EI2KC - chasing DX to the edge of my sanity

Homer Simpson shows exactly how I felt when I worked TX3X.

It has to be said that DXing on the HF bands is definitely not a pursuit for the faint-hearted. It requires skill, patience, and, perhaps more than anything, time. The TX3X dxpedition to Chesterfield Islands in the Pacific Ocean is ending tonight. Antenna tear-down is at 22:00UTC. As of this morning, here in Ireland, I did not have a QSO with them and had never worked Chesterfield before. I needed it as an ATNO (All-Time New One). The pressure was enormous.

I have been trying to work them since Friday, October 2nd - a whole ten days ago - without success. Every day, in the morning and in the evening, and sometimes (when I wasn't working) all day long. And every day I've been disappointed. Propagation was poor since about a week ago. Some days I could hear them, on 20 metres CW especially, and sometimes SSB. I never heard them on any other band. Not once. This was a tough one. Many times when they were "workable" into western EU, they would suddenly announce "QRX" or "QSY" or, on one or two occasions, they just disappeared without explanation. This was extremely frustrating for me, and for many other ops in EI and in the UK. After five or six days, only the very biggest stations in Ireland had them logged.

It came down to the last weekend. Yesterday (Saturday), I could hear them well on 20 metres CW and they didn't have a big pile-up so I was confident I could work them. But, just as their signal peaked, they announced "QSY RTTY". Nnnoooooooooooooo!!!! My attempt to work them had been foiled, again. Their signal was OK on RTTY, but they had the whole world calling them, and even the big EU stations were not making it into the log. It was JA after JA after JA. I hadn't a hope.

I had actually begun to resign myself to the notion that here's one new DXCC that I wouldn't be logging. I had begun to philosophically convince myself that I was beat. There was a conversation going on in my head like this: "Well, only the big guns got them. You're a small pistol, and even though you have worked the rarest ones, the miracles don't always happen. You have to accept the limitations of your restricted station and the fact that you are operating from a small garden in the middle of a housing estate."

When the alarm went off this morning (Sunday), I immediately checked the DX cluster. No sign of TX3X on any bands that I could hope to work them on. So I had a bit of a lie-in. But I couldn't sleep, so I got up and headed to the shack, thinking that I should at least keep the radio on the right frequencies in case they popped up. So on one VFO I had 14.023 on CW and on the other I had 14.185 USB. Fingers crossed.

Then on Facebook, Gerry EI9JU said they were on 14.185. I listened in. Yes, I could hear them. But could I work them? I had tried before without success. I began calling. Then I heard "Echo India" but I could hear nothing else because a contest station was working on 14.183 and obliterated the TX3X. A few minutes later I was calling again and this time I heard something along the lines of "Echo India Two Kilo Charlie you're in the log already, but you're 5 and 9". I went back with a "roger roger roger Echo India Two Kilo Charlie you're 5 and 9, 5 and 9. There was QRM and I could not hear you previously. Thanks for the new one!"

Of course giving him a 5 and 9 report was a bit overzealous on my part, because at best he was a 5 and 3, but that's the way exchanges are generally made with rare DX. They don't bother logging accurate signal reports in most cases. Many dxpeditions use contest logging software, which automatically logs 599 on CW and 59 on phone.

I was delighted. Relieved. Ecstatic actually. I shouted "woooohoooo" at the top of my voice several times. My youngest, Finn, came running into the shack and asked me why I was shouting. I told him I had just worked Chesterfield Islands and gave him a big hug. I doubt that he, or any of my kids, understands why I get so excited about making contacts on my radio. But that's how it goes for us DXers. In the above video, made immediately after my QSO, you can hear the excitement in my voice at having worked them.

A short while later I went to 20 metres CW, where they had a decent signal on 14.023. About five minutes later, I could hear 1KC? and then something like IZ1KC? and figured it was me he was trying for, so gave my call several times. Eventually, I heard the magic "EI2KC 5NN" and I gave him "R R R 5NN TU" and I had two QSOs logged within the space of 28 minutes. Fabulous.

I cannot describe the feeling of relief and ecstasy at having worked them. I was under serious pressure with this one. The days were ticking by, and they were proving impossible to work. When it comes down to the last morning, you wonder if they're even going to be active on the bands where you need them. I was even wondering if a CME might trigger some Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) and knock out the bands completely. In the end, I needn't have worried. Two QSOs is more than I could have wished for even yesterday.

Here's a video of my CW QSO. You can hear the squeals of delight:

Yet again I have proved a few things:

(1) You need to be absolutely mad in the head to be a DX chaser, especially if you have a small station;

(2) You need to devote hours, and sometimes days, to logging an ATNO;

(3) The reward is all the greater when the chase is tough.

And I can tell you that today, EI2KC is beaming from ear to ear. That was the toughest ATNO chase I've had in the six years I've been licenced.

TX3X - very difficult to work, and their operating pattern doesn't help

Is TX3X the most difficult-to-work dxpedition ever? I only ask the question because it seems impossible to log them. This is in part due to conditions. But it's also got to do with common sense, or the lack thereof, on behalf of the TX3X team. For the past two mornings, when they have been audible (and thus possibly workable) on 20 metres CW, they have abruptly gone QRT. This seems to be a trademark of this dxpedition. Sudden QRX, QRT and disappearances without explanation. To be fair, some of these were caused by severe wind which has hampered them to some extent.

However, this morning when they had action on both 20 metres CW and 17 metres CW into EU, they abruptly went QRT on both those slots, but for some unimaginable reason they remained on 20 metres SSB, with most of EU unable to copy them. That's poor form. For several mornings now, I have listened to their signal build on 20 cw only for them to suddenly pull the plug.

Overnight (our night time) they were inactive for several hours. When they finally did appear on several band slots, with EU stations working them, they migrated down to the lower bands even though they had a decent EU rate. Meanwhile, they continue to exploit the easy openings to Japan/Asia and the USA. There are still very few EIs and indeed UK stations who have managed to work them - and those who are in the log generally have super stations.

I don't normally give out too much about dxpeditions. These are hams who have paid their own money to go to a remote location to activate it for our benefit. However, in this case it seems that there is something of a lack of experience and expertise. The openings on 20 metres into western EU are relatively short - there's a chance in the morning and there's a second chance around tea time here in Ireland. TX3X don't seem to appreciate that. Several disgruntled EU ops have complained about the persistence with SSB over CW on the cluster today. I have NEVER heard them on SSB since the beginning of the dxpedition. And even the big stations have only heard them weakly. On CW, however, I have heard them several times. As I write this, they have stations on 40m CW, 40m SSB and 20m SSB. The USA and Asian stations are having a great time. The EUs are really struggling to get logged, albeit with the exception of the southern EU stations in the likes of Spain and Italy, who seem to have propagation to the whole world at all times of the day, night, and year, in all conditions!

The above video shows their signal on 20 cw a few mornings ago, and just when they were strong into EU, they were working the JA stations. An example of naivety in relation to openings?

Just as I published this post, at 12.35pm local time, they are back on 20 metres CW, but their signal is really, really light. This is not a dxpedition for western Europe I'm afraid . . .

Edit: Now, at 13;00 local time (12:00 UTC), they are on 28 Mhz SSB looking for Europe!!! What madness.