A new 10-GHz Earth-Moon-Earth (EME or moon bounce) world record has been set. On September 9, Rex Moncur, VK7MO, and Jim Malone, WA3LBI, completed a 18,949.4-kilometer contact using QRA64D. This extends by approximately 600 kilometers the previous world record of 18,337 kilometers held by DL7FJ and ZL1GSG, who used CW.
The participants said the key was to find locations with nearly 0° take-off, which essentially means across water. VK7MO operated from OF76nk at Meelup in Western Australia; WA3LBI operated from FM28io in Delaware. Both stations operated portable. Coincidentally, “Meelup” is an aboriginal word meaning “place of the rising Moon.”
VK7MO ran 50 W to a 1.13-meter dish using linear polarization. WA3LBI ran about 125 W to a 2.4-meter dish, RKI feed by Bert Moderman, circular polarization, mounted on a trailer. The loss in going from linear to circular polarization was somewhat less than the expected 3 dB, due to depolarization at the Moon surface (probably around 2 dB).
The time was chosen to maximize the Moon window when spreading was low at 34 Hz and lunar degradation low at 0.8 dB.
WA3LBI was first decoded at –23 dB at 1317 UTC when ground noise would be an issue, as the Moon was at 0° and only partially visible. His signal later peaked at –19 dB, when the elevation was around 2° at VK7MO. In addition to the basic contact requirements, some text messages celebrating the record were also exchanged.
Afterward, VK7MO worked Al Ward, W5LUA, with strong signals up to –14 dB, followed by a second contact with WA3LBI, whose signal peaked at –17 dB and dropped to –23 dB at 1353 when WA3LBI lost the Moon.
Source:ARRL
Equipment
Stryker SR-94 HPC – “Coming Soon”
Stryker SR-94 HPC FULL Featured Radio! 45+ Watts PEP AM / FM 10 & 12 Meters PC Programmable CTCSS / Rep Offsets MIC / RF Gain Controls RF Power Hi... Read more
Ray Novak, N9JA – Icom America – Manufacturers Showcase
“We are live with Ray Novak, N9JA, Sales manager of ICOM America with Tim, K3LR. What questions do you have for Ray?” Read more
KX-QRP 2nd Look – Elecraft KX2 or KX3
The KX-QRP 2nd L👀K is an accessory for use with the Elecraft KX2 or KX3 Radios. These radios have the ability to decode RTTY, PSK and CW signals (with... Read more
GEK SSB HF Transceiver
Project by N.Ganesan & I.Arun Silver series (Low range) for Beginners Gold series (Mid range) for Amateurs Diamond series (High range) for Profess... Read more
100KHz-1.7GHz Full Band UV HF RTL-SDR USB Tuner Receiver/ R820T+8232
Description: WHAT IS SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO (SDR)? In traditional hardware radios, the mathematical operations required to decode and proces... Read more
Digital Modes
The Ultimate Portable Ham Radio Computer
Hello Operators. In this episode of the OH8STN ham radio, we are discussing replacing the raspberry pi field computer build, with the Microsoft Surfac... Read more
Get Started with FT8 – An Introduction for Beginners
FT8 is a mode in the WSJT-X software developed by Dr Joe Taylor K1JT. In this video I show how to get started and make contacts with FT8, introduction... Read more
WSJT-X Version 2.5.1 has been Released
The WSJT-X development team has announced the general availability release of WSJT-X version 2.5.1. This release mainly contains i... Read more
WSJT-X Errors? Try This Simple Fix
Does WSJT-X display errors when you transmit with your radio? Try this simple fix which has helped me get rid of those frustrating errors. Read more
WSJT-X version 2.5.1 released
WSJT-X version 2.5.1 releasedThe development team have announced the General Availability (GA) release of WSJT-X version 2.5.1. This release mainly co... Read more
Antenna
Inflatable Satellite Antenna
Inflatable Satellite Antenna GATR 2.4m Inflatable Ku & C Band Satellite Antenna VSAT Satcom Deployable Up for auction is an GATR 2.4m inflatable a... Read more
You are using the WRONG toroid for an EFHW Antenna, Maybe!
Did you know, not all Toroids are created the same? They may look the same, but there is one big difference! UPDATE: I’m sorry, in the video I w... Read more
7 BAND HF COBWEB ANTENNA – 1 KW
COBWEB ANTENNA Multiband cobweb antenna works on 7 HF bands and up to 1000w. Bands are 14,18,21,24,28,50,70 MHz Built and modified by me for my friend... Read more
DIAMOND HF MOBILE “CL” SERIES ANTENNAS
The Diamond HF Mobile “CL” Series Antennas are a bit special. Centre Loafing is claomed to be superior to base loafing. Peter G3OJV, tests... Read more
Diamond D3000N Super Discone Ultra-Wideband Antenna
“In this video we cover the assembly, installation and testing of the 3000N Discone for use on an SDR and home scanner.” Ultra-wideband de... Read more
Review
Venus Technologies SW-3B QRP CW Transceiver Review
Looking at the Venus Technologies SW-3B QRP CW Transceiver for 20/30/40 meters. Dimensions: 104*71*25mm (excluding the protruding part such as kn... Read more
Stellar x2 vs RE20 vs RE27ND Microphone Review
“We compare the Stellar x2 vs RE27 vs RE20 from Electrovoice. I was amazed with this Microphone and as soon as the new Mixer arrives, we’l... Read more
Stay away from cheap coax
A viewer asks about some inexpensive coax they found online. Is it any good? We talk about that and why you may want to stay away from cable that has... Read more
XIEGU G106 – First Look at this New HF Transceiver
XIEGU G106 Xiegu keep themselves pretty busy developing cost effective QRP transceivers. This new model is a replacement for the G1M. Peter G3OJV gets... Read more
Battery Powered Automatic Antenna Tuner, 100 Watt Max, Portable Ham Radio Tuner Review/Demo
“Here is a small $100 portable battery powered ham radio antenna tuner, which deserves a review. I have it connected to my Icom IC-705 but you c... Read more