and my FAX is
++507-720-2112. My contest weekend effort on 70 cm wasn't
very satisfying. I had echoes virtually the entire time and
spent many hours CQing and calling others, but made a
whopping 9 QSOs! It seemed that when I heard someone with
great sigs, I would get nil in response... But when copy was
lousy, then I would get a reply. I guess it was the old non-
reciprocity problem. UR5LX and DL9KR were good examples. They
were just ear-busting loud but barely a QRZ. When we did make
the QSO, their sigs were nothing to write home about! K0RZ
and N9AB were good. DF3RU was frustratingly loud, but nil
responses. I got tired of calling K2UYH. It made me wonder if
he swings the pol of his feed. The only JA I heard either day
was JA5OVU with (M-O) copy. I was also disappointed in not
completing with W7CNK, as I heard him quite well calling me
after a CQ, although almost 1 kHz higher. I now expect to be
QRV in Dec (based on my present travel plans).
LA8LF
Anders was active during the 1st leg of the contest
and worked 52x26 on 1296 -- My results are not great,
conditions seemed generally worse than usually and the
activity lower than last year. I worked only 2 new initials,
DJ5MN and OE5EYM a for total of 124. As I will spend 3 weeks
starting 2 Nov on EA8, I will miss the 13 cm and above EME
contest in Nov. However, I will be back for the 2nd part leg
of the ARRL EME Contest in Dec. This will be the 1st time on
23 cm that I can operate both weekends in the ARRL Contest.
Initials worked in 1998 are PY5ZBU, 9H1ES, OK1CA, JA7BMB,
I2FGT, K3HZO, TM8EME, W6HD, OZ6OL, OH2DG, DF4PV, HA5SHF,
LU4DHD and W7CS. If WX permits, I will be QRV in Jan on 13 cm
EME with 100 w at the feed this time.
LU6DW
Marc is back in Argentina after visiting the US and
attending the Microwave Roundup Conference in Denver, CO --
The conference was great. Lots of surplus stuff, good
speakers, and met a lot of EMEers. I also visited the Rocky
Mountain National Park where there was a fair amount of snow,
but excellent WX. Dany already has the new 6 m dish parts on
top of the roof. Now we have to assemble it. I will let you
know as soon as we have it operational. We don't expect to
have it ready for the 2nd part of the ARRL Contest, but
should be active with our smaller dish if the WX permits.
KB2AH's preamp was the lowest NF measured at the
conference... some guys were amazed.
NL7F
Bill's 1296 EME report for May through Oct -- In May on
sked I worked DJ9YW (M/O) for initial #36. After a long dry
spell, the 23 cm band opened up in Oct. - must have been a
contest going on... I worked on random K5JL (549/549), N2IQU
(559/449) and JA6KZQ (439/449) #37. Signals seemed weaker
than usual, but with much less QSB. Then my TX reflected
power went up to 250/500 w. The RF energy had melted ice,
which had gotten into the connector at the far end of my
Heliax. Apparently water in the feed line is much worse than
ice. This cut short my activities. [Ice is a good dielectric,
try melting some in your microwave oven, but water is not!]
NP4B
Bob is moving and QRT on EME from Puerto Rico -- My
last working day at the Arecibo Observatory will 9 Oct. I
expect to begin working at Los Alamos National Laboratory (RF
Techniques) on 26 Oct. My new E-mail address is:
Bob, NP4B
We survived Hurricane George, but
times are still difficult here in Puerto Rico with no water
or power.
OE3JPC
John has moved (?) to a new grid (JN87ew), and
reports he has a new e-mail address,
John, OE3JPC
-- Skeds on 70 cm EME are
welcomed. His new tel/FAX is ++43-2254-75769. John has
improved his antenna slightly by adding a few elements. He
now have 2 x 24 el BVopt70 (7.7 wl) yagies with open wire
feedline, FHX35LG cavity preamp and 500 w PA.
OE9XXI
Peter was on 1296 in the ARRL EME Competition on
10/11 Oct and managed to achieve a score of 60x32. New
stations worked were OE5EYM (569/589) and
W4JSS(439/559). All
QSOs were made on random. In the Nov Microwave Contest he
plans to concentrate on 5760 MHz. Peter's e-mail address is:
Peter, OE9XXI
OH2DG
Eino's scored 40x28 in the 1st part of the ARRL
Contest -- The WX conditions were great with low wind speed.
I needed the low wind because I have problem with control of
my dish's position. I am planning to add a breaking system to
correct this defect. I also a problem with blockage.
Buildings and trees cover about 80 % of the NA window. I was
able to work some stations with shade over more than half of
the dish. I QSO'd on 70 cm DF3RU (559/549) for initial #154,
G4ERG (539/549) #155, DL8OBU (539/519), SM3AKW (569/549),
UR5LX (O/O) #156, HA1YA (559/O), HB9SV (569/559), OH2PO
(579/559) #157, F5AQC (549/549), DL9KR (579/579), F1ANH
(559/559) #158, I5TDJ (O/O), DJ6MB (559/559), N4GJV (559/559)
#159, DL9ND (559/449) #160, OE5EYM (559/529), K2UYH (569/549)
#161, K5GW (569/559) #162, W7QX (O/O), K5WXN (449/559) for a
total of 20x14, and on 23 cm HB9BBD (579/569), OH2AXH
(559/449), SM4DNH (559/449), JH5LUZ (549/529), S59DCD
(449/449), SM6CKU (539/529), F1ANH (559/449) #52, OK1DFC
(549/449) #53, EA3UM (559/539) #54, F5PAU (559/559) #55,
ON5RR (549/529), OE9XXI (579/559), SM3AKW (559/549), F6CGJ
(569/449), LA8LF (559/449) #56, KB2AH (559/549), K4QI
(559/549), K2UYH (559/549), OZ6OL (529/529) and OE9ERC
(569/559). I will be QRV on 13 cm for the Nov microwave
contest weekend with 30 w at the feed of an 8 m dish.
ON5OF
Dirks score for the Oct portion of the contest was
19x13 on 70 cm with 6 hours sleep -- Conditions were very
good. I could copy my echoes with only 100 w. I now have a
0.35 dB NF but still have 0.7 dB of coax loss ahead for an
overall NF of 1.35 dB. My Sun noise varied this week from 14
dB to 12.5 dB with an average of about 13.5 dB. Can anyone
tell me the Sun noise for an antenna of about 26 dBd gain? Is
this 13.5 dB reasonable? Saturday evening started with a big
BANG. Upon putting the HV on (slowly with a variac), it only
got to 1500 V when the F6007 tube failed, although it worked
perfectly all the night before delivering 800 w till the
morning. I replaced the tube and it worked again. I am now
looking for replacement. (The TH308 I got at the conference
in Paris was also faulty.) [Dirk also recommends checking out
the Hamview program discussed in the last NL.]
OZ4MM
Stig did very well during the Oct contest weekend -- I
worked on 432 66x29 and on 1296 44x26. I was several hours
late on Saturday morning because I had to stay at a party.
Back home I found good condx during the morning on 432. On
Sunday I felt condx were basically normal on both 432 and
1296 with less activity than expected. Pol rotation stayed
for many hours exactly at 90 deg. Even DL9KR was lost on the
wrong pol! Initials on 432 were DJ5MN, W7GBI, UT3LL, WB2VVV,
KR5V, KB4CNI and W7BBM to bring me to #166. On 1296 only
OE5EYM was logged as an initial for #146.
OZ6OL
Hans was QRV on 1296 and worked 38x24 with his 5 m
dish and 150 w PA. He has now sent QSLs to all stations he
has received QSL cards from and welcomes more. His address is
(Hans Oldenburg, Osterhojvej 3, DK-4671 Stroby, Denmark). E-
mail skeds for Hans can be arranged through OZ4MM at:
OZ6OL via OZ4MM
SM2CEW
Peter says -- I see myself listed in all sorts of
"missing QSL" listings. I am behind on QSLing but I will
reply to all that send SASEs for sure, others probably too,
but not for sure. I am not interested in QSLs and NEVER send
a QSL out 1st to any station. If they don't sent cards I do
not send one either and I am not unhappy about this. I have
DXCC worked on 144 MHz but no QSLs and I live with that. It
is my own "fault". Furthermore, it is my belief that one
should at least include SASE if a QSL is wanted in return,
this is common courtesy on HF these days and we should not be
any different. Again, this does not mean that I will not QSL,
it is just not top priority.
SM3AKW
Carl writes -- I was on for all my available Moon
time during the contest and managed to work a few new
stations during each hour. On the other hand I was switching
between 3 bands. Overall 102 stations were worked, on 432
42x22, on 1296 50x28 and on 144 9x6. Contacted on 432 on 10
Oct were at 0020 OH2PO, 0031 DF3RU, 0034 G4ERG, 0046 HA1YA,
0053 OE5EYM, 0058 DL6WU, 0113 DL9NDD,0117 OH2DG, 0121 HB9SV,
0133 UR5LX, 0147 K1FO, 0233 F5AQC, 0309 F1ANH, 0230 DJ6MB,
0331 DL9KR, 0342 DK3WG, 0355 ON5OF, 0400 I5TDJ, 0420 I5CTE,
0804 N9AB, 0904 K5GW, 0908 N4GJV, 0941 W7GBI, 1011 W7BBM,
1024 K2UYH, 2015 JA5OVU, 2051 JL1ZCG, 2108 DL4MEA, 2154
OZ4MM, 2210 EA3DXU, 2227 DL4KG and 2250 DL3EAG, on 432 on 11
Oct at 0403 CT1DMK, 0427 YO2IS, 0449 DJ5MN, 0921 K0RZ, 0932
K5WXN, 0944 W7QX, 0952 OE5JFL, 2154 UT5DL, 2227 JA4BLC, 2240
OH2LWP and 2311 G3LQR, on 1296 on 10 Oct at 0443 OE9ERC, 0450
OK1DFC 0501 SM6CKU, 0504 LA8LF, 0508 EA6ADW, 0510 K5JL, 0512
HB9BBD, 0518 OZ5OL, 0524 DF4PV, 0531 F6CGJ, 0536 VE1ZJ, 0548
PY5ZBU, 0550 W2UHI, 0554 KD4LT, 0610 W7CS, 0625 HA5SHF, 0642
OH2AXH, 0718 G3LTF, 0723 OZ4MM, 0727 PA3CSG, 0738 OE9XXI,
2308 JH5LUZ, 2311 F1ANH, 2318 JA6CZD, 2321 SM4DHN, 2324
EA3UM, 2335 F5PAU, and on 1296 on 11 Oct at 0019 OH2DG, 0028
ON5RR, 0037 S59DCD, 0040 ZS6AXT, 0049 HB9SV, 0051 IK3GHY,
0104 F5AQC 0156 OE5JFL, 0206 G3LQR, 0305 OE5EYM, 0312 DC6UW,
0329 N2IQU, 0537 VE1ALQ, 0543 KB2AH, 0615 K2UYH, 0625 K4QI,
0718 W6HD, 0734 DF9QX, 0759 F5PL, 0821 K3HZO, 0830 WA8WZG and
0902 G4CCH. Fixed pol on 432 was a big drawback. Sorry, but I
couldn't read some of my calls. 1296 was much nicer! I will
be on 2304 for the Microwave Contest in Nov with capability
to listen on 2320 and 2424. Ma admiration `toutes nous amis F
pour une conference EME98 merveilleux organisi es realisi.
MERCI!! If anyone is interested I can provide via e-mail a
scanned picture of your table at the conference banquet.
SM6CKU
Ben is back in business on 1296 EME and was active in
the contest -- I had everything reorganized and even made
some repairs on the dish. I was not getting more than 150-200
w out of the TH308 but it worked. I QSO'd 52x27, but missed
PY5ZBU for my WAC on 1296. I have yet to work SA, HI. I made
18 initials so I am now up to #145. In Nov I plan to give 13
cm a try. I don't know what power will be, but I hope for
some QSOs. I am also having printed new QSL cards, so those
waiting, please be patient. I will answer all cards received.
Ben's e-mail address is:
Ben, SM6CKU
UT3LL
Bay is now QRV on 432 and made 12 QSOs during the 1st
part of the contest. He worked DL9KR, OH2PO, K1FO, UR5LX,
N9AB, N4GJV, OE5EYM, K5GW, JA5OVU, OZ4MM, SM3AKW and OE5JFL.
[I can't translate the rest of this report, which I believe
is written in Ukranian.]
VE1ALQ
Darrell had problems during the 1st half of the
contest -- The Oct part of the contest was nearly a complete
wipe out for this QTH. We had approximately 56 mm of rain
during the 1st Moon including high winds that were up to
90km/hr at peaks. As a result I lost my EL drive chain at
0600 and got only 3.5 hrs of Moon time the first day. I
reinstalled the chain in the rain after day light arrived,
but could not get back on until next moonrise. The rain
continued all weekend with 47 mm recorded on Sunday, but the
wind dropped to nearly zero. The end result for the 1st half
was 11 stations on 70 cm (no initials) and 38 stations on 23
cm with SM6CKU (559/559) my only initial for #109. The total
is 49x37... Not good, but a lot of fun. I hope the WX
is better in Dec.
W2WD
Warren had WX problem in Sept -- Winds of 75 to 100 mph
whistled through our neighborhood on 7 Sept which uprooted
large trees and damaged my antennas to some extend. Nothing
major but I am having trouble finding replacement parts I
would like to use. I have things patched up with duct tape,
etc. I listened for a couple of hours on both Saturday and
Sunday of the ARRL EME Contest. On 432 I heard DL9KR, K2UYH,
OE5JFL, K1FO, and others too weak to identify. I only heard
one very weak signal on 1296, but could not copy very much.
This was using the 35 el Tonna Yagi I won in Paris.
W7HAH
Shep was active on 432 in the contest for only 2.5
hours. He scored 14x11 with QSOs from UR5LX, K5GW, N9AB,
DL9KR, OH2PO, OE5JFL, N4GJV, G4ERG, K1FO, DL4MEA, HA1YA,
K5WXN, JA4BLC and JA5OYU. Shep will be QRV on 70 cm for the
Nov SW and again in Dec. He is interested in sked and can be
reached by e-mail at:
Shep, W7HAH
W7KK
Dave's (CM88vc) Oct 432 Activity Report -- I worked on
10 Oct only DL9KR, and on 11 Oct K5GW, OH2PO, OE5JFL #17,
N4GJV, K1FO, N2IQU, and JA5OVU. These were all random QSOs
during the contest. Although I didn't favor it, I signed
"W7KK/6" to comply with the ARRL rules. Hopefully this is not
confusing when it comes to people's initials counting. I also
CWNR many including K2UYH, W7BBM, and UR5LX. Many partial
calls copied have started to make sense now that people have
posted their results to the reflector. I kept everything
hooked up and worked on 12 Oct K7XD for initial #18 on sked.
I heard nil in skeds on 17 Oct with W7ALW (Barrie, a new
station in MT) and EA3DXU.
WA7MIC
Larry is getting back on 70 cm EME. He was a regular
between off the Moon on 432 back in the late 70's and early
80's -- I have built a 24' dish and Emiac design 8938 PA. I
have started listening to EME on 432 and am interested in
skeds. My e- mail address is:
Larry, WA7MIC
Can
anyone help me locate the Keplarian elements for the Moon?
WB2VVV
Chris is active on 432 EME with 8 x 18 el VVV/M2
yagis and 1 kw. During the 1st part of the contest he QSO'd
OZ4MM for initial #22, DL9KR, UR5LX #23, OH2PO, N4GJV, K5GW,
N2IQU, K1FO and JA5OVU #24. Chris has a WEB page at:
WB2VVV WEB page
ZS6AXT
Ivo was disappointed with the low activity on 13 cm
during the 1st part of the EME contest -- I hope that in the
Nov Microwave Contest more of the Ws, Gs and even Eur
stations will be active on 2300. With higher drive to my PA,
I am getting now well over 150 w in the shack (with 2.1 dB
loss in the feedline) and the echoes are very easy to find,
even with the dish not accurately on the Moon. Just before
the Contest we had lousy WX with drizzle and strong wind.
Water got into my EL sensor (Schaewitz Angle Star) again,
this time I had to replace it. Fortunately I had a spare
unit. This indicator seems to be more accurate, that helped
too. On Saturday I started on 23 cm and worked OK1KIR, G3LTF,
HB9BHU, JH5LUZ, OK1DFC, G4CCH, HB9BBD, OE9ERC, LA8LF, F5PAU,
OZ4MM, EA3UM, OE5EYM for initial #140, F6CGS, OE9XXI and
DF4PV who was my QSO No 2000 on EME (all bands). Afterwards
strong winds appeared and I had to put my dish into the
parking position. On Saturday evening, I again started on 13
cm and worked IK6EIW, JA4BLC,
IK2RTI and OH2AXH. About hour
of CQs did not bring any additional replies, so back to 23 cm
where I worked SM3AKW, S59DCD, JH5LUZ, JA6CZD, OH2AXH, ON5RR,
F5AQC, HB9SV, OE5JFL, F1ANH, DC6UW, OZ6OL, N2IQU, G3LQR and
VE1ALQ for my QSO No 1500 on 23 cm! All signals were very
good, with good reports. Then back to 13 cm where for the
next 4 hours I called CQ with only my own echoes coming back.
With the dish on the Moon I was getting up to (569) echoes.
WX was perfect here with no wind, so I managed to keep the
dish well on the Moon even without my CCTV camera. I also
listened on 2320, while calling only on 2304. At the end I
was quite tired since Saturday afternoon the 6 m band opened
here to Eur and of course I could not miss that too. So I did
not sleep for some 48 hours. I hope that the activity in the
microwave Contest will be better. I will be looking for more
JAs and Gs. They must just call a bit longer so that I have
time to sweep 2304 and then change to 2320 or 2424. If all
goes well, especially WX, I will be on 6 cm on Sunday. I
rebuilt my 6 cm transverter with better filters in the RX
part to eliminate image noise and I am getting over 6 dB CS/G
noise with the horn only, (not in the dish). The best LNA I
found is with the ATF36163 in the input, giving about 0.1 dB
better NF than other constructions. I built 2 and both
perform the same. On transmit I have only a 20 w SSPA fitted
directly in the feed. From OE9ERC's and OE9XXI's observations
(they heard me in June), my 5m dish may perform only as a 3 m
one. Our WX in the beginning of Nov is usually bad with heavy
cold fronts hitting us. But these days with El Nino and La
Nino one does not know. I hope to have the CCTV camera on the
dish. Without it my AZ EL indicators are not accurate enough
for 6 cm operation.
K2UYH
I had a great time operating the contest despite poor
WX the 1st night and hearing problems on 70 cm. I believe an
external signal is desensing my 432 receive ability. I
apologize to those who called us many times and to whom we
did not reply. I will work on this problem for the Dec
weekend, but am not sure an easy fix exists. I was joined by
K2TXB the 1st night and we operated exclusively on 70 cm. We
QSO'd on 432 on 10 Oct at 0426 DL9KR (579/569), 0452 DL9NDD
(569/559), 0508 N4GJV (559/559), 0523 K1FO (569/559), 0528
DJ9MB (569/569), 0538 VE1ALQ (559/559), 0551 OP2PO (579/559),
0612 OE5EYM (559/559), 0622 DF3RU (559/559), 0628 UR5LX
(559/O), 0643 K0RZ (559/559), 0703 DL4MEA (559/559), 0714
DL4MEA (559/559) for initial #597, 0714 G4ERG (549/559), 0728
OH2DG (549/559), 0745 HA1YA (559/549), 0758 CT1DMK (559/449),
0803 F5AQC (549/549), 0822 K5GW (579/O), 0839 DJ5MN (449/O)
#598, 0854 K5WXN (449/549), 0859 W7CNK (549/549), 0906 W7QX
(559/549), 0916 N9AB (559/559), N7LQ (549/449) #599, 0959
W7BBM (559/559), 1025 SM3AKW (559/559), 1035 W7GBI (559/559)
and 1120 W6WE (449/449). The wet tree blockage to the west
looked so bad that we decided to quite at this point without
giving the JA window a try. This was probably a mistake based
on our results on 1296 the following night. Marc, LU6DW
arrived a few hours later. Marc visited with us for few days
on his way to the Microwave Up-date Conference. We drove over
to KB2AH's QTH to visit with Tom. After returning from Tom's,
Marc and I caught a few hours sleep and then operated the 2nd
night of the contest together. We started out on 1296, but
switched back to 432 when activity started to slow (1100),
but signal were so poor on 432 that we switched back to 1296
without making a contact. So we were effectively on 23 cm
exclusively the 2nd night. We contacted on 11 Oct on 23 cm at
0554 S59DCD (559/559), 0601 DF4PV (559/549) for initial #160,
0607 K5JL (569/569), 0609 LA8LF (579/559), 0618 SM3AKW
(559/559), 0621 KB2AH (579/569), 0624 OH2AXH (559/569), 0628
HB9SV (569/569), 0631 OE9XXI (579/569), 0635 OE5JFL
(579/569), 0640 SM6CKU (569/569), 0702 F5AQC (549/559), 0705
OE9ERC (579/569), 0710 F5PAU (559/559), 0717 F6CGJ (569/569),
0724 VE1JZ (549/559), 0735 W6HD (559/569), 0741 F5PL
(559/569), 0745 K4QI (569/559), 0754 OE5EYM (559/549) #161,
0805 OZ4MM (559/559), 0813 OK1KIR (549/559), 0834 VE1ALQ
(569/569), 0859 OZ6OL (449/559), 0910 G3LQR (449/559), 0918
G4CCH (449/549), 0927 OH2DG (549/569), 0941 K3HZO (449/529),
1000 SM4DHN (569/559), 1009 EA3UM (569/559), 1048 WA8WZG
(449/559), 1236 W2UHI (569/559), 1300 W5LUA (559/559), 1417
JA6CZD (559/559), 1442 N2IQU (559/549), 1453 JA7BMB (559/559)
and 1500 JH5LUZ (449/549). We were called by another JA after
JH5LUZ, but we were already on borrowed time! More than 3/4
of the dish appeared blocked by trees. We were never able to
figure out the call. It was amazing that we were able to work
any JA stations. We plan to be QRV on 13 cm for the Microwave
EME Contest and possibly 3 cm. On 13 cm we will probably used
the call WA2LTM, who will provide most of the transmit gear.
NETNEWS
by G4RGK, David Dibley
F1EHN
has a new e-mail address: F1EHN
VE3BQN, Ted is available for 1296 EME skeds. Ted has a 16'
dish, 400 w PA, DSP, etc, and can be reached by e-mail at Ted, VE3BQN
G4FUF, Keith needs cards for 432 QSOs from 9M2BV, VK5MC,
UT1PA, UT5EC, RW3RW, RA3LE, UA6LGH, OH2PO, IW5AVM and EA3UM.
G4YTL, David is coming on 70 cm with the x-G0RUZ array and a
K1FO amp.
G4RGK was not able to get on in the contest, but hopes to be
there in Dec.
IN3AGI in JN56 is QRV on 432 with 8 x 30 el yagis and a TH-
338 1.3 kw PA. His grid locator is JN56.
UT1PA is Slava's (formally RB5PA) new call. He worked 21x16
on 432 in the contest.
UT5DL worked 21x16 on 432 in Oct.
SP5CJT, Mike is very busy with his new house, but hopes to
get something going for the Dec leg of the contest.
K1OR hopes to be QRV in the contest on 70 cm.
VE6JW reports that VE6TA is off the air. Grant is very busy
and has little time for radio.
W4TJ reports a good signal from K5JL on 1296. Bill says he
plans to be back on 23 cm in Dec with either a TH-328 or
4x7289 amp. His Sun noise is 13.5 dB with a 12' dish.
WB4BKC has sold his house in FT Lauderdale and will be
relocating to the Atlanta area by the end of the year. He
hopes to be back on 70 cm next year.
DL1EJA, Oliver is ready for on the horizon skeds on 70 cm EME
with a 4 x 11 el array and 1 kw at the DL0GC club house in
JO31cq.
KL7HFQ reports AL7OB has a 8 x 12 el array on 70 cm and 100
w. He has heard one station off the Moon thus far.
W4HHK is looking for skeds on 13 cm for Nov. Paul will be
transmitting on 2304.100 and can receive on 2304.1, 2320.1
and 2424.1.
N2IQU had problems in the contest with one set of dipoles.
Mark worked 25 on 70 cm and 51x23 on 23 cm.
VE1ZJ was on 23 cm for the 1st contest weekend and worked
27x17. John will be on 70 cm in Dec.
K5JL, Jay worked 58x37 on 1296 in the contest. He also
reports that with 25 w of drive and 1400 V on the plate he is
getting about 600 w from an OZ9CR amp.
W2UHI, Frank made 30 QSOs in the contest on 1296. He is
available on 23 cm just about anytime. Frank is also tuning
up his 70 cm amp in preparation for a return. He will be
using his 18' dish on 70 cm as well as 23 cm.
WA1JOF reports that W5RCI is back on EME and needs VT on 70
cm.
NA4N is now out of the hospital and hopes to be back to
normal in a few weeks. He will have 200 w and a 10' dish on
1296 soon. He is also working on 4 x 22FO yagis for 70 cm.
F5FLN, Michel (IN94sr) reports 16 dB of Sun noise from his 16
x 26 el yagi array. He has 1.6 kw from a K1FO PA and worked
JA5OVU among others in the contest.
F5FHI, Jean passes his regards to all. He is no longer QRV on
432, but hopes to be soon on 23 cm with a 10' dish.
W7BBM plans to be more active this winter and spring. He is
limited to elevations greater > 45 deg.
DB6NT's e-mail address is DB6NT
K7XD worked 11x10 in the contest on 432.
CT1DMK was on 70 cm in Oct and QSO'd 19x16 in the contest.
Luis will be on 23 cm in Dec.
FOR SALE
DD1XF has for sale a 13 cm cavity with one tube
(100 w). DD1XF
or .
K3HZO, Harry at e-mail: K3HZO is looking for
a reasonably priced bigger dish for 1296.
W6HD, Tay is
looking for an ICOM 1275A which was
an all mode 23 cm rig of a few years back.
G4FUF is
looking for the following Bird slugs: 5C, 25C, 100E
and 250E.
W7CNK is
looking for 1 or 2 mil teflon.
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.mounting blocks for K1FO yagis.
For full details see Tom's 1296 WEB page at:
Tom's 1296 WEB Page
for more details and pricing info e-mail , or phone 908-223-5067, FAX 908-223-0901
(24 hrs) or voice 908-223-8124.
TECHNICAL
W7CNK asked about a formula for calculating the
noise change obtained by switching between a 50 ohm load and
an antenna pointed to cold sky. The equation is:
10 LOG((Tant+ Trx)/(290 + Trx))
where Tant is the temp of the sky the antenna is looking at
and Trx is the noise temperature of your receiver.
Trx is normally dependent on the NF of your LNA. Assuming
2nd stage contributions are negligible then
Trx = 290 (10^(NF/10)-1).
Tant is the weighted average of the temperatures the antenna
sees in its main, side and back lobes.
From these equations you can determine your LNA NF if you know
the Tant. Knowing your NF and sky temperature, you can evaluate
the quietness of your antenna. However using a 50 ohm load as
a reference is NOT recommended. Most ham type LNAs are very
sensitive to antenna impedance. The load may not have the
exact same impedance as your antenna. Small impedance change
can greatly affect LNA gain and resulting noise power, but
not necessarily the LNA NF. This is one of the major causes
of error in NF measurement. Thus switching between an antenna
and a 50 ohm load is NOT recommended. It is much better to move
your antenna from pointing to cold sky to pointing to the ground.
The ground is assumed to be at 290 deg K, the same temperature as
the 50 load. But by moving the antenna rather than switching,
you are keeping the same impedance connected to your LNA -
avoiding the error that even a small impedance change can introduce.
FINAL
I am sad to report that:
RA3YCR is a silent key.
Viktor
had been active on 432 EME for many years and will be missed.
Unfortunately I have no other information on his death.
* Plans are already under way for EME2000 Brazil. Don, PY5ZBU
has begun promoting papers for the Technical Program. If you
have ideas contact Don at e-mail:
Don, PY5ZBU ( EME2000 )
* Please keep the reports and technical info coming -
especially the technical material. We need more! Please
help..
* I can't make this too long, if I am going to find the time
to be active in the Microwave Contest. I hope to be seeing
you on 13 cm and possibly 3 cm in Nov.
73, Al - K2UYH
SKEDS:
NOV 7
Time 432.040 432.045
0400z K7XD -DK3WG
0430z CT1DMK-G4RGK W7KK -DK3WG
0500z CT1DMK-I5TDJ K7XD -IK5QLO
0530z W1ZX -GW3XYW K7XD -K2UYH
0600z K7XD -W0KJY KA0RYT-DL3EAG
0630z K7XD -DL4MEA W7CI -UA4API
0700z K7XD -W7HAH
1300z W7CNK -KB4CNI VK4KAZ-WE2Y
2100z EA3DXU-VK4KAZ
2200z EA3DXU-DL4MEA
2230z EA3DXU-GW3XYW
NOV 8
Time 432.040 432.045
0500z N7LQ -DK3WG
0530z KA0RYT-EA3DXU K7XD -DK3WG
NOV 7
Time 1296.050
0500z WD5AGO-HA5SHF
0600z W7CS -K3HZO
NOV 8
Time 1296.050 1296.075
0330z W2UHI -DJ5MN
0400z VE1ALQ-DJ5MN ON5RR -HA5SHF
0530z F1ANH -HA5SHF
0600z DF9QX -HA5SHF
0630z EA3UM -HA5SHF
0700z W0KJY -K3HZO
0730z K3HZO -EA3UM
0830z LU6DW -W2UHI
0900z LU6DW -W5LUA K7XD -WD5AGO
2330z HA5SHF-JH5LUZ
Graphics:
HB9BBD with his 10m Dish at 1296 MHz
S52CW with 8 * 7.7 wavelength YAGI's
Spectrum Analyses of 1296 MHz Moon Reflected Signals
A Closer Look, notice the frequency shifting
AA5C on TWT's and their Power Supplies
This information was obtained from: Scott, KD4LT
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Rein, W6/PA0ZN
19980928
