[Moon] The Swedish 4Th 432 & UP EME meeting CW

[Russ K2TXB]

*  I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that CW (dino) EME must be more expensive than digital operation. Some of us have assembled reasonably effective 2m and 70cm CW stations at what I suspect is a lower cost than anyone has done with digital

Hello Ron. I do not understand why you think this.  My 2 meter EME station consists of a used 25 foot aluminum tower (free), 2 KLM 16LBX antennas (bought new in 1983 when they first came out, so cheap by today’s standards), A Yaesu EL/AL rotator pair (G5500 bought used for $250).  I built the polarity rotation system entirely from junk box parts, using an old TV rotator.  Also needed a 2 way splitter (bought used for $50), some aluminum tubing to make the supporting masts, and quite a bit of hand work (free as I did not charge myself).  For the digital side, The software was free, The computer was free (cast off from work, but could have been bought for under $200), and I built my own computer to rig interface (for under $30 in radio shack parts plus junk box parts).  I don’t remember what the antennas cost but I am guessing around $300 for the pair (maybe less).  So, for the whole digital system I spent less than $650 dollars ($850 if I had to buy the computer).

Contrast that to putting together a comparable 2 meter EME station capable of making a similar number of CW contacts.  Here I would need at least four antennas (probably more).  So the cheap aluminum tower is out.  I would need an H frame, a much heavier duty (and separate) AZ and EL rotators, and a four way or multiple power splitters, more phasing lines, connectors….  The extra cost for all of that is more than the cost of my whole system.  And that would not even include the ability to change polarity (I can not figure out a reasonable method of mechanically rotating polarity of Yagis on an H frame, and XPOL Yagis are much much more expensive to buy and to support.)

All of the other parts of my station (receiver, transmitter, feed lines, preamps, amplifier, automatic rotator control system, connectors, etc.) are required for both systems and can be ignored.  Also it is likely that most hams already have a computer in the shack so that can be left out of the digital cost too.

I suppose that my setup is among the cheapest around, but it is still capable of generating more contacts in a year than I made in 15 years on CW with 4 of the same kind of Yagis.

Maybe you want to reconsider?

73, Russ K2TXB

 

 

On Aug 14, 2014, at 2:13 PM, Michael Barlow <badl79 at yahoo.com <mailto:badl79 at yahoo.com> > wrote:

Hi Guy,
I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that CW (dino) EME must be more expensive than digital operation. Some of us have assembled reasonably effective 2m and 70cm CW stations at what I suspect is a lower cost than anyone has done with digital.
As for required space, an effective 70cm antenna system can be quite small. An HB9 (I regret to say that I am unable to remember his entire call) had an absolutely superb signal, some years ago, while using an antenna array that was erected on his apartment balcony. As I recall, his receive capability was a match for his ufb transmit signal.
                            73 de "a dino", Ron  n4gjv 

 

 

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