Our activation of Tory is now sadly ended and we have returned home. It was a fantastic five days, and although propagation was a bit hit and miss, the bands provided us with solid action, especially on 30m and 20m where we found good rates at times.
Gordon GM7WCO enjoys a walk along the cliffs during a break in activity.
This activation made history for the EJ7NET group. We made trans-Atlantic QSOs on 6 metres for the first time. We also activated more bands and modes than ever before. We had 9 QSOs on 160m CW and even one on SSB! We had activity on all bands from 1.8 Mhz through to 50 Mhz, and used a variety of modes, including LSB/USB, CW, RTTY, PSK31, PSK63 and JT65.
By the end of the dxpedition we had achieved over 5,000 QSOs, which is by far the best performance of the four years I have been on the islands with the Westnet DX Group.
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.
A disturbing report from Dx-world.net suggests that most of Kingman Reef, an isolated reef in the Pacific Ocean and one of the rarest DXCC entities with the designator KH5K, is now almost completely submerged. The eighth most wanted DXCC is now mostly under water, and probably too dangerous to visit.
Quoting Rich KY6R and citing a report from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, DX-world.net reports that much of the reef is awash, and that the two land masses making up the reef lie only three feet above water level:
The U.S. F&W report suggests that Kingman Reef is now too dangerous to visit:
“The work site on the reef flat was very shallow with water depths of 1 to 7 feet at high tide, and just a few inches of water at low tide. The two small rubble islands that comprise the only land masses at Kingman Reef lie merely 3 feet above sea level. They are frequently awash by waves and offered no shelter during removal operations. The severe sea state and environmental conditions at Kingman Reef are unpredictable, and forecasts are relatively unreliable at the isolated central Pacific reef. Such uncertainty constrained safe operations, and the team determined that mobilizing the full shipwreck removal team and all floating assets, including the 185-foot barge and large crane, from Palmyra to be staged at the Kingman removal site, presented an unacceptable risk to crew and resources. Instead, a subset of the crew traveled to Kingman Reef from Palmyra Atoll on the tugboat Sarah C with a transport scow in tow.”
Rich told DX-world.net that he thinks it's now "time that DXAC seriously consider deleting Kingman Reef."
Kingman reef was last activated in the year 2000 by the K5K dxpedition. There is some doubt right now about whether it will ever be activated again.
After a bit of a HF hiatus, I am back in action hunting DX. The first "biggie" of 2014 is here. FT5ZM Amsterdam Island went QRV this morning, and as you can imagine, there's chaos on the bands! This is a video recording made in my shack of some of the action on 10 metres SSB. They're a good signal here, but so is all of Europe!! And worse for EI is the fact that in relation to FT5Z, we are "at the back" of Europe, so to speak. It could hardly be worse for us . . . except, of course, if we were in Iceland! Listening on 10 SSB and 12 CW it became apparent that no G or EI stations were getting through, although some Scandinavians were being picked up. The best we can hope for is that the pile-ups die down over the coming days and that small stations like this can start to break through. The 12 metre CW split is quite compact, and the signals there are huge. I don't particularly want to spend my whole Sunday in front of a radio . . . but sure you know I probably will !!!
It is well known that the early bird catches the worm. It is also well known that I am fond of my bed. However, in the past year or so I have made a special effort to get up early when known DX is to be found on the 80 metre band, which is a challenging band for a ham with small antennas. Of course, 80 metres is a winter time band, and DX contacts are rare during the summer. Last winter, I finally got 100 countries confirmed on this band after taking part in CQWW CW on 80m only in late November 2012.
This morning, I got the call from Declan EI6FR at 6:38am to say that the 5J0R San Andres dxpedition was on 80m CW with a good signal. I went immediately to the shack and sure enough, he was a 599 on my inverted v dipole. So I switched on the Acom 1000 and while it was warming up I started listening for the split.
Within a short time I was calling with 400 watts. He was working plenty of Europeans. But I knew as time went on and the rest of the EU went into daylight I would have a good chance. Sure enough, at around 06.56UTC, I heard him coming back with the magic "EI2KC 5NN". And I gave him "RR DE EI2KC 5NN 5NN TU". Another new one on 80 metres, and slot #10 with this dxpedition.
But it didn't end there. A short time later I could hear them on 40 metres SSB, on 7.165, working 5 to 15 up. So I sat on 10Khz up and called for a while. After about ten minutes, he came back very clearly with "Echo India Two Kilo Charlie Five Nine". And I gave him a 59 and entered slot #11 into my log. I now have San Andres HK0-S on every band from 80m through 10m. Last Friday night, I didn't have this DXCC at all!
It's definitely worth getting out of bed in the mornings!! I got up at 7.30am to see if there was any action on 80 metres, where I have had recent early morning successes with the likes of PJ4 and H7H. With not much happening there (H7H was on 3.520 but already logged this week), I saw TX5D, a suitcase dxpedition to Austral Islands, spotted on 30 metres (10 Mhz). So I QSYd to his frequency and was surprised to hear him coming in strong. I had the linear on, and hit him with the 400 watts, up just 1.15 kcs. Within a short time, he was calling "EI2C?" I gave the call a couple of times, but I knew I was being QRMed because I could hear it with the split on between my dits and dahs. Then he said "Only EI2C". It took a few more attempts, but eventually I could hear him coming back with the magic "EI2KC EI2KC 5NN BK". Oh yes!! I gave him "RRR 5NN TU". That's only the second time I've ever worked Austral Islands, the first being on 17m CW this past summer. Nice to get a rare one into the log, especially when battling with the QRM from the rest of the EU. Above is a video taken a couple of minutes after I had worked him.
I am glad to report that yesterday I got PT0S into the log on two different bands, having been quite inactive on radio for the past couple of weeks. I worked them on 20 metres SSB at 09.34 and then, after only a few calls, on 12m SSB at 17:34. Very glad to have this new one in my log. PT0S is a dxpedition to St. Peter and Paul Archipelago, which is located off Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean.
Famous Meath man Sean Boylan launched 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality' in Navan.
The reason for my inactivity on radio is that I have been busy preparing for two launches of my new book, 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality', which was launched in Drogheda last Friday evening and then in Navan, County Meath, on Wednesday evening.
I wrote the book during 2012, having started in January. I have been researching the monuments of the Boyne Valley and their associated mythology and astronomy for many years. I was previously the author, with Richard Moore, of 'Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers' in 2006, reprinted in 2008.
You can read more about the new book and see photos from the launch at the following links:
A dxpedition to A51 Bhutan has begun, using the callsign A5A. Already there are many spots on the bands for this exciting new one, which will no doubt provide the opportunity for many EIs to nab a new DXCC. Just checking my log I see that I have worked A5 on 30 metres, 15 metres and 10 metres. So it won't be a new one for me, but I will try to fill out some slots.
This is from the website of A5A: The FGC DX Group (*Foundation for Global Children) is pleased to announce our next multi-national DXpedition to Bhutan, callsign A5A. We will begin operations by May 24, 2012 and will run until June 6th. We will activate 80-6m including the WARC bands using modes: SSB, CW, and RTTY. We will erect high gain antennas, utilize receive antennas, and run amplifiers at 3 stations. The QTH is in the mountains (more info very soon) and we are aware of where Bhutan is needed most and will focus on these areas when the band is open there. Also, we intend to listen carefully to the needs of the DX community during the operation by monitoring the activity on our website (coming soon), and other social media outlets for band openings, and dialogue with the radio community. Please join our conversation.
