E7/EA8DBM (JN93ht) Bosnia and Herzegovina

The journey from EA9 to E7 spans 3,500 kilometers, and it's not a short one. On July 1st, I arrived, ready to set up the antenna and equipment. The weather was intense, with temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius under a merciless sun. The mountains to the west created a significant blockage, with an elevation of at least 12 degrees.

The eastern azimuth was slightly more favorable, though it was also partially obscured by mountains. I could begin checking in from 13:00, so I started unpacking while the sun was still visible.

To test the reception, I noted that the moon was already below the horizon. The first issue arose when the power meter, expected to show 200 watts of transmission, only displayed 100 watts. This wasn’t a major concern, but what troubled me was the lack of the expected 5 dB of noise when pointing the dish at the sun.

At that moment, the owner of the QTH approached me with news of a storm warning predicting thunderstorms and rain for the night. This meant I had to pack everything up and protect it from the impending weather. It felt like a preliminary training session for hard times to come :)

By 5 am, the moon was already over the mountains. Although it was cloudy, there was no rain, giving me hope that the forecast was inaccurate. I quickly set everything up, ready to make a CQ call, when the rain started. It rapidly turned into a downpour, and soon a thunderstorm began. This turned into another training session on quick packing.

It rained non-stop all day, but I resolved to tackle any issues the following day. We'll figure it out on Wednesday, July 3rd.

The morning turned out to be cloudy, but at least it didn't rain! I overslept a bit, and by the time I woke up, the chat was already buzzing with activity – the range was alive! Within half an hour, I gathered everything I needed, filled with anticipation.

Ready to dive into the work, I turned on the computer and... of course, Uncle Murphy had to announce his presence! After yesterday's thunderstorm, the controller went haywire. Instead of producing data, it was spitting out nonsense. A simple reboot didn't fix it; I had to open it up, disconnect the battery, and restart it in a "cold" state. Naturally, I didn't have the necessary screwdriver on hand – it was buried somewhere in one of the twenty boxes I brought with me.

Then, the sun broke through the clouds, brightening my mood. I decided to pack up and remove the antenna, take down the rotator (I'll deal with it and the controller later), install a manual elevator, and get back on the air.

Taking into account that I only had three days of training, the process went remarkably quickly. I measured the noise of the sun, confirming the required 5 dB, which alleviated all my initial concerns. However, a new problem arose: the moon is only 30 degrees from the sun, and since today is a new moon, the thin crescent is completely invisible in the sky! I approximately shifted the antenna 30 degrees to the right by eye. Adjusting the elevation was straightforward with the help of a digital inclinometer. The first QSO with experienced operators allowed me to fine-tune the azimuth.

Of course, I missed the moon several times, and making connections with those using a 3m dish wasn’t easy, especially from locations like EA9. Nevertheless, I managed to make it work.

I operated on the air for several hours, whilst troubleshooting and resetting the controller. When the activity slowed down, I upgraded from manual control to a rotator with a controller, which made the process much more comfortable.

Unfortunately, the sun and moon were obscured by clouds today, but I hope for clear weather tomorrow so I can properly "aim." In total, I logged 37 QSOs today:

2024-07-03,06:43:00,2024-07-03,06:46:00,DL4DTU,,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-21,,,,

2024-07-03,06:52:09,2024-07-03,06:52:09,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.101008,Q65,-24,-21,,,,

2024-07-03,06:59:57,2024-07-03,06:59:57,DG5CST,JO60,1296.101008,Q65,-08,-14,,,,

2024-07-03,07:04:03,2024-07-03,07:04:03,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.101008,Q65,-22,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,07:05:00,2024-07-03,07:08:00,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,07:10:00,2024-07-03,07:13:57,RW6HM,LN14,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-21,,,,

2024-07-03,07:16:00,2024-07-03,07:19:59,PA3DZL,JO21,1296.101008,Q65,-17,-24,,,,

2024-07-03,07:20:00,2024-07-03,07:25:58,RA4HL,LO43,1296.101008,Q65,-20,-23,,,,

2024-07-03,07:29:00,2024-07-03,07:34:00,ZS4TX,,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,07:38:23,2024-07-03,07:38:23,IQ2DB,,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-27,,,,

2024-07-03,07:39:00,2024-07-03,07:44:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.101008,Q65,-16,-17,,,,

2024-07-03,07:49:56,2024-07-03,07:49:56,DK4RC,JO60,1296.101008,Q65,-12,-16,,,,

2024-07-03,07:49:00,2024-07-03,07:52:02,G0LBK,,1296.101008,Q65,-22,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,07:55:00,2024-07-03,07:59:59,G4YTL,IO92,1296.101008,Q65,-24,-25,,,,

2024-07-03,08:05:58,2024-07-03,08:05:58,OK1VUM,JN79,1296.101008,Q65,-20,-27,,,,

2024-07-03,08:08:00,2024-07-03,08:11:59,OK1IL,JN69,1296.101008,Q65,-18,-24,,,,

2024-07-03,08:15:03,2024-07-03,08:15:03,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.101008,Q65,-19,-25,,,,

2024-07-03,08:23:56,2024-07-03,08:23:56,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.101008,Q65,-19,-23,,,,

2024-07-03,08:24:00,2024-07-03,08:27:57,OK1KIR,JN79,1296.101008,Q65,-15,-15,,,,

2024-07-03,08:28:00,2024-07-03,08:31:57,UA3PTW,KO93,1296.101008,Q65,-12,-17,,,,

2024-07-03,08:36:00,2024-07-03,08:39:57,RD4D,LO42,1296.101008,Q65,-17,-19,,,,

2024-07-03,09:03:57,2024-07-03,09:03:57,YO2LAM,KN05,1296.101008,Q65,-22,-29,,,,

2024-07-03,09:06:00,2024-07-03,09:09:59,NC1I,FN32,1296.101008,Q65,-14,-24,,,,

2024-07-03,09:14:00,2024-07-03,09:17:59,PA0BAT,JO31,1296.101008,Q65,-20,-27,,,,

2024-07-03,09:24:00,2024-07-03,09:29:59,SP5GDM,KO02,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-20,,,,

2024-07-03,10:42:00,2024-07-03,10:45:57,F4KLO,JN18,1296.101008,Q65,-20,-14,,,,

2024-07-03,10:59:00,2024-07-03,11:04:00,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.101008,Q65,-25,-25,,,,

2024-07-03,11:20:00,2024-07-03,11:26:05,DL1AT,JO61,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-26,,,,

2024-07-03,11:32:00,2024-07-03,11:42:08,DJ2DY,JN39,1296.101008,Q65,-29,-26,,,,

2024-07-03,11:42:00,2024-07-03,11:46:05,UA9FAD,LO88,1296.101008,Q65,-27,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,11:48:00,2024-07-03,11:52:00,K5DOG,EM00,1296.101008,Q65,-29,-23,,,,

2024-07-03,11:56:00,2024-07-03,11:59:57,N5TM,EL29,1296.101008,Q65,-31,-27,,,,

2024-07-03,12:02:02,2024-07-03,12:02:02,DL7UDA,,1296.101008,Q65,-25,-25,,,,

2024-07-03,12:07:00,2024-07-03,12:12:17,N1AV,,1296.101008,Q65,-32,-25,,,,

2024-07-03,12:23:57,2024-07-03,12:23:57,K5DN,EL19,1296.101008,Q65,-20,-22,,,,

2024-07-03,12:27:00,2024-07-03,12:30:00,W2HRO,,1296.101008,Q65,-22,-27,,,,

2024-07-03,12:49:00,2024-07-03,12:52:00,DG0FE,,1296.101008,Q65,-24,-24,,,,

to be continued …. I hope )))

The morning was cool, but most importantly, there was no rain, and the sun was visible. I adjusted the azimuth and checked the ground noise at 1.5 dB and the sun at 5 dB. Everything was in order, and I was ready to work. There were not many people around; the main operators and those chasing new DXCCs had already worked yesterday.

QSOs Logged:

I logged 16 QSOs today:

2024-07-04,07:05:00,2024-07-04,07:08:00,IK2DDR,,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,07:19:59,2024-07-04,07:19:59,OK1UGA,JO80,1296.101008,Q65,-13,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,07:27:00,2024-07-04,07:31:56,JJ3JHP,PM75,1296.101008,Q65,-24,-28,,,,
2024-07-04,07:40:00,2024-07-04,07:47:58,JH3AZC,PM85,1296.101008,Q65,-24,-23,,,,
2024-07-04,07:59:00,2024-07-04,08:24:06,ZS1LS,JF96,1296.101008,Q65,-31,-24,,,,
2024-07-04,09:49:00,2024-07-04,09:52:00,SM6CKU,,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-12,,,,
2024-07-04,10:02:00,2024-07-04,10:07:56,DF2VJ,JN39,1296.101008,Q65,-25,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,11:32:00,2024-07-04,11:35:58,NC1I,FN32,1296.101008,Q65,-09,-13,,,,
2024-07-04,12:07:56,2024-07-04,12:07:56,9H1BN,JM75,1296.101008,Q65,-32,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,12:36:00,2024-07-04,12:43:59,IK7EZN,JN90,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,12:46:00,2024-07-04,12:52:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.101008,Q65,-26,-22,,,,
2024-07-04,12:58:00,2024-07-04,13:04:00,KB2SA,,1296.101008,Q65,-23,-26,,,,
2024-07-04,13:08:00,2024-07-04,13:16:00,CX2SC,GF25,1296.101008,Q65,-31,-24,,,,
2024-07-04,13:40:17,2024-07-04,13:40:17,OK2AQ,JN89,1296.101008,Q65,-30,-28,,,,
2024-07-04,14:11:00,2024-07-04,14:20:00,IK2CDI,,1296.101008,Q65,-21,-17,,,,
2024-07-04,15:40:03,2024-07-04,15:40:03,CT2GUR,IM59,1296.101008,Q65,-30,-31,,,,

By lunchtime, activity had dropped. I attempted to switch to a 13 cm band but was unsuccessful—I couldn't hear anyone, nor could they hear me. Upon returning to LY, I will figure out what went wrong.

Tomorrow, the moon will be in the same position as the sun from lunchtime onward. I'll try to be more active in the morning.

The morning of July 5th greeted me with warm sunshine and a reunion with an old friend - "Grandpa Murphy" :). I wanted to take a look at the rotator controller again, to see what it looked like from the inside. Following the usual procedures of removing the battery and short-circuiting the chip brought it back to life. However, when I connected the USB cable, the defective Chinese input fell off! This means I'm back to either manually controlling the antenna or spending hours manually inputting data before each moon pass.

Today and tomorrow, the moon's position is close to the sun, making it almost impossible to work. Despite this, I managed to log one EME QSO:

2024-07-05, 10:28:00 - 10:31:56, SA6BUN, JO78, 1296.101008, Q65, -25, -19

Additionally, I logged one QSO reflected from an aircraft:

2024-07-05, 10:28:00 - 10:50:36, YO5LD, ..., 1296.20000, CW, 559, 599

This brings the total to 55 QSOs in the log. Tomorrow, I'll try to head to the mountains to find a good spot for participating in the 2024 IARU Subregional Contest for a few hours. After that, it's off to Montenegro.