Z66EME - DX news and calendar

Added/updated

April 28, 2018

Callsign(s)

Z66EME

Start-end dates

April 21, 2018 - April 28, 2018

Utilities

Tracking & stats

Recent spots

DX Atlas

Propagation calculator

DXCC

Z6 - Kosovo

CQ zone

Grid square

KN02MS

Planned modes

Digital, EME

Planned bands

2 m, 70 cm, 23 cm, 3 cm

Source

MMMonVHF & HB9Q

Information

Update Apr,28: NEWS by DK5EW,

The DXped is over ! Uwe is physically at the end as he was a one man show on 2m most of the time with all the problems he had but this was only the part 1 of it he said.. Uwe will come back for a 2.part with doing more MS and the rest of EME like west coast US he missed this time.

All 2m/70cm QSL via DG8NCQ !Update Apr,28: NEWS by HB9Q,

Hermann was again struck by Murphy! He operated 27.4. on 2320 at his MR and was in QSO with OK1DFC when all of a sudden the TRV broke-down. The power-FET was damaged, no way to repair it in the field. So final QRT for Z66EME on GHz! Hermann has no idea why he lost that much equipment and had all this strange problems with the tracking system. (my opinion is that he has a severe ground-problem, which easily can happen with portable equipment!)
Hermann apologizes to all hoping and waiting for him!

Update Apr,27: Uwe is setting up now 70cm RIG and will be QRV for his moonrise today. If there is no moon he will be QRV for 144MHz Meteorscatter.

Update Apr,27: Hermann was QRV 5760 on 26.4.2018. Unfortunately he had very strong QRM from WLAN which didn’t get better with high elevation. He tried for 6h but could only work HB9Q with -28 report. He did see a few times some traces but too weak to decode. His signal was quite good, so that was definitely not the problem. He also had problems with the tracking-system which all of a sudden started to move in other directions. He rebooted the system but the problem came back after some time. And also his TRX started again to jump in frequency. So at 21z he gave up. He is very sorry, but there was no way to do better. Murphy was on sight again, unfortunately!

Due to the technical problems (he lost 23cm TRV and PA, damaged feed-support of the dish, problems with tracking-system and TRX) Hermann decided to cancel his 10 GHz activity and change his program as follows:
27.4. starting at his MR (about 8dgr) he will be QRV on 2320.100 1st JT65c RXing on his echo. 2304 on request.
28.4. depending on the result on 13cm he may become QRV again on 3400. More information in the afternoon of 28.4.

On 13cm he has the best chance to do many more QSOs. He had a very good signal and was RXing well on this band a few days ago.

He sends his best regards and hopes to work many of you during the final 2 days!

Vy 73, Dan HB9Q on behalf of Hermann

Update Apr,26: New 2m X-Pol antennas arrived and are set up

Hermann was QRV 3400 on 25.4.2018 and worked HB9Q, OK1KIR, OH2DG, PA0BAT and PA3DZL. Unfortunately at about 21z strong rain started, so he had to go QRT. He apologizes to all looking later for him.
Today, 26.04.2018 he will be QRV 5760.100 1st JT65c RX on his echo. If JT65c dos not work he will try JT4F. The station is ready and he is waiting for MR. However he does have heavy QRM from a strong WLAN. So he does not really know if he will be able to RX EME signals. Anyway, he will be on at about 14.30z.
He sends his best regards and hopes to work many of you!

Vy 73, Dan HB9Q on behalf of Hermann
Update Apr,24: GHz update: On 23.4. he started at his MR, about 8dgr, on 1296 and worked VK4CDI right away. Than Murphy struck! The PA and the TV were damaged, reason unknown.
Hermann could replace the power-FET, so the PA was ok again. Unfortunately the TRV could not be repaired on sight. This is the reason why Z66EME went
QRT on 1296 that afternoon with a total of 36 initials.
Then Hermann immediately started to build the 23xx station. He was ready to test at 18z. All equipment worked very well and he had a very nice signal.
He QSOed HB9Q,PA3DZL, UA3PTW, ZS6EME, W5LUA and ON4AOI.
24.4.2018 Hermann will be QRV again 2320.100 1st, RXing on his echo. 2304 on request. He needs about 8dgr for MR.

Update Apr,23: 70cm activity will be from 28.04.2018 moonrise up to 30.04.2018

Update Apr,23: By DK5EW via MMMonVHF: After Uwe and Hermann arrived they set up the antennas. while Uwe found out that he had only picked up one 2m antenna instead of 2 but now has 3 pieces of 70cm antennas there. So he built this one 2m antenna on the mast. After testing, he found that he had burned off the vertical dipole with too muchQRO. In addition there was someone who was stumble over the coax cable and the antenna felt over and destroyed it. Uwe made then from a 70cm antenna and the rest of the 2m antenna a working 2m8el horizontal antenna with which he is operating EME now with good signal.

The plan is to get new antennas at the beginning of next week from www.antennas-amplifiers.com . Uwe also announced that he will be on meteorscatter qrv from 23.04.2018 from 9h.

Update Apr,22: They arrived on Saturday and did find a very good location, KN02MS. They do have good internet access. They are now (Sunday) building the stations and plan to be QRV at MR or shortly thereafter.

Update Apr,18: News by Uwe/DG8NCO via MMMonVHF: the plan is still to drive from DL via HA/YU/Z3 to the north parth of the Kosovo not down till SV border. QRV plan is still forced to be on the moon on the 21. of April evening till 30. April afternoon. Uwe will start with 2m operation.

Update Apr,17: 2nd update regarding U/SHF operation:

Uwe and Hermann plan to arrive (with their mobile-home) early evening of 21.4.2018 in Z6 Kosovo. They have to drive down almost to the SV border for safety reasons. As soon as they arrive they will start to set-up the stations. They hope to be QRV early afternoon (probably not for MR!) of 22.4.
Hermann will be QRV as follows:
22.4. and 23.4. 1296.100 1st JT65c listening on own echo
24.4. 2320.100 1st JT65c listening on own echo (2304.100 on request)
25.4. 3400.100 1st JT65c listening on own echo
26.4. 5760.100 1st JT65c (I recommended JT4F) listening on own echo
27.4. 10368.100 1st JT4F listening on own echo
No CW, sorry!
On 28.4. they have to pack-up and depart for the 2000+km drive back home.
He hopes to have internet access. If he does he will be stand-by on the HB9Q loggers for last minute information. Exact grid will be announced once they arrive at the QTH.
Hermann is looking forward to work you and sends his best regards!

Update Apr,17: The team picks up the camper on Friday, April 20. After loading the equipment and material they start the journey. With luck and hopefully without much traffic DG8NCO and DL2NUD hope to reach their destination on Saturday afternoon

Update Apr,5: Locator KN02

DG8NCO/Uwe and DL2NUD/Hermann are planing to activate Kosovo via EME. The radio license has arrived and they got the special call sign Z66EME.

2m + 70cm QSL via DG8NCO
23cm - 3cm QSL via DL2NUD

Rig 2m: 2 x 8el. I0JXX XPOL Yagi + BEKO HLV-2000
Rig 70cm: 2 x 25el I0JXX XPOL Yagi + BEKO HLV-1480
RIG GHz: Hermann's standard RIG

They have rented a motorhome and will drive via OE/9A/4O to Z6 a 2000km drive. They hope for not getting any problems on their journey and at the border to Kosovo.

As a power supply an emergency generator is used so they are independent for finding a low-noise location. Therefore the exact locator can not be set yet.

Since this expedition costs a considerable amount of money, Uwe and Hermann would be very happy to receive support. Please donate via Paypal to uwedanzinger@web.de. Please be sure to specify your call sign. Supporters receive a QSL card unsolicited.

Should the expedition fail for any reason, donations will be refunded.

Logs will be found at mmmonvhf.de

Go to the DX calendar