ARRL EME CONTEST 2020 - second leg - 1296 MHz

I tied 52 QSOs in the first round of the ARRL EME contest. For the second round in November, I made a few minor adjustments to the septum feed, which I extended on the ascent by a square-circle transition and used the circular output for the second mode as calculated for W2IMU. This put me at a Sun Noise value of 11dB/CSN. As I'm on a time slide with the construction of the 8m offset dish, I also used a 260cm offset dish for the second round. The assembly used was therefore dish 260cm, 500W RF on feed and G4DDK VLNA 0,2dB N/F. Right at the start of the contest I managed to connect with CE3VRT which was the new country DXCC #116 and also the new JT init.  Alejandro uses 180cm dish and 50W on the feed. Conditions seemed good during the contest. However, there was a signal in the moon overhead due to the librations as well as in the 23-cm spread 50-70 Hz. In the second round, I tied another 84 QSOs and ended up with a score of 136 QSOs for the entire contest. I was very surprised by the activity from the US this year, working with many new stations. The Gene KB7Q, with his new 180cm and 300W power antenna, was a multiplier from Montana, a rare WAS state. The contest brought me a total of 18 new JT initials and 2 new CW initials. One connection to LX1DB was SSB 57/59. By next year, I'll hopefully be a QRV with a new antenna. I wish everyone a peaceful Christmas and I look forward to hearing from via Moon. Worked in second round were:

DATE TIME CALLSIGN TX RX MODE REMARKS
28/11/2020 00:03 CE3VRT -25 -28 JT65C #392 JT - #116 DXCC
28/11/2020 00:13 G4CCH -7 -9 JT65C  
28/11/2020 00:23 KB7Q -25 O JT65C #393 JT
28/11/2020 00:47 PA0PLY -9 -11 JT65C  
28/11/2020 01:13 G3LTF 569 569 CW  
28/11/2020 01:16 W4OP 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 01:26 LZ2US 559 569 CW  
28/11/2020 01:31 G4CCH 559 569 CW  
28/11/2020 01:39 WK9P O RO CW  
28/11/2020 01:56 W3CJK O RO JT65C  
28/11/2020 15:32 SM5DGX -7 -5 JT65C  
28/11/2020 15:51 YO2LEL -18 -15 JT65C  
28/11/2020 16:05 RD4D -1 -5 JT65C  
28/11/2020 16:22 PA3DZL -6 O JT65C  
28/11/2020 16:53 SM6CKU -3 -5 JT65C  
28/11/2020 17:19 DG5CST 579 569 CW  
28/11/2020 17:41 SM4GGC -12 -9 JT65C  
28/11/2020 17:52 GM0PJD -20 -13 JT65C  
28/11/2020 17:58 F1RJ -10 -9 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:11 RX6AIA -20 10 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:12 I5YDI -20 -19 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:18 OK1YK -5 -10 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:24 G4FQI -2 -08 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:31 PA3CSG -13 -1 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:47 DF2VJ -20 -10 JT65C  
28/11/2020 18:50 F5FEN 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:00 OZ4MM 599 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:08 IK1FJI O 549 CW  
28/11/2020 19:14 SP7DCS 559 579 CW  
28/11/2020 19:24 OK1KKD 579 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:31 IK3COJ 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:41 ON5GS 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:48 RA3EME 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 19:55 DL6SH 559 559 CW  
28/11/2020 20:06 SP3XBO O 559 CW  
28/11/2020 20:24 4O6AH -24 -24 JT65C #394 JT
28/11/2020 20:32 PE1LWT -14 -18 JT65C  
28/11/2020 20:37 OK1KIR -1 -1 JT65C  
28/11/2020 20:45 IW5BHY -15 O JT65C  
28/11/2020 21:01 RD9SAC -20 -15 JT65C  
28/11/2020 22:00 IK5QLO -18 O JT65C  
28/11/2020 22:07 DL1SUZ -22 -17 JT65C  
28/11/2020 22:25 PH0V -19 O JT65C #395 JT
28/11/2020 22:58 G4ALH -25 O JT65C #396 JT
28/11/2020 23:05 DL7AID -18 16 JT65C #397 JT
28/11/2020 23:36 ON4BCV -29 -22 JT65C  
28/11/2020 23:52 GM4PMK -16 -12 JT65C  
29/11/2020 00:12 KD5FZX -1 -3 JT65C  
29/11/2020 00:25 W1PV -11 -15 JT65C  
29/11/2020 00:35 VE3NXK -18 -22 JT65C  
29/11/2020 00:44 WA3GFZ -20 O JT65C  
29/11/2020 00:49 UA6AH -19 O JT65C #398 JT
29/11/2020 01:11 NC1I -1 -6 JT65C  
29/11/2020 01:48 W3HMS -18 -19 JT65C  
29/11/2020 02:02 KW7MM -12 -16 JT65C #399 JT
29/11/2020 02:21 F2CT 559 559 CW  
29/11/2020 02:44 I5MPK O RO CW  
29/11/2020 03:05 DL7YC -8 -7 JT65C  
29/11/2020 03:20 LU1CGB -19 -16 JT65C  
29/11/2020 03:32 AA6I -11 -13 JT65C #400 JT
29/11/2020 16:03 VK6KCC -18 O JT65C #401 JT
29/11/2020 16:15 IK3MAC 559 559 CW  
29/11/2020 16:30 DG8NCO -17 -15 JT65C #402 JT
29/11/2020 16:37 DL0SHF 579 569 JT65C  
29/11/2020 16:46 KL6M 579 559 JT65C  
29/11/2020 16:55 OK1IL -10 -15 JT65C  
29/11/2020 16:59 OK1CS 559 559 CW  
29/11/2020 17:02 DL4DTU -15 -09 JT65C  
29/11/2020 17:11 SP2SCQ -21  O JT65C #403 JT
29/11/2020 17:16 G4DDK -17 -13 JT65C  
29/11/2020 17:35 9A5AA 539 549 CW  
29/11/2020 18:48 F6CGJ 579 559 JT65C  
29/11/2020 19:08 IK3MAC 599 569 CW  
29/11/2020 19:15 DJ3JJ -19 -10 JT65C  
29/11/2020 19:23 DJ3JJ 539 559 CW  
29/11/2020 19:42 LX1DB 58 59 SSB  
29/11/2020 20:16 G4RGK RO O JT65C  
29/11/2020 20:58 IK2MMB -8 -6 JT65C  
29/11/2020 21:18 RA2FGG -10 -15 JT65C  
29/11/2020 21:25 OK1USW -7 -18 JT65C #404 JT
29/11/2020 21:40 G7TZZ -17 -16 JT65C  
29/11/2020 21:55 DL1DWI -22 O JT65C  
29/11/2020 22:12 UB4UAA -6 O JT65C #405 JT
29/11/2020 22:21 OE5JFL 579 579 CW  
29/11/2020 23:48 IW3HVB O RO CW # 447
29/11/2020 23:58 N8CQ 559 539 CW  

 

ARRL EME CONTEST 2020 - first leg - 1296 MHz
In the first round of this year's EME ARRL I was a QRV with a parabolic dish offset of 2.6m diameter. For the contest I made a new collar for the septum feed, which I have been using since 2000. New dish has F/D 0,6. Because I had finished making the feed just before the start of contest, there was no time for any experimentation and positioning. The next days after the contest, I saw the feeds and optimized the feed itself by having the SWR feed at -36dB and hearing my own -16dB reflections back. S/CS is 10dB. I look forward to round two in the November. Worked in first round were:

DATE TIME CALLSIGN TX RX MODE REMARKS
10/10/2020 00:13 PA3FXB -20 -17 JT65C  
10/10/2020 01:01 RA3AUB -14 -18 JT65C  
10/10/2020 01:09 PA0PLY -16 -14 JT65C  
10/10/2020 01:15 RA3EME -9 -18 JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:19 SP5GDM -16 -15 JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:23 HB9Q -1 -4 JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:29 ES6FX R-13 -17 JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:44 DK3WG R-19 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:45 IK5VLS R-25 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 06:54 UA3PTW -06 R-06 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:00 OK2DL -03 R-09 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:04 F1RJ -22 R-14 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:08 LZ1DX -12 -12 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:14 DL7UDA -18 R-15 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:18 DF3RU -10 R-08 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:22 DL4DTU -13 -18 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:31 UA9FAD -22 R-14 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:39 RA4HL -17 R-12 JT65C  
10/10/2020 07:54 DJ2DY -23 R-17 JT65C  
10/10/2020 08:21 ON4QQ -20 R-13 JT65C  
10/10/2020 08:33 YL2GD -22 -14 JT65C  
10/10/2020 08:39 LZ4OC -20 -15 JT65C  
10/10/2020 08:49 KA1GT -18 -11 JT65C  
10/10/2020 09:08 DF2GB -16 R-16 JT65C  
10/10/2020 09:15 UA4AAV -11 -10 JT65C  
10/10/2020 09:32 K2UYH -08 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 10:20 KD3UY -22 20 JT65C  
10/10/2020 11:28 VA7MM -18 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 11:42 KN0WS -28 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 11:51 K7CA -15 -20 JT65C  
10/10/2020 12:04 W6YX -12 -13 JT65C  
10/10/2020 12:13 K5DOG -15 O JT65C  
10/10/2020 23:27 OK1UGA -21 O JT65C #376 JT
10/10/2020 23:48 OH1LRY -24 -17 JT65C  
11/10/2020 00:18 SM4IVE 579 529 CW  
11/10/2020 00:26 JA6AHB -20 -13 JT65C  
11/10/2020 00:52 DL3EBJ -15 R-10 JT65C  
11/10/2020 06:10 G7TZZ -17 R-21 JT65C #377 JT
11/10/2020 06:22 RN6MA -22 -21 JT65C  
11/10/2020 06:34 DL6SH -14 -12 JT65C  
11/10/2020 07:13 UA4LCF -23 -20 JT65C  
11/10/2020 07:27 ES3RF -22 -20 JT65C  
11/10/2020 08:12 AA4MD -13 -15 JT65C  
11/10/2020 08:30 NC1I -4 -14 JT65C  
11/10/2020 09:43 CX2SC -16 R-24 JT65C #378 JT
11/10/2020 10:44 IK7UXW -26 -28 JT65C #379 JT
11/10/2020 11:03 N5BF -15 -15 JT65C  
11/10/2020 11:15 WA3RGQ -13 -17 JT65C  
11/10/2020 12:23 OK2ULQ -16 -14 JT65C  
11/10/2020 12:40 VE3KRP -22 -14 JT65C