CT9 DX-pedition has been started

On Saturday evening I reached Madeira without any incidents. Yesterday morning I started to deploy my position. First, I installed an antenna for the QO-100, made several QSOs to check that everything was working.

Then I began to deploy the position to 1296 and then discovered that I have forgotten the electronic angle gauge at home. The weather was excellent during the day, but in the evening the sky became cloudy with small gaps.

In the morning I went to Funchal to try to find the electronic angle gauge. To my great surprise, I found it in a store with telescopes. Returning from Funchal, I set everything up and had my first QSO with Zdenek OK1DFC.

Signal’s levels are quite good. My signal is about -20…-18 dB and I can also hear better compared to Aland. Today the clouds are denser, but I hope that by the evening the weather will clear up a little and the Moon will be visible.

The start turned out to be good. Although the moon was hidden by clouds, but “big guns” helped to find the correct bearing. There are no problems with elevation, just like on the last trip.

16 QSOs are in log:

2023-11-20,15:11:59,2023-11-20,15:11:59,OK1DFC,JN79,1296.080999,Q65,-18,-18,,,,

2023-11-20,15:14:00,2023-11-20,15:14:00,OK1KIR,,1296.080999,Q65,-20,-19,,,,

2023-11-20,15:15:00,2023-11-20,15:19:56,UA3PTW,KO93,1296.080999,Q65,-18,-19,,,,

2023-11-20,15:23:59,2023-11-20,15:23:59,RA4HL,LO43,1296.080999,Q65,-23,-20,,,,

2023-11-20,15:28:00,2023-11-20,15:28:00,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-23,,,,

2023-11-20,15:32:00,2023-11-20,15:32:00,SM6CKU,,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-19,,,,

2023-11-20,15:37:59,2023-11-20,15:37:59,RD4D,LO32,1296.080999,Q65,-22,-19,,,,

2023-11-20,16:35:58,2023-11-20,16:35:58,OT7K,JO21,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-20,,,,

2023-11-20,16:42:00,2023-11-20,16:42:00,PA9RX,,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-20,,,,

2023-11-20,16:52:00,2023-11-20,16:52:00,G0LBK,,1296.080999,Q65,-27,-22,,,,

2023-11-20,17:04:00,2023-11-20,17:07:58,IQ2DB,JN45,1296.080999,Q65,-27,-25,,,,

2023-11-20,17:26:00,2023-11-20,17:26:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-20,,,,

2023-11-20,18:43:00,2023-11-20,18:46:14,PA0BAT,,1296.080999,Q65,-30,-20,,,,

2023-11-20,18:58:14,2023-11-20,18:58:14,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.080999,Q65,+00,+04,,,,

2023-11-20,19:14:00,2023-11-20,19:26:37,YO2LAM,,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-26,,,,

2023-11-20,19:33:57,2023-11-20,19:33:57,G4CCH,IO93,1296.080999,Q65,-22,-17,,,,

Congratulations to PA0BAT, who achieved 100th country on DXCC on 23 cm!

RX looks better than on the previous trip. Problems with RX began after elevation above 30 degrees. It felt like the signal-to-noise ratio had deteriorated sharply, and if I was heard at -17 - 18 dB with dishes with a diameter of 3m, then on my side at the waterfall there was not a single decode. After an azimuth of 215 degrees, the moon goes behind a large tree, and it is impossible to work further.

There is a suspicion that strong ground noise is leaking through the back of the dish, so for the next session I will try to somehow attach aluminum foil to the back, with the hope that this will somehow help. In the evening, when the moon goes behind the tree, I’ll try to move everything to the backyard to give the USA a chance to work.

Second day. To improve shielding from ground noise, I tried attaching aluminum foil to the back of the parabola. It’s hard to say whether it helped, but it didn’t get any worse, except that now it’s impossible to see the moon through the dish at low elevations and the problem of azimuth guidance has doubled. The forecast promised overcast skies. And, unfortunately, it came true. I turn the antenna on the moonrise approximately to where the desired azimuth is. To check, I get up on the frequency at which CQ OK1UGA gives. Lo and behold, I guessed right. Signal -22 dB in both directions. But, unfortunately, this direction was blocked by a large palm tree and I didn’t hear anyone else until the azimuth to the moon changed. It was possible to “catch the azimuth” only after 45 minutes.

In total there are 14 difficult QSOs in the log.

2023-11-21,14:47:00,2023-11-21,14:51:00,OK1UGA,JO80,1296.065999,Q65,-22,-22,,,,

2023-11-21,15:31:00,2023-11-21,15:34:00,PA3DZL,,1296.080999,Q65,-26,-23,,,,

2023-11-21,15:39:58,2023-11-21,15:39:58,DK4RC,JO60,1296.080999,Q65,-20,-16,,,,

2023-11-21,16:52:00,2023-11-21,16:52:00,IK2DDR,JN55,1296.080999,Q65,-23,-23,,,,

2023-11-21,17:02:06,2023-11-21,17:02:06,SP5GDM,,1296.080999,Q65,-29,-23,,,,

2023-11-21,17:09:58,2023-11-21,17:09:58,OK1IL,JN69,1296.080999,Q65,-25,-22,,,,

2023-11-21,18:18:00,2023-11-21,18:24:34,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.080999,Q65,-31,-24,,,,

2023-11-21,18:36:00,2023-11-21,18:36:00,OH2DG,,1296.080999,Q65,-20,-18,,,,

2023-11-21,19:16:08,2023-11-21,19:16:08,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.080999,Q65,-27,-22,,,,

2023-11-21,19:22:00,2023-11-21,19:28:00,ZS4TX,,1296.080999,Q65,-25,-21,,,,

2023-11-21,20:23:00,2023-11-21,20:28:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.080999,Q65,-26,-23,,,,

2023-11-21,21:21:57,2023-11-21,21:21:57,NC1I,FN32,1296.080999,Q65,-15,-16,,,,

2023-11-21,23:00:59,2023-11-21,23:00:59,K5DN,EL19,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-20,,,,

2023-11-21,23:10:00,2023-11-21,23:10:00,KB2SA,,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-25,,,,

The hardest QSO with ES3RF. Gennady's main kilowatt amplifier burned out and he was left with QRP - 200 watts. For a long 5 hours he called me. Persistence brings results, and he is in the log with a report of -26 / -23 dB.

As always, I was pleasantly surprised by the KB2SA signal. Bill with a small 1.9m mesh dish always has a great signal.

Today moonrise at 15.30. At about 21.00 there is a plan to move the antenna to the backyard so that West coast USA can work.

22 november.

Unfortunately I couldn’t hit the moon at moonrise and was never able to hear anyone. After midnight, the moon went behind a huge oak tree growing on the site. Within 30 minutes I dragged the antenna and amplifier into the backyard. The moon came out, which helped quickly find the azimuth. So I made 9 QSOs with USA stations:

2023-11-22,22:02:00,2023-11-22,22:02:00,K2UYH,FN20,1296.080999,Q65,-21,-17,,,,

2023-11-23,00:15:59,2023-11-23,00:15:59,K5DOG,EM00,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-24,,,,

2023-11-23,00:25:56,2023-11-23,00:25:56,N6NU,CM87,1296.080999,Q65,-22,-24,,,,

2023-11-23,00:31:56,2023-11-23,00:31:56,VE6TA,DO33,1296.080999,Q65,-20,-21,,,,

2023-11-23,00:34:00,2023-11-23,00:34:00,W7JW,EN82,1296.080999,Q65,-27,-25,,,,

2023-11-23,00:41:58,2023-11-23,00:41:58,KD5FZX,EM12,1296.080999,Q65,-16,-16,,,,

2023-11-23,00:51:59,2023-11-23,00:51:59,N0CTR,EN26,1296.080999,Q65,-23,-24,,,,

2023-11-23,01:28:00,2023-11-23,01:28:00,AA6I,,1296.080999,Q65,-29,-27,,,,

2023-11-23,01:43:59,2023-11-23,01:43:59,N0OY,EM18,1296.080999,Q65,-22,-15,,,,

23 november

In the morning I returned the position to the old place where the moon is visible from an azimuth of 85 degrees to about 220 degrees. Since it was sunny in the morning, we managed to find the exact position of the azimuth using the shadow from the sun and, spending about 2 hours, drew an azimuthal grid on the floor around the antenna, rather than waiting for the moon to appear in the gap.

Well, and most importantly, there was a suspicion that the antenna diagram was a little skewed due to the fact that after the fall, four fiberglass fins were replaced with approximately the same diameter, but not with the original ones. As a result, the real focus of the radiation pattern shifted by 9 degrees from the optical one and, accordingly, aiming at the moon, he “shot” proactively and only when he forgot to move the antenna did he get a QSO.

Accordingly, having made an amendment, I began to work and things started to get more fun. Now I could monitor my signal through the remote control of my home station (EA8DBM) and see when the signal began to weaken and it was time to move the antenna.

A storm was raging in parts of Europe and southern Japan, so activity on the band was low.

However, there are 8 QSOs in the log:

2023-11-23,17:40:24,2023-11-23,17:40:24,DJ2DY,,1296.080999,Q65,-33,-26,,,,

2023-11-23,17:44:00,2023-11-23,17:48:00,IK3COJ,,1296.080999,Q65,-25,-23,,,,

2023-11-23,17:56:06,2023-11-23,17:56:06,G4YTL,IO92,1296.080999,Q65,-28,-25,,,,

2023-11-23,18:23:58,2023-11-23,18:23:58,YO2LAM,KN05,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-25,,,,

2023-11-23,19:10:00,2023-11-23,19:10:00,HB9Q,,1296.080999,Q65,-09,-14,,,,

2023-11-23,20:07:08,2023-11-23,20:07:08,PE1LWT,JO22,1296.080999,Q65,-28,-25,,,,

2023-11-23,20:10:00,2023-11-23,20:16:57,UA9YLU,,1296.080999,Q65,-27,-23,,,,

2023-11-23,20:26:00,2023-11-23,20:32:15,F1RJ,,1296.080999,Q65,-30,-23,,,,

As experience with my “wounded” antenna has shown, the minimum setup for work should be: mesh Dish >3m and 200 watt in antenna feed.

Plan for November 24 - at 16.30 utc moonrise. With an azimuth of 200 degrees, move the antenna to the “evening” position and try to work in the ARRL EME contest.

25 november

Lunar window: 12 QSO,s (5 init,s)

2023-11-24,17:09:00,2023-11-24,17:16:08,JA6AHB,,1296.080999,Q65,-24,-22,,,,

2023-11-24,18:08:00,2023-11-24,18:08:00,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.080999,Q65,-25,-27,,,,

2023-11-24,21:00:00,2023-11-24,21:04:10,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.080999,Q65,-25,-22,,,,

2023-11-24,21:26:00,2023-11-24,21:38:08,LZ1DX,KN22,1296.080999,Q65,-23,-22,,,,

2023-11-25,00:04:00,2023-11-25,00:04:00,OK1DFC,,1296.080999,Q65,-17,-18,,,,

2023-11-25,00:43:41,2023-11-25,00:43:41,OK2DL,JN79,1296.079777,Q65,-20,-22,,,,

2023-11-25,01:37:59,2023-11-25,01:37:59,KD5FZX,EM12,1296.081014,Q65,-22,-23,,,,

2023-11-25,02:59:56,2023-11-25,02:59:56,N6RZJ,CM99,1296.081014,Q65,-28,-26,,,,

2023-11-25,03:26:00,2023-11-25,03:26:00,KB2SA,,1296.081014,Q65,-23,-25,,,,

2023-11-25,04:29:58,2023-11-25,04:29:58,VE6TA,DO33,1296.081014,Q65,-22,-25,,,,

2023-11-25,04:33:00,2023-11-25,04:37:27,N6NU,CM87,1296.081014,Q65,-24,-29,,,,

2023-11-25,04:43:00,2023-11-25,04:45:57,K3WM,FN00,1296.081014,Q65,-21,-24,,,,

By moonrise, the azimuth reference was made and painted in advance. But low activity - who could and wanted it had already worked, but many were simply preparing for the contest.

By midnight antenna diagram began to “catch” onto the tree and it was time to drag everything to the backyard.

In the dark, it was not possible to adhere to the marks made in advance and I had to work aiming at the moon with my left eye, plus the rising wind spoiled the geometry of the parabola.

The minimum setup was N6RZJ with a 3.6m dish and 300 watts, which caught a good moment when the wind died down.

25-26 November, part1

in short, the lunar day was beautiful))) : 19 QSO (12 init,s)

2023-11-25,17:32:00,2023-11-25,17:32:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.081014,Q65,-23,-20,,,,

2023-11-25,17:44:00,2023-11-25,17:44:00,IK3COJ,,1296.081014,Q65,-23,-21,,,,

2023-11-25,18:26:00,2023-11-25,18:26:00,DL4DTU,,1296.081014,Q65,-22,-22,,,,

2023-11-25,18:41:57,2023-11-25,18:41:57,RA4HL,LO43,1296.081014,Q65,-24,-19,,,,

2023-11-25,19:34:00,2023-11-25,19:40:11,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.081014,Q65,-30,-26,,,,

2023-11-25,20:13:30,2023-11-25,20:15:30,PI9CAM,JO32,1296.141503,Q65,-12,-08,,,,

2023-11-25,20:36:11,2023-11-25,20:36:11,DK3WG,,1296.061014,Q65,-26,-25,,,,

2023-11-25,20:54:00,2023-11-25,20:58:00,DL7UDA,,1296.081014,Q65,-27,-21,,,,

2023-11-25,22:17:07,2023-11-25,22:17:07,SM6CKU,,1296.136278,Q65,-20,-16,,,,

2023-11-26,01:43:00,2023-11-26,01:46:00,K5DN,,1296.101002,Q65,-23,-21,,,,

2023-11-26,02:00:03,2023-11-26,02:00:03,G0LBK,,1296.101002,Q65,-26,-20,,,,

2023-11-26,02:24:00,2023-11-26,02:28:00,KA1GT,,1296.101002,Q65,-27,-27,,,,

2023-11-26,02:53:59,2023-11-26,02:53:59,NC1I,FN32,1296.101002,Q65,-17,-17,,,,

2023-11-26,03:26:00,2023-11-26,03:29:57,W2ZQ,FN20,1296.101002,Q65,-28,-25,,,,

2023-11-26,03:33:57,2023-11-26,03:33:57,N5TM,EL29,1296.101002,Q65,-26,-28,,,,

2023-11-26,03:43:57,2023-11-26,03:43:57,K3WM,FN00,1296.101002,Q65,-21,-23,,,,

2023-11-26,03:53:00,2023-11-26,03:56:00,W5AFY,,1296.101002,Q65,-25,-20,,,,

2023-11-26,04:31:57,2023-11-26,04:31:57,N0CTR,EN26,1296.101002,Q65,-24,-23,,,,

2023-11-26,04:56:00,2023-11-26,04:56:00,K5QE,,1296.086492,Q65,-28,-24,,,,

several QSO were disrupted, because at the frequency of the synchronizing tone, one “gentleman” with big dish, places a carrier or transmits a number of points, which disrupts the decoding of the signal.

Therefore, please be patient, we are being hindered not only by the laws of physics and nature, but also by some HAM.

26 November, part 2

Everyone who wanted and could did it, it didn’t work for those who either didn’t have enough gain or power or patience.

In log 7 QSO (4 init,s)

2023-11-26,18:35:07,2023-11-26,18:35:07,UA5Y,KO72,1296.091008,Q65,-23,-24,,,,

2023-11-26,18:39:56,2023-11-26,18:39:56,DL6SH,JN48,1296.091008,Q65,-24,-19,,,,

2023-11-26,18:45:56,2023-11-26,18:45:56,OK2ULQ,JN99,1296.091008,Q65,-25,-25,,,,

2023-11-26,18:59:56,2023-11-26,18:59:56,SK0CT,JO99,1296.091008,Q65,-23,-15,,,,

2023-11-26,19:12:00,2023-11-26,19:16:14,SP5GDM,,1296.091008,Q65,-26,-21,,,,

2023-11-26,19:47:56,2023-11-26,19:47:56,IQ2DB,JN45,1296.091008,Q65,-25,-26,,,,

2023-11-26,19:58:00,2023-11-26,19:58:00,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.091008,Q65,-26,-21,,,,

I tried to be active in the evening, but after the ARRL EME contest, apparently no one had any strength left. So, the expedition is over. Whether it was successful or not is up to you to judge, comments are welcome.

To summarize a bit:

In total, 85 QSOs (68 init,s) were made, the main problem was azimuth guidance, and only closer to the middle did I realize that the diagram was skewed to the side and needed to be corrected. Otherwise you shoot straight at the moon and no one hears anyone.

An unpleasant surprise - there is someone with a large dish and “more than enough” power who purposefully places a carrier or launches a series of CW points on the sync tone, which, even with a fairly normal signal level of -22-24 dB, disrupts decoding. Thus, for example, a QSO was disrupted from JJ3JHP. Hiro has 4.5 m dish and normal power, I saw his track constantly at the level of -22 -24 dB, but Mr. “M” was not too lazy to interfere for an hour and, unfortunately, the QSO was disrupted and the next day Hiro remained without amplifier.

You may ask how you can see this - it’s very simple, I use a home remote station and with a 4.5 m dish I can see pretty well what’s going on on the band.

What is the minimum setup needed to work with me, provided there is good passage and no magnetic storms? According to my feelings, it is 3m dish and 200 watt. This is if you are lucky and the other side has the patience and opportunity to work in the 120sek D mode.

As I think, I should improve my RX - upon my return, I plan to increase the diameter of the plate to 2m and change all the fiberglass ribs to the same ones, change the material to a new one (there is a suspicion that mine has degraded over 5 years) and then we can think about the next trip.

All logs will be downloaded in LOTW within a couple of days. Paper QSL cards will be printed in a couple of months, order via www.ea8dbm.com

Suggest in the comments what you would be interested in?

Special thanks for the technical and financial donations: LY2IJ, UA3ATQ, OK1IL, PA3FXB, JA6AHB

PayPal: EA8DBM@gmail.com

73! Alex

de EA8DBM