432 MHz AND ABOVE EME NEWS
DECEMBER 1998 VOL 26 #13
ALLEN KATZ, K2UYH
Editor
ENGR DEPT., THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, TRENTON, NJ 08650-4700 (W 609-490-2817
OR H 443- 3184, FAX 609-443-1713, AND EMAIL:
Allen Katz, K2UYH
PRODUCTION ASSIST: TOM KIRK, KA2VAD (908-521-2049).
NETNEWS EDITOR: G4RGK, DAVID DIBLEY
SKEDS CORD & DIRECTORY: DL4EBY/DK0TU, KLAUS TIEDEMANN,
HALSKESTR.35, D-12167 BERLIN, (49-30-7955467), E-Mail:
Klaus Tiedemann.
***E-MAIL LIST CORD: Scott KD4LT***
*** NA EME BBS: 704-284-4854 ***
EME NETS
14.345, 10 AM ET SATURDAYS, AFTER VARO NET SUNDAYS:
CONDITIONS
The Nov SW was something else. Conditions and
activity on 432 were pretty good, but 1296 was definitely
affected by the Microwave (MW) EME Contest with most of the 23 cm
reports coming from the pre-SW. The MW contest was a good start
for what hopefully will become a annual activity. Many of the
regulars focusing their attention to 13 cm and above, but the
contest yielded no surprises. Now attention shifts to the final
leg of the ARRL EME Contest in Dec. See PA0PLY's report on the
possibility of 1296 EME from Taiwan (BV).
9H1ES
Fortunado QSO'd during the pre-SW on 1296 SM2CEW with a
marginal signal, had a partial with KD4LT - QSB and heard nil
from K3HZO. He has a system for 10 GHz almost complete.
CT1DMK Luis' Contest Report
I was on for the ARRL Contest in
Oct and worked on 70 cm 19x16, including 4 initials. Stations
QSO'd were DL9KR, OH2PO, FI1ANH, DF3RU, HA1YA, G4ERG, K1FO,
N4GJV, F5AQC, N9AB, OE5EYM, UR5LX, K5GW, K2UYH, EA3DXU, SM3AKW,
DL4MEA, K0RZ and OZ4MM. After the contest, while I still had the
70 cm feed in place I worked DL8OBU, ON5OF and W7CNK. On the 7/8
Nov weekend, the Moon dec was at 19 deg. This leaves me a very
short window as the house is in front of the antenna in the
north-west direction, and my polar mount does not go north fur-
ther than 90 or 270 degs. My total window was only about 4 hrs
each pass. I wanted to have the 5.7 GHz ready for the MW contest
but unfortunately, due to a business trip I could not have the 6
cm preamp ready in time. I decided to try anyway with the trans-
verter connected directly to the T/R relay. I was expecting about
a 1.5 dB NF, but I believe it's worst than that. On 7 Nov, al-
ready in contest time, I 1st checked Moon noise and got about 0.5
dB. I switched my TWT power supply on, waited the nominal 2 min
and found my echoes on the very 1st try. They were surprisingly
strong considering the NF. SSB echoes were quite readable too,
but very weak. I had 33 W to a 5.6 m dish with V/H feed. I worked
OK1KIR (O/O), OE9ERC (539/439), OE9PMJ (559/549), I6PNN (O/O) and
OE9YTV (559/549). On 8 Nov I was on 10 GHz, but the WX was not
very cooperative. I heard no stations during the 1st 3 hrs even
though I had good echoes. Then OK1KIR telephone to report that
they had repaired their system and requested a sked. They said I
should look for them just above Jim's (WA7CJO) frequency. I was
surprised as I was not receiving any signals at all, and Jim's
signal isn't something one can miss that easy. As I was running
out of Moon! I called Jim on the phone an asked for a special
"beacon service". I found I was off frequency by 240 kHz!! Then
in my last 40 minutes, I QSO'd WA7CJO and OK1KIR. I also tried
with W5LUA, but the Moon escaped before I had a chance. I heard
S57UUU with a good signal. (I used for frequency calibration a
national TV station. They are supposed to be Cesium locked, but
apparently aren't). I almost have ready a GPS reference, so this
won't happen again. I enjoyed very much the contest and ended
with 5x3 on 6 cm and 2x2 on 3 cm.
DL3EAG
Stephan sends a "small" report for what he calls his
"small" 432 station -- SW conditions were average, but I was able
to add 3 initials to my log. On Friday, 06 Nov I worked DK3WG
(O/O), but nil from KA0RYT during our sked. Heard were I5MPK and
DL9NDD. On the 2nd day, I added DF3RU (539/439) for initial #41,
JA5OVU (439/449), F5FLN (O/O) #42 and SM2CEW (439/439), and on
the 3rd day JA5OVU (439/449) with nice signals and finally I5MPK
(O/O) #43. There is a new station, DJ3FI, Hubert in JO31di, about
10 Km from my QTH who is QRV via the Moon. Hubert uses 6 BV yagis
and a 1 kW PA. During the SW he copied some stations.
DL4KG
Gerald was QRV on 70 cm during the Nov SW -- On Friday I
became worried whether my elevation indicator shows the right
angle because I didn't hear any stations. The same story on
Saturday morning. So I decided to measure the elevation angle and
compare it to the display of the controller. All was OK. In the
JA window I heard DL3EAG on tropo working F5FLN, but nothing off
the Moon. Suddenly it seemed that someone switched off a noise
source and I could copy F5FLN very clearly (549). I also heard
I5MPK, but after 2 mins the noise was back. So, it was clear that
the antenna system worked well. On Sunday morning the noise was
gone and I worked W1ZX (549/549) for initial #49, SM2CEW
(549/549) and DL9NDD (549/559). In the evening I added JA5OVU
(449/449), then the noise was back. I also heard DF3RU and I5MPK
again. I hope to find the noise source before the 2nd leg of the
ARRL Contest. [I will be interested in learning what you
discover.] I am looking for proven schematics of preamps with a
NF of less than 0.5 dB. Is a FHX35LG a solution? I'm working with
a MGF1302 BV preamp design now. [The FHX35LG can give about .1 dB
lower NF than the MGF1302. The FHX35G is harder to stabilize.
Both devices should give a lower than .5 dB NF on 70 cm.] My
equipment is Kenwood TS-850, homemade transverter, MGF 1302
preamp and GS- 23B PA (900 W) and 4x29-el BV yagi array with full
elevation. Skeds are welcome via e-mail to DL4KG, Gerald during the week. This is my office e-mail, I have no access
from home.
DL7APV
Bernd e-mail is QRV on 432 EME
again. He worked during the Nov SW VE1JZ - weak, VE1ALQ, KD4LT -
good sigs and nil WA4NJP. DL7APV's old location was in Berlin
(JO62qk). In 1998 he moved outside Berlin to (JO62jr). Since this
is in the same grid QSOs with him will not count as initials if
you worked him at his old QTH. To make matters even more
confusing the station Bernd is using is the same as DK0NHF. Thus
stations who have worked DK0NHF previously, but not DL7APV,
should not count DL7APV as an initial. Bernd expects to be active
during the Dec contest weekend.
EA6ADW
Peter is now QRT for the winter and writes -- My year is
now over. On Sunday 8 Nov our ship will bring us to Barcelona.
From there it is nonstop to DL by car. I will come back at EA6
around March 99. I was QRV only 6 hours on 1296 in ARRL Contest
and ended with 30x15 for 45,000 points. I made 2 initials to
bring me to #140. My EME WW standings and further info can be
found at Peter's web page Please use my German e-mail from 07 Nov to the end of Feb.
G3LQR
Simon was active in Oct during the EME contest -- I was
only on 432 for a short time and QSO'd only 3 stations OH2PO, and
SM3AKW. I will try to pick up some others in Dec. I was also on
23 cm with 300 W to my 4.2 m dish and heard at least an addition-
al 12. QSO'd were HB9BBD, OE9ERC, JH5LUZ, SM3AKW, F5PAU, S59DCD,
F6CGJ, F1ANH, OE5EYM, ZS6AXT, K4QI, K2UYH, JH5LUZ and OE5EYM. I
will be on 23 cm again in Dec, if WX allows. Since Oct I have
spent a lot of time trying to get my GI7B to run on 13 cm for the
Nov MW Contest. But so far I am not getting much power, but I
have not given up. I was on 13 cm on Saturday 7 Nov for 2 hrs,
but heard nil. I had worked on my feed and preamps and was get-
ting 16 dB of Sun noise with a flux of 154 on 11 Nov - this is
better, so maybe I have a better system now. I have only 30 W in
the shack. When I get my GI7B going I should be in good shape. I
also built a GI7B for 23 cm, but its tuning low in freq. I plan
to get an amp going on 9 cm and have 2 cavities with 2C39s which
may be useful. I do not think the dish will be too useful at 6
cm, but as yet it is untested.
G3LTF
Peter's MW EME Contest Report -- I had only 4 complete
QSOs, (all except one were random) mainly due to the problem of
working cross band. Calling people on their exact frequency +/-
the differential Doppler means they have a far greater chance of
hearing you than when they have to tune on a different band with
an inevitably higher frequency error. On 7 Nov I was on 13 cm
from 0030 to 0600 with a visual Moon and consistent echoes. I
worked ZS6AXT and W5LUA, and got a (T) report from W4HHK. Paul
was (549). I was heard by WA8WZG who had an intermittent problem
and couldn't transmit at the time. CWNR were OH2AXH and OZ4MM.
Heard were WA8WZG, IK6??? and OH2DG. Later on the 2nd Moon pass,
I worked OE9ERC and HB9SV, and had a partial with F1ANH - I think
we were both having trouble keeping our antennas on the Moon as
it was quite windy, and he didn't get my final R's. CWNR were
IK2RDI, OH2AXH and F2TU. I got no initials which was
disappointing. There are several people that I could work on
skeds. I was sorry not to hear anyone else calling on 2320.
Several of the guys I heard have that capability for Eur tropo
and I would have made some more QSOs. My gear on 2320/2304 is as
follows: 6 m dish with 0.38 f/d, polar mounted with VE4MA feed,
and 0.46 dB NF NE32684 preamp. TX power at the feed is about 50-
60 W (with 50 m of feedline!!). Sun noise was 20 dB with a flux
of 149 units. I'm happy to take skeds on 13 cm any of the EME
weekends +/- one week, work permitting.
HA5SHF
Csaba reports on his group's 1296 MHz activity -- We
contacted on 31 Oct at 1721 DJ9YW (449/449), on 31 Oct at 1847
DF4PV (439/429), on 7 Nov KD4LT (439/549) for initial #36 and WAS
6, on 0237 W2UHI (449/439), 0252 VE1ALQ (549/529), 0312 KB2AH
(559/429), 0322 K5JL (579/549), and on 08 Nov at 0005 JA6CZD
(549/439) #37 and DXCC 18, 0504 WA4NJP (O/O) #38 and 0606 DF9QX
(449/549) #39.
IK1HWG
Maurizio is QRV on 70 cm again -- After many troubles ...
QRM and a serious family problem (my father death this Aug), I am
again QRV on 432 EME. I have no problem with skeds for all who
are interested. The station is the same antenna 4 x 21' FT yagis,
RIW PA (2 x 4CX250Rs), GaAs FET MGF1302+CF300, MMT 432/28 +
TS830s. I can be reached via mail at Maurizio, tel home +39-141-856365, and GMS mobile +39-347-3703604.
JA4BLC
Yoshiro writes -- I managed to QRV for the Microwave EME
Contest on 8 Nov and worked 6 stations on 13 cm: W5LUA, W4HHK,
OZ4MM, ZS6AXT, OE9ERC and OE9XXI. I was pleased to learn that
WA8WZG and SM3AKW also heard my 2424 signal well. I worked
Michinori, JA8IAD (M/O) on 2424.1 for initial #18 on 13 Nov. He
has 4 m dish and 150 W, and is getting 12 dB of Sun noise. He
cured his feeder problem and succeeded for his 1st ever QSO on 13
cm with W5LUA on 7 Nov. Michinori is in Sapporo city and can be
reached by e-mail . He is interested in sked for the Dec SW/contest weekend. I will not be active on
23 cm in Dec.
JA9BOH
Kimio will be QRT for 16 months -- I will be away from
home between 14 Nov 1998 to 27 March 2000 while I participate in
a Japanese Antarctica Research Expedition. [Please keep us
informed of your experiences! Is there any chance for EME
operation from the Antarctic?]
JH4JLV
Kaz e-mail reports - I made 21
contacts on 432 in the 1st part of the ARRL EME Contest. QSOs
were with N9AB, K5GW, W7CI, JL1ZCG, WA9FWD, K1FO, K0RZ, JA5OVU,
7M2PDT, DL9KR, OH2PO, G4ERG, DK3WG, DL6MB, HA1YA, G3LTF, OZ4MM,
OE5EYM, W7QX, N4GJV and JA5NNS. Heard and CWNR were W7CNK,
JA4BLC, JS3SIM, UR5LX, W7BBM, N2IQU and W7HAH.
KORZ Bill's 432 EME Report Through November
I QSO'd on 12 Sept
N9AB, UT5LL for initial #253, WE2Y, I5CTE and KA0RYT/0 #254, on
13 Sept UR5LX, DL9KR, DF3RU, UT5DL, W7QX and IN3AGI #255, on 10
Oct 7M2PDT, DF3RU, DL9KR, JA5OVU, JH4JLV, JL1ZCG, K1FO, K2UYH,
K4QI, K5GW, KB4CNI #256, N4GJV, N9AB, OE5EYM, OH2PO, UR5LX, W7CI,
W7CNK, W7GBI, W7QX and WA9FWD, on 10 Nov CT1DMK #257, DJ5MN #260,
DJ6MB, DL4MEA #258, DL8OBU, F5FLN #259, G3LTF, G4ERG, HA1YA,
I5CTE, I5TDJ, IK5QLO #261, JA2TY, JR9NWC, K5AZU, K5WXN, KA0RYT,
N2IQU, OE3JPC, ON5OF, OZ4MM, SM3AKW, UT5DL, W0KJY, W8TH and WE2Y.
Condx were fair on 10 Oct and even better on 10 Nov. Overall for
the 1st weekend I ended with 47x21. I still need the states of
HI, ID, IN, KY, ND, NV, TN and VT for WAS.
K1OR
John writes -- Due to AMP's continually asserting their
dominance over M/A-COM, (I think of them as the Borg), my e-mail
e-mail address will change. The "macom.com" will continue to work till the end of the year. [When will you be
available for skeds again?]
K3HZO
Harry had some elevation problems during the Nov SW and
missed his sked with HA5SHF because of broken wires. He did work
3 initials during the pre-SW: WA4NJP, W4OP, W4RDI and W7CS. He
recently acquired a 15' mesh dish which he plans to extend to
16'. Harry hopes to have it up in the spring.
K5JL
Jay reports excellent activity on 23 cm during the Nov pre-
SW. He QSO'd 14 stations including an initial with WA9OUU. On the
SW he worked WA4NJP, DF4PV and K6DV (x-KD6R).
K7XD
Derek e-mail is QRV on 432 and
says -- I have problems with noise. 2 m is impossible, the whole
bottom of the band is a solid birdie. One of my neighbors
programs at home. He has 3 computers going all the time. It's
nasty when I point towards him. During the Nov SW there seemed to
be a polarity lock out to Eur from here. [Derek QSO'd K2UYH and
others in Nov.]
N4NW
Dave e-mail reports --I was active
during the MW EME weekend on 3 cm, but did not work anyone.
Stations heard were WA7CJO, W5LUA and SM4DHN. All were very good
copy on CW and CJO/DHN on SSB. I responded to CJO calling CQ and
he did send QRZ, but I cannot say for sure if I was heard. I had
hoped to make a random QSO, but have to conclude that my 8 W to
an 8' dish makes it difficult, even with close frequency
coordination and sequenced scheduling. I now have a 20 W TWTA and
will try again with QRO.
N6BQ
Hoppy is back home after medical treatments in Santo
Domingo. He is doing well and will be QRV on 1296 in Dec. Hoppy
is not yet sure if he will be on with the 12' dish at his home
location or with the 5 m dish station being assembled at WA6KBL's
QTH.
OE3JPC
Johannes is QRV on 70 cm from (JN87ew - new grid?). He
has added 4 elements to each of his 2 x 7.7 wl BV opt70 yagis,
and is now getting about 11 dB of Sun noise. He added a few more
calls to his "heard but not yet worked stations list" during the
contest. Unfortunately he has not found a solution for putting up
an HF ant at his new QTH. Skeds are welcome by
e-mail or phone/fax (++43-2254-75769).
OE9XXI
Peter's, OE9PMJ, report on his 6 cm MW Contest effort --
I made Contacts during the contest on 6 cm on 7/8 Nov with CT1DMK
(549/559) for an initial - a big surprise, I6PNN (449/O), OE9ERC
(559/559), OK1KIR (549/549), VE4MA (549/559) in sked, W5LUA
(559/559), JA7BMB (449/549), SM4DHN (559/539), IK2RTI (449/449)
and finally OE9ERC (44/54) on SSB (dup) for a score of 9x8. On 8
Nov on 2300 (as OE9XXI), I contacted JA4BLC (569/559), JA7BMB
(559/559), ZS6AXT (549/559) and OE9ERC (579/569) and (55/55) on
SSB. I also copied SM3AKW. On 5/6 Dec 5/6 I will concentrate on
1296, using linear pol, for weak yagi stations. I want to remind
contest participants to read the contest rules carefully. There
are some differences, e.g. in the DUBUS/REF Contest each US State
counts as a multiplier whereas in the ARRL EME Competition the US
and Canadian call areas credit as the multipliers. This is par-
ticularly important because recent experience has shown that the
ARRL does not check claimed contest scores very carefully - so
mistakes are often not recognized and corrected!
OK1DFC
Zdenek's ARRL EME Contest report -- I worked on 1296 in
Oct F5PAU (559/549), LA8LF (559/559), HB9BBD (589/579), ZS6AXT
(539/539), HB9BHU (539/579) for an initial #, G3LTF (559/549),
OK1KIR (539/549), OE9ERC (559/549), EA6ADW (569/549), DF4PV
(529/439) #, HA5SHF (449/549) # and a new DXCC, OE5EYM (559/559)
#, OZ4MM (559/449), OZ6OL (O/539) #, F6CGJ (579/559), N2IQU
(579/549), OH2AXH (559/559), KD4LT (559/559), SM6CKU (559/539),
OE9XXI (579/559), SM3AKW (559/559), WD5AGO (559/O), EA3UM
(559/549), W2UHI (559/549), KB2AH (569/559), OE9XXI (55/53) - my
1st EME SSB contact, K5JL (559/559), DC6UW (559/539), JH5LUZ
(539/559), SM4DHN (559/439), F1ANH (559/449), OH2DG (449/549) #,
JA6CZD (559/449) #, S59DCD (559/449), ON5RR (559/529), DH9FAG
(559/559) #, F5AQC (559/549), VE1ALQ (559/529), HB9SV (579/559),
OE5JFL (579/559), K4QI (559/439), KB2AH (559/549), PA3CSG
(559/549), F5PL (559/539), W7CS (539/549) #, HB9BBD (55/53) on
SSB, JA7BMB (559/559) # and DF3RU (439/439) # for a total of
48x25 and a score of 4,500 points. I used my 3.8 m dish and for
the 1st time my new HPA with a TH338 by OE9PMJ. This PA puts out
around 1 kW. It worked very well except for a problem with the N
type output connector. I plan to change this to a 7/8" flange.
My new e-mail address . This address is used only for hams info and skeds via Moon. In the contest I was
listening for PY5ZBU and 9H1ES. I will be QRV for the 2nd part
and will be especially looking for these stations and NL7F.
ON5RR
Marc writes -- The Nov SW passed just like most of the
weekends in 1998, too windy and too bad to be active with the
dish on 23 cm. This is really getting frustrating, even though we
cannot change a thing. In the 1st leg of the ARRL Contest we,
(Michel and I), made a good score. We ended with 32x17, and even
worked 4 initials! Unfortunately we had to shut down the station
early due to the wind. This is why we missed about 5 hrs of the
NA window. We hope to be active in the 2nd leg and will even try
to be active on Saturday as well as Sunday.
PA0PLY
Jan writes that Taiwan (BV) may be on 1296 EME soon --
Last Monday I was invited to join the weekly meeting of the
Chinese Taipei Amateur League "North Branch" in Taipei city.
During the meeting I introduced the phenomena "EME" to these
guys. All was very new and all were excited to listen to my tape
and see the pictures of "our" antennas. After my presentation it
was settled that the group will actively participate in a project
to BV on the Moon on 23 cm!. Local resources will be activated to
collect the larger items such as the dish and find a suitable
location, while I locate the specific 23 cm stuff. Since motor
drive might be a luxury, the 1st try might be a manual operated
dish, therefore size might be limited to about 3 m? My idea is to
start with a minimum set-up - one polarization antenna, trans-
verter, pre-amp and power modules all connected to the feed. The
parts I'm looking for are a BV preamp, BV-transverter (because of
the size) and 2 power modules for 40 W. This could be all built
in Holland and tested, which will minimize local set-up. Since
there will be a lot of interest in this event, I would not mind
others participating either in gifts or help to make things
happen on a short term basis. I can be best reached via
e-mail .
SM2CEW
Peter reports -- During the ARRL Contest in Oct I only
operated on 144 MHz, but will probably come on 432 and 1296 in
the 2nd leg. In Nov I was active on 1296 and worked DF4PV for
initial #102 and 9H1ES #103 and DXCC 26. On 7/8 Nov I was on 432
and worked KL7HFQ, W7BBM, G4ERG, DL3EAG, F5FLN, DJ6MB, JH4JLV,
UA6LGH, DL4KG, DL9NDD and I5MPK. All had good signals. Conditions
were pretty good despite the strong aurora that was present all
over northern Eur. Heard among others was DL7APV. It was good to
hear that familiar call again. In Sept I worked UT3LL for initial
#352 on 432.
SM3AKW
Karl reports -- I am not too happy with my results on 13
cm in the MW contest despite a full Moon window of effort! I
worked on 7 Nov at 0544 OZ4MM (559/O), on 8 Nov at 0028 ZS6AXT
(O/O), 0038 HB9SV (O/O) and 2332 OE9ERC (569/439). My apology to
OE9XXI. I was already late for a sked with JA4BLC and so couldn't
answer his call. I looked for Peter later, but he was gone. I
hope to work some others as well in Dec.
S57UUU
Marko e-mail reports on his MW Contest effort -- After being a dishless person for 2 years, I'm
normal again. Despite the fact that the azimuth drive and angle
readouts are not yet assembled, I couldn't resist trying to be on
for the SHF weekend. The dish is on ball bearings now, and it can
be pushed around with the little finger, so I decided that I'll
simply position the dish with one hand and operate with the
other... But the smoothness of the bearings proved to be a
problem. Even the faintest breeze kept throwing me off the Moon!
Another problem with Moon tracking was the intrusion of powerful
local 2 m stations operating a trop contest into my broadband
noise detector. The needle kept bouncing around. Luckily the Moon
could be seen most of the time through some puffy clouds, so I
switched to video tracking. But this meant that I wasn't aware of
my Moon noise level, and didn't notice when my receiver failed
sometime in the middle of the night. In the evening it was still
halfway good, I had about 0.9 dB of Moon noise (although two
years ago I had 1.6dB with the same setup - the fact that these
things were mothballed for 2 years was showing) and I could hear
my echoes quite clearly. Well, as the night went on, moisture
(dew) started to accumulate and I had a HV flashover (a
'crawling' flashover on the surface of an PCB). Luckily the
protection circuits prevented bigger damage, and lifting the
components above the board was enough to get things running
again. Later the moisture started to freeze, and it was less of a
problem (for the circuits - I myself didn't like it much). I
wasn't able to hear even the faintest trace of any signal. I was
beginning to suspect that my frequency has wandered off, but had
no way of checking it. In the morning I tried to get some echoes
again, but this time absolutely no echoes. When looking for
echoes, I heard a weak signal - to my surprise it was WA7CJO! I
checked my Moon noise and it was less than 0.1 dB, HI. Now it was
quite clear that I had a receiving problem. I could just barely
work Jim (O/O). I was tired and frozen enough then to quit. At
least I have defoliated my new dish! It is also a 3 m size, but
in much better shape than my 1st one.
UR5LX
Sergej, e-mail , scored in the 1st
part of the ARRL Contest 75x31 on 432. He had initials with K6DV,
KB4CNI and K2VJ (?). On 1 Nov Sergej added S57RA (539/559) to
bring him to #355 on 432.
VE1ALQ
Darrell reports that polarity was all askew on 432 during
Saturday of the Nov SW. He made one 70 cm initial with N7LQ. On
23 cm nothing new and the band was relatively quiet. Darrell is
working on a system for 6 cm EME and hopes to add this band very
soon.
VE1ZJ
John was on 70 cm for the Nov SW, but did not find much
activity and worked only 3 stations, 2 of which were new ones. He
was on 1296 during the pre-SW and worked 4 initials: DJ9YW,
DF4PV, WA4NJP and OZ6OL. In Dec he will be on active on 432
during the contest.
VE4MA
Barry was active in the MW Contest. On 2304 he worked
OH2AXH, OE9ERC and OZ4MM. Signals were good. On 6 cm he QSO'd
OE9PMJ, OE9ERC and W5LUA. I do not yet have a report for Barry's
3 cm effort.
VE6TA
Grant has a new e-mail address and fill us in on his move
-- I have been out of the loop for the last few months as a
consequence of starting up at a new plant and getting the family
settled in a new QTH. I have just recently gotten around to
thinking about EME again. I am now located in (DO33gs) and have
the base cemented in for the dish. [This is a new grid square and
Grant will thus count as an initial for those who have worked him
before.] I don't know when I will be operational. It depends a
lot on the WX. Here's my new e-mail address .
W1ZX
Willie was on 70 cm on 7 Nov and QSO'd at 0512 DF3RU
(559/449), 0530 GW3XYW nil in sked and 0556 NC1I (569/569), and
on 8 Nov at 0545 I5MPK (559/579) for initial #284, 0608 VE1ALQ
(559/579), 0635 WE2Y (549/569) #285, 0650 DL8OBU (549/559), 0707
UA4API (549/559) #286, 0741 IK5QLO (449/549) #287 and 0755 DL4KG
(549/559) #288. Willie heard many Eur stations off the Moon after
0645 on 8 Nov answering his CQs with 3 or 4 stations on the same
freq. This caused a lot of QRM and frustration. Willie
appreciates the calls, but is sorry that he could not separate
out the individual calls. He will try again in Dec. Willie is
still working his 1296 equipment... building converters, power
supplies, etc. He has no HPA at this time, only a one tube 7289
cavity which provides only 90 W to his horn.
W2UHI
Frank had quite a time during the Nov SW. He had just
winterized his system when high winds and bad WX came up. The
dish was in the bird-bath position, but then moved towards the
horizon. The wind had taken over, spun it around and stripped the
AZ worm gear... and then continued to destroy his antenna system.
Frank has a lot of repairs to make. He needs new feed poles, a
new gearbox and much more. So until further notice, Frank will be
QRT. The dish itself is all OK. As usual when this happens winter
moves in to make repairs even more difficult. Before his
problems, Frank had worked on 23 cm in Nov DJ9YW, LU8EDR, W4RDI,
W4OP, VE1ALQ, HA5SHF, KB2AH, KD4LT, K5JL and more. [Since this
was written, Frank has made some progress repairing his dish and
there is a chance he may make it back on for the Dec contest
weekend.
W4HHK
Paul was on 13 cm for the MW Contest and worked on the 1st
night ZS6AXT, OH2AXH and W5LUA. He heard G? and some JAs, but
made no contact.
W5LUA
Al was of course active in the MW Contest and QSO'd 8 on
2304. JA8IAD new was a new one. On 5760 he had 5 contacts.
W7CS
Chuck writes -- I was able to score 30x19 in the 1st part
of the ARRL EME Contest on 1296. I was too beat to stay up for my
Pacific/Asian window either night. I hope to increase my 125 W
(in the shack) signal with a TH308/328 by the Dec weekend. I
don't understand why more stations don't realize the importance
of "good" CW. It can be more valuable than a bigger dish! I had
some trouble copying some of the stations because of their poor
dot/dash spacing or poor weighting. This was often compounded by
a too high sending speed. I would personally think that during
the contest RST reports should be dispensed with. (Use only Ms
and Os in the interest of shorter length QSOs.)
W7KK
Dave e-mail writes -- I had some skeds on 7 Nov but because of heavy rain I don't think I was accurately
aiming my armstrong antenna system and heard NIL. The WX cleared
up the next night and I worked DF3RU at 0731 (O/O). I copied
strong signals from both I5MPK and DL9NDD and called them several
times, but only got QRZ's. I will be on in Dec for the contest
signing W7KK/6.
W7QX
Jerry scored 27x13 on 70 cm back in Oct. In Nov he had a
partials with WA4NJP - copied fine after 1300 and DL4MEA (O/T),
and worked K2UYH, DF3RU, DL9NDD, DL6WU and 7M2PDT.
WA4NJP
Ray worked 4 new ones during the Nov pre-SW on 1296. He
QSO'd DJ9YW, OZ6OL, K3HZO, VE1ZJ, W4RDI, W6HD and DF4PV. He also
worked a few stations on 70 cm.
WA6ZKY
Gordy, home QTH (CM98), is working on a portable system
for 1296 EME. He has a trailer mounted 10' dish, xvtr and single
2C39 amp, but needs to improve his preamps. Gordy can be reached
e-mail
WA7ALW
Barrie in (DN36au) has completed a 432 EME station and is
interested in trying some skeds. His station is 4 x 13 WL yagis
with elevation to 55 degs, 0.38 dB NF preamp, FT736 with Mutek
boards and LA-70B PA. He was not able to transmit during the Oct
contest period due to relay problems, but did hear many stations,
some quite well. He will be QRV in Dec.
WA9OUU
John (EM89) is a new 1296 station from Ohio (J. Berker,
POB 125, New Holland, OH 43145). John is using a 14.5' dish and
200 W at the feed. He has worked VE1ALQ with (559) reports, but
has no e-mail and does not receive the NL. He can be reached at
the following phone numbers: 1 740 636-9023 home and 1 740 495-
5200 work. Johns plans to be active during the Dec contest
weekend. [TNX VE1ALQ for this report]
WD5AGO
Tommy tried some 13 cm EME for the Nov MW Contest -- I
could not get my driver working in time, so I forced to SWL
status. Stations heard were W4HHK, SM3AKW and I think OE9XXI and
OZ4MM. The 70 cm feed is now back in the dish. I can run some
skeds between now and the contest on 432. I will be on 70 cm the
1st night of the contest and 23 cm the 2nd night in Dec. I worked
8 new ones on 23 cm during the past few months for an initial
total of #148. I have been doing a lot of work on LNAs above 900
MHz and find that the cavity preamp designs (mine and others) are
only equal or give higher NFs than the L match designs - see the
NF test results from last several meetings.
WL7U
Mike (x-AL7JM) e-mail is active
again on 432 after a couple of years hiatus on 2 m EME. He is
running 4 x K1FO 22 el yagis with 9913 phasing lines and approx
750 W from (BP51cf). Mike will be active during the Dec contest
weekend and is interested in skeds.
ZS6AXT
Ivo feels the 1st MW EME Contest was quite a success --
Unfortunately Murphy stroke again and WX here was lousy. This
prevented me from operating on 6 cm, and I was really looking
forward this. So I had to stick to 13 cm and despite the fact
that I could not use my CCTV camera, I managed to keep the dish
reasonably accurate on the Moon. I QSO'd on Saturday F1ANH
(569/549), HB9SV (569/559), OH2DG (549/449) for initial #26 - his
signals were up and down, IK2RTI (549/O), OH2DG (449/449) dup,
G3LTF (O/O), W4HHK (579/479), OZ4MM (579/549), F2TU (529/529),
W5LUA (579/559), OE9ERC (589/549) - on the horizon, CWNR OH2AXH
and CWNR WA8WZG, and on Sunday IK2RTI (549/O) dup, SM3AKW (O/O),
OE9ERC (589/559) dup, WA8WZG (O/O,559), JA4BLC (569/O,549),
OE9XXI (569/549) and JA7BMB (O/O) for a total of 15x12 or 18,000
points. I missed a few regulars like OK1KIR and GW3XYW who did
not show. It could have been 20 stations. No DL stations were
heard and VE4MA arrived late, after my Moon set. Many stations
may have concentrated on the higher bands. For the next year this
contest should be divided into few weekends with a maximum of 2
bands per weekend, but preferably only one. This will give more
chances for more QSOs. Also the date should be moved to the
middle of the year. This will suit many better.
K2UYH
I had wanted to devote the whole weekend to the MW
contest, but I had no time available to set up for the 1st Moon
pass (Friday evening/Saturday morning) and so decided to limit
operation to 13 cm on the 2nd Moon pass. This gave daylight on
Saturday to set up and check out the system. Doug, WA2LTM
collaborated with me in this effort and provided much of the 13
cm gear. We used an IMU horn and received in excess of 15 dB of
Sun noise with a .8 dB NF preamp. On TX we had an old TWTA
amplifier which provided 30 W to 80' of 7/8" Heliax air line. We
probably had about 20 W at the feed, but never measured it. The
decision to wait for the 2nd pass turned out to be a bad one. The
WX service had predicted clear skies for the whole weekend, so I
did not pay any attention to calibrating my dish readout system.
I planned to track with a TV camera. The Moon was visible at
moonrise, but by the time it was in our Moon window, it had
disappeared and was never seen again! We tried to locate it using
my readouts, but never heard any signals and gave up after
several hours of trying. Doug and I will give 13 cm another try -
probably during the REF/DUBUS Contest. I was on 70 cm on 7 Nov
and worked at 0530 K7XD (O/M) for initial #600, 0611 W7QX
(549/449), 0626 DL9NDD (559/569) and 0640 DF3RU (569/559). I plan
to be QRV on both 70 and 23 in Dec.
NETNEWS
by G4RGK, David Dibley
VE7CLD, Gunter was active on 3 cm during the MW EME Contest with
a 30 W TWTA.
NU7Z: Rick was QRV on 13 cm during the MW Contest with a 4 m dish
and about 40 W at the feed, but had problems with his elevation
readout.
OE9ERC Erich at OE9ERC
was active on 13 and 6 cm
during the MW Contest.
UA9FAD ade initials on 432 during Nov with I5MPK, JA5OVU and
F5FLN to bring him to #131.
NP4B is now QRT. Bob has taken down his dish and is moving to Los
Alamos, NM where he has taken a new position.
UA4API on 70 cm added initials with W1ZX and DF3RU to bring him
to #33.
UT3LL worked on 7/8 Nov initials with DF3RU, UT5DL and I5MPK.
9H1BN should be active on 70 cm during the Dec contest weekend.
DJ5MN was not QRV on 1296 during the Nov SW, but will be active
in Dec.
UN7AX is QRV on 70 cm.
WE2Y worked on 70 cm W7QX and CWNR KB4CNI in Nov.
WA9FWD is QRT on 23 cm - smoked the propitch motor on his 12'
dish, but he will be 70 cm in Dec for the contest. He now has a 7289 cavity PA for 2304.
W4RDI is now QRV on 23 cm, but will be away for the Dec contest
weekend.
KL7FHQ has his pol rotator working again and should be QRV on 70
cm in Dec for the contest.
N2HLT is QRV on 432 with 8 FO yagis, but his power is down to 400
W.
K2DH is QRV again on 23 cm. He found a problem with the single
board version of the DEM 23 cm xvtr. It oscillates. Dave is
looking for suggestions.
KA0RYT added an initial on 70 cm with VE1ZJ during the Nov SW.
K5WXN was on 70 cm in Nov and worked I5MPK for a new one.
K9BCT/4 will be on in the contest on 23 cm.
VK4AFL
is active on 70 cm with 4 yagis and 500 W from (QG62oj).
W4OPwas QRV in Nov on 23 cm and added initials with K3HZO,
WA4NJP and DF4PV.
DL9KR ran with W7ALW in Nov. Jan had big echoes, but heard nil
from W7ALW.
W5ZN has his new 5 m dish now mounted.
K6IBY has his amplifier finally complete and hopes to be QRV in
Dec.
HB9JBT will be QRV on 23 cm with a 4 m dish by springtime.
K1FO has a score of 88x29 on 70 cm in the 1st part of the
contest.
FOR SALE
DD1XF has for sale a 13 cm cavity with one tube (100 W).
You can reach Frank at e-mail:
DD1XF at metronet or DD1XF at primus-online
K4PKV: Dick is interested in
selling off a large amount of EME/weak signal equipment that he no longer needs. The list includes PAs for 144, 220 and 432, receiving gear and transverters for 1296, 2304 and 3456
(kit/parts), and antennas for 1296 and 2304.
K4PKV, Dick
W6EMD:
Dave has for sale a VE4MA feed. It was
made at a professional metal shop and is basically identical to the ones
used by W7CS and N6BQ. He is asking $250 + shipping.
W6EMD,Dave
W8MQW:
Chuck is interested in
receiving photos of EMEers. WAM6QW, Chuck His gallery is available on the web. Gallery It is growing, but needs pictures of the recent arrivals.
K5GW
Anyone needing ULTEM,
contact Gerald.
NA4N
has cans from duplexers 6.5" in dia
available. They are useful for building 23 cm horns.
Anyone needing one,
contact Greg.
W1ZX
has the following items For Sale:
MFJ-784 Super DSP filter $US150 + shipping,
HP415E SWR Meter, (brown - later build unit)
$US95 + shipping, several Bird 43 wattmeters
(1) $US190 with a
new meter movement, (2) Bird 43 wattmeter in fair condition
(cracked/broken meter face-needs paint job) $US 120 or best offer
+ shipping, HP349A UHF Noise Source
$US200 + shipping, and Noise
Com Noise Diodes NC305, glass package, $US33 + shipping, flat
package $US42 + shipping. Call Willie at 301 645 5584 between
1830-2300 EST, FAX 301 645 6853, 24 hrs, e-mail
W1ZX .
VE1ALQ
is looking for source for Mica material.
WA8WZG has a large number of
6 GHz California Microwave
Brick Oscillators for sale. They are of course great for a 5760 LO, but
they also make good weak signal sources when used with a 96 MHz
xtal. They give good output to use the harmonics to make a 1152
MHz " beacon " for markers and weak signal sources. They are
priced right at $US20 each. Tom also has some 10 GHz bricks with
WR-90 waveguide output. Tom also has
Siemens RWNH 89 and 120 TWT
power supplies. All units are checked and in good condition.
Supplies are $US75 each or 2 for $US130. Shipping is extra. WA8WZG E-mail for prices or tel/FAX to 419-732-2944.
Tom's WEB page
K0VAR Jack reports having
902/903 preamps
for sale. If you are interested contact him at tel 319-378-9852 or
K0VAR E-mail
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.
Tom also
has mounting blocks for K1FO yagis.
For full details see Tom's
1296 WEB page Tom E-mail, or phone 908-223-5067, FAX 908-223-0901 (24
hrs) or voice 908-223-8124.
TECHNICAL
W8MQW submits the following on "CLEANING RELAY
CONTACTS" -- In the 1st weekend of the 98 EME contest I
experienced wild excursions in received signal strengths on 432.
After the excitement was over, trouble shooting revealed that the
phenomenon was caused by the switchover Transco Y relay. When put
on a noise figure meter, the Transco would yield noise figures,
varying from 0.5 to 12 dB, even during the same switching cycle.
Lamenting my ruined relay on 3846kHz one night to the assembled
gang, Frank Lumney W2UHI described a quick and sure fix for
cleaning the contacts of such relays. THE METHOD: Connect 12 VAC
(not DC) in series with an automobile lamp in series with the
contacts of the relay. Cycle the relay four times. Do this for
both sets of contacts. The relay will be as good as new. This
Lumney method rejuvenated the Transco to a noise level below 0.1
dB. Frank explains that in such relays with negligible throw,
there is no wiping (and cleaning) of the contacts by the flexing
of the armature. Instead the cleaning is accomplished by high AC
current --- AC is necessary to extinguish the resulting arcs
during cycling.
FINAL
At the end of this NL is Ian, G3SEK's Annual Lunar
Calendar. I have indicated proposed SWs for 1999 by **. These
dates are not firm. There are a number of hard choices. For
example is 25/26 Dec acceptable as a SW? Much of the Moon time is
late at night after prime family time. Likewise Ian is struggling
with the selection of dates for the DUBUS/REF EME Contest. His
choices are 27/28 Feb and 27/28 March. These need to be
confirmed. If these dates are finalized then I would propose 31
Jan for the 2nd SSB EME Contest on 23 cm. This does not give much
time for preparation, but this activity is intended as a one
night "fun" contest. Ian proposes 30/31 Oct and 27/28 Nov for the
ARRL EME Contest. These will probably be the dates as they are
best from all points of view - maximum Moon time, minimum sky
temperature and closest to perigee, and they do not conflict with
IARU Region 1 CW contest!
* Please keep the reports, pictures and technical info coming -
especially the technical material. We need more! Please help.
* I shall be looking for all of you on 70 cm the 1st night and on
23 cm the 2nd night of the Dec SW. Good Luck in the contest and
73, Al - K2UYH
Lunar Calendar for 1999 prepared by G3SEK
DEC SKEDS
DEC 5
Time 432.040 1296.075 2304.100
0100z UR5LX -DJ5MN
0130z KD4LT -DJ5MN
0200z VE1ALQ-DJ5MN
0230z W7QX -DJ5MN
0300z W7HAH -DJ5MN
0400z W7QX -VE1ZJ
1130z JA8IAD-W4HHK
1200z JA8IAD-WA8WZG
1230z JA4BLC-WA8WZG
2000z OZ4MM -JA8IAD
2100z 9H1ES -JA7BMB ZS6AXT-JA8IAD
2130z 9H1ES -JA8ERE SM3AKW-JA4BLC
DEC 6
Time 432.045 1296.050 1296.060 1296.075
2304.100
0130z F5PAU -DJ5MN
0200z VE1ALQ-DJ5MN
0230z KD4LT -DJ5MN
0300z VE1ALQ-HA1YA OE9ERC-DJ5MN WA4NJP-9H1ES
0330z W8MQW -HA1YA ON5RR -HA5SHF OZ4MM -DJ5MN 9H1ES -KD4LT
0400z KB4CNI-HA1YA OK1KIR-HA5SHF W5LUA -DJ5MN
0430z KR5VU -HA1YA VE6TA -HA5SHF
0500z VE3BQN-HA5SHF
0530z K7XD -DK3WG IK6EIW-HA5SHF N6BQ -9H1ES
0600z W7GBI -HA5SHF
0630z W7CI -HA5SHF WA4NJP-W4OP
0700z WA4NJP-K3HZO N6BQ -HA5SHF
0730z WA4NJP-VE1ZJ
0800z WA4NJP-W7CS
1230z
JA8IAD-W4HHK
1300z
JA8IAD-WA8WZG
1330z
JA4BLC-WA8WZG
2030z HA5SHF-VK5MC
2100z HA5SHF-JH5LUZ
OZ4MM-JA8IAD
2130z 9H1ES -HA5SHF
2200z F1ANH -HA5SHF
ZS6AXT-JA8IAD
2230z EA3UM -HA5SHF 9H1ES -JA6CZD
SM3AKW-JA4BLC
2300z GW3XYW-HA5SHF
Graphics:
WE2Y Yagi array
9H1ES 2m Dish
The JH4HLV Antenna park
This information was obtained from: Scott, KD4LT
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