lunatic fringe, the conference will offer a wide range of technical, social and site-seeing activities for everyone. The Conference Hotel is The Westin at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, which is just a short shuttle ride from DFW Airport and offers first class conference amenities at an excellent conference price of $89 USD per night plus taxes. Their address is 4545 West John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, TX 75063. We have guest rooms booked for Wednesday night through Saturday night. The conference rate is only good for Wednesday through Saturday for either a single bed or double beds. Please book your room directly with this hotel as it helps the conference organizers meet our hotel commitment and helps offset the price of conference meeting rooms and other amenities. We expect a large turnout and strongly recommend that you book early to avoid disappointment. The hotel block will be held until 12 July. After 12 July, it will be difficult to get the same conference rate. Hotel registration is now available online at http://www. starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=0902108016 &key=7BF3D. If you have any difficulties in using the on-line Westin hotel registration, please call reservations at 888-627-8617 and reference the “EME Conference” to get the conference rate. If all else fails please drop Al a note at w5lua@sbcglobal.net. The Dallas-Fort Worth area offers a wide range of holiday/vacation activities. Plan on arriving at the conference hotel Wednesday afternoon or evening. We will have a hospitality suite and registration on Wednesday evening so we can get acquainted and prepare for a full day of family activities on Thursday. The Thursday family activities will include air conditioned bus tours in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Yes it will be hot in the Texas in Aug, but we do have well air conditioned buses, hotels and buildings! We are working with two local tour companies at present to find the best activities and best deal for our group. Once the details are known (which should be within a few weeks) we will go forth with the conference registration and fees. While the technical sessions are going on during the day on both Friday and Saturday, we plan two full days of family activities. On Friday evening we have planned a fun filled evening in Ft. Worth. We will have a Saturday night banquet at the hotel with a special guest speaker planned. We will have a short session on Sunday morning to wrap things up and then you are free to continue your travels. We hope that you can make the Dallas Ft. Worth area the center of your 2010 vacation or just a stopping point as you tour other parts of North America. The Dallas Fort Worth area is served by DFW International Airport making international travel easy while still a convenient jumping off point to other destinations within the USA or Canada. The hallmark of past EME conferences has been the excellent technical presentations and the 14th EME Conference promises to live up to everyone’s expectations with an outstanding technical program. To date presentations on the following topics by an international cast of EMEers include: Low Noise Amplifiers, Tracking the Moon and other celestial bodies, SSPAs/Tube Power Amplifier/TWT Workshop, Receiving with Software Defined Radios, Big Dish EME, Highlights from several Dxpeditions, Getting started with a small dish on 1296 EME, Feed design and construction, EME Propagation, Software, Live EME demo on 1296 MHz by WA5WCP/5 and more. Of course no technical portion of a Conference is complete without the Technical Proceedings and the 14th EME Conference Proceedings will be second to none. I f you would like to present or submit a technical article for inclusion in the Proceedings please contact a committee member as soon as possible. We also have several electronic vendors signed up to showcase their goodies. The vendor rooms will be open all day Friday and Saturday. If you are interested in obtaining a vendor table, please contact us as soon as possible before the start of the conference. We will also have noise figure measurement equipment on hand to showcase your newest low noise amplifier or to help you troubleshoot a troubled LNA. A special request: Most EMEers would argue that EME is the most interesting, challenging and rewarding aspect of Amateur Radio. The EME Conference presents not only an opportunity to swap lies with old friends or make new friends but it also presents each of us with an opportunity to share our passion for that unique aspect of Amateur Radio called EME with others. We encourage you to invite any and all who may have an interest in EME. Whether you are a seasoned EMEer or just someone wishing to see what all the fun is about on the higher frequencies, this conference is for you. Whether this will be your 1st EME Conference or your 14th, we are looking forward to seeing you in Dallas in Aug. FINAL: The ARRL's VUAC is considering revising the current rules for the ARRL International EME Contest, and is asking for your input. Effective with the 2009 contest the assisted class was not allowed. VUAC members have received numerous messages regarding this change; some in favor; some opposed. They are considering making further changes to the rules and are asking to hear from the EME community. Several proposals have been put forth: 1) Reinstate the rules regarding assistance as they existed in 2008. 2) Establish a new class of operation called "Coordinated". Entrants in this class would be allowed to post ONLY their call-sign and calling frequency via the internet or other methods for other entrants to see. Any station posting or viewing this information would be considered to be in the "Coordinated" class. 3) Let the current rules (non-assistance only) apply to one of the two weekends for 50-1296, and let assistance be used on the other 50-1296 weekend. 4) Run a separate EME contest for 50-1296 using assistance on the weekend reserved for 2304 and up. 5) Don't make any further changes. Let the rules remain as they are now. I know there are very strong feelings on this issue in the 432 and Up EME community. Most of us are for keeping the rules as they are at present. Many of us have already responded. If you have not done so already, it is very important that you do reply. Please respond to your VUAC representative and to Army Curtis, AE5P ae5p@arrl.net. A list of VUAC members can be found at http://www.arrl.org/contests/vuac.html. Comments must be received no later than 17 Feb to be considered by the VUAC. If you do not have a VUAC representative, please respond to Jon Platt, W0ZQ w0zqXXaol.com and to AE5P ae5pXXarrl.net. When responding, please indicate what bands you have made EME contacts on, and if you have ever participated in an EME contest. Interested in operating 1296 EME from Arecibo, here maybe your opportunity -- The EOA group operating from Arecibo is looking for assistance in setting up a 1296 station. (They already have gear for 70 cm). If anyone is interested in joining the Arecibo dxpedition team who has a 1296 transportable station, please contact Pat, AA6EG at apolloeme@live.com. The EOA team will/can stay on site for $60/day at accommodations used by visiting scientific staff. The 1296 station will be located inside the Gregorian Feed Dome and the feed horn will illuminate their dual mirror Gregorian feed, and then the 1000' spherical dish, 450 ft below. G3LTF reminds us that our 23 cm EME band is far from safe despite the delays of the EU Galileo GPS system as the Chinese have now launched their own GPS system - See http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/01/china-opens-2010-with-beidou-2-satellite-launch/. W5LUA is still looking for papers to be presented at EME2010 in TX this summer. If you are interested in presenting, please let Al know. Reply to w5lua@sbcglobal.net. The deadline for receipt of papers will be in mid June. I think this covers the news for another Moon orbit. I hope to be hearing all of you on SSB off the Moon during the SSB Funfest. Last year’s Chief Fun Maker was OK1CA just ahead of LX1DB. Who will it be this year? (Certificates for 2009 and 2010 will be awarded at the EME Conference this summer). Please the info coming – we could use some more pictures and technical material. 73, Al – K2UYH