E6M and E6RS - Niue Island 6m/2m DXpedition

[ZL1RS]

08 Sept 2012 - 21 Sept 2012

6m EME info ... http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Niue2012.htm
2m EME info ... http://www.qsl.net/zl1rs/zk2.html

The holiday house location has a superb take off to the west and we may also monitor 50.110 outside EME operating times for Es or F2 propagation. Hope to see some of you in the log on 6m or 2m.

73, Bob

Note: announcements have been floating about the Internet (so they must be true ) that Niue will use the E6 prefix. While the ITU has allocated the block E6A to E6Z to Niue, it is up to the Niuean administration to set their own time table to implement callsigns in this block. The Director of Telecommunications is a former work colleague and friend of mine and he informed me yesterday that ZK2 callsigns will still be in use during the time of our DXpedition. The E6 prefix will be assigned to the Amateur Radio service in Niue some time later, after E6 callsigns are allocated to commercial and marine users ... ie Ham Radio is at the bottom of the list of priorities.

(edit title for new prefix/callsigns allocated on 14 Aug 2012)

[VK2GOM]

I will try and get out /P on 2m Bob and have a listen for you on EME.

Just sorting out a few bits here in the way of heliax and preamp. It will be a good test-run ready for the ARRL EME contest Nov/Dec.

Good luck out there!

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[ZL1RS]

GL Rob. Perhaps we will even see you on JT65B if you can manage a few hundred Watts of that mode while portable?

As a general tip for anyone using a smaller portable array or single Yagi to try EME, find a location with flat ground (or the sea) towards your moon rise or moon set and don't have the antenna too high (3m is good). That way you will pick up 3-5dB of ground gain from 5 to 15 degrees elevation which makes a considerable difference (gives a single Yagi the equivalent gain of a 4 bay array!) There are a few stations running a single Yagi and 250W who are quite successful when doing that.

Ground gain effect on a 9 element 2m Yagi 3m above "fertile soil" ... 19.1dBi gain!

If one can elevate your antenna, another good time to look during this DXpedition is from 1 hour before ZK2 moon set (it's a "nice" time of the day too ... mid-late morning in VK). My antennas will be pointed out over the ocean with ground gain enhancement, and there will be MANY big European EME stations calling at their moon rise with ground gain enhancement from their end. If everything is working you will hear the JT65B tones from the bigger stations and maybe the odd CW caller as well (although they are very few these days ... just 1 worked during my last 2m EME dxpedtion).

The great thing about portable operation is the feed line can often be kept really short minimising losses. Even 3 or 4m of RG-213 or LMR-400 has very little loss at 2m.

73, Bob ZL1RS

[ZL1RS]

Seems Amateur Radio moved up the Niue Telecom list of priorities!

I received advice this morning from the Director of Niue Post and Telecoms that we will be using the E6 prefix after all. Look for Lance with E6M (special callsign) and I will be using E6RS from the "normal" Amateur Radio callsign block.

73, Bob ZL1RS

[VK4CZ]

Great news... thanks Bob for your continued effort in activating the Pacific!

[VK2GOM]

Hi Bob, yes it will be Rx only at this end. I only have about 110W at the antenna, not enough for your 4x7 I wouldn't have thought

But come Oct/Nov there might be some huge USA stations about I might stand a chance of completing with.

Good news on the calls... it's all coming together.

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[VK3DXE]

Rob, you'll find that your 110w from a portable location with half-decent ground gain should be plenty. Don't forget that Bob will have some excellent ground gain too. The trick is to hone your operating technique so you can get in fast and complete during GG peaks. I've heard a single yagi station running just 250w with my single yagi off the moon at my very noisy inner city QTH, so it is more than doable, albeit a little tougher when competing with the big guns.

[ZL1RS]

Another trick (as well as calling around the ground gain peaks), is to call off frequency and get out of the pile-up mess that tends to congregate around the DF=0 area on the screen. The first ones in the log are those "easy pickings" who are calling off to the side of the pile-up ... regardless of their signal strength.

Take a look at the following screen shot.



See the mess in the DF = -100 to DF = +100 center of the screen ... no QSOs to be made there!

Note the stations I have decoded ... DF = -283, DF = -180, DF = +151, DF = -431
... and the wide open, clear spaces below DF = -700 and above DF = +600

That means for nominal DXpedition frequency of 144.140, set your TX frequency at 144.1392 (-800) or 144.1407 (+700) as examples.

73, Bob

[ZL1RS]

I only have about 110W at the antenna, not enough for your 4x7 I wouldn't have thought

As VK3DXE points out, don't under estimate the capabilities. I've copied smallish 4-Yagi stations running just 50W with no ground gain at either end ... and good Ground Gain (GG) will make up the 5-6dB stacking gain of a 4-Yagi array.

When in 3D2 I saw seem some HUGE signals from "low power" single Yagi stations in Europe with simultaneous GG. VKs working North America is the same situation, and you can have GG at both ends of the path adding up to +10dB ... suddenly your 110W is effectively 1.1KW

... or the equivalent of a 4-Yagi station running 400W
Yes, it does happen like that ... sometimes

Also look for the lowest declination days (but not at New Moon). The EME "conditions" are often amazing on those days.

73, Bob ZL1RS/E6RS