Wednesday, April 18, 2012
First day of operation – things not looking good (196 QSOs)
There was a last minute change to the trip with my
wife getting a job just a couple of weeks before my departure. So rather than
her coming with me like on both Magnetic Island or the Fitzroy Island
DXpeditions, instead I would be going by myself like on Horn Island. I woke up
in Nhulunbuy on the East Arnhem coast mainland to find very wet and windy
weather which meant we couldn’t leave as early as I had hoped. In addition to
this there was some outboard motor problems with the small tinny boat that took
us from the beach to the main boat. This would now put me in a position of
probably not getting on the air with the Spiderbeam and ending up with very few
QSO’s in the log. We finally got away in the early afternoon and took the one
hour boat ride over to the island in pretty rough seas. It was worse taking the
gear from the boat on the aluminium tinny boat onto the beach and I was nervous
about losing gear over the side of the boat which would have ended up in
disaster with 0 QSOs. Mind you they were not quite as bad as Clipperton though J
With the rough waves I smashed my toe on one of the
trips and when unloading gear onto the beach I looked down to see a sand
covered foot dripping with blood. Hmm, good start. With the extreme heat and
humidity it was a draining and exhausting effort carrying the power supplies,
coax, Spiderbeam, mast, food, diesel fuel, etc up the sand dune to Banubanu and
the shack. With the pain of my foot and exhaustion, each I just kept saying to
myself “think of the QSO’s”, “think of the pile ups” and “all this pain will be
worth it”.
Due to the late hour of arrival and with the weather
worsening I was only able to put up a 12m vertical dipole. By 0721 UTC (4:51pm
local) was able to call CQ and after two calls had my first one in the log.
From 0721-0921 there was a nice run of 200 QSO’s into Asia but I was suffering
from a faulty push-to-talk button on the microphone that kept getting stuck in
the on position. So this made people in the pile ups probably quite puzzled and
frustrated at times. There was a couple of Europeans and Middle Eastern
stations appearing in the JA pile up but then the band died very suddenly.
Things aren’t going well. At the end of day 1 only
200 QSO’s are in the log. The radio’s microphone could possibly be damaged and
there is a big problem trying to find a suitable location for the antenna as
the shack has thick vegetation for at least 50m around the shack and the only
clearance to put the antenna near the beach may be too far away for the amount
of coax that I have. So I went to bed not knowing if this DXpedition would be a
success.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Day 2 – The Spiderbeam is up in the air – over a 1000 QSO’s today
I woke up feeling rather dejected after the first
day’s failure. Fortunately the skies had cleared and even though it was still
really hot and humid, at least the wind had died down and there was no rain. I
grabbed the coax and started unrolling it through the bushes, trees and angry
little biting green ants towards the beach and prayed that the coax would take
me to the clearing so that I could put up the Spiderbeam. Fortunately I had
sent up more coax than I thought and there was a good spot clear of any trees
or bushes. Big relief!!! There was no internet on the island and just enough
coverage on the phone for one bar to show if you walk to the top of a big sand
dune. It was 0100 UTC on day 2 and my only activity was 2 hours on 12m some 16
hours ago. So I figured I should trek up to the top of the big sand dune and
give people an update on DX summit to say that there was bad weather and I’d be
on the air later in the day. It’s funny how us as DXers really want and expect
internet updates from DXpeditions these days, no matter how hard it is to do.
So with that I got to work.
For the next couple of hours I managed to have the
Spiderbeam up in the air with 3 elements on 20, 2 on 17, 3 on 15 and 4 on 10m.
To my huge relief there was good SWR on each band – phew, didn’t feel like
lowering and lifting the mast and tinkering with it after such a terrible day
yesterday. After a shower and quick lunch I was fresh and ready to go. I went
on the air on 20m long path to Europe at 0400 UTC and there was a steady number
of QSO’s into. While I was pleased to be working the first QSO’s into Europe I
was constantly worried about the PTT button failing again. To my delight it
worked fine and after five solid hours on 20m/17m QSOs into Europe and Asia
with some North America I could enjoy the pile ups.
After a short dinner break, at 1030 UTC I was
enjoying a great run into Europe on 17m short path. As it approached 1200 UTC I
knew that I would need to try North America on 20m short path. So I had to make
the tough decision to cut short a European pile up and QSY to 14 MHz. This
resulted in a great 90 minute run into USA and so this was wonderful. I knew
that Europeans were going to be easy because they were calling and were very
strong off the side of the beam but I was only working the America’s and
eventually people knew that I wasn’t going to make exceptions and so the pile
up behaviour was quite good. Then at 1330 UTC I went down to the beach, turned the
beam to Europe and continued until 1700. As I went to bed at 2:30am I had a
huge smile on my face. On day 1 after the disappointment of only 200 QSO’s on
12m in 2 hours of operation, not having the Spiderbeam up and the possibility
of a faulty microphone, just one day onwards I had the big antenna up, no radio
problems and 1000 QSO’s in the log for that day during 0400-1700. PHEW!!!!!!!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Day 3 – The good times roll on with 1190 QSO’s for today
After 5 hours sleep and a quick breakfast I was on
the air looking for North America on 15m. It was a pleasant and steady start to
the day for a couple of hours with a slow steady trail of JA and NA. Certainly
not as crazy as the pile up I had to Europe but it was still enjoyable. I took
the opportunity for a couple of hours sleep before lunch. After being refreshed
I was desperate to jump in the operating chair and do it all over again. At
0500 UTC 20m was open on the long path to Europe for 2.5 hours with the occasional
USA and Latin American log. When the band died down it followed with a 30
minute stint on 17m but things weren’t great. I ventured onto 15m short path to
Asia/Europe at 0830 for 30 minutes before dinner to hand out some Asian QSO’s.
After a lovely meal with our hosts it was time to
get back to work again on 15m SSB at 1000 UTC. What followed was 7 hours of
over 100 QSO’s per hour operating. I spent 1000-1200 UTC short path Europe and
had to be disciplined enough yet again to walk away from an even bigger
European pile up to go to 20m short path North America. I’m glad I did as there
was a great run to that part of the world. Rates were a little slower as I had
to call for “North America only” after each QSO and be strict and not let in
any European or Asian stations in order to maintain the discipline of the pile
up and ensure this more difficult part of the world to work is maximised during
ideal openings. Much to Europe ’s happiness,
after exploring this one hour window, I went back to 15m to work them. I was
tempted to simply turn the beam to short path Europe on 20m like the previous
evening, but the 15m signals were really good and I thought I’d stay on 15m
until the band should close at say 1400 UTC like it did on Horn Island. To my
ridiculous amazement, the band kept going and going until the last log at 1717
UTC!!! This was when 20m closed the previous night. I was exhausted but very
happy after another 1000+ QSO day. I went to bed thinking that this DXpedition
was turning into a success.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Day 4 – Bad propagation on a Saturday but still 718 QSO’s in the log
The lack of sleep, oppressive heat, stifling humidity
and the huge concentration to handle monstrous late night pile ups were
starting to take its toll. After breakfast I jumped on the radio at 0000 UTC
and worked a mainly JA run with not much North America. So at 0100 UTC I made
the best use of my time by catching up on a few
hours sleep. At 0400 I jumped on 10m and thought there may be some JA
activity being noon on a Saturday and had fun there for a half an hour before
everyone on that band was worked and so it was time for lunch. Conditions were
not that great this day and 20m long path to Europe was not too good. So by
0700 UTC I was looking short path JA/Europe on 15m with over 270 QSO’s made
over the following two hours. At 0900 UTC despite the good conditions, I was
asked to attend a local feast being offered by the hosts with visitors arriving
by boat to the island to attend. Even though it meant I was not making QSOs for
a couple of hours, with 2900 QSO’s in the bank and with this evening and two
more full days of operating to go I figured I could take time out to enjoy the
festivities. We all enjoyed a feast of fish caught that day, cooked to
perfection with all assortments of fine foods, wonderful wines and good company
as I tried to explain what the giant clothesline (aka Spiderbeam) was doing on
the beach. In between beers I gave people a crash course on ham radio,
DXpeditioning and the IOTA program. I went on the radio again at 1130 UTC short
path to North America, for 1 hour I made just 43 W/VE QSO’s and so it was
really slow going despite reports from the guys saying my signal was strong.
For the next 5 hours I jumped between 15m, 17m and 20m with slow runs to Europe until I gave up and went QRT at 1530 UTC.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Day 5 – Best ever QSO haul for any of my IOTA trips – 1428 QSO’s
As per usual I spent the morning on 15m beaming to
North America working a mix of JA/W/VE and South America. There were plenty of
JA’s on air with it being a Sunday and the fun finally stopped at 0230 UTC just
in time for a midday snooze and lunch. By 0500 UTC I was relieved to see
conditions were again very good as opposed to Saturday’s average propagation.
Despite a very busy 120 QSO’s in one hour, the band quickly died just before
0700 UTC which didn’t bother me as I was keen to make the most of 15m into Asia
on a Sunday afternoon. There was a great run into JA for a couple of hours and
then I grabbed a quick dinner which meant I was only off the radio for 20
minutes. When I returned at 0930 UTC the band was opening nicely into Europe. The
long and late 15m band openings continued to dazzle my mind. At the end of the
chaos and in the aftermath, from 0700 to 1730 UTC this 10½ hours stint resulted
in 1100 QSOs and overall I’d enjoyed my best ever haul QSO’s for a DXpedition
in a day – 1428 !!!!!!! I smiled to myself as my head hit the pillow, in one
day of operation on Bremer these 1428 QSO’s was more than my entire first
OC-171 DXpedition to Magnetic Island of 1115 QSO’s over a long weekend.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Day 6 – 556 QSO’s in the log before going QRT – best ever IOTA trip
I decided to sleep in a little after my record haul
knowing that I’d surpassed my previous best IOTA DXpedition QSO tally of 3925
QSOs at Horn Island. There was some packing up to do as I was going on the boat
back to the mainland early on the next morning. So after lunch I sat down for
my last session on the island. It was 20m long path to Europe
at 0500 UTC and conditions were good with a number of North and South
American’s getting into the log as well as the majority of Europeans. From 0700
I jumped on the money band – 15m short path to EU. Despite this being my 5th
night the pile ups were still very very big into Europe .
I had to go QRT after 7 hours and I needed to start packing the equipment in
the shack up at midnight local time. The band was still wide open with hundreds
of people calling. As I was packing up I thought to myself that 6 days of
operation was clearly not enough to satisfy the European demand.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Departure Day – 5149 QSO’s
Despite going to bed at 1am I needed to wake up a
couple of hours before sunrise. There was no way that I was going to pull down
the antennas in the heat of the morning with bright sunshine burning down on
me. So in the morning darkness I was rolling up coax with the sand crabs
keeping me company. By the time the first rays of sunshine starting beaming
over the sand dune I had managed to tear down the Spiderbeam. In my haste to
cut large cable ties on the main mast I inadvertently cut my thumb with
scissors very badly, enough to even cut the nail. Blood flowed heavily and I
had trouble stopping the bleeding. This certainly slowed down the packing up
process as I had to have a hand towel wrapped around my hand to control blood
loss.
No facilities for stiches, just bandages and
electrical tape!!!! At least I had my accident one hour before departure, it
was a nice “bookend” injury to my smashed bleeding toe within the first hour
after arrival! The boat journey back to journey was pleasant with great
weather. The gear arrived safely and I could relax in the Walkabout Hotel to
recover and reflect on a wonderful DXpedition.
As always, after a DXpedition my thoughts turn to
the next one. However before that it’s my wife’s turn to pick a holiday. Seeing
as though she was working in her new job as I was making QSO’s, this will be a
non-radio trip! So we’ll enjoy a visit to Abu Dhabi and Dubai followed by a
Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand cruise. But as always, I can’t help but think of
the next one ...........................
Band QSO’s
15m 2968 57.6%
20m 1593 31.0%
17m 303 5.9%
12m 197 3.8%
10m 88 1.7%
Total 5149
Mode QSO's
SSB 5130 99.6%
PSK31
19 0.4%
Continent QSO’s
Europe
3082 59.9%
Asia 1458 28.3%
North America 371 7.2%
Oceania 201 3.0%
Africa 22 0.4%
South America 15 0.3%
