Chasing Three DXPeditions on 23cm EME

 May 30, 2025

The last few days have been very exciting. While I missed the MD/EA8DBM Isle of Man activity through my inattention, I did rebound and work Alex's MJ/EA8DBM Jersey Island operation. Alex rigged up a dish mount to the back of his van which works out really well until the wind blows too hard.  

MJ/EA8DBM operating from the tricked out van on batteries no less.  EA8DBM Photo. 

 The next dxpedition up was that of IS0/HB9COG on Sardinia by the dynamic duo of HB9COG and HB9CRQ. The boys were running with a 1.5M dish and 100 watts. That's a pretty small station for me, but I've learned to never pass up any dxpedition, especially with very experienced ops at the helm. It took three hours of chasing, but I finally got a decode, and then a complete contact. In the log!

Older picture, but same 1.5M dish of IS0/HB9COG.         HB9Q Photo

Last up was MU/EA8DBM. Alex took a ferry over to Guernseys Island for another DXCC operation. It seems his dish was finally giving it up after all the rain and wind, so his signal was way down. Alex heard me, but he could tell I was not hearing much back - he graciously switched to Q65-120D and we completed without drama. 

MU/EA8DBM dish looking more than a bit worn.     EA8DBM photo.

Q65-120D to the rescue once again. MU/EA8DBM logged.

23CM EME - Squeezing the Juice

May 25, 2025

The slew drive is a huge improvement, it just works to keep me fully struck by moonbeams. :-) 

After reading how LMR-400/LMR-600 cable deteriorates over time I replaced the very old and suspect LMR-400 jumper at the dish feed with a fresh length of LMR-600 Superflex. The SWR dropped to 1.2:1 and my TX signal was just a tad ( the correct technical term would be modicum) better. 

Fresh 7/8 inch hardline is on the way to replace the 15 year old LMR-600 main transmission line. The bank was kind enough to second mortgage the condo for it. A half db here, a half db there, and it starts to matter. 

On the receive side things just continue to work well. I'm still impressed by the OK1DFV septum feed - I'm pondering adding a choke ring. I worked ON4MU today who also has a 2.4M folding dish but just 150 watts on transmit. Q65-120D to the rescue.

Is the juice worth the squeeze? Sure, why not - the improvements I've made in the last two months have opened a another tier of stations to work - just now, while the moon was at perigee, In the last week I've added nineteen new stations for a total 23cm EME station count of 217.

 

ON4MU in the log. Click on image for hi-res