4O/EA8DBM (JN92lx) Montenegro
4O/EA8DBM
I have arrived in Montenegro, and everything is set for the morning moonrise. The antenna is deployed, the amplifier has been checked, and the controller and pointing are configured. The eastern horizon is clear with an elevation of approximately 10 degrees. I will be active from around 06:00 UTC to 12:00 UTC.
After that, I will need to change my QTH (location). Hopefully, in 2-3 hours, I will be able to resume activity for the moonset, depending on the terrain. I plan to remain active until the morning of Friday, July 12th.
………
On the evening of July 6, 2024, I had the pleasure of making two CW QSOs using air scatter reflections.
17:24 - YO5LD on 1296.200 MHz (CW) with signal reports of 559/559
17:28 - YP2DX on 1296.200 MHz (CW) with signal reports of 599/599
However, the primary focus of my work today has been EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communication. The early hours were spent optimizing equipment and making contact with other stations via moon bounce.
The beautiful, foggy Montenegrin morning added a serene backdrop to the day's activities, making the experience even more memorable
It’s a beautiful morning on July 7th, there is no wind and the moon is soon. Cold sky/Sun noise 7 dB.
After the first two QSOs, my laptop went haywire. The USB port started malfunctioning, and I wasted an hour and a half reinstalling drivers and attempting to revive the CAT and sound card control. Nothing worked, and I soon discovered the USB hub chip in the laptop had burned out.
Fortunately, I had a USB-C to USB micro adapter, and my computer has separate hubs for USB-B and USB-C. After another half hour of troubleshooting, everything seemed to be back in working order. I made one QSO, but then I stopped hearing anyone. I glanced at the antenna and felt a cold sweat run down my back...
The antenna had buried its nose in the ground!
As it turned out, the cable for the elevation sensor was frayed, causing the controller to issue commands that made the rotator point the dish straight down. Fortunately, the ribs of the dish remained intact; otherwise, the expedition could have been deemed a failure.
This issue meant switching to manual control. I spent a couple more hours carefully removing and reinstalling the equipment.
Finally, I managed to fix everything, but I only had two hours left before needing to vacate the rented house and move to another location. In that short time, I managed to make 19 QSOs before quickly packing up all the equipment and loading it into the car.
The move and the new installation took five hours. The new QTH appears to be as good as the old one, with a relatively open view to the east and west. The moon is high enough to operate effectively.
We’re back in business!
I have time to make 12 more QSOs before moonset. The total in the log is 34 EME QSOs:
2024-07-07, 05:21:58 - YB2MDU (OI53) on 1296.101008 MHz, Q65, -25, -23
2024-07-07, 05:24:00 - UA3PTW (KO93) on 1296.101008 MHz, Q65, -12, -16
2024-07-07, 07:09:00 - DL4DTU on 1296.101008 MHz, Q65, -18, -22
2024-07-07, 08:59:00 - PA3FXB (JO33) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -23, -25
2024-07-07, 09:03:00 - PA0TBR (JO21) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -21, -22
2024-07-07, 09:07:00 - G4YTL (IO92) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -23, -23
2024-07-07, 09:12:00 - SP5GDM (KO02) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -19, -19
2024-07-07, 09:17:00 - YO2LAM on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -18, -19
2024-07-07, 09:21:00 - ZS4TX on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -24, -22
2024-07-07, 09:25:00 - RW6HM (LN14) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -22, -17
2024-07-07, 09:28:00 - IQ2DB on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -22, -27
2024-07-07, 09:43:58 - ZS6JON (KG33) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -20, -19
2024-07-07, 09:44:00 - DF3RU (JN59) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -17, -18
2024-07-07, 09:49:00 - PA0BAT (JO31) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -19, -21
2024-07-07, 09:53:00 - DL1AT (JO61) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -20, -22
2024-07-07, 10:22:00 - DJ2DY (JN39) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -24, -22
2024-07-07, 10:30:00 - CT1WO on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -22, -22
2024-07-07, 10:48:03 - EA8DBM (IL18OH) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -23, -25
2024-07-07, 10:48:00 - ON4AOI (JO21) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -23, -22
2024-07-07, 10:51:00 - RA4HL (LO43) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -17, -18
2024-07-07, 11:00:00 - CT2GUR (IM59) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -27, -26
2024-07-07, 11:19:30 - HB9Q on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -05, -13
2024-07-07, 16:16:00 - OK1UGA (JO80) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -14, -19
2024-07-07, 16:20:00 - N5TM (EL29) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -21, -27
2024-07-07, 16:27:58 - KB2SA (DM13) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -22, -26
2024-07-07, 16:27:00 - K5DOG on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -20, -23
2024-07-07, 16:33:00 - OK1IL (JN69) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -21, -26
2024-07-07, 16:40:00 - K5DN (EL19) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -19, -20
2024-07-07, 16:45:00 - OK1KIR (JN79) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -11, -16
2024-07-07, 16:55:00 - N1AV on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -24, -28
2024-07-07, 17:37:00 - ES3RF (KO29) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -26, -26
2024-07-07, 17:54:00 - OK1VUM (JN79) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -20, -22
2024-07-07, 18:09:00 - GM0PJD (IO85) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -27, -25
2024-07-07, 18:28:05 - DF2VJ (JN39) on 1296.101000 MHz, Q65, -26, -25
...to be continued..
July 8 was a quiet, calm morning and afternoon. Everything was working fine, but there was one nuance - the amplifier with a transporter was positioned under the antenna. During the day, when the temperature in the shade reached 30 degrees Celsius, the thermal protection of the amplifier began to operate after about 40 seconds. Therefore, in the middle of the day, I had to be careful and try to keep the PA (Power Amplifier) in the shade. Despite this challenge, I logged 16 QSOs
2024-07-08,06:32:00,2024-07-08,06:35:58,JJ3JHP,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-23,,,,
2024-07-08,06:44:00,2024-07-08,06:52:00,VK4CDI,QG63,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-23,,,,
2024-07-08,06:54:00,2024-07-08,06:57:58,JQ3JWF,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-23,,,,
2024-07-08,07:04:00,2024-07-08,07:04:00,G0LBK,,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-15,,,,
2024-07-08,07:12:00,2024-07-08,07:15:58,JH3AZC,PM85,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-22,,,,
2024-07-08,08:55:00,2024-07-08,08:58:00,PA3DZL,,1296.101000,Q65,-14,-21,,,,
2024-07-08,12:48:00,2024-07-08,12:54:04,F4KLO,JN18,1296.071000,Q65,-23,-21,,,,
2024-07-08,12:57:49,2024-07-08,12:57:49,DK4RC,JO60,1296.101000,Q65,-09,-19,,,,
2024-07-08,13:03:00,2024-07-08,13:06:00,DG5CST,JO60,1296.101000,Q65,-09,-19,,,,
2024-07-08,13:21:00,2024-07-08,13:26:00,DL7UDA,,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-25,,,,
2024-07-08,13:39:17,2024-07-08,13:39:17,ZS1LS,JF96,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-24,,,,
2024-07-08,14:01:00,2024-07-08,14:04:00,DG0FE,,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-23,,,,
2024-07-08,15:04:00,2024-07-08,15:07:58,SM6CKU,JO67,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-19,,,,
2024-07-08,15:24:00,2024-07-08,15:32:00,W2HRO,FN20,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-25,,,,
2024-07-08,16:36:00,2024-07-08,16:39:58,N6RZJ,CM99,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-27,,,,
2024-07-08,17:00:00,2024-07-08,17:16:00,IK7EZN,JN90,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-28,,,,
Probably everyone who wanted to make contact has already done so, but I’ll continue tomorrow morning.
Work 4 QSO more:
2024-07-09,08:23:00,2024-07-09,08:26:00,IK2DDR,,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-24,,,,
2024-07-09,08:38:00,2024-07-09,08:42:00,SA6BUN,JO78,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-17,,,,
2024-07-09,08:51:00,2024-07-09,09:14:04,OK2AQ,JN89,1296.101000,Q65,-35,-29,,,,
2024-07-09,09:46:00,2024-07-09,09:52:00,IK1FJI,JN44,1296.091000,Q65,-16,-19,,,,
Total: 56 QSO
Thank you to everyone who worked with me and showed patience throughout. Special thanks to those who financially supported me: David G0LBK, Jan PA3FXB, and all my paid subscribers!
If you would like to support my travels, you can do so via PayPal at ea8dbm@gmail.com or by subscribing to this blog (link below). All logs will be uploaded to LoTW. If you wish to receive a paper QSL, it can be ordered directly or via the QSL bureau on my website: https://www.ea8dbm.com.
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73! de EA8DBM
Alex