Fault in the 23cm Antenna System.

There seems to be a fault in my temporary 23cm antenna system.

The signal disappears intermittently, and I suspect a fault in the connector for the cable bypassing the rotator. I have ordered better cables and N-connectors, so as soon as possible that cable should be replaced. Another option could be intermittent voltage to the preamplifier from the radio (IC9700), but the cable/connector fault is the most likely.

I will need to get some assistance from some local ham(s), as the antenna should be mounted about 2m higher, still in a temporary position. I cannot do that alone. The risk of damaging the antenna is too high.As the antenna is standing in my backyard and surrounded by houses and trees, every meter in height will help, so it will be interesting to see how much the signals will improve.

At a later stage I epxect to mount the antenna in 8-9m height. That is what I can do here. There will still be trees in the way in some directions, but it should be above houses in most directions.

Intermistic 1296MHz Yagi Setup.

The past few days I have worked getting a bit of activity going on 1296MHz.

The antenna is a Flexa Yagi model with 16 elements, for mounting behind the reflector.

The mast at the moment os just some military stackable pipes, and I could not handle more than 4m length alone, so that is the height of the antenna right now.

Results are varying. A station about 20km away could not hear my 5W at the antenna. He is in a poor direction, as the signal has to pass through my house, so maybe not too surprising.

We have had a bit of tropo propagation, so the beacon in Kiel, about 200-250km away is quite strong. In that direction the antenna points over free fields, and at the moment the signal from DB0VC is S9. During the day it was audible at all times. 

I do have a preamplifier near the antenna, so reception is quite decent.

At a later stage the antenna can be mounted at about 8m height, but the results are encouraging.

I did try to send a few CQs on 1296.200, but no replies. 

In the SE direction I can hear very strong radar signals, S-meter shows up to s9+30 in the peaks.

Next step will be getting the antenna higher up and see what happens. I will need assistance from some local hams, so it may take a little while.