[Moon-net] 9cm Activity WE

[Edward Cole]

At 09:11 PM 6/8/2008, Charlie Kahwagi wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>
>I was only on for the 1st pass,
>
>
>
>Worked,
>
>Sked:  W5LUA, (heard him 53 in SSB) ,  VE6TA (#),
>
>Random: G3LTF, LX1DB, OKIKIR
>
>
>
>On sked , Did not hear any of,  WW2R  and PA0BAT

>
>Unfortunately I also missed DL4MEA and OK1CA whom I have worked before.
>
>
>
>My #’s tally on 9cm is now 7 with only WW2R and WA5DGO  the only stations
>not worked  with which I currently have a common window.
>
>
>
>
>
>Thanks very much to Peter G3LTF  for the effort in organizing the WE
>activity and for organizing the skeds.
>
>I think this should become an annual WE event as there seems to be more and
>more interest in this wonderful band.
>
>
>
>Of interest was the wide “spread / smear”  on signals in the morning  with
>heavy cloud cover at my QTH  for the NA  window.
>
>In the evening for my Eu window signals did not exhibit any smear and there
>was NO cloud cover at all.
>
>Like Grant VE6TA, I too am interested in people’s thoughts

.Does rain/water
>cause a spread (or scattering) on signals?...
>
>
>
>FYI :   I have now had a good chance to compare different feeds on this
>band
..  Screw polarizer,  Square septum with choke flange and RA3AQ feed.
>
>The scaled RA3AQ is producing far better efficiency in my 3.7m  dish with an
>f/d of 0.4.  then any of the others.  I have experienced the same results on
>13, and 6 cm  also.
>
>
>
>
>
>Ed KL7UW  asks what a 40 -80 W signal would be like on a 5m dish ?


.Ed in
>answer:  If optimized then your signal with 80W would be very strong at my
>end!
>
>I believe G3LTF runs ~40 W into a 6m dish and he is VERY LOUD.  I could
>knock off 5dB from his signal  and he would still be an easy copy!  With
>100W at the feed and a 5m dish you are in Al’s league!. W5LUA’s SSB signal
>in the speaker almost drew a gasp of astonishment from a visiting operator
>in my shack on the WE.
>
>
>
>By the way, for those that have a couple of the Toshiba amps I have combined
>2 for 110 W output using simple splitter and combiner networks.  The
>combiner is simple ¼ wL transformer on Teflon board.  The Toshiba amps have
>isolators on the output so I have “gotten away” with such a simple scheme.
>I have artwork on my website www.vk3nx.com <http://www.vk3nx.com/>  .  I
>have now used this amp for several hours of continuous operation on multiple
>occasions and can report no failures to date  (I hope it continues now that
>I have stated this!).
>
>
>
>For ANYONE setting up a permanent dish installation for uW EME use PLEASE do
>so with a window to VK!  It’s lonely down-under on the microwave bands at
>present but I am active on ALL bands to 10 GHz
.   It’s a pity that I can’t
>get windows with some of the other operators.
>
>In saying this I plan to raise my dish so I can have a longer window in the
>future to NA.  At the moment it is restricted to >~9 degrees
and <86 degrees
>azimuth.  My window to Eu is unobstructed down to 0 degrees.
>
>
>
>
>
>Thanks again everyone for a fun WE on 9cm.
>
>I am happy to try any time I am available for skeds  and I will leave the
>9cm setup insitu for another week if anyone is interested in skeds.
>
>
>
>73
>
>Charlie  VK3NX
>
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Charlie,

Thanks for the feedback.  I have the artwork fir 
your combiners on my website, as well.  Several 
items of interest on your website:  the dual 
actuator drive is something I have considered 
doing.  That does limit azimuth travel to a 
maximum travel of 120-degrees, though.  I have 
acquired a chain sprocket gear and motor with 
smaller drive gear for azimuth but wonder about 
drive accuracy at higher freqs.  Acutator 
elevation is a given (i use one for the 2m-eme 
array already).  the square-to-round septum is 
interesting.  I built a square septum (per 
OK1DFC) for 1296 and it waits for the 16-petal 
aluminum skin dish to be set up.  Since the dish 
was a C-band TVRO dish it was designed for 4-GHz 
and should work fine at 23, 13, and 9cm.  I have 
a Ku-band 2.4m fiberglass dish which is someday 
to be set up on 3cm (have 50w TWT).

So for now I am reading the mail on the 9cm-eme 
activity.  Adding 9cm should be relatively easy 
once I have the dish set up for 23cm as I have 
two DEMI xvtrs kits and two Toshiba amps and 
Jupiter GPS Rx (need combiners, 3400 LO, preamp 
and feed).  I will mount the feed on the edge of 
the 23cm VE4MA ring which will impart about 
2-degrees offset to the feedpoint angle.  I am 
also installing a receive feed for 8415-MHz using 
a G3WDG LNA+HB mixer/brickLO.  13cm will have to 
wait awhile as I only have a Spectrian 60w amp at this point.

Where does one find the high power isolators?

*****************************************************
73, Ed - KL7UW              BP40iq, 6m - 3cm
144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xp20, 185w
http://www.kl7uw.com     AK VHF-Up Group
NA Rep. for DUBUS: dubususa at hotmail.com
*****************************************************