KA6U Update - December 30, 2022 - 0100UTC I arrived back in Florida today. Next planned trip is as follows: New Mexico - DM85 - Northeast corner of state no power limits 23cm EME - 0730UTC - 1200UTC Jan 15 70cm EME with updated station 500W 2x 21eleHV (switched) - 0730UTC - 1200UTC Jan 15 I plan to run 23cm and 70cm at the same time. Weather forecast (long range) is -3C and light wind (normal weather when no storm) I will watch the weather closely and update here. This is the only day I have available on this trip, not a great window to EU. Peter KA6U
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KA6U Update - December 26, 2022 - 1200UTC 222 EME Activations from MD, PA , DE on December 27 222 EME Activations from NC, SC on December 28 My excursion to MD, PA and DE is confirmed for tomorrow, Tuesday. Weather will be clear, about 34 degrees and no wind. I have moved DE location to FM29CQ in College Park, DE just across the border from the MD/PA sites. Depending on how long it takes to complete MD and PA activations on 222 I may not be able to activate in DE. The moon window is short because of the southern declination. The moon should be visible from 1900UTC - 2345UTC, about 5 hours. Subtracting 90 minutes for the two station moves this results in about 3 1/2 hours total time on the Moon. Activation Plan I am planning to activate 222 EME from three states on Tuesday, December 27. I will go to a location near the MD/PA border, set up in MD in FM29CR then move to FM29BR in PA. I will then drive to FM29CQ in DE. Planned Dec 27 operation: 222.080 2nd Q65-60B 1500hz no doppl
KA6U Update - December 20, 2022 - 2130UTC 222 EME Activations from DE, MD, PA on December 27 FN32SS32 Activation site in New Hampshire (Ground was frozen so no tent stakes. Spare generator makes a good anchor for the dish) Note the shiny, perfect W2HRO dish on first stop after refurbishment Satellite Image used to find FN32SS Activation Site The yellow pin above is the site in the photo at the top of this post. I use Landsat photos from Google Earth Pro to find locations. This location is an open parking lot for a public trail on the NH side of the Connecticut River. The site had Moon visibility from the Southeast to South, perfect for the Moon below the equator. I drove to the site the day before (15 miles from hotel) and verified suitability. Very weak cell signals are a good sign. Just barely strong enough for a data signal is best. Activation Plan I am planning to activate 222 EME from three states on Tuesday, December 27. I will go to a location near the MD/PA border, se
KA6U Update - December 20, 2022 - 1430UTC I will not activate MA on EME tomorrow, Wednesday Dec 21. It will be very cold, about 10-15F with a very short Moon window. Contacts from VT and NH are uploaded to LoTW. I may be on again from Dec 28 - Dec 30 in the VA, DE, WV, etc area on 222. Please watch for updates here. Peter KA6U
KA6U Update - December 19, 2022 - 1600UTC Vermont activation for December 20 I will start on 222 from Vermont tomorrow. Because of Frank's recent expedition to VT for 23cm I will focus on 222 first before sunrise Vermont FN32 - Tuesday Dec 20 starting at 1200UTC - 1600UTC 222 and 23cm I will start on 222cm at about 1200UTC and plan to move to 23 around 1330UTC. I will operate on 1296.080 2nd Q65-60C 1500hz CFOM I will operate on 222.080 2nd Q65-60B 1500hz no doppler correction Weather should be light wind -4 to 0 C. Today when the sun came up my RX was impacted on 23cm and 222. Peter KA6U
KA6U Update - December 16, 2022 - 1600UTC Confirming plans for next week in Northeastern US There will be snow on the ground however the roads should be clear. This is the tentative plan: New Hampshire FN32 - Monday Dec 19 starting at 1300UTC - 222 and 23cm Vermont FN32 - Tuesday Dec 20 starting at 1300UTC - 222 and 23cm Massachusetts FN32 - Wednesday Dec 21 starting at 1330UTC - 222 and 23cm Rhode Island FN41 - Thursday Dec 22 starting at 1400UTC - 222 and 23cm Rhode Island on 222 may be marginal because of degradation. I plan to be available to run 23cm and 222 simultaneously I will not have a 70cm station with me on this short trip. Peter KA6U
KA6U Update - December 12, 2022 0100UTC NH6Y Tom on Maui in Hawaii has added a permanent 70cm EME station at his location. K5QE Marshall, NC1I Frank, W6TCP Ian, N1AV Jay, NH6Y Tom and KA6U Peter have collaborated to provide a 70cm EME station essentially the same as KA6U Peter's roving station for permanent installation. The station is at Tom's residence in BL10ts (see photo on QRZ.com of the QTH before 70cm installation). The station includes 2x25 HPOL K1FO yagi's from Directive Systems (my spare antennas), 600W Tajfun 1000 70cm PA, Q5 transverter, and WD5AGO cavity preamp. Last night Tom was able to make test contacts with K5QE, ON4AOI and DL4APV. Based on the experience with my roving station Tom should be able to work most 4 yagi or larger stations and in good conditions 2 yagi stations. He doesn't have polarity rotation so on some days Faraday will win. Tom's location has a delayed moonrise in the Eastern direction (Maui is a volcano after all) which may
KA6U Update - December 10, 2022 - 1900UTC I will be in the Northeastern US December 19 - December 27. I plan to do some activations on 222 and 23cm during that time. This is a bad time for an EU Moon window. I will be visiting states I have activated in the past. This is the tentative plan: New Hampshire - Monday Dec 19 starting at 1300UTC - 222 and 23cm Vermont - Tuesday Dec 20 starting at 1300UTC - 222 and 23cm Massachusetts - Wednesday Dec 21 starting at 1330UTC - 222 and 23cm Rhode Island - Thursday Dec 22 starting at 1400UTC - 222 and 23cm Rhode Island on 222 may be marginal because of degradation. I plan to be available to run 23cm and 222 simultaneously I will not have a 70cm station with me on this short trip. Peter KA6U