My EME setup on 2m is 2 x M2 9 el Yagis, Dow Microwave preamp, FT991 and a 1 KW Beko amp. Until a couple of months ago I was able to make many EME contacts. Sometimes I would not hear stations (ZL and CT8) when my preamp was fried but then the stations could hear me.
For about half a year there was no copy of any EME signal, and nobody has copied me.
Could it be a preamp? A second preamp receives the same. But lots of noise on the WSJT panadapter. Once I started disconnecting Flex equipment one by one. First the amplifier PGXL, then the tuner TG XL, the radio, and finally the 12 V switching power supply. With each disconnect some streaks disappeared until very few were left.
Another culprit is an external camera. It definitely emits noise but perhaps not enough to make a difference.
But if my receive was compromised, the transmit should be unaffected. But nobody is copying me. Is the antenna good? Since SWR is 1.1:1 and the coax cable is not hot, nearly all the energy goes up.
The problems started when the antenna overturned in a storm and some elements were bent. I realigned the elements but the boom is slightly out of round. Could this be it?
One problem with testing is that the setup is fully manual – I need to take all the equipment out, connect the power, and point the antenna manually. I bought a Yaesu G5500 rotor and an automatic positioning device. No setup yet as the permanent location of the antenna is unclear. Due to high trees, some directions are obstructed from any potential location.
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