Antennas, Featured, General, Newsletter

EME Station 2.0 Part 13 – H-Frame Enhancements

Our new 2m EME Antenna System has been performing very well. One area that we noticed that could use improvement was the alignment of our antennas as we move them in the Elevation plane. We’ve added some custom enhancements to our EME H-Frame to address this problem…

Source: EME Station 2.0 Part 13 – H-Frame Enhancements

EME H-Frame – The Problem

Any antenna system that involves large, multiple yagi antennas is bound to need some tweaking to work at its peak potential and to be mechanically reliable. Our recently constructed EME antenna system is no exception. We added some elements to properly balance our EME H-Frame assembly when we put it up.

We found that the antenna tended to change their alignment when we rotated them in the elevation plane. A solution to reduce some of the stress on the fiberglass components in our H-frame was also needed.

The Solution

Custom EME H-Frame Truss Enhancements
Custom H-Frame Truss Enhancements

The solution to these problems was a Custom Truss System that we worked with Matt at XX-Towers and Robert at M2 Antenna Systems to create. We built the new Trusses using non-conductive Phillystran cable and Turnbuckles. The parts were carefully arranged to keep all of the metal components that were added at the center of our antenna array to prevent any impact on the system’s antenna patterns.

We had a 50-foot Boom lift at our QTH recently to enable some upgrades to our Satellite Antennas. We made good use of it to install our EME H-Frame enhancements as well.

This part of our EME Project is a good example solution for some of the typical mechanical problems one encounters when building a large antenna system.

You can see and read more about what we did via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

Digital, Featured, Newsletter, Station Equipment

EME Station 2.0 Part 12 – Station Software

Software is a big part of most current EME stations. The JT65 Protocol, which was created by Joe Taylor, K1JT, has revolutionized EME operations. It has made it possible for modest single and two yagi stations to have fun with EME…

Source: EME Station 2.0 Part 12 – Station Software

Operations using EME or Moonbounce communications is all about software. Every station’s software architecture and configuration is a little different.

2m EME Software Block Diagram - Phase 1
Station Software Block Diagram – Phase 1

We recently put together our software suite for our new 2m EME station. Our setup features multiple JT65b digital decoders, automatic tracking of the Moon, computer logging, and some useful web-based tools that make finding QSOs easier.

EME Software Operating Environment
EME Station Software Operating Environment

Our Phase 1 station configuration is mostly about integrating all of the components in our setup, sorting out operational issues, and learning to use all of the new software and hardware in our new Station.

MAP65 Software
MAP65 Software

Our primary software application is MAP65. This program can decode all of the signals on a given band at the same time. This is very useful during an EME Contest and for finding contacts during day-to-day operations.

You can read all about our software setup for our station via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

Online Technician Class

We held our first Online Technician License Class and Exam Session on September 26th and 27th.  The Nashua Area Radio Society is holding all of our license classes online using Zoom conferencing this fall due to the pandemic.  We are also able to give the Technician Exam to our students at the end of our class.  This has also allowed us to provide our license classes and exams to students across the US.

The online technician class was a success!  All three students earned their Technician License.   We kept this class small as it was our first try at a remote video license exam.

Congratulations to new Hams and License Class Grads:

  • Heather Hunter
  • Barbara Smith
  • Chris Holjes

All three students are now either club members or internet subscribers.

Gordon West Checks In to Technician Class
Gordon West Checks In to Technician Class

We had a surprise visitor on Saturday afternoon of the class as Gordon West, WB6NOA, showed up on Zoom to provide some encouraging words to the prospective new Hams and instructors.

Thanks to our great team of instructors and volunteer examiners who helped to make the class and exam a success:

Our next class will be the General License class, scheduled for October 25th and 26th.  For more information including the link to register for a License Class see https://www.n1fd.org/amateur-radio-license-class/

Anita, AB1QB

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide