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432 MHz log	1296 MHz log		2320 MHz log
10/06/2011 Hello lunatics, when these lines are typed onboard the ferry ‘MV Lisco Optima’ on the route from Klaipeda to Kiel , LY/DL1YMK is QRT. On Monday morning two additional JT65B contacts with OK1KIR and PA3DZL on 70 cm have been completed, although the dish was rocked by heavy gusts. The stressed dish was knocked down around Monday noon time, during hot and very high winds, which made the dismantling unexpectedly difficult, while the plain sun was cooking our brains causing some sun-burn. When the wind calmed down in the late afternoon, all the bits and pieces from the barn had to be stuffed in the SUV again, the mosquitoes came back challenged their part of the score….. The hub of the stressed dish was damaged by the gusts, but can be repaired …for a new DXpedition (perhaps we’ll do it again, but only with better accommodation, hi!) The working condition were somewhat more difficult than anticipated, due to the soft mains supply, as only a thin 2-wire cable for one phase was run for kilometers to the YL-border in a kind of deadlock stub. Also, during the first three days of operation, sitting in a well-ventilated barn at night time without any lamp light at 5 °C with dew on all equipment is no real fun, but this location was the only acceptable compromise for a somewhat favorable moon window. When the OP was just shivering too much, some additional dots escaped the key now and then….sri. As a summary we can state that for the 8^th time in sequence we have brought a new DXCC over the moon for a significant number of takers, without any major technical failures (only an isolation SMA-relay in an LNA ceased to work, when getting operated for a prolonged period of time, the LNA was substituted by a spare one). In total we made 150 QSO’ s on three bands during 7 days of operation, resulting in 119 initials, the very first contact from LY made on 23 cm by our good friend Lars, SM4IVE. The score splits up as follows: *70 cm – 24 QSO´s, 22 # in 15 DXCC; 23cm – 92 QSO´s, 67 # in 27 DXCC´s; 13 cm – 34 QSO´s, 30 # in 19 DXCC´s.* The complete log will be published on Zdenek’s website, once it has been hacked into the computer. Most QSO´s were completely random, only a handful of skeds was made for smaller stations in order to provide them also a new DXCC. For the same reason, we made some JT-contacts. As it was very complicated at the site to get internet access for mail exchange, some stations, who previously had asked for JT-skeds, were just worked randomly in CW without problem. As we did not disclose the callsign, nor the destination in advance, we provided two days of extreme fun in deciphering the XX-call by only the radio way. Meanwhile, we’ve got several comments, stating that this was the ’real and true’ EME-fun. A warm thanks to all takers, who gave us their attention at night time, when other people just lay snuggling in their beds. This is what keeps us going! CU from XX off the moon in 2012 ?? 73/88 de M & M - team



		Pictures from left to right and down Pic1; Dish pointing westwards in the willow tree Pic2: Barn with dish at moonrise Pic3: M&M in the kitchen Pic4: M&M in the windy and cold shack Pic5: Typical Lithuanian landscape Pic6: Dish on 13 cm Pic7: Dish with holiday house in the background
03/06/2011 Hello lunatics, finally we have found an internet cafe (this time in contrary to R2 with coffee, hi) in a town (Palanga) some 20 km from our QTH, which is in Lithuania just at the border to Latvia (only 200 m away). On the sandy beaches we have already walked into Latvia (it’s no fun being an illegal alien….)! In the internet café we’ll try to upload this report and a few new photos (with low size for better transmitting) for the nice website hosted by OK1DFC (thank you again, Zdenek!!). From our QTH we have limited internet access with a smart phone, only sufficient for short mails, the roaming costs are horrend. After having sent the first report, we additionally worked on Sunday, 29.5., on 13 cm K2UYH. Today we added on 13 cm JA4BLC (on the Japanese band with a new converter directly into an SDR, just finished before setting out for the DXpedition), DL4MEA, DF9QX, G4CCH (dupe, nice signal again, Howard), OK1KIR, PA3DZL, G4BAO, G4DDK (last 4 in JT), VE6TA, OK1KIR (dupe), WD5AGO, G3LQR, W5LUA. Sorry for those we missed, when we lost the moon in the tree… Besides 23 and 13 cm, we were also able to bring LY on 70 cm over the Moon. On Monday, 30.05., we worked OZ4MM, OK1DFC, DL9KR, UA3PTW, I1NDP, PA3CSG, DK3WG, G4RGK, K2UYH, F2TU, G4YTL and WA6PY. The conditions were somewhat strange, as we received better reports and weak, own echoes, after we turned the feed to vertical polarisation. We started with horizontal pol. and only the dish-guys were able to copy. Even DL9KR gave us an “O” – report initially. After turning the feed on our side to vert. pol. we received “559” from Jan. Obviously ole Faraday played some tricks on us….. So we are not sure, what to do for tomorrow, 03.06., on the second day for 70 cm. We intend to start on our side with vert., but will turn the feed, if the signals are too week. So if we seem to have low copy, please try it again later! On Tuesday, 31.05., we had to tie down the dish, because of heavy gusty winds with hot, dry air from South. From 5 deg C the nights before in our unheated (of course!!) barn we suddenly had 28 deg in plain sunshine. The weather report said, the gusts reached 7 Bft. The dish survived with minor damages, only a few wires were broken, as the dish still was rocking considerably in the wind. Because of bad weather forecast at VK3UM for the next weekend, we made an additional activity in his moon window on Wednesday (1.6.) morning on 70 and 23 cm, changing the feeds and the station quickly in between. On 70 cm unfortunately we had no chance whatsoever, the rising sun was just too noisy, but on 23 cm we were successful and worked not only Doug, VK3UM, but also OZ6OL, ON7UN, ON4BCB and LZ1DX, after we had given notice of the additional activity slot via the moon reflector. Thanks guys for showing up, this makes the DXpedition exciting! Lithuania is part of the EU, but one of the poorest countries with high unemployment rate. On plain countryside many houses are abandoned or in very poor condition. The towns, which we have seen so far, are busy and full of tourists, especially at the coastlines of the Baltic Sea with its nice, sandy beaches. Many regions exhibit a totally untouched nature with grasslands, forest, lakes and swampland, giving home to a huge number of birds and other animals. Our lonely holiday cottage would have been a dream for radio amateurs - if the wires for the mains supply would have been just a bit thicker. So the HPA’s don’t get enough input power, when the AC is breaking down to from 233 V to miserable 190 V, hi. The SMPS cure a lot of that misfortune, but if there is more current drawn, the mains voltage drops even further – closed loop regulation….This is the reason, why we don’t use the electric heater, which our nice host Elena provided us after the first cold nights in the barn – this would again minimise our output level…… Better suffering from cold, clumsy fingers than producing even less output power, hi. During keying the light in the house is flickering in the rhythms of the CW, but we are alone in the house, so no third party complaints, hi. After the wind has turned to North and significantly calmed down, the forecasts for the weekend and the DUBUS contest are pretty good: only low winds and temperatures around 15 deg at daytime and 10 deg nighttimes. So we hope to make additional QSOs on 23 cm in these two days. The window to the West is very limited (this was the only acceptable compromise), but it should be possible to work all interested US stations, if they are just a bit early. See the daily times for our moon set behind the willow tree in the moon reflector! Cu off the moon!!!!!! Vy 73, de M&M

		LY/DL1YMK received on 30th of May 2011 - 432,045 MHz by OK1DFC 1st top left - pile up during CQ of DL1YMK, stations calling over him 2nd left down - DL1YMK peeking 15dB over noise during CQ V-pol 3rd right top - SAME CQ but with H pol.
Hi all, New Info on window to West: window closes 30th at 1300 UT, on 02.06. At 1520 UT, on 03.06. At 1620 UT, on 04.06. At 1720 UT, ans 05.06. At 1820 UT. We have to cancel all skeds outside these windows...obsolete willow @#$! 73 de. M & M*
*29/05/2011* Hello lunatics, OK1DFC is again so kind to support our DXpedtion with a site on his homepage, so a BIG thank you to our good friend Zdenek! We have only limited internet access on our own, so our host, a nice retired lady named Elena, will hopefully give us today the opportunity to write a report and to send some photos by her internet access. The conditions are somewhat difficult, as we couldn’t set up the dish near the house due to many huge trees around. So Elena granted us the possibility to use the old barn as our shack, which is in use for wood storage and not for living and of course unheated, but free of trees in most directions. Only to the West a huge willow tree limits the window to US, sorry, but this was the only possibility to get qrv from here. The electric current is limited, also in the house (the light gets dark, if the water pump starts, hi), but in the barn we get the AC via an extension cable and we have to reduce the output of the PA´s…if it weren’t for SMPS there probably would be no operation…but even the 2kW supply for the 13cm HPA gets angry by time… The former farm is situated very lonely, next neighbour is in a 2 km distance – a dream for every radio amateur. This was one of the reasons why we got the commercial license, as the output for radio amateurs on UHF/SHF is limited in LY. We have a temporary commercial radio license to be able to produce enough power for echoes from the moon- they probably would be better with more current in the socket, hi! Weather is not too bad, but windy, as always during our DXpedtions, hi, with heavy gusts (not really unexpected as we are 200 m away from the waterfront…), which forced us yesterday to stop working just after the window to US opened. We only worked K1RQG, it again was a pleasure, Joe! Some signals were hard to copy as the wind gusts kept on rocking the dish. On the first day on 23 cm we worked: SM4IVE (559/539), OK2DL (559/539), UA3PTW (539/549), HB9BBD (579/579), OK1KIR (559/549), JA4BLC (539/449), OZ4MM (569/559), SP6JLW (559/o), PA3CSG (559/559), OH2DG (559/549), G4CCH (559/549), DJ9YW (449/449), SM3AKW (539/449), SM4DHN (559/559), PA0BAT (539/539), SM2CEW (539/539), IK3COJ (ro/o), G4RGK (ro/o), IZ1DPN (559/559), ES5PC (549/549), S59DCD (549/549), PY2BS (559/559) fantastic Bruce, only station from SA!, K1RQG (569/559), ES6RQ (559/559), stopped 0945 UT as we didn´t want to risk the dish before having activated all 3 bands! In the late evening the wind calmed down and we changed the feed and the station in the barn to 13 cm. We started at 0400 local time without breakfast (this saves 30 min sleep, hi) and it was very easy to find the moon, as we had reasonable echoes, despite limited power. So we worked: OK1CA (559/559), ES5PC (559/559), OK1KIR (ro/o), SP6OPN (569/569), SM4IVE (539/539), Lars, what a real surprise to hear you also on 13 cm, fantastic!!, OH2DG (559/559), OZ4MM (559/559), CT1DMK (559/559) – Luis, you were so right to ask for the call, how could you know from the echoe tests, hi, PA0BAT (539/539), G4CCH (559/569), SM4DHN (559/559), F2TU (569/559), PY2BS (559/539), SM2CEW (539/559), LZ1DX (539/559), SM3AKW (559/559) and at the time of writing still going on… As we learned in Örebro a purely random operation is big fun for all – so here is another opportunity! But please be patient with a deaf operator (-6dB on left ear ;-) and his clumsy fingers – the keying at 5 degr C in the early morning in an ‘open air’ session makes you feel your bones are getting older….Hang on, we surely will do, we’ve got no choice. *73 / 88 de M & M*

*2. the shack in the barn with Michael operating*		*1. the dish besides the barn*

*3. Monika with our host Elena in front of the dish, which is fixed due to the high winds*
*23/05/2011* Hi gents, this is to remind you of the oncoming XX/DL1YMK 2011 DXpedition. We hope to be QRV on 23cm at first on 28th of May. As in the past years this is meant to be a truely random event. In order not to diminish the fun for others, please do not reveal the actual callsign in clusters, chats etc. in case you’ve already worked us. However, if your station is small and you feel more comfortable with arranging a sked with us, then feel free to drop us a line by email to make a proposal in accordance with the preliminary band schedule published on this reflector earlier. The email inbox will be last checked on Tuesday night, 24th of May. Thereafter, email communication might be disrupted or sporadic at best, as we expect to have no (continuous??) internet access on the site. This year, the DXpedition site is again more prone to weather imponderabilities, so expect unforeseen incidents – we do at least ;-)) *73/88 de M & M - team*
*01/05/2011* Hello fellow-EME´s, as announced earlier this year, we will set out for our next EME Dxpedition end of May. We need 3 days for transfer and for installing the station set-up, so we intend to start operation, provided all goes smooth, on Saturday, 28^th May with 23 cm, wheather permitting. As the country, which we want to activate, has very limited power limits for amateur radio, the telecommunication authority proposed to apply for a temporary commercial radio licence in order to be allowed for enough power for EME (which we needed to pay for, of course). So we will be active with our “normal” signal strength, hopefully providing a new country for you over the moon! As in the previous years we don´t announce the assigned callsign in beforehand to increase the fun for all interested hams in the first days of operation. We hope to have excellent moon windows from Australia and Japan (this time we have also equipment for the Japanese frequency on 13 cm with us!!) to the States and Canada, so all, who want to work us should be able to do so. Due to problems with our available days for holiday this year, the operation is limited to 9 days ending with the participation in the 23 cm DUBUS contest on 4^th and 5^th June. Here is the detailed schedule for the 3 bands (the entity unfortunately refused to issue a license for amateur radio on 9 cm): all times given in UTC! Sa 28^th May starting 0030, ending 1300 on 23 cm Su 29^th May starting 0100, ending 1400 on 13 cm Mo 30^th May starting 0130, ending 1600 on 70 cm Tue and Wed free for sightseeing, if the activation of the 3 bands was succesfull, otherwise we would be actice also these 2 days Thu 2^nd June starting 0300, ending 2000 on 13 cm (it is a bank holiday in Europe, so Europeans get up from your cosy beds...!) Fri 3^rd June starting 0400, ending 2000 on 70 cm Sa 4^th June starting 0500, ending 2020 on 23 cm (DUBUS) So 5^th June starting 0630, ending 2100 on 23 cm (DUBUS) Frequencies we intend to use: 432.045 MHz, 1296.045 MHz, 2320.100 MHz RX/TX (only RX 2301.975, 2304.100 and 2424.100 MHz). Like in R2 we will have SDR on all bands, so please spread out a little, especially the big guns, which are easy to ‘see’ on the waterfall display. *CU off the moon, vy 73 de M & M - team*