2m EME - a beginner's perspective

[VK4WDM]

Congrats Rob!

I get a good look at the moon from my QTH and have thought about EME but end up putting it into the "too hard basket" (same with satellites). I can run 50w digital on 2m and the new yagi will be 12 el mounted at 7m AGL so judging by your experience I should give it a try. Can you post more details on your elevation system? I presume it needs a stepper motor?

73

Wayne

[VK2GOM]

Hi Wayne, I just used a satellite TV actuator. They come in various lengths. I used an 18" long one, sourced from eBay. You just put 12V on it and it grows in length. Limit switches stop it at its full extension. Reverse the polarity and it shrinks again, again with a limit switch to stop it. The limit switches are all built in. It's very simple to use.

That said, if you have good horizons, it could be worth trying at moonrise or moonset and utilise ground reflection 'gain' to assist you.

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[VK2CMP]

Good stuff Rob. Its on my list to achieve before Xmas as well (hopefully 2014!).

cheers
Mick

[ZL3PX]

Great project Rob will copy some of your ideas well done
73
Geoff

[VK2GOM]

If anyone requires pictures or details of the elevation system, please drop me a line and I will send you links to the images.

I don't want them posted on here any more - they have generated too much 'bad press' and criticism.

73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH

[VK3ALB]

Rob, since when do you back away? It should be pretty clear that most folks carry on with their keyboards in ways they wouldn't dare if they were face to face. It seems plenty of people are interested in your project. I reckon you should put the pictures back.

2 cents.

[VK4MIL]

Rob put the pictures back that was a marvelous piece of engineering, Exactly what ham radio is all about well done making good use
of the tools and means at hand .

Cheers VK4MIL Colin QG62lj

[VK7DX]

Very interesting Rob,put the pics back please.Dont let the grumps and worry warts bother you.

cheers
Frank
VK7DX

[VK3ZAZ]

FYI

from my workplace field safety manual

Non-ionizing Radiation Safety

To ensure the general safety around non-ionizing radiation sources:

Hazards must be properly signposted and labeled.

The supervisor or SSO must provide Awareness training to all workers with potential exposure to non-ionizing radiation hazards or coordinate training with EH&S.

Specific training must be provided to workers who are at a higher risk for permanent injury from non-ionizing radiation sources.

Before you shoot the messengers go check ANY exchange, OPTUS Site BCAST site or go up to any tv site..

what do you see?




even 3WL Warrnambool at 250 watts on 1605 kHz into a short 1/4 wave has such signs on every fence face and is fully enclosed with a ten foot cyclone fence topped with barbed wire..

RFNSA have individually gone around and signed every site with a sign as well and labelled gates hundreds of meters away from broadcast sites with danger signs.

Some sites have been closed down and broadcast services relocated.

How long before they start looking at us?



http://www.rfnsa.com.au/nsa/index.cgi

[VK4WTN]

Rob, your doing what ham radio should be all about -experimenting.Dont be put off by the negativity of some responses. You did a great job with the elevation control and I for one learnt by looking at your photos.Keep up the good work
regards Wayne VK4WTN

[VK4TI]

Rob, your doing what ham radio should be all about -experimenting.Dont be put off by the negativity of some responses. You did a great job with the elevation control and I for one learnt by looking at your photos.Keep up the good work
regards Wayne VK4WTN

Quite agree , I think a good effort and worth following as the install develops , certainly will guide new comers saving them a lot of time with simple innovation

B

[VK2CMP]

Hey Rob,

certainly inspiring stuff which 1) will save me time and give me food for thought and 2) make my EME goals easier to achieve. Good on you mate. Don't worry about the negative stuff. Grab the QSL card from your EME contact and put on the fridge so you can see it every time you grab a beer!

cheers
Mick
VK2CMP

[VK5TM]

I have to agree with everybody else, give the naysayers the middle finger and ignore them.

Ham radio is about experimenting and exploring new horizons amongst other things.

Your post has me looking at doing something similar now myself, where before I didn't think it would be possible with what I have here.

[VK2YV]

Thanks Rob - a very good read.

[VK2FAK]

Hi all...

Last I heard Rob was heading back to live in the UK....he may have left by now...

[VK3MAT]

Hi all

correct rob has moved back to the uk (just last month)
He is busily setting up his new house waiting for his shipping container to arrive with all his radio bits and pieces. he hopes to soon be active on 1296 eme from his 2.3m dish and w6pql pa

Matt

[VK2GOM]

Hi All, just thought I'd chime in.

I am indeed back living in the UK now and loving it! We have a garden again!We are down in deepest country Devon with some great views from our little house on top of a hill, looking over the Dartmoor National Park.

All my radio gear and antennas should be here end of June/early July, then will try and get on air soon after that. I still have my single 10ele Yagi I conducted 2m EME QSO's with in transit. I will try and find a 400W PA since here in the UK I'm not limited to 120W on 2m data modes like you are in VK. I have also got my 2.4m dish for 23cm EME in transit, along with the mount I've modified for it to become a polar mount, so I just set the mount for the declination of the moon for that night, then one actuator follows it across the sky. No messing with Alt/Az! I also have a clever little magnetic encoder development board that outputs 0 to 5V from 0 to 360deg. So, by using a P/D to output 0 to 3.6V, I can read on a Voltmeter the azimuth direction the dish is pointed, and just nudge it along now and again to match what WSJT tells me. My feed is an OK1DFC septum (not yet tuned for RL), and the PA is a W6PQL which at first test wasn't putting out much more than 90W. It has genuine Motorola devices in it incidentally. I've given it a bit of a rework based on suggestions from Jim W6PQL, so am ready to test again once it arrives - and once I find someone local to here with 23cm power measurement gear! Regarding moon horizons, I can see the moon here from rise to about SW.

Looking forward to getting on air again!

73 - Rob G0MOH
IO70XR

[VK3DXE]

I look forward to working you on 2m from the UK Rob.