DF9CY Christoph Petermann

At moonrise on 10 December 2011 our "trabant" was totally eclipsed and against all expectations it was very clear down to the horizon. While joining at a meeting of our local astronomy club we had the chance of observing the end of the eclipse. Here is an image of the partially eclipsed moon.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

In my Astrophoto section you find a few new images of the Moon and Jupiter. I cannot explain why, but they are somewhat unsharp. I have checked the collimation of the scope before taking the images and found it OK. Have a look nevertheless ...

Posted by Christoph Petermann

432 MHz
16 November 2011 Heard GB3ANG (IO86) beacon and OY3BEC (IP62) beacon - no humans ...
10 November 2011 Worked OH5LK (KP30) over a 1224km path, OH1ND (KP00) and SM6CCO (JO78) new#. Heard was R1AX (KO59) at almost 1450km.

144 MHz
16 November 2011 Copied GB3ANG (IO86) beacon quite strong, but there was no activity at all.
11 November 2011 YL3AG (KO06) in log ...
10 November 2011 Big tropo opening. Worked OH2K (KP20) and OH1ND (KP00). Hrd RA1AWK, OH5LK and more.
5/6 November 2011 Marconi Memorial Contest ... I worked 32 station which I picked out of the noise. Best DX was 802km into OM. Very nice as that is my worst direction.
1 November 2011 I heard some Aurora and listened in the NAC. Conditions were a bit up to SM4 and SM5 which I could hear. I did not work anyone, as I was busy with other things.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

432 MHz
1/2 October 2011 I worked some 20 stations in the UHF contest this weekend. An ODX of 550km with my 10w and the small antenna is not bad ... but I heard stations from southern Switzerland and Northern Italy!

Posted by Christoph Petermann

The night of 29 September was very clear and I took the chance for some astrophotos. So I came to the best M31 Andromeda galaxy I ever imaged. Have a look for more, go here.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

432 MHz
28 September 2011 A lot of beacons were audible. A very strong SK6DP was worked.

144 MHz
28 September 2011 Very strong tropo opening - "Altweibersommer" / "Indian Summer". Worked France, England and a row of SP (Poland) stations.
26 September 2011 Strong aurora signals heard and worked a number of stations.

50 MHz
28 September 2011 Beacon signals indicated a strong tropo opening - no humans heard.
26 September 2011 Some contacts were made during a short but very strong Aurora.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

50 MHz
.. 22 August 2011 I caught a few small Es openings and worked some stations. Nothing special.
6 August 2011 Just after midnight I realized, that a strong aurora was going on. I worked a few stations. After breakfast I worked OH5LID in KP37 via MS. Later I caught OH5LID in KP55 which is a new grid for me. And I worked about 30 stations from UR, OH, YO and SP.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

In the early hours today (6 August) I was able to take a few images of the aurora display. We had a very calm and clear night, but it was very humid. You will find the images here.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

144 MHz
30 July 2011 Oh yes another Es opening. The reflection point was quite far so the only station heard and worked was:
15:59 LZ1KJ KN31cj 1880 km
13 July 2011 The reflection point of the opening in the evening was too close. I was not able to hear anything.
06 July 2011 My first SporadicE on 2m this year. Signals were strong but there were not many:
17:25 UA3WM 59 59 KO72QI 1687km (worked with 5watts)
17:32 RL3QDD 59 59 KO91OC 1982km (worked with 5watts)
18:18 UA3PTW 599 599 KO93BS 1820km #
18:25 UA3RN 599 599 LO03VK 2063km
I had problems with my amplifier which went into a [fault] state. So the first QSOs were made with the drive power of 5w.

50 MHz
31 July 2011 ST0R South Sudan expedition heard quite well, but I was not able to work them.
.. 29 July 2011 I made a number of QSOs but there was nothing special. The openings I experienced were all within Europe. AND it has been very calm on the band; very unusual for this time of the year.
18 July 2011 Is the season already declining ? It seems like this. I have been listening around thoughout the last days and i did not hear many stations. More south from here opening happen more often. It stayed very calm here on the band and only a few stations were worked.
13 July 2011 I had an ear for some real DX. The D4C beacon was strong for a long time and I waited for Caribeans - nothing. SV2ASP/a was in but very weak.
06 July 2011 Several Scottish stations were worked. Band was open in many directions.
03 July 2011 Not much time for radio. In the evening I copied NP4A and PJ6D with very good signals. Later the D4C beacon was loud again and 5C12M (CN) was a getaway.
02 July 2011 A45XR and A92GE in again with very good signals. SV5/G0TSM (KM36) is new. D4C/b is in early for hours now (09.50). CU3URA/b coming up (09.50). But after 11.00 the band died down.
01 July 2011 Worked A45XR (LL93) with fb signals. And A92GR was worked too. Big opening all over Europe and I got a few more stations. All evening the D4C beacon was in and I have been listening for some "exotic" DX. WP4U was heard strong.

7 MHz WSPR
.. 29 July 2011 Running here since 20 July again. Activity is low, but propagation good.

Posted by Christoph Petermann

Oh yes, after a long while I set up my small telescope and the camera to take a few images. I spent some time outside in the night (26 July) until clouds swept in. You can see the results here.

Posted by Christoph Petermann