172 deg AZ, 8 deg EL
29th November 2006
Hyperlinks in reports below are to Real Audio files... you can download the latest version of Real Audio Player for free at www.real.com ... more clips to add later
All contacts are on CW unless otherwise stated.
28th October
1605 to 1615
UT3LL RO/O -15dB best on JT65c... Valery has a 3.2m dish and approx 100W.
1631 to 1640
RW3BP O/RO and -15/14dB on JT65c.
During these QSO's I had almost 50% blockage and my noise floor was up 6dB from local buildings and trees.
| View of my shot at the Moon during my
QSO's with UT3LL and RW3BP 172 deg AZ, 8 deg EL |
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29th October
1554 to 1620 UT3LL O/RO and -25/-17dB on JT65c.
30th October
1916 to 1941 UT3LL O/RO and -20/-13dB on JT65c.
1950 to 2009 RD3DA O/RO and -28/-23dB on JT65c... Yri has a 2m dish and 35W,
horizon only.
31st October
1828 to 1850 Sked with 4O6EME (special call for YU6 - Montenegro)
completed, -24dB best on JT65b for DXCC and Initial DIG# 12.
FIRST G to YU6 on 23cm
| 4O6EME's portable EME system - 59 El Yagi (22dBi) and 100W | ||||
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1941 to 1947 OK1DFC RO/O -8dB best on JT65c.
2047 to 2057 UT3LL O/RO -18dB best on JT65c.
1st November
1626 to 1634 4O6EME (random) RO/O and -22/-25dB on JT65c... Bodo was calling CQ,
and I copied every over from him both before and during our QSO. Conditions were
very good, and he peaked
at -22dB, amazing!
1810 to 1819 G4RGK O/RO and -18/-15dB on JT65c.
1821 to 1829 UT3LL O/RO and -19/-16dB on JT65c.
3rd November
1916 to 1927 UT3LL RO/O -17dB best on JT65c.
2001 to 2008 G4RGK O/RO -19dB best on JT65c.
2215 ES5PC 569/579, 2033 SM5LE 559/559, 2053 N2UO 569/559, 0008 W7UPF 559/559, 0019 K5PJR 559/579, 0038 WA4OFS 559/449, 0216 WB2BYP O/RO for Initial CW# 236, 0229 WW2R 559/559.
0240 to 0246 Partial with RD3DA... Yri was -28, with the Moon only 1 deg above his horizon. The Moon set at his end before we could complete.
4th November
1830 to 1838 9A/DL3OCH (random) -21dB best on JT65c, for DXCC
(Croatia) and Initial DIG# 13.
FIRST G to 9A on 23cm
2036 9H1ES 559/549
2224 to 2234 G4RGK O/RO and -14/-12dB on JT65c
2312 to 2316 GW3XYW O/RO -7/-5dB on JT65c
2328 SM5LE 559/559... very nice sigs from Sven, 0037 WA4OFS 569/569, 0046 NA4N 569/579 and 0100 K0YW 589/589
0116 to 0124 PA0BAT RO/O -15dB best.
5th November
2036 SM5LE 559/559 and 2042 IW2FZR 569/579.
2130 to 2140 Test with G4DDK NIL... Sam had a
problem with his RX LNA.
2151 to 2157 OH3MCK (random) O/RO and -18/-14dB on JT65c
2140 to 2247 Test with GM3SBC NIL/-20dB best on JT65c... This was Ed's first
signal on 23cm EME, has a 1.8m dish and a patch feed, and should be making QSO's
soon.
6th November
2045 to 2100 SM7GVF O/RO and -25/-25dB on JT65c for Initial DIG# 14... This was
Kjells first 23cm EME QSO with 1 x 67 el WIMO yagi, 60W at the feedpoint, and a
RX nf of approx 2dB with his LNA in the shack.
8th November
1852 to 2022 VK7MO R-25/-26dB initially in a long test almost to the limit of
Rex's window. At the start of the test, my dish was almost completely obstructed
by a silver birch tree, but Rex's signal was easily detected after a few overs
and improved as the Moon rose clear of the tree.
I was also detected during my test with VK7MO by Denis G3UVR with a 23el yagi using Spectran... no decodes yet as he was using an old version of WSJT, but we will be testing again soon.
2120 to 2131 UT3LL RO/O and -24/-20dB
10th November
2104 to 2152
VK7MO long test initially R-28/-29, but improved to -15/-14 as my dish started
to clear the wet beech tree that obstructs my Moonrise.
11th and 12th November - ARRL EME Contest,
2nd leg
As usual, the ARRL EME contest brought out the biggest activity of the year.
I was active predominantly on CW, which is my favorite mode, and also on JT65c.
Operation was UNASSISTED - no self spotting, use of DX clusters, loggers, chats,
or other forms of communication during my operating periods in the Contest.
However, as I did log on to and use HB9DRI's 23cm low power activity logger
AFTER my session on 15th October but while the Contest was still in progress,
and did tests with VA7MM and WW2R (both of which I had already worked on CW),
then I will be entering in the ASSISTED class to ensure that my entry was within
the relevant rules.
Unfortunately, my memory keyer gave up after 20+
yrs use, so I had to send all CQ's etc by hand... I'm currently looking at
possible solutions, but I'm not giving up CW!
There was plenty of CW activity, and at times the bottom 25 KHz of 23cm sounded
like the 20m CW segment, with several strong signals some peaking over S9!
It was often difficult to find a clear frequency, or avoid others landing close
by which made it difficult to hear any weak signals who replied.
Activity was more spread out than previously, but I still found that calling outside the busy
part of the band generally yielded a lower response rate, as many did not tune
up that far.
I didn't manage to get Linrad or Winrad running
in time for the contest, so spent very little time looking for JT signals
I called CQ on JT65c a few times near Moonrise and Moonset, but as expected, the
response rate was very low... and maybe not worth "thrashing" my PA for.
But I
did make 7 QSO's, most of which I would have had trouble completing on CW.
I had a few hrs sleep during just before the US window started on both nights, but I was still very tired and copying weak CW towards the end of the contest was proving too much for me. Afterwards, I found out that PA3DZL was one of those that was just too weak (normally easy copy), but I'm sure there were a few more.
The only call that I heard, but never worked was WB2BYP, and I don't think I called anyone who I didn't complete with.
Somehow, I managed to added 26 QSO's over the
weekend... a mixture of search and pounce and CQ's
During the contest I made 83 CW/SSB and 7 JT65c, and found 39 multipliers.
Multipliers were down on last year. Missing were: CT1, GM, USA - IL (W9IIX), USA-MI (W2UHI) and VE-NB (VE9DW). Fortunately, there a a few extras to redress the balance: EA, USA-AK (KL6M) and USA-VA (NA4N).
My final score = 90 x 39 x 100 = 351000 points (unchecked)
I also managed to pick up a couple of initials with ON4BCB on CW and PA3FXB on JT65c, which improved my standings to 237 x CW Initials and 15 x Digital Initials.
Many thanks to all who operated during the contest, and especially those that I had a QSO with... you made it great fun, without activity there would be no contest.
27th November
1945 -1959 DL7YC O/RO and -18/-16dB on JT65c
2030 IW2FZR 559/569, responded in CW to my JT65c CQ.
29th November
1839 - 1843 ES5PC O/RO and -12/-7db on JT65c
1951 SM3EVR 569/559 for initial CW# 238
2027 - 2035 DL7YC -17/RO -15dB best on JT65c
2101 - 2106 G4RGK O/RO -21best on JT65c