KA6U EME Expeditions

222 EME/Roving Station Updated - Dec 27, 2021  The 222 Mhz roving station has been updated and is ready for use in 2022.  The plan for 2022 is to activate at least 40 states on 222 EME.  In addition I plan to do a number of activations on 222 Tropo and MS. The objective is to help as many operators as possible make progress toward 222 WAS.  If you have considered experimenting on 222 this could be a good opportunity. The updated station enables a single operator to run two 6/2/222/70cm KW stations (500W on 23cm) simultaneously on two different bands.  I have been testing the operations at my home base and this works well.  The station in the truck can also be operated remotely and I have operated for several days in this manner. First activation will be on the MS/AL border in EM50tl on January 13 starting at 2100UTC.  I will operate the station in MS and then move the station across the border into Alabama.  The operating location is a large roadside parking area that crosses the state

 23CM EME Roving Station Installed December 23, 2021 The 23CM EME roving station is now installed and operating from my truck.  The station uses a 2.4M folding dish from W2HRO and a 600W PA built from the W6PQL pallette (runs at 350W to the feed). During roving operations in 2022 I plan to operate two stations simultaneously at most times.  The stations in the truck include: 6M KW - 3el M2 Yagi at 32 feet - MS/Es 2M KW - 2X10HV EME, 7el ME Yagi at 32 feet - MS/Es/EME 222 KW - 2x16 for EME 1x16 at 32 feet for MS 70cm KW - 4x25 for EME 23cm 600W - 2.4M folding dish I plan to operate 23cm at all stops and one additional station depending on conditions and demand.  This afternoon I tested running the EME station (no moon) and 222 stations simultaneously. The dish now has a counterbalance to improve elevation linearity. 23cm Q5 transverter is driven by ICOM 705 on 2M.  3 watts output from ICOM 705 drives transverter to 10W output.  The transverter output is attenuated 3db and 5W to the PA d

 23CM Portable EME Station Tripod and Rotator Details - Dec 11, 2021 Here are details on the portable 23cm EME station.  I can set this station up in less than 30 minutes.  The PA and feed electronics power supplies are located in boxes at the base of the dish.  Four cables run from the dish to the operating location: 25 foot LMR600UF from TX/RX relay at base of dish to IC-9700.  6 watts output from the IC-9700 through the PA delivers 350W at the dish feed (rated to 500W but I don't need it) 12V on receive from the M2 antenna sequencer to control the TX/RX relay PTT from the M2 sequencer to key the PA Yaesu G5500 AZ/EL rotator control cables The PA is the Gene K7BQ design using the W6PQL 600W pallet.  Paul, W2HRO can provide a 250W circulator that can be placed on the output of the PA to protect from high SWR.  On RX only 12 is present on the PA. I use the Yaesu G-5500 rotator with USB-232b controller purchased on eBay to control the rotator. For the past 6 weeks I have been experi