After a fair bit of work to improve the 2m system in the CARC Shack we’ve managed the first EME QSO outside Europe. Using the 17ele M2 antenna on the main tower with the newly modified PA and a Low Noise (Pre)Amplier (LNA) down in the shack we completed with Joseph, K9MRI in Indiana.
While not audible on the speaker his signal was distinct at -20dB on JT65B. The QSO can been seen below:
You can see from the screen that not everything was in our favour. The degradation was borderline Good/Fair at 2.8 and the moon was at an elevation of 13 degrees which of course is on the edge of the beam of the 5WL M2. The wiggly line around 800Hz is a birdy.
That said Joseph helped a lot by having eight antennas at his end and 1.5KW which makes the difference between his -20dB report and our -22dB report.
K9MRI Antenna (8 x 28ele XP M2)
There’s more to come from the upgrade as the LNA is on bench test before being moved up the mast and of course we still have the 4x8ele LFAs to erect which will mean far more EME opportunities into quieter parts of the sky.
More to follow…..
Mike
G0KAD
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