EJ7NET Tory Island video 2016

North America on 6 metres from Tory Island

Today was a great day on the bands, particularly on 6 metres, where we managed several QSOs into the United States in the afternoon. This was achieved with a HB9CV two-element beam at about 15 feet. As of this moment, we have over 200 QSOs on 50 Mhz since yesterday, which is fantastic.

Some of the North American stations we worked on 6 metres today.

The 50 Mhz contacts into the USA were not all easy. It took some time to get K1TL into the log. In fact I'd safely say it took 10 to 15 minutes to complete the QSO. Some stations were easier to hear and work. We were ecstatic at getting one in the log, but we ended up with six or seven NA QSOs. And all the time we were beaming NA, we were still working Europeans, some from Italy, Spain and France, but some from other areas. We worked a couple of Scandinavian stations off the back of the beam.

The EJ7NET 6 metre station on Tory Island.

Elsewhere, we have been plugging away on the HF bands. We had some activity on 20m, 17m and 15m today, with occasional pile-ups and also occasional dry periods. As of this moment, we have over 2,000 QSOs in the combined logs, which is not bad at all. Conditions on 20 and 15 are interesting. A lot of UK and Netherlands stations were strong on those bands today, while everyone else was comparatively weak. Last night (Sunday), we had some nice action on 40m SSB.

Weather today has been largely overcast, with drizzle at times. Generally typical Irish weather. Rolf HB9DGV activated the lighthouse on the island as EJ/HB9DGV/QRP.

FT4JA Juan de Nova confirmed on LoTW and gives me my 300th DXCC confirmed on CW!

The recent FT4JA Juan de Nova dxpedition, which gave me my 320th DXCC worked, has now confirmed my 11 QSOs with them via Logbook of the World. That's fantastic service! It was a great dxpedition. I'm happy that I worked them on RTTY as well as SSB and CW.

As you can see from the above EI2KC account status on LoTW, FT4JA was my 300th entity confirmed on CW, which is also very nice.

VK0EK Heard Island logged - ATNO and DXCC #319!!

A short time ago I finally made it into the log of VK0EK, the Heard Island dxpedition. I have had poor receive on them since the dxpedition began the other day, and was beginning to wonder if I'd get a QSO at all. They were very weak on 30 metres CW on my home-made inverted v dipole, but I called them 2 Khz down and got into the log at around 23:35 local time (22:35 UTC). This is DXCC number 319 for me, and is of course an All-Time New One (ATNO).

Obviously getting the ATNO in the log is of paramount importance. I will try to chase more QSOs, but now that I have them logged (and confirmed in the log via their wonderful "live" online log service) I can relax a bit.

Video: Signal from 7P8C dxpedition to Lesotho, 10m SSB

This is a video showing the signal from the 7P8C dxpedition to Lesotho on 10 metres SSB. I had just worked them a few minutes before making this video. It was a new band slot for me. I now have five band slots with this nice little dxpedition.

VP8STI South Sandwich Island in the log - ATNO - DXCC #318!

I didn't want to blog about it until I saw my call sign in the log, but I am definitely in the log of VP8STI, South Sandwich Island. As of this moment, I actually have three QSOs, but only one of them is in their online log so far. I'm delighted to have worked them on 17 metres CW, on 20 metres CW and on 30 metres CW.

South Sandwich was an All-Time New One (ATNO) for me. This is DXCC #318 worked. I should also point out that it's possibly DXCC #319. I think I worked FT4XU on Kerguelen Island on January 4th, but due to QSB and QRM I'm not 100% certain of the QSO. And his QSL manager does not yet have the log, so I cannot check. I might not know until February whether the QSO was a good one. So right now I stand on either 318 worked or 319 worked.

Now before anyone goes getting excited, thinking about the honour roll (I have 310 DXCC confirmed), there are two entities which I have little hope of confirming - EZ Turkmenistan and 5A Libya. I've worked both, but Turkmenistan doesn't allow ham radio and therefore QSOs are invalid for DXCC. And I worked 5A1AL in 2013, at a time when Libya was in disarray, and due to the uncertainty of the situation there, the QSOs I made with him - on four different bands - are null and void for awards purposes.

So at this moment in time, with 318 worked, the most I can hope for is that I can confirm 316. That still leaves me 14 entities off the Honour Roll - and that could take years to achieve!

In the meantime, K5P Palmyra has proved very elusive here, and in a lot of Europe, so I am very very glad for that one QSO. Imagine, it could be years before Palmyra is on the air again.

UPDATE: At 23:23UT, local time 11.23pm, I just worked VP8STI on 20 metres SSB! He is working both NA and EU. Fabulous conditions. And right now they have a good signal on 40m CW too.

K5P Palmyra is in my log - ATNO and DXCC #317!!

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that I have made a successful QSO with the K5P dxpedition to Palmyra Island in the mid Pacific. They have been QRV since Tuesday and their signals into Europe have been very poor. I didn't think I was going to be able to make a contact. They were very poor on 20 metres CW when I picked them up this evening but a mixture of luck and perseverance helped me through.

As with all these far-distant rare ATNOs, it's always a priority just to make ONE QSO. Just one contact will do, to get the new entity in the log. As you might remember, with Chesterfield Island it looked like I wasn't going to make it - until the very last day. That experience was a sobering one. The thought of missing a rare one (Palmyra is number nine on the Clublog most-wanted DXCC list) was in my mind again, especially with all the derogatory DX cluster spots in the past couple of days from European stations who have so far been unable to hear K5P.

So with the beam at 320 degrees, I began to pick up their signal with darkness setting in here. But they were very weak. Eventually I could hear them well enough to pick up partial calls, and the split became obvious when I heard a couple of EU stations going back to them about 3.5Khz or so up.

So I called them a few times and then heard the magic "2KC" and so gave my call a couple of times. Then it sounded like EU2VC??? and then EI2??? until eventually my call was given EI2KC EI2KC 5NN and I went back with the RRRR 5NN 5NN TU.

In the K5P log with some of Ireland's top DXers.

Even if I don't get another contact, I don't mind. Getting the DXCC logged is of paramount importance. I'm delighted also that they uploaded the logs fairly quickly and I can confirm I am in their log - one of just ten Irish stations to make it through so far.

I was contacted shortly after the QSO by my friend and fellow DXer Ark EI9KC, who said not only was the QSO 100%, but he had a recording of it. Here it is (my thanks to Ark!):

Video: chasing Tuvalu on 20 metres CW. Will I be able to make it through the European QRM?

This is what I do most of the time on amateur radio - I chase rare DX. In this case, it's T2GC on Tuvalu island, which is an island in the southern Pacific Ocean. As you can see, it's hard work finding where he is listening, and in this case his RX QRG is moving all the time. So I have to spend a lot of time spinning the VFO looking for his split frequency. I lose the split though, and have to go searching for it. Having not found it, I decide to call above the pile-up (at 2:40 in the video), but hear a K2 beneath me going back to him, so I spin down to 14.013.5 and call him there. Soon I am back on target. At 3:56, you finally hear him asking for EI2. I call a couple of times, but he still comes back with EI2, the best indication possible that other stations are just calling over the top of me, ignoring the fact that he is looking for EI2. But with a bit of persistence I am soon in the log. This one took just over four minutes, but I have been known to spend an hour (and more) chasing the rare ones.

E6GG Niue Island dxpedition on 20 metres

This is E6GG Niue Island on 20 metres CW. I worked them a few minutes previously on a tight split. It was a nice bit of lunchtime DX, after working D67GIA Comoros Island on 15 metres CW this morning.

Weather terrible, but band conditions good

Just in case you thought all I was doing was taking photos and blogging,
here's a photo of me operating on 20cw, with Liam on 40 SSB behind.

It's the second day of our operation at Gola Island and the EJ7NET team is in good form. The QSO rate on 20m and 30m CW this morning was pretty good. Declan EI6FR was first up (as usual!) and was on 30 cw. I joined a while later on 20 cw and found the going pretty good. There is slow fading of some signals but generally Europe and Russia were reasonably strong, and there was a good few QSOs from the UK as well.

The weather is terrible. It's raining heavily and has been for several hours. However, this has not dampened team spirits, especially with decent propagation. We are about to set up the 6 metre beam so hopefully we might make a few QSOs on that band during our activation.

We have passed 1,000 QSOs already which is great. We're hoping band conditions will remain good so that we can work as many of you as possible.

My view from the 20m CW station!

3G0ZC Juan Fernandez worked on 20 metres SSB with one call

This is a video of my QSO with the 3G0ZC Juan Fernandez dxpedition on 20 metres SSB. I had been trying on 20m RTTY without success and saw a spot for 20 SSB so went up there. He was chatting with someone he knew 8 Khz up so when his chat was finished I just called on 14.208. As you can hear, he came back to me straight away with a five and nine. I love QSOs like that, but it was my third band slot attempt of the morning, having failed to work them on either 30m CW or 20m RTTY. That's the way the cookie crumbles!

Finally, after five days trying, K1N logged on top band!!

Just a quick update about Navassa. I now have 13 slots, and all bands from 10m through 160m except 30m. This morning, with my severely compromised inverted V system for 80/40/30, I managed to work them on top band on CW. I have been trying for five consecutive mornings, and finally heard the sweet sound of "EI2KC EI2KC 5NN 5NN" on 1.826.5. I went back with "RR 5NN 5NN 5NN" but he came back again with "EI2KC EI2KC 5NN" so I went back again with a string of 5NNs and he said "TU K1N UP". Wonderful stuff.

They're now not difficult to work on some bands, although 20m RTTY yesterday evening was extremely busy over about 15 Khz of band, with an equal mix of NA and EU calls. So needless to say I didn't make it. I tried for a while late last night on 30 metres CW, the only band apart from 6 metres where I now need a QSO. Again, he was working NA and EU and I didn't get in. Antenna tear-down is on Saturday, so I will be hoping to try for a 30m QSO before then.

Below are some videos I've made during this dxpedition:

FT4TA Tromelin dxpedition is QRT. My thoughts

Members of the FT4TA team in action.

The FT4TA Tromelin mini dxpedition (I have to call it that, because there were only seven ops) finished on Sunday night, November 9th. I am glad to say that I have at least eight slots with them, with a possibility of two or three more. I reckon I have only the slimmest chance of being in their log on 30 cw. They were very weak and there was a lot of QRM. It might not have been my callsign that I heard. Time will tell. They have not uploaded the last three days' logs due to lack of internet on Tromelin, and are planning to do a final upload some time today (Monday) from Mayotte. As I said, time will tell!! I definitely worked someone using the callsign FT4TA on 15m CW, but a few of us who worked them on Thursday are not in the log. Is there a log missing, or was it a slim? There was also a 20m CW QSO that I am not entirely certain about, but I'm keeping the fingers crossed.

This was a tough dxpedition to work. Part of the reason for this is because they were a small team - seven ops running four stations. They managed over 70,000 QSOs in ten days. Not bad. Conditions for them were very challenging. When they tried to work North America only, the EU jammers would start causing deliberate QRM (DQRM). Mind you, the DQRM was there at many times when they weren't working NA/SA only, including the now famous (or infamous) EAHSYL, whoever that is. I doubt that they are even based in Spain, but their efforts to send what might be EA5SYL never work because they send four dits (a H) instead of five (a 5).

I am very, very glad to have been at the radio on two weekdays during this activation. I had a week's holiday and was in the lucky position to be able to call them on their first day of operation. Indeed, after just a short time trying on 10 metres SSB, I worked them on that Friday morning using my trusty Antron 99 antenna, a fibreglass vertical antenna that is also used by many 27 Mhz CB operators around the world. I worked FT4TA on a +39 Khz split. Amazing stuff. I also managed a QSO on 17 metres SSB that evening, meaning I had them in the log twice on their first day. But then the weekend came, and all hell broke loose. The pile-ups grew massively. The CW pile-ups were 25 Khz wide. The SSB pile-ups, in some cases, were 50 Khz wide. All the weekday workers were playing radio for the weekend, and it became almost impossible to get a QSO. By the most extraordinary luck, they QSYd from 20 metres SSB to 20m RTTY, and I called them before there was a big pile-up. I managed a QSO at 00:40 (twenty minutes to one in the morning) on Sunday morning, November 2nd. Happy days. Now I had three slots and two modes - SSB and RTTY.

I was fully sure that the pile-ups would start to settle down as we went into the Monday, but they didn't. The intensity of the piles remained, all through the week, right up until the moment they went QRT. This eighth-most-wanted DXCC, a small island in the Indian Ocean of Madagascar, was in huge demand around the globe. In fairness to the FT4TA team, they did make an effort to work different areas of the world. After spending the whole of each of the first few mornings working EU, they would then ask for NA/SA only in the afternoon. Incredibly, European operators started moaning about this on the clusters, asking such things as "why NA only" and suggesting that the Tromelin ops were favouring the US because that's where their sponsors were located!! And not a word about the fact that they had spent the whole morning working Europe only. There is an increasing belligerence among EU ops that I don't like. They want it all. They want to work the DX on the bands and slots that they need, without taking cognisance of the needs and aims of the dxpedition and other hams around the world. And when the dxpedition does something contrary to their wishes, they put up nasty comments on the cluster. It's clear that some hams need to grow up. And what about the usual request spots? Oh my god. If I see another "please 20m RTTY" or "Good time for EU 40 CW" etc etc, I will throw all my equipment in a skip and take up fishing. Do they think the dx ops are sitting there, in a shack in Tromelin, watching the cluster, wondering who wants what slot? I don't think so.

After the final log upload today, I find I have a total of nine slots, which is
fantastic. I am missing a 15 cw and 20 cw QSO. Who can complain?

I worked several more slots, including 10 CW, 17 CW and 12 SSB, all of which are in the log, but I will have to await the complete log update to see what my final tally is. I gave up chasing them at the weekend after they asked for slot chasers to stand by to allow people who needed it as an ATNO (All-Time New One) to call. But on Sunday night, I was informed that EI and G were working them on 20 SSB and as most of EU wasn't hearing them, I gave them a holler and bagged that slot too.

It's difficult to complain about a dxpedition. These are people who invest huge amounts of their own time and money to activate a rare DXCC for the benefit of the ham community. So I will keep my complaint very short. They kept disappearing from a band or slot without warning. Sometimes they would just say "QRX" and disappear for five minutes, or QSY somewhere else, or just disappear completely. This was bad operating, and very frustrating for the huge pile waiting to work them. However, given the small team and the huge demand for them, I sure understand why they would need regular breaks. They must have been exhausted.

It's wonderful to have this rare one in the log. In most cases, DXCC in the Indian Ocean are relatively easy to work from EI. But the intensity of the pile-ups and the unfortunate QRM and regular QRXing made this a difficult one to bag. Well done to the FT4TA team for seeing it through to the end. Remember, you can't keep all of the people happy all of the time. But you've certainly put a smile on the face of this operator!!!

Paul, VK4MA, has some very interesting thoughts also on the dxpedition.

Tromelin - let the games begin!!!

The Tromelin island (FT4TA) dxpedition has officially begun. Unfortunately conditions have not been favourable this evening for Ireland, so I will have to wait to see what tomorrow brings in terms of hearing this rare DXCC. Tromelin is the 10th-most-wanted DXCC and hasn't been activated in 14 years. Good luck to all the DX hunters trying to get FT4TA into their log!

I haven't been doing much blogging lately, but I have been reasonably active on the bands. Here's a very brief update about what I've been working:

VK9DLX Lord Howe Island - dxpedition prolonged and continuing - 8 slots.

VK9XSP Christmas Island - Polish dxpedition to VK9/X - 12 slots.

5R8M - excellent dxpedition to Madagascar - 13 slots so far.
ZK3E/ZK3Q - two-man Polish dxpedition to Tokelau - three slots so far, which is brilliant because there are only two of them and signals are very, very light most of the time.
XX9R Macau - very difficult to hear most of the time. Managed 12m CW so far.
KG4WV/KG4DY Guantanamo Bay - managed two slots so far. Easy to work from here.

EJ7NET 2014 - Cape Clear IOTA dxpedition day one

This is my second expedition with the Westnet DX Group. In May of 2013, we went to Inis Mór on the Aran Islands (EU-006). This year, Cape Clear island (EU-121), off the coast of County Cork, was the target. It's the most southerly piece of Ireland. You cannot get further south.

I had a 5.30am start, in order to do a final check on what I had packed for the trip, have a shower and breakfast, and get to Declan Craig EI6FR's house in Dublin by 7.30am. As it happens, I arrived there at 7.15am. We left at 7.30am with a four-hour drive ahead of us to Baltimore, Cork, from where we would catch a boat to Cape Clear. There's motorway all the way from Dublin to Cork these days, but not from Cork to Baltimore! We passed through Clonakilty and Skibbereen on the way down.

The rugged cliffs of Cape Clear Island.

At Baltimore, we met Rolf HB9DGV and Bernie HB9ASZ, and it wasn't too long before the other dxpedition members arrived - Liam EI7DSB and Tony EI3HA (our chef). The boat trip was unremarkable. It was a bit choppy in a couple of places but generally a fine trip across through murky weather. It had rained in Baltimore. We got off the boat and loaded our gear into a big van taxi and soon we were at the house, unloading all the stuff again. It's a fantastic QTH. The house is beautiful. There are enough beds for all six of us, although Bernie in true style maintains that an IOTA dxpedition is not a proper dxpedition unless you are sleeping in a tent, and so proceeded last night to set up his tent, in which he actually did sleep!

The M0CVO dipole supported by a 12-metre Spiderpole,
with the full moon rising last night

The first job was antenna installation. We put up two Hari trap wire verticals, one covering 30, 17 and 12m and the other for 40, 20, 15 and 10m. They were taped to two Sota Poles. We also erected an off-centre fed dipole, made by M0CVO. This one covers 40m through to 6m. Antenna analysis by Liam EI7DSB showed some little problems, and after some adjustment, everything was fine. The Diamond HB9CV 2-element beam for 6m was then assembled and installed. We have a dedicated 6m station which we will use to monitor that band for the entire time we are here. Three of the stations are in the sitting room, while a fourth has been installed in the shebeen - a little outhouse with its own bar.

With the IARU HF Championships and the WRTC contests on, it was impossible to find action on the main bands, so the first QSOs were made on 17 metres and then 30 metres. Tony EI3HA made the very first QSO of the activation with another IOTA station on Orkney Island EU-009. I sat on 17m SSB for an hour and enjoyed some fantastic short skip conditions into Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

Tony EI3HA serving dinner.

With only two stations on air, there was an opportunity for some of us to go and explore.I took an opportunity to walk a couple of kilometres down to some ancient standing stones, which I believe constitute Ireland's most southerly stone row! Dinner consisting of chicken curry and rice, helped down with a glass of red wine, was served by our fantastic chef Tony

Today, we are hoping to hit the HF bands in a big way after the contests are finished at 1pm. So keep an ear out for us - hopefully you will get us in your log.

Very happy to receive XR0ZR Juan Fernandez LoTW confirmations

I have just received QSLs via Logbook of the World for my four QSOs with XR0ZR, Juan Fernandez. This is my 284th DXCC confirmed via LoTW. I am particularly thrilled to receive confirmation for my 80 metres CW QSO. That was an incredible distance to work DX using my dog-legged compromise inverted v antenna. I worked them at 7.46am on 18th November 2013. It was one of my most memorable QSOs on the HF bands!!

I participated in the IRTS 2 metres counties contest today from the home QTH and had a bit of fun. I made 31 QSOs with 11 different counties. I used my Icom IC-746 and my Watson W300 vertical. My best QSO was with Co. Galway.

VK9MT logged for a third time, and TX6G logged 13 times

This is just a very quick update because it's late and I need to get to bed!! I worked the VK9MT Mellish Reef dxpedition for a third time this evening, on 17m CW. He had a good signal, and was working both EU and Japan. I managed to get in after about five minutes of calling. Below is a video I made shortly after my QSO. You can hear EI7NET being worked by them:

The TX6G dxpedition is just about to wind down as I write this, but they are still on 12m CW and with a good signal here at 11pm local time. I decided to make a quick video of them before they close. It's been a fantastic dxpedition. They are brilliant operators, and they kept good discipline on the pile-ups too. I am both ecstatic and surprised to have worked them on 13 band slots, including that coveted 80m slot, which only three Irish operators managed. Here is the video shot a short time ago of TX6G on 12 metres CW:

DXCC #306, Mellish Reef (VK9MT), in the log

It was always going to be tough trying to get VK9MT Mellish Reef into my log, today of all days. Why? Because today is Mother's Day, when traditionally mothers aren't supposed to do any household chores, and my XYL, being a mother, had a day off. I was on duty today for breakfast making and also for dinner, and myself and the XYL and family had to visit her mother and my mother, as well as a visit to my sister who just had a baby this week. So radio had to take a back seat.

However, sometimes luck is on your side when chasing DX (of course, sometimes it's not!) I had been trying VK9MT this evening, after dinner, for a short while on 20 metres, but his signal faded way down. So I gave up. Some time later, I got a message from Declan EI6FR saying their signal was good on 20 CW and that he had just worked them. He told me the split, and that the op seemed to be listening progressively up, so I went up a bit from where Declan had worked them and heard someone else giving them 5NN. So I went up a little bit more, and after just a couple of calls I was in the log!

That's DXCC #306 in my log, and I'm delighted. It takes the pressure off, especially as I will be working during the day in the coming week and will be unable to work them when their signal is good on the higher bands. VK9/M is 22nd on Clublog's Most Wanted DXCC list for March 2014.

I also managed a couple more QSOs with TX6G Austral Islands. I nabbed them on 17m CW late last night (23:25) and also early this morning on 17m SSB (09:27) and the total number of slots with TX6G is now 12. Previous to this dxpedition, I only had Austral Islands on two slots. It really is a top-class operation. Below are my confirmed slots with TX6G so far on Clublog:

 I have 12 slots in total with TX6G.

UPDATE!!!!!  I just worked VK9MT again on 15 metres CW at 10:17pm local time.

TX6G Austral Islands on 40m and 30m within 20 minutes!

I worked the British dxpedition to Austral Islands this morning on 40m CW and then 30m CW. 40m is a new band for me and I was delighted to hear them with such strong signals, and it was great to work them so easily, especially as they have only just begun their expedition. Here is a video I made just after working them. Excuse the voice - I am stuffed with a bad cold.

I also nabbed VP2V/SP9WZS on 10m CW and P29NO on 10 CW, both new countries on that band for me. That prompted me to look at my stats, and I'm surprised and delighted to see the progress I am making on HF.

All bands/mode: Worked 304 Confirmed 284
CW: Worked 296 Confirmed 264
Phone: Worked 267 Confirmed 222
160m: Worked 71 Confirmed 54
80m: Worked 141 Confirmed 115
40m: Worked 206 Confirmed 157
30m: Worked 219 Confirmed 168
20m: Worked 277 Confirmed 226
17m: Worked 273 Confirmed 210
15m: Worked 265 Confirmed 196
12m: Worked 248 Confirmed 181
10m: Worked 235 Confirmed 177

Endless pile-ups for Amsterdam Island

For the past three mornings the pile-ups for FT5ZM Amsterdam Island on 10 metres CW and 12 metres CW have been immense. Even as I write this, the pile-up on 12 CW is almost 20 Khz wide. He is calling on 24.894 and at one stage was listening on 24.911 and above. I still haven't broken the pile with my paltry hexbeam, but I reckon the pile-ups will thin out before too long. Well done to all the EI stations who are in the log. Right now there are 33 Irish callsigns in there. Hopefully I will bag a few more QSOs before too long.

Here is a video showing some of the action on 12cw. As you can hear, he is only making a QSO a minute - the pile-up must be huge on his side: