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I am very interested in finding anyone in Antarctica who has 6m amateur radio equipment and is capable of operating digital modes. I have contacted 43 countries so far using moonbounce on 6m, and am very eager to work with someone in Antarctica to complete the first ever 6m moonbounce contact when the moon is near your horizon. More information about 6m EME and the new JT65A weak signal digital mode is on my web page at http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj. I had planned on making the first 6m EME contact with EM1U at the Ukranian Antarctic Base, but it turns out to be impossible to coordinate with them via email. Please forward any contact information to the email shown on my website above. Many thanks and 73, Lance W7GJ
Whoa. Hey Mike, wasn’t it a 6m antenna you were trying to put up last summer? Sorry I couldn’t have been more help with that.
W7GJ … I think Mike will have some comments regarding this. Good luck.
Glenn (a.k.a., KC4AAC while I’m here. 20m only for me, sorry)
We got approval this year to work 6m down here. Our problem is equipment. Some of the hams bring down radios with 6m capabilities, but the antennas are another problem. Too big to rig up on a temporary basis down here. It may happen but not soon. W1MRQ has a 2meter eme rig this winter using the jt65 mode and 125 watts. He’s tried it twice. The first time he was able to exchange call signs, the second didn’t work. We have to aim the antenna by hand, so if it’s cloudy we are only guessing on the settings. I can probably put you in touch with him if you do 2m eme. By the way for the rest of you. EME stands for earth moon earth or moonbounce. Ham radio operators make a directional antenna and aim it at the moon. They send a message to the moon, bounce it off the moon back to the earth and hopefully someone on the other side of the earth can decipher it. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
mikeHi Mike. TNX for the info. Yes, the JT65 mode being used by W1MRQ is definitely what is needed for EME. I would appreciate connecting with him to discuss the possibility of working him with something on 6m EME. Unfortunately, 100w is too small for me to work on 6m EME unless he would have a big antenna….I think I could complete a contact with a good computer-optimized 7 element (or larger) antenna and 100w if the feedline loss is low and the ground gain is high. And I believe you would have very good ground gain. I have already worked KC4 on 2m EME when K6MYC was down there a number of years ago. I have also contacted a number of other antarctic bases to see if any of them might have one of the new types of HF+6m amplifiers (such as those from Yaesu, Icom and ACOM). TNX again and VY 73, Lance
I have not found anyone interested in stringing up an antenna for 6m yet, but here is more information and photos of the 2m EME operation of KC4/W1MRQ:
http://home.planet.nl/~pa0jmv/radioRESULTS/stories.htm#kc4
If anyone IS interested in trying 6m EME, some antenna possibilities include rope yagis, rhombics, and more traditional types of Yagi antennas. More about 6m EME, antennas and JT65 mode are on my web page:
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/
Good luck and VY 73, Lance
Hola Mike!
I’ve been active on 20m lately, and will try to be back on around 0100UTC tonight (Saturday my time). I’m not interested in dealing with DXer pile-ups, but if any of your board readers tune in to 14.243 you might occasionally catch me around that time.
Glenn
Using the Palmer Station call sign, KC4AACGlenn, I heard you calling and answered but the band died mid chat. I’m not sure you heard me. Will be up again next week. I’m usually there closer to 0300z. We have a sound card in our computer now and are going to be trying some of the digital modes. It requires building a small interface between the radio and the computer. If you are interested I”ll send you more details.
mikeHello Mike,
If you can get an interface together so you can operate the new JT65A mode (weak signal digital mode), you will be halfway there! Last weekend I worked VA6SZ on 6m EME during his moonset, and he was using only 75w. However, he WAS using an M2 yagi with a 40′ boom. Last night I copied IK5MEN at a JT65A signal level of -17 dB (about 15 dB above the background noise), which would have still provided a decodable signal if he had been 10 or 11 dB weaker (with 100w). He was only using a 5 element yagi (20′ long boom)! I know it is hard to find materials to construct antennas down there, but possible a rope yagi like that used by AA7A would do it! Anyway, please keep me posted regarding your progress with JT65A! GL and VY 73, Lance
Ernie is planning on operating again once the moon comes up on the 20th. He’ll be on 2m only. The hamshack only has hf and a low power vhf rig. I think Ernie has 6M on his radio so he would be your best be. In fact he probably has the only 6m radio on this end of antarctica. Stringing antennas here is also a problem because we have to go across roads. We can’t get them high enough that the heavy equipment loaders don’t hit them. One of these days we may figure it out but it’s not going to be happening soon.
mike
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