Dear friends,
I was cleaning up my workbench (first time in 15 years) and I found this
plastic box with a GPS(?) receiver inside. No markings other than "1 2"
adjacent to BNC connectors on one side and no documentation. Does anyone
recognize it?
73,
W9IP
Just a short note that I have fixed my azimuth drive and have az and el
drive (to 45-degrees).
I discovered that the array free turning in the wind for 6 months
damaged both coax lines that wrap around the main mast (broke the
LMR-400 in two pieces). I tested both yagis at the mast end of the
LMR-600 phasing lines and discovered one was showing no continuity. So I
ran a 17-foot temporary bypass from the good yagi by the splitter to
connect directly to the main 1-5/8 inch line on the tower (1.1 SWR
144.190-144.300).
I have a new 50v PS which requires connecting and testing with my 1000w
amp. But the 6m amp appears good and expect no trouble being QRV for
the next Moon weekend (August 28-29 which is high degrad, and Sept 4-5
which is low).
One yagi provides 12.9 dBi which is marginal without ground-gain so
probably operating on my MR or MS to start. I downloaded wsjt-x v2.5rc5
tonight so should be able to run JT65a or Q65 (which I have no prior
experience). I've been running wsjt-x v2.4 on FT8 with no problems.
I'm hoping to rent a man-lift for Aug. 28-29 to fix the other 6m SWR
issue and to swap out the elevation actuator for a longer one that will
provide max lunar elevation (56 degrees). I will know on Monday if the
man-lift is available and wx conducive to using it.
I will coordinate on ON4KST EME2.
73, ED - KL7UW
Hi,
just a quick update on the upcoming activation on 23 cm from French
Polynesia.
Things aren't going well with the Convid outbreak here.
The local government is progressively putting up containing measures, since
the numbers have been shooting up for a while now. There is a curfew in
place at night and all the windward islands are now in semi-lockdown. At
the moment there are little limitations for tourists, since they are tested
as they immigrate and most of them have already been vaccinated.
I shipped all the gear via cargo last week from Tahiti to the atoll of
Rangiroa, and everything is already at its destination. I really don't know
if a reschedule of flights will take place, so I may be forced to change
the timetable a little, if things go south. Keep an eye on my website
www.iw3hvb.it for news.
CU off the moon
Best 73. Giulio FO/IW3HVB
...is for download now at www.df2zc.de/newsletter
Since I will be away from home 8 days early September I'm not sure if I can
finish a September issue. Hence, it is quite likely the October issue will
be the next one on Oct 4th.
However, together with some friends I might pop up from a nearly water
square in Eastern Europe but only via meteor scatter. As this is not yet
100% cfm (yes, the usual Covid issue) I cannot disclose details now. It is
planned for around 10 - 13 Sep.
A little off topic: This girl would make the perfect antenna and tower
worker...but probably too expensive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HagU3vUp0Ck
Very impressive anyway.
vy 73 Bernd DF2ZC
www.df2zc.de
____________________________________________
144 MHz EME NewsLetter:
www.df2zc.de/newslettertwitter.com/df2zc
144 MHz DXCC #21
144 MHz WAC
Kenwood TS 2000
2 x GU74b by LZ2US
BEKO HLV-2000
4 x 2M18XXX 21 dBd full elevation
Hi all.
I am thinking of selling my TS2000x which has been extensively modified for EME use.
144/432/1296 separate RX inputs
15.6MHz reflock board from DF9NP - external box , needs 10MHz input, no PN degradation compared to internal oscillator. The internal oscillator is automatically turned off when external reflock is plugged in.
Perfect working order, output to specification and used extensively by me on EME until recently.
If you are interested please make me an offer, if offered enough I will sell it, otherwise I will keep it for a spare.
Regards
Conrad PA5Y
Today I had a professional tower tech do some cable repairs on my 6m eme
array.
I had rented a man-lift last Friday and accomplished repair of my
azimuth rotator clamping (eight 10mm bolts with stop nuts and Loctite,
plus drilling a 3/8 inch hole for a new shear bolt thru the mast. Array
is now rotating fine.
I discovered both azimuth wrap coax lines had been pulled apart by wind
rotation of the array, plus the elevation encoder cable. I tested both
LFA yagis at the rotator end of the LMR-600 phasing lines and found one
appears open-circuit. The other tested 1.2 SWR at 50.190 MHz. So I ran
a coax to bypass the 2-way splitter and connect the good antenna
in-line. But after work was done it tested bad (?). I ran out of time
to further investigate as man-lift had to be returned to rental agency.
Today we replaced the bypass cable with another and now have one good
7LFA yagi that usable. I've ordered replacement LMR-600 cable in case
the bad antenna phasing lines is the problem. Also ordered several N
connectors. Both should arrive next week. I will be trying to rent a
man-lift to fix the other yagi and few left over items (not sure when
that will be as its hard to find one available to rent in summer
construction season).
But I will do some testing at 1000w and download latest version of
WSJT-X for Q65. Moon is too low for eme at my latitude this week, so
got some time to get everything ready. Running a single LFA yagi will
result in 13.75 dBi free-space gain and maybe as much 5 dB ground gain
with peak at 8.8 degrees elevation. I had ground gain before with my
old 6-element yagi on this tower, so likely have some with the new antenna.
2x7LFA2WOS_(a)32ft_Elevation_plot.gif (566×706) (kl7uw.com)
<http://www.kl7uw.com/2x7LFA2WOS_@32ft_Elevation_plot.gif>
Will keep everyone advised of progress and when we are ready for eme
contacts. If you want to explore future times my grid is BP40IQ.
73, Ed - KL7UW
2m-eme progress report: may get elevation bracket installed on mast
tomorrow. Entire array is being re-assembled at ten foot above ground
(tied to first section of tower). Once complete and tested then a boom
truck will lift top 20-foot of tower and set array at top at 32-feet
(probably a month off).
Hi All,
I’m doing some volunteer work on an open source az/el dish rotator for
Open Research Institute (ORI, https://www.openresearch.institute). We’re
looking for folks who may be interested in working on, or have
experience with az/el rotators to help pitch in on the project… even if
just to help reality check and provide input on what we’re doing.
This is an open source, team effort, that requires a wide range of
skills. Ultimately, the end result should be able to be built from
parts that can be sourced around the world, and require limited to
minimal specialized fabrication techniques (for example, prefer hand
fabrication over CNC milled parts where possible).
More details and initial target specs can be found here
https://github.com/phase4ground/openrotor
Additionally, we’re also interested in learning about other open source
projects in this area, especially ones that could be used with dishes up
to about 2m diameter. We know about the SatNOGS project of course, and
if similar projects for dish rotors exist, we’d love to get pointers to
them. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, and are certainly open to
working with/improving on existing open source designs if they are close
to meeting our needs.
Feel free to email me directly jayfrancis(a)aol.com or go to
https://www.openresearch.institute/getting-started/ and follow the
directions to get on the email list and Slack access.
Thanks!
Jay, KA1PQK
Hi folks which Funcube dongle works best for MAP65?? I have to buy one is it
the FCDP or FCDPP?? I am still using the old version of map65. I use to
have one of them but cannot find it.
Thank you for your help
Serge VE1KG
fcdp
Hello Lunatics,
Anyone interested in a brand new actuator HARL-3624?
Voltage 36V and speed 4,2mm/sec.
More details and pictures on request.
73, Harry....... PE1CHQ
