[VHFcontesting] A good night to try 222 EME

[Dave Olean]

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