Monday looks very good for 222 MHz EME and is a great time for a small
station to see what can be heard or decoded. Cosmic noise degradation is
very low and the Moon is at perigee or closest to the Earth. The
difference between apogee and perigee is about 2 dB, so it makes a big
difference. In short, it makes sense to try the impossible on such
evenings. You might even detect some signals. I know that W7JW has
eight yagis and one of the biggest 222 EME arrays in existence. He will
be on tonight. I have only four yagis but they seem to work well and I
have worked several single yagi stations at power levels down to 95watts
in the shack. (I did work WA3EOQ via the Moon). I am sure there will be
many others including K3SK. PJ4MM has been showing up as well of late.
The plan is to monitor the HB9Q chat page and you can see who is doing
what and where. I have a sked with KF0M starting at 22:15 and going for
about an hour. He has a single yagi and 600 watts in Wichita, KS. 22:15
UT is his Moon rise. I will be on about an hour before starting at
21:00 or so. The mode is Q65B-60.
If you are new to Q65 EME, be sure to go into the WSJT "GENERAL
SETTINGS" and check the "DECODE AFTER EME DELAY" box. Otherwise you will
not decode anything!! This exercise tonight will also illuminate
possible RX problems with your station. It seems that digital TV is
plaguing many ops around the country. The TV interference sounds like
background noise, so you may not be aware that your receiving is
compromised. It has affected many including me, along with W1GHZ, AF1T,
and many others. The only solution is to filter the frontend of your
system and that can introduce loss, which is bad. Many solve the problem
with properly designed preamps with cavity input filters. WD5AGO makes
them along with a few others. CH 10, 11, 12 and 13 are all likely
trouble spots. I get killed by a CH 11 station that is about 20 miles
away. My receiver got noisy when I aimed towards the station. It was
hard to eliminate. One solution is to put up a singleyagi with
elevation. That way you remove TV noise and ground noise as well. You
will give up ground gain, but te secret is to be able to hear. A lower
noise floor makes everything easier. (Trust me) I could go on all day
about receiving, but I just wanted to alert the DX hounds that there is
a good reson to listen on 222.080 plus or minus this evening, and
monitor HB9Q Chat page for 222 MHz activity. If you want to try
something with me, let me know via e mail or you can call me tonight on
my cell at 207 608 5317.
73
Dave K1WHS
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