Tag Archives: EME

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

Digital, Featured, General, Newsletter, Space, Station Equipment

EME Station 2.0 Part 11 – EME Station Hardware In Shack

Now that our 2m EME Antenna Array is fully installed, we have turned our attention to the set up the EME Station Hardware in our Shack. Our plan is to do a mix of JT65 Digital and CW operation with our 2m EME…

Source: EME Station 2.0 Part 11 – Station Hardware In Shack

EME Station Block Diagram - Phase 1
AB1OC-AB1QB 2m EME Station Block Diagram – Phase 1

We’ve created a Phase I Architecture that uses an SDR Dongle and manual selection of Receive Polarity via a switch. We also added a receive splitter and a Transmit/Receive relay in front of an Icom IC-9700 Transceiver which is dedicated to our EME setup to enable both the MAP65 and WSJT10 Software Decoders to operate simultaneously.

This approach has some significant advantages when conditions are poor as one of either MAP65 or WSJT10 will often decode a marginal signal when the other will not.

Special Transmit/Receive hardware was created and added to the sequencing system in our EME station to permit the simultaneous operation of two separate receivers and software decoders for JT65.

The article also covers the installation of a Reference Locking Board in the IC-9700 which allows the IC-9700 to be frequency locked to a clock derived from GPS Satellites.

You can read all about the setup of our EME Station Hardware via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

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