EDITOR: ALLEN KATZ, K2UYH;
ENGINEERING DEPT, TRENTON STATE COLLEGE, TRENTON, NJ, 08650-4700 (W 609-490-2817
or Home 443-3184, FAX 609-443-1713, KLAUS TIEDEMAN, DL4EBY/DK0TU

*** NA EME BBS: 704-284-4854 ***
EME NETS:
14.345 1500/1600 Z SAT/SUN; CONTL NA NET: SCOTT, KD4LT AND JAY, K5JL;
EUR NET: JOE, K1RQG (207-469-3492).

EME STANDINGS: JIM STARKEY, W0KJY, 3845 CAPITOL DRIVE, FT. COLLINS, CO 80526, (303) 226-0669)

CONDITIONS:
Reviews of the 1st leg of the ARRL EME contest are somewhat mixed. I found libration fadding exceptionally good on both 432 (Saturday) and 1296 (Sunday). Libration is usually the biggest source of frustration during an EME contest ... those QRZs. Faraday seemed low and well behaved. This condition is not good news for fixed polarization (pol) stations. Cross pol between Eur and NA is produced. The real problem was activity. Not so much on 23 cm which is experiencing significant population growth, but on 70 cm. The low declination (dec) cut operating time for everyone. This made activity appear lower than in actuality. Further many stations did on stay on during the early morning hours. In NA the bands went dead before the end of the Eur. window. Possibly the conflicting Eur UHF contest was a factor? The net results is lower scores than in past years. On 432 SM4IVE is reported to be in the lead with 90x30, DL9KR has 80x30 followed by K1FO 75x30, OE5JFL 65x?, N4GJV 61x28, OH2PO 55x22, DL9NDD 54x21 and UR5LX 53x21. In JA JL1ZCG ended with 30 stations, JA5OVU 24x14 and JA9BOH 20x14. On 1296 OE9XXI is again on top with 56x29 closely followed by OZ4MM 55x26 than OE5JFL 48x?, OE9ERC 45x28 and EA6/DF5JJ 44x26. In NA WD5AGO appears to lead with 33x? and AA6WI with 32x20. JH5LUZ had 18x? and JA4BLC 15x13. The Nov weekend will offer a little higher dec and the hope that more leaves will be off the trees. Also CN2EME should be on 70 cm from MOROCCO which should stir up 432 a bit.

AA6WI:
Hoppy's 23 cm EME Activity Report follows -- I had a very nice visit with Russ (N7ART) during the Sept SW. After returning home, on 23 Sept worked KB2AH, OE9XXI and W2UHI. On 24 Sept I had a sked with KD4LT, but no contact due to new moon and Sun only 2 deg offset in both Az/El axis. Worked on 29 Sept W4RDI for initial #94, and on 30 Sept worked KD4LT #95.
Conditions during the 1st weekend of the EME contest were very good. This resulted in 32 contactsand another 5 initials even though prime moon time was very restricted due to the low dec. I worked on 07 Oct ZS6AXT, OE9XXI, F1ANH, EA3UM, EA6/DF5JJ, OZ4MM, W2UHI, HB9BHU, OE9ERC, DJ9YW, KB2AH, WD5AGO, AA4TJ, W0RAP, N7ART #96, KB2AH (Dupe - SSB), WA7BBM #97 - John only had 20 w at feed!, K3EAV, W7GBI and VE1ALQ. Almost had VE1ZJ but couldn't copy his prefix before his PA blew! G4CCH was also heard but CWNR. On 08 Oct worked IY4ARI #98, F5PAU #99, OE5JFL, VE3ONT, K2UYH, W4RDI, WA4OFS, HB9BBD, JH3EAO, W0KJY, VK5MC, JA4BLC and JH5LUZ #100 - 130 w solid state to 5 m dish. I was heard by G4DZU on sked but couldn't hear Doug. Others called but not worked were OH2AXH, DF3RU, and VE1ZJ (50W). The new YL-1050 PA really got a workout at 1.0 KW the entire weekend and never glitched. Now we'll see if it can survive the 2nd contest weekend - hi. AA6WI (In case of rejects you can always reach me via AA6WI (back up)

CT1DMK:
Luis reports on his 3 cm EME efforts: I tried to receive VE3ONT on 3 cm on 19 and 20 Aug. After twice losing power, an actuator failure, an intermittent local oscillator, and an outside temperature of nearly 40 deg C, I finally received a signal (319 to 439 on the peaks). Surprisingly, it was not in VE3ONT's time period. I suppose it was from WA7CJO. A few failures later I heard (O's) where VE3ONT should be? Not much beginners luck - but we did hear signals. My system consisted of a transverter to 144 MHz, .8 dB NF (FHX15) HEMT preamp directly mounted to the feed of a 1.5 m dish. Moon noise was around .3 dB. I had no TX power at the time of the test. But I hope to be QRV very soon with a 25 w TWTA and a little bigger dish.

DL6WU:
Gunter writes that he has been off the air for a while because of antenna problems. He had breaks in the outer shield of his Heliax phasing lines and "crud" in one dipole box. After repairs he still heard nothing for weeks because of a broadband signal of unknown origin. It turned out to be from his new Canon BJC600E printer IN THE TURNED OFF STATE! Everything is now back to normal. Gunter worked K9QXP on 29 Sept for initial #184 and plans to be QRV for at least part of the contest.

DL9KR:
Jan experienced weird one-way conditions to NA during the contest. This caused many CWNRs - this is very unusual for Jan. [He always seems to have the loudest signal on 432.] He also notes that vegetation around his home is effecting his moon window. The green stuff keeps growing and causes him to loose 1 - 2 hours at moon rise and set. Desite these problems Jan managed QSOs on 7 Oct with IK0EQJ, N4GJV, OE5JFL, N2IQU - appears to be stepping for NC1I signal wise, K0RZ, UR5LX, UT7VF, K2UYH, G4ALH, KB0HH, ON4KNG, ON5OF, IK5QLO, W7CI, SM2CEW, G3SEK, OH2PO, IK1MTZ, DL9NDD, SM3AKW, K1FO, DL8OBU, I2COR, W9QXP, S51ZO, IK5WJD, F6CGJ, JA4BLC, JH0YSI, 9M2BV, UT5DL, JR9NWC, DF6NA, DL6NAA, JL1ZCG, JA5OVU, JA7UIQ, I5TDJ, JA9BOH, JR4AEP, JH7PAV, EA3PL, DK8VS, YO2IS, F5FLN, UT5EC, G4RGK, EA3DXU, DF3RU, PA3CSG, SP5CJT, G0RRJ, A22BW, DJ5MN, SM4IVE, I5CTE, IN3KLQ, UA6LGH, DL0AR for initial #621 in JO50, OM1TL, OH5IY and DL9EBL, and on 8 Oct IW5AVM, WA9FWD, F5HRY, F6HPP #622 in JN19, N9AB, OH3LWP, DL4MEA, G3HUL, JO3RNL, JA6XED, HB9SV, HA1YA, ZS6AXT, VE1ZJ, EA2LU, DK3FB, DJ2PA, DK0TU and a partial KA0RYT for 80 x 30. Jan notes that since his last report he has also added initials with DJ5RE in JN59, VE6TA, DL1HTT - 4 yagis and 100 w in JO61, IK5QLO - 2 yagis and 800 w in JN53, JR9NWC, DG5MIB - 1 yagi and 1 KW in JN58, F6KBI/P in JN07, DL4XX in JO43, 3A/DJ5MN in JN33 and DXCC 76, EI5HN in IO61, HP3/KG6UH in EJ88 and DXCC 77, W7TVF in DM26, KB6IGC in DM15, IK0EQJ in JN61, SV9/SV1BTR in KM15 and DXCC 78, ED9UHF in IM75 and DXCC 79, K3HZO, F5FLN in IN94, K1VYU in FN31 and KA0RYT to bring him to #622. Jan expects LY2BIL, whome he is helping, to show up on 70 cm EME before long.

EA6/DF5JJ:
Peter will be QRV for the last time in 95 during the 2nd part of the ARRL contest. During the 1st part he QSO'd on 1296 on 7 Oct WD5AGO, IY4ARI, VE1ZJ, HB9SV, KB2AH, W2UHI, HB9BHU, VE1ALQ, F1AHN, DF3RU, OZ4MM, EA3UM, AA4TJ, AA6WI, K3EAV, DJ9YW, OE9ERC, JA4BLC, ZS6AXT, IK3COJ, S59DCD for an initial #89, 1st EA6/S5 and DXCC 23, OE5JFL, F5PAU #90, OE9XXI, SM3AKW, G3LQR, DD1XF, F6CGJ, GW3XYW, OH2AXH, HB9BBD, IK3GHY, VE3ONT, OE9FKI, WA4OFS, K2UYH, WB0DRL #91, W7GBI, W0RAP, LX1DB, DF9QX, SM2CEW, DL9EBL and OE9XXI. On 5 Oct on 2320/2304 he worked DL9EBL (54/54) on SSB for #8 and the 1st EA6/DL on 13 cm. Peter added 23 cm initials back on 12 Aug at 2315 EA3UM/9 (M/M), on 13 Aug at 0512 VE6TA (O/O), on 15 Aug at 0736 VE1ALQ (559/549), on 19 Aug at 1232 WA4OFS (M/O), on 20 Aug at 0834 K3EAV (339/529), on 16 Sept at 1030 NU7Z (M/O), on 17 Sept at 0900 KB3PD (M/O), and on 6 Oct at 2027 IY4ARI (58/57) on SSB, 2106 G4CCH (O/439) and 2316 VE1ZJ (O/O).

G3LQR:
Simon has not been especially active off the moon, but is still very interseted. He reports on the status of his station: His 432 8 yagi array is still up, but Sun noise is down - only 11 dB. [But so is the solar activity and this makes a big difference!] On 1296 the 4.2 m dish is hearing well, but TX power is still marginal. He has have not been able to make his 4 tube amplifier play. [Try writing to KB2AH, his 4 tube design works very well.] He is now using 2 N6CA amps combined with a hybrid. This gives him about 250 w and maybe 150 w at the feed. But only the big stations seem to hear him with this power level. On 2320 Simon is getting 12 dB of Sun noise but he has not yet heard anyone. He plans to build up a VE4MA amp for TX on 13 cm. He is also working on 3 and 9 cm EME, but not yet ready there. Simon will concentrate on 432 and 1296 during the contest.

G3SEK:
Ian reports -- During the contest activity seemed rather low, but condx were mostly quite good. Faraday decreased as evening continued into night. No doubt some of the low activity was due to the big UHF/microwave tropo contest in Eur, and also VE3ONT being on other bands. Many of the stations heard working the big guns were also good copy with me, but didn't respond to repeated CQ calls. There's a whole extra layer of QSOs to be made there. If you hear a weak station calling CQ, but you can't read the callsign 1st time around, try a QRZ and we'll take it from there! Special thanks to the 'unique multiplier' stations like SP5CJT, 9M2BV and YO2IS who always look out for the weaker ones. I finished with 38x23, and am looking forward to next month. I worked back on 15 Sept JA9BOH (339/339), 16 Sept SM2CEW (549/549), called W9QXP (O) between 1040-1110, worked IK5WJD (O/M) for an initial #, G3HUL (O/O) and DL9KR (559/559). Does anybody have information on the location of the radar heard on 432.000 when the moon is to the south in Eur? When is it heard from other continents? [This radar has been around for a long time and discussed past NLs. I seem to remember hearing it only during the Eur window.]

G4DZU:
Doug reports -- I had a somewhat catastrophic time in the 1st part of the contest on 1296 MHz. The output coupler for the new PA didn't materialize. Sun noise was only 8.9 dB (linear pol). Only 70 w was at the feed. The 144 MHz transverter was intermittent. Despite these problems I did manage to QSO OE9XXI, OZ4MM and IY4ARI - all on random. Most of the problems have now been resolved. The main one was a pair of lossy Transco Y Type relays. I am now getting 10.4 dB of sun-noise from my 10' dish with circular pol generated by a DJ9BV air-hybrid. These improvement should give me about a 5 dB increase with circular pol stations. I will be QRV in the 2nd part of the contest. Hopefully with about 400 w at the feed. (Doug's tel is 0860 742218 and FAX is 0113252 9636.)

HB9BBD:
Dominique write -- During the 1st half of the ARRL contest I had some technical problems. A week ago I discovered some instability in my 1296 system. I thought it might be due to the mixer or the LO of my transverter. Everything was checked and found to be working better than expected. I finally discovered the problem to be in the isolation relay for the preamp at the feed. I have about 20 w of power at the RX port of the hybrid (in the best case, since I never measured the hybrid while operating at full power). Heating might be shifting the hybrid resonance (and isolation) far off the 20 dB level. This could mean more power to the dummy load. I managed to be QRV again 10 minutes before the start of the contest. My intention has been to replace the present feed system with one that dose not require an external hybrid. This experience only reinforces my resolve to make this change as soon as possible. I could not be active on Sunday due to a business trip to the Gulf. I definitely will spend more time on the moon the 2nd contest weekend. I worked 17 stations in 9 countries and 4 states. QSO'd were IY4ARI for #58, F1ANH, OE9XXI, DL9EBL, OE5JFL, OH2AXH, F6CGJ, EA6/DF5JJ, OZ4MM, OE9ERC, EA3UM, AA4TJ, W2UHI, F5ELL, WD5AGO, KB2AH and AA6WI - just minutes before moonset. Heard were HB9BHU, F5PAU and DF9JY. I found conditions not very good. I had so much trouble identifing calling stations that I did not take the risk of calling CQ, but tried to identify 1st and then call. At least, I could work all the stations which I called. I will be looking all who failed to get a QSO in Nov.

HB9BHU:
Fred writes -- I am getting a new phone number (by 4 Nov). My correct address is now Fred Schuetz, Alpenblickweg 3, CH-4800 Zofingen, Switzerland, phone: +41 62 752 82 81, FAX (part-time active) +41 62 752 82 89, and internet: HB9BHU My EME activities have been interrupted by a lot of business work and some trouble with my dish drives. I replaced several different coaxial cables by a single 7/8" Heliax line. My echoes seem louder now. During the 1st contest weekend I worked on 23 cm 35 station on random, including 6 initials. I worked VE3ONT late on 7 Oct (moon rise). Their signal sounded extreamly scattered and sometimes the frequency moved up and down. Possibly I received echos from the moon and from satellites at the same time? [VE3ONT has transmit problems.] Heard but not worked were JH5LUZ, OE9ERC, DF9QX an F5PL. The signal from IY4ARI was strong and stabile, like a local SSB station.

I4BER:
Goliardo was active during the EME contest as part of the Marconi Centennial celebration. Operation was on 1296 with a 32 m dish - see last month's NL. The call used was IY4ARI. All reports indicate they had an excellent signal, but a detailed report on their results has not yet arrived.

IK5WJD:
Alessandro writes -- I'm reporting my 7-8 Oct activity during the 1st leg of the ARRL EME contest. QSO'd on 432 were OE5JFL, DL9KR, I2COR, K1FO, SM4IVE, UR5LX, PA3CSG, F6CGJ, SM2CEW, DL9NDD, N2IQU, N4GJV, OH2PO and HB9SV for a total of 14 stations. Heard but missed were IK1MTZ, DL6NAA and JL1ZCG. In Aug I received with great pleasure the WAC award for 432 EME MHz. [Congraduations!] I will be QRV again in Nov.

JA4BLC:
Yoshiro sends via Email -- This is the report of my ARRL EME contest activity in Oct. My score was 56x38 = 212,800 on 4 bands, including 2 m. Stations worked on 432 were: K1FO, JA9BOH, K0RZ, JL1ZCG, JA5OVU, JA5YJS, JH0YSI, UR5LX, SM4IVE, DL9NDD, DL9KR, I2COR, G3SEK, ON4KNG, OH2PO and ON5OF, on 1296 were W7GBI for initial #38, JH5LUZ #39, OE9XXI, F1ANH, OE5JFL, IY4ARI on SSB (58/55) #40, EA6/DF5JJ, AA6WI, W7GBI dupe, VK5MC #41, IY4ARI dup on CW (579/579), ZS6AXT, OZ4MM, EA3UM, F6CGJ, DL9EBL and OH2AXH #42, and on 2304/2424 OE9ERC (569/549) and OE9XXI on SSB (55/44). Extra skeds with OZ4MM and EA6/DF5JJ on 13 cm were unsuccessful. VE3ONT was heard (448) at 0957 on 8 Oct when the moon was below the roof top of my neighbor's house. My dish could not see the moon at the time. Nothing further was heard until 1020 (ARO Moonset) when I could scarcely hear my own echoes.

JA9BOH:
Kimio found good 70 cm activity from Japan this year, but low activity world wide. He reports the follwing JA 1st weekend contest scores: JA9BOH 20x14 (with 8 20 el HB yagis), JA2JRJ 3x3 (with a 6 m dish), JA4BLC 16x10 (with 6 m dish), JA5OVU 24x14 (with 8 27 el CD yagis), JR9NWC 14x9 (with 8 20 el FO yagis), JH0YSI 15x10 (with 16 22 el FO yagis), JO3RNL 6x5 (with 4 21 el RIW yagis) and JL1ZCG 30x? (with 16 27 el CD yagis). Also QRV on 432 were JS3SIM, JR4AEP, JA5YJS, JA6XED and JA7UIQ. On 1296 MHz JA4BLC 15x13 (with a 6 m dish), JH5LUZ 18x? (with a 5 m dish) and JA7BMB 4x3 (with 4.5 m dish). Kimio on 432 worked JS3SIM on 6 Oct for initial #250 on 432 MHz.

K0RZ:
Bill reports a 1st half 70 cm ARRL contest score of 30x19. This is poorer than last year's 1st half score of 63x23. Poor condx, Moon position, low activity, combined with out of practice ears are probable factors. Bill has not been active since April, but plans to be more active now that summer has passed. QSO'd on 7 Oct were DL9KR, F6CGJ, G3SEK, I2COR, JA4BLC, JL1ZCG, K1FO, K2UYH, K5WXN, KA0RYT (M/O) for initial #206, KB8ZW, N2IQU, N4GJV, N9AB, OE5JFL, UR5LX, W0KJY, W7CI, WA4OFS and WA9FWD, on 8 Oct JA5OVU, JA9BOH, JH0YSI (O/O) for initial #207, K3LFO, K6HXW, N4PZ, OH2PO, SM2CEW, SM4IVE and WA6BJE, and on 9 Oct a non contest QSO with VE6TA (M/O) #208. Heard during the contest were DL9NDD, G4ALH, N2NQI, ON5OF and W9QXP.

K1FO: Steve found that his oscillating preamp problem was due to water in his preamp box and a loose input conector. When everything was dried out and tightened up he found that his preamp oscillated all of the time. This forced a change before the contest to a backup preamp which is no quite as good as the original, but at least free of oscillations. Steve found conditions during the 1st night of the contest good, but activity was low. On the 2nd night conditions were not as good. Stations worked were on 07 Oct DL8OBU, UT7VF, UR5LX, DL9NDD, DL6NAA, K0RZ, OH2PO, K3LFO, DF6NA, I2COR, G4ALH, ON5OF, DK9KR, KA0RYT, IK1MTZ, KB0HH, K2UYH, K5WXN, IK0EQJ, S51ZO, G3SEK, WA4OFS, IK5WJD, K6HXW, VE6TA, W0KJY, W8MQW, W7CI, N4GJV, N2IQU (big signal with his new 48' dish!), W9QXP, WG3I/2, VE1ZJ, KL7HFQ, WB2VVV, K9BCT, JL1ZCG, JR9NWC, JA5OVU, HP3XUG, JA9BOH, JA2JRJ, JA4BLC, I5CTE, F5FLN (O/O) for initial #475, G4RGK, SM4IVE, SP5CJT, A22BW, UA6LGH, I5TDJ, EA3DXU, IN3KLQ, OM1TL, EA3PL, WA9FWD, ON4KNG, OE5JFL, SM2CEW, OH5IY, DK3FB, UT5EC, IK5QLO, UT5DL, N9AB, W8TN, F6CGJ and WA6BJE, JS3SIM (O/O) #476, JH0YSI, G3HUL, ZS6AXT, DK8VS, SM3AKW and IW5AVM. This gives a very dissappointing total of 75 x 30 for the 1st weekend. Steve thinks that the combination of the low dec and the conflict with the IARU UHF Contest hurt activity. For 1996 conditions should be better with moon at higher dec on the usable weekends. He also reminds everyone that the EME contest dates are selected by the ARRL from letters to the contest department from EME operators, who recommend specific dates. Usually the dates are picked by a simple majority from the letters that the ARRL receives. In 1996 the 1st and 3rd weekends of each month will have good conditions. Many 2 m operators are likely to want the 1st weekend each month as these dates have the lowest sky noise. However, these weekends are at apogee and they will conflict with the IARU UHF contest in Oct and the 144 MHz CW contest in Nov. For these reasons Steve believes that 26-27 Oct and 23-24 Nov are the best dates. These weekends are close to perigee, have good dec (+8 to +15 and +11 to +16 degs) and have reasonable sky noise. The highest dec weekend each month is not usable as they coincide with new moon. Steve urges the 70 cm and up operators to write the ARRL with their date choices. Remember, don't complain about the contest dates, if you don't write! He notes that a letter from a group of operators is not likely to carry any more weight than a letter from an individual. Steve worked after the EME contest on 10 Oct N2IQU on SSB, on 12 Oct N2IQU on SSB, and on 14 Oct N2IQU on SSB, JA5OVU and W9QXP. Steve's is now at #476, 49 states and 72 DXCC.

K3EAV:
Bill reports -- I worked on 1296 EA6/DF5JJ (O/O) on 20 Aug for initial #27 and W0RAP (O/O) on 4 Oct for #28. In the 1st part of the Contest my totals were 21x10 with initials: N7ART (529/539) #29, VE1ALQ (529/439) #30, OH2AXH (559/O) #31, IY4ARI (579/539) #32, EA3UM (559/449) #33, VE3ONT (O/O) #34, F5PAU (O/O) #35 and ZS6AXT (O/O) #36. This last one was a real treat on moonrise on Sunday evening. My standing are now on 432 #100 initial and 1296 #36 initial, 16 states and 13 countries.

K4QIF:
Rusty has moved to NC and is now located in FM06. He has a high but quiet QTH and plenty of space for antennas. He is not sure when he will get his dish mounted again, but he is re-sur-facing it to improve performance on 1296. Rusty's new address is (3701 Carrington Lane, Efland, NC 27243). Tel is 919 990 7182 W and 919 304 4246 H. [Klaus please take note].

N4GJV:
Ron reports that his job "hassle factor" has been very high, leaving almost no time or energy for radio. He notes that since his last report in Jan, he has been even less active than in 1994 and has added very few initial QSOs. These few QSOs were with JR9NWC, DL4XX, HP3XUG and ED9UHF. Just prior to the contest, he discovered that his mostly idle system had deteriorated significantly, as determined by sun noise measurement. However, he had little time available to troubleshoot the problem, and was unable to resolve it before contest time. Troubleshooting efforts were also hampered by heavy rains from tropical storm Opal, which did extensive damage to the west of Ron's QTH. Ron had already arranged for vacation time in order to be QRV for the contest, so he decided to forge ahead, despite the crippled system. In addition to this problem, Ron found that pol alignment was non-existent, with fixed pol stations outside of NA. He notes that this trend persisted thru both days. As a result of these problems, Ron notes that his score dropped markedly from recent previous years. Contest QSOs were completed with DL8OBU, W8MQW, DL9KR (Who, somehow, always manages to have a super loud signal, regardless of pol mis-match!), K3LFO, DL9NDD, SM3AKW, UT7VF, OH2PO, I5CTE, ON4KNG, ON5OF, K0RZ, DL6NAA for an initial #, WG3I/2, IK1MTZ, K6HXW, WA4OFS, G3SEK, K5WXN, KA0RYT #, WA9FWD, KB0HH, N9AB, F6CGJ, K2UYH, W7CI, N2IQU, K1FO, W0KJY, KL7HFQ, VE1ZJ, WB2VVV, JA5OVU, JA9BOH, JR9NWC, JL1ZCG, SM4IVE, UR5LX, SP5CJT, IK5WJD, G4ALH, EA3DXU, OE5JFL, I2COR, UA6LGH, G4RGK, SM2CEW, F5JJI #, UT5DL, N2NQI #, W8TN, N4PZ, VE6TA, WA6BJE, HP3XUJ, WA7BBM, JH0YSI, HB9SV, DK8VS, G3HUL and DK0TU. Got-a-ways included OH5IY, A22BW, JS3SIM, ZS6AXT, DL0AR, W9QXP (CWNR many times) and others. Ron's score was 61x28 and his initial QSO count now stands at #498. Ron hopes to have his problems solved for the Nov contest weekend.

OE9ERC:
Erich reports via Email -- I worked a lot of new stations on the ARRL EME-Contest weekend. QSO'd on 1296 MHz on 06 Oct IY4ARI (59/59) on SSB for initial #152, on 07 Oct N7ART (559/449) #153, on 08 Oct JA7BMB (449/549) #154 (4.7 m dish and 200 w), JH5LUZ (449/559) #155 (5 m dish and 200 w), on 10 Oct JA9BOH (O/O) #156 (2 m dish and 100 w) and on 13 Oct JA4AEP (449/549) #157. I worked on 2300 on 07 Oct OZ4MM (559/559) #34, OH2AXH (549/559) #35 on SSB (54/55) - very FB signal, on 08 Oct DF3RU (339/549) #36 (3 m dish and 50 w), and on 5760 on 09 Oct WB5LUA (O/O) #9. I ended the ARRL Contest weekend with a score on 1296 of 45x28, on 2304 of 7x6 and on 5760 of 1x1. In Nov I will be QRV during the contest on 23 cm, 13 cm and 6 cm again. Times for 13 cm and 6 cm EME are on 04 Nov 1730 - 2030 and on 05 Nov 0000 - 0300.

OE9XXI:
Peter achieved a score of 56x29 in the 1st half of the ARRL contest. New stations QSO'd were IY4ARI (57/59) on SSB for initial #188, N7ART (559/579) #189 and the state of OR, JH5LUZ (449/559) #190, OH3TR (O/O) #191 - on linear pol, F5PAU (559/569) #192, JR4AEP (449/559) #193 and JA7BMB (449/549) #194. The high point for Peter was his 1st 2-way QSO with a single yagi station - DJ7FJ (O/O), who was using a 5 m yagi and 2 x 2C39 PA. The strongest signal came from DL9EBL (589/589). He only spent a few mins on 2300 to work OE9XXI (569/559) then switched feeds for 5760 to work I6PNN as OE9PMJ and OE9YTV, and WB5LUA (449/559) and OE9ERC (549/559). Peter on 13 cm QSO'd on 9 Oct DF3RU (549/449) for initial #45. DF3RU has a 3 m dish and 100 w PA.

ON4KNG:
Peter was active in the 1st part of the ARRL contest and scored 29x17. He worked only 4 NA stations: N4GJV, N2IQU, K1FO and WA9FWD. Initials were: IK1MTZ, WA9FWD, F5JJI, G3HUL, HB9SV and I5CTE. Heard were 9M2BV and JL1ZCG.

OZ4MM:
Stig found both activity and conditions especially good on 1296 during the contest on Saturday. He QSO'd 55 stations and 26 multipliers! Initials were with IY4ARI, N7ART, S59DCD for DXCC 27, DL3YEE, F5PAU. W4RDI, JH5LUZ, JA8ERE and JA7BMB to bring him to #103. He has a new FAX number at work +45 7640 5099 (attn Stig).

SM2CEW:
Peter reports -- I was finally on for a SW after 2 consecutive SW's with very high winds, preventing me from using the dish. The Sept SW was perfect WX. I was QRV on 432 and worked K3HZO for initial #291, DL6NAA #292, KA0RYT #293 and WA7BBM #294. On 1296 I was active on 17 Sept and worked EA6/DF5JJ, OH2AXH, OE9XXI, ZS6AXT and W2UHI. All very good signals, but my TX signal was down because of a TX-cable problem. Also I have been strug-gling with a self-oscillation problem on 1296, that has been driving me mad. It turned out to be the 432 preamp which was oscillating when it loses the load of the antenna during band switching to 1296. Just a mistake in the switching design. Now it is cured. The 432 preamp sees the antenna at all times on receive. Desperately need more power on 1296, so will see what I can do. During the 1st contest-weekend I spent time on 3 bands this year: 144, 432 and 1296. On 432 the following stations were worked: OH2PO, DL9KR, UT5DL, ON4KNG, JA5OVU, 9M2BV, YO2IS, EA3DXU, DL6NAA, DL8OBU, G3SEK, SM3AKW, IK1MTZ, IK0EQJ, G4RGK, I5CTE, DL9NDD, G4ALH, IK5WJD, SP5CJT, OE5JFL, UR5LX, I2COR, SM4IVE, N2IQU, K1FO, W8MQW, HP3XUG, N4GJV and K0RZ for 30x19. Conditions were fair, despite a HEAVY aurora. On 1296 I was only QRV for a short time on Sunday evening. I worked the following: OE9XXI, DL9EBL, EA6/DF5JJ, OZ4MM, ZS6AXT and EA3UM for 6x6. On 144 I worked 71x31. So my total so far is 107x56. The low dec gives me a very small opening to the east, (JA/VK). Activity was a real dissapointment, especially on 432. Where were all the stateside boys? Only 5 US stations were worked on 432!

SM2IEV:
Goren (active on 2 m EME) writes -- As many of you are aware for the last year or so I have been working with some Swedish Antenna software called "Yagi Analysis" The latest version is 3.54. This version allows G/T to be measured to 2 decimal places plus some small changes to make the program emulate NEC even closer. It is Yagi software only. The software is fairly basic when used for plots, etc, of a single antenna. The accuracy as referenced against NEC 2 is excellent. Where this particular software shines is its ability to plot stacked arrays of virtually any size and its ability to measure the G/T of a single antenna or an array. To my knowledge, this is the only software available capable of measuring G/T. While there are some limitations to how the G/T measurements can be made, I believe it is extremely useful software. I personally would not want to do any antenna work without the G/T measurement capability. Bearing in mind G/T is a true figure of merit for antenna or array [on receive], you will probably find measurement of G/T will change or clarify your view of how an antenna or array should be optimized. For those of you who are interested, the following is my new address [the Software Author]: Goren Stenberg, SM2IEV, Tradgardsvagen 13D, S- 92332 Storuman, Sweden. The cost is $US50. Please send cash only. Do not send Bank drafts, etc, as the cost of cashing same is to high. I have no commercial involvement with this software. I am only sharing with you what I consider an extremely useful tool.

VE1ALQ:
Darrell sends a quick run down on activity from the 1st half of the Contest -- I made 24 contacts and 6 initials. I lost 5.5 hrs due to the low dec, very high wind and 56 mm of rain from a hurrycane that came up from the south. Also found activity quite low the 1st night. The 2nd night activity was up considerably with very good conditions. I QSO'd JH3EAO (549/549) on 10 Oct and JA4BLC (539/549) on 15 Oct to bring me to initials #46.

VK3UM:
Doug sends an update on his doings -- All is fine here, but somewhat hectic! By the time you receive this we will have moved up to the new QTH permanently. It will be a little rough whilst we wait for the house to be built (about 4 months). I have fitted out the 40'x25'x12' shed with toilet, shower, troughs, sink and running hot and cold water. The power has been on for a long time now. It is a 2 phase underground feed spanning almost 850 m. There will be no noise and no neighbours for over a km. I am looking forward to getting back on. With the 360 deg views to the horz. The el in real terms will provide me with about 90 extra mins to Eur! I have "a blockage" to the US, but only about 2 degs - I think I can live with that! With the views comes the wind ... and it has me a little concerned when considering something really big... we will see. The new address is: 'TIKALUNA' 26 Old Murrindindi Rd. Glenburn. Victoria. 3717. AUSTRALIA. The new home phone number is ++61 3 57978478.

YO2IS:
Szigy sends via Email -- I was not too often on the Moon in the last few months, but plan if WX permits to be QRV in the ARRL EME competition for the 6th time in a row... Pity that my bad QTH does not permit the growth of my EME antennas. Nor the adding of new bands.

WG3I:
Dave writes -- I have solved my 432 LPF 1500 w filter design problem. G3SEK reminded me of an article in Radio C ommunication (Nov 94) by G4SWX who used coax stubs and transmission lines. I made mine out of LDF2. 864 and 1296 MHz are over 70 dB down. The only problem was the that it is "fiddly" to tweak. The 1296 stubs are only 2" long! I bought 4 FO25 yagis at the Packratt Ham gathering 6 days before the contest and foolishly decided to get them going for the contest. Many late nights were spent on the floodlit deck of the house entertaining the neighbours, including Thursday night spent wearing a Disney Poncho assembling the array in a continous 3 hour downpour of rain. We were only 30 mins late for the start of the contest, due to not having the correct sized clamps for the mhp. In the 1st part of EME contest WG3I/2 (4 x FO25 horizontally polarized, 2 x 3CX800, FT726R, MM100 w PA, MGF1302) on 7 Oct worked N2IQU for initial #25, N4GJV and K1FO, CWNR were K2UYH and K0RZ and heard were N9AB, W9QXP and OE5JFL, and on 8 Oct SM4IVE. As I still had the 4 x 21 el F9FTs available, these were assembled cross polarized in an independant setup (manually steered) and operated by my wife under her callsign N2NQI to allow pol comparison (4 x 21 el vert pol, DEM xverter, KLM 100 w PA, GS23B PA, Meg's TS850, MGF1302 preamp). Although on 7 Oct N2IQU and N4GJV were called after the WG3I QSOs, no response was had. However things were better on 8 Oct. She then worked SM4IVE (O/O) and N4GJV (O/O) - GJV perhaps now understands the 88s in the final TX sequence! At no time during the 48 hours was vert better than horz, although there were few stations to try on. I am going to Microwave Update in Dallas at end of Oct. WG3I is my e-mail address. This will remain constant where ever I move to next.

K2UYH:
Nothing blew up this month - I think this is a record. We operated exclusively on 432 the 1st night and on 1296 the 2nd (using one of KB2AH's 4 x 7289 finals). I was joined by AK2F on Saturday and WB2VVV on Sunday. (Woody, AK2F hopes to have his K1FO final finished by the Nov contest weekend. If he stays on schedule Woody will operate in Nov from his home QTH.) We worked on 432 on 7 Oct at 0024 DL9NDD (559/559), 0033 K0RZ (559/559), 0036 DL9KR (579/579), 0048 UA6LGH (559/O), 0054 G3SEK (559/549), 0102 UR5LX (569/549), 0106 DL6WU (559/O), 0127 W8MQW (549/559), 0214 DL6NAA (559/559) for inital #565, 0234 IK4MTZ (549/549), 0258 K6HXW (549/559), 0310 I2COR (O/O), 0326 KA0RYT (O/O) #566, 0332 F6CGJ (559/559), 0346 WA4OFS (449/429), 0353 N4GJV (559/569), 0404 W0KJY (549/559), 0502 N2IQU (579/569) and 0813 JL1ZCG (559/539), and on 1296 on 8 Oct 0155 F1ANH (569/449), 0203 F5PAU (559/559) for initial #134, 0208 HB9BHU (559/559), 0212 OE9XXI (579/569), 0215 OZ4MM (579/569), 0219 OE5JFL (569/559), 0228 EA6/DF5JJ (569/569), EA3UM (559/559), ZS6AXT (569/559), 0247 KB2AH (589/559), 0251 AA6WI (569/559), 0253 VE1ALQ (559/569), 0303 W0RAP (449/559), 0331 W2UHI (559/559), 0338 WA4OFS (549/549), 0344 VE3ONT (569/O), 0350 WD5AGO (559/559), 0400 G4CCH (449/439), 0418 N7ART (549/559) #135, 0433 W7GBI (559/559), 0440 AA4TJ (559/559) and 0935 K3EAV (449/559).

At 2400 Sat/   Declination  Signals  Sun offset  Sky temp     Comments *
   0000 Sun       (deg)       (dB)     (deg)    (K,432MHz)
$ 6 /  7  Jan      15.6      -0.9       -167        20     Night.Apogee.
 13 / 14  Jan      -9.3       0.3        -88        20     Moon in south.
 20 / 21  Jan     -13.9       0.9         +8        24     Moon in south.
 27 / 28  Jan      13.9      -0.4        +96        24     Day(PM).
$ 3 /  4  Feb      13.8      -0.9       +171        14     Night.Apogee.
 10 / 11  Feb     -11.7       0.4       -107        26     Moon in south.
 17 / 18  Feb     -11.9       0.9        -14        20     Moon in south.
 24 / 25  Feb      15.4      -0.5        +76        24     Day(PM).
$ 2 /  3  Mar      11.8      -0.8       +153        13     Night.Apogee.
  9 / 10  Mar     -14.0       0.5       -125        26     Moon in south.
 16 / 17  Mar      -9.5       0.8        -33        23     Moon in south.
$23 / 24  Mar      16.5      -0.6        +56        24     Day(PM).Apogee
 30 / 31  Mar       9.6      -0.8       +133        12     Night.Apogee.
  6 /  7  Apr     -15.9       0.6       -142        29     Moon in south.
 13 / 14  Apr      -6.6       0.7        -50        16     Moon in south.
$20 / 21  Apr      17.5      -0.6        +36        27     Day(PM).Apogee.
 27 / 28  Apr       7.4      -0.7       +113        14     Day(PM).Apogee.
  4 /  5  May     -17.3       0.6       -160        39     Moon in south.
 11 / 12  May      -3.5       0.7        -67        16     Moon in south.
 18 / 19  May      18.3      -0.7        +18        27     Sun noise.
$25 / 26  May       5.1      -0.7        +94        14     Day(PM).Apogee.
  1 /  2  Jun     -18.1       0.7       -175        39     Moon in south.
  8 /  9  Jun      -0.3       0.6        -83        19     Moon in south.
 15 / 16  Jun      18.6      -0.8         -5        34     Sun noise.
 22 / 23  Jun       2.7      -0.6        +76        15     Day(PM).Apogee.
 29 / 30  Jun     -18.5       0.8       +163        91     Moon in south.
$ 6 /  7  Jul       2.7       0.5       -100        19     Day(AM).
 13 / 14  Jul      18.4      -0.8        -19        31     Sun noise.
 20 / 21  Jul       0.1      -0.5        +58        15     Day(PM).Apogee.
 27 / 28  Jul     -18.5       0.8       +145        124    Moon in south.
$ 3 /  4  Aug       5.3       0.4       -117        19     Day(AM).
 10 / 11  Aug      17.8      -0.8        -37        31     Day(AM).Apogee.
 17 / 18  Aug      -2.7      -0.4        +41        20     Moon in south.
 24 / 25  Aug     -17.9       0.9       +127        124    Moon in south.
$ 0 /  1  Sep       7.7       0.3       -136        20     Night.
  7 /  8  Sep      16.7      -0.9        -55        20     Day(AM).Apogee.
 14 / 15  Sep      -5.5      -0.3        +23        20     Moon in south.
 21 / 22  Sep     -16.9       0.9       +110        58     Moon in south.
$28 / 29  Sep       9.9       0.2       -155        20     Night.
  5 /  6  Oct      15.4      -0.9        -74        14     Day(AM).Apogee.
 12 / 13  Oct      -8.2      -0.3         +5        20     Moon in south.
 19 / 20  Oct     -15.4       1.0        +93        24     Moon in south.
$26 / 27  Oct      12.0       0.1       -174        24     Night.
  2 /  3  Nov      14.0      -0.9        -93        14     Day(AM).Apogee.
  9 / 10  Nov     -10.5      -0.2        -15        26     Moon in south.
 16 / 17  Nov     -13.4       1.0        +76        24     Moon in south.
$23 / 24  Nov      13.9       0.0       +165        24     Night.
  0 /  1  Dec      12.5      -0.9       -114        13     Day(AM).Apogee.
  7 /  8  Dec     -12.4      -0.1        -35        26     Moon in south.
 14 / 15  Dec     -11.0       1.0        +58        20     Moon in south.
$21 / 22  Dec      15.6      -0.1       +147        24     Night.
 28 / 29  Dec      10.7      -0.9       -134        13     Night.Apogee.
* SUN OFFSET ...Night  < Day(AM) <  Sun noise  > Day(PM) >  Night...
	  -180deg.....-120......-30.....0.....+30.......+120.....+180deg
$ - PROPOSED SKED WEEKENDS

Time   1296.050      | 2304.050      |
1630z  EA3UM -VK5MC  |
2330z                | W4HHK -DF3RU  |

Skeds for NOV  5
Time   432.060       | 2304.050      |
0000z                | WB5LUA-DF3RU  |
0030z                | VE4MA -DF3RU  |
0300z  W7FN  -IK0EQJ |
0900z  JR9NWC-WB2VVV |
1900z  IN3KLQ-JR9NWC |
2100z  PY5ZBU-G3SEK  |
2130z  PY5ZBU-EA3DXU |
2230z  W1ZX  -K3HZO  |