DXPeditions

From 10 April to 13 April 2011 MD/DH7FB and MD/DF2ZC activated the Isle of Man (DXCC GD) on 2m EME. Locator IO74RH.

Location: Close Taggart Cottages
You can download a Google Earth kmz file here [ KB]

We are very happy with results, 200 different stations worked within 3 moon passes.This even though we could not use the last 35 deg of the moon pass at set due to the house being in the direction of the moon and that we had to beam through trees and bushes at moon rise before we finally had a clear shot at the moon only at elevations > 35 deg.

Story

Pictures

Log

Sponsors and QSLs

Already last year while we activated Jersey GJ land Frank DH7FB and Bernd DF2ZC had discussed about potential locations for 2011. The Isle of Man was soon chosen for two reasons: They both hadn't been there yet and it is very much wanted on 2m EME (where the latter had the higher priority).


They decided to go there in May 2011 but when owners of cottages were contacted in automn 2010, the houses were already booked for the good moon days of that month. So they had to bring the activity forward by one moon month, to the period 8 to 14 April 2011. Even then it was not quite easy but eventually they got a confirmation of availability from the Close Taggart Cottages (http://www.closetaggart.co.uk). Without any hesitation the requested antenna permission was granted, with the confirmation that they have a good view on the moon from their place and the particular comment "we have no neighbours".

From the website photos and also from the Google Earth views the place looked perfect.

The equipment was the same as with previous activities from Guernsey, Sardinia and Jersey: 2 x 9 elements M2 and TS 2000 (plus one spare TS 2000), GaAs-Fet preamp and two EME amplifiers: their dedicated DXpedition GS35-amp (by HA8UG) with separate P/S and this time also the new BeKo HLV-1000 with the freescale MOSFET, Bernd’s new toy which was delivered from Bernhard with BeKo only 2 days before departure. The p/s of the GS35 amp had now received a big blower, one of that kind you might have noticed in hand dryers in bath rooms. When using the amp in GJ, Frank and Bernd felt like the transformer temperature was somewhat too warm even though they never ran and run the amp at full output. About 30 years ago Bernd had acquired such a blower at the Weinheim VHF convention flea market. Now it is finally brought to good use.

Frank had also optimized the connection lines of the rotators and control units which had received pro-type connectors. Therefore connecting rotators and control units now only took 10 seconds instead of 5 minutes with insulating screw joints as before.

On 7 April 2011 Frank travelled from Berlin to DF2ZC’s place in JO30RN. Meanwhile Bernd had taken all the hardware out of his storage room in the basement of a neighboring house and put it in the car.

The following morning the DXpedition team left to Dunkerque from where they took the ferry to Dover, then via the M25 London orbital congestion to Oxford where they spent the night. Next morning they continued the journey to Heysham in Northern England for the ferry to Douglas, Isle of Man. Finally they arrived at Close Taggart at 1730Z on 9 April.

They were being awaited and welcomed by the owners Shirley and John who sure wondered what kind of guys that would be, travelling so far only to establish radio communications via the moon. However, when shown the cottages and possible places to set up the antenna Frank and Bernd looked and were rather disappointed: The trees and bushes surrounding the garden were much higher and closer than it had looked on the website. Together with John they looked for alternative antenna locations on the Close Taggart site, maybe from John’s garden shed getting electricity via an extension cable.

However, after a short internal discussion they decided to give it a try nevertheless, in the garden straight at the cottage because the foliage was not yet too dense, the trees were not yet in full bloom. Possible attenuation could still be negligible, they hoped. Moreover both knew that Jurg DK3WG had his QTH surrounded by poplars for decades and had not reported major problems on 2m. So it could maybe work out better than expected.

However, here the trees were pretty close, from 50cm to 5 meters max. If they should have a measureable influence one could still relocate the antenna to another place at Close Taggart. Only, if somebody had told them they would work 200 QSOs from there, they would have laughed at him and not believe it.

After a visit to the local pub for some beers and warm food, the radio equipment was set up in the kitchen. Antenna work was postponed to the next morning because moon rise was only at 0920Z which gave sufficient time. Having set up that antenna quite a number of times it now takes the team only 60 minutes if they hurry.

Next morning after an early breakfast the crossboom and yagis were quickly assembled and the antenna system was put together. Then came moonrise, with the yagis pointing straight through the trees. In fact, the distance between yagis and trees was just 3m at moon rise direction. Both were very excited what was to come. Would it work, would it not work? MD/DH7FB started calling CQ at the calculated moon rise time and QTF but they did not get a reply the first 20 minutes. Also there was no report on LiveCQ. What was wrong? Nothing! Eventually at 0947 Z the first traces could be seen. Guy VK2KU was the first station in the log with -20 dB, soon followed by many others. Even though they still beamed through the trees it worked. This felt great! Also the next days the first signals could only be copied some 15 minutes after calculated moonrise which then would not make them nervous anymore. They could not explain this, the location was correctly entered into the moon pass software and the take-off at moon-rise was not blocked by hills.

Anyhow, this first day, 10 April, MD/DH7FB worked 99 QSOs, an excellent result particularly if it is compared to what they had expected. Even more stations could theoretically be worked but after 2340Z the moon was behind the house house. Ned AA7A was the last QSO that pass, after his 73s all signals disappeared. This moon pass the team had used the brand new BeKo HLV-1000 which though running at 50% duty cycle for 14 consecutive hours never even became warm. This was amazing.

The following day they used their special DXpedition amp with the GS35 which was a little louder and also made the shack a little warmer. Using MD/DF2ZC another 59 stations were worked.

12 April call signs were changed again and MD/DH7FB completed with 42 more stations, bringing it to 200 initials altogether. An excellent result, again some 10% more initial contacts than from GJ last year. This is also a good proof that in general three moon passes are sufficient to work all those who really need a particular DXCC and are willing to patiently invest time until conds between them and the DXpedition are finally good for a QSO. Being in Europe where quite a number of stations has already worked GD land on meteor scatter or even EME it is very much different from a first ever activity elsewhere: Some well-known call signs even did not call in.

Though 37 DXCCs were worked there are no EA6, EI, 9A, GI, GW and LA stations in the log. Outside Europe HS, LU and PY from those countries with stations easily workable are also missing.

However Frank and Bernd are very proud of the results and also happy the finally worked XE2AT again. Every day Al was copied calling but only the last day it was possible to complete. Moreover they are pleased with the number of single yagi and/or QRP stations in the log. Big fun was to work the “A-Team” from PJ4X: PJ4X was the last QSO by DF2ZC from home on 7 April at 20Z, it was worked then from GD and after arrival back home at DF2ZC on 15 April 01Z PJ2/PE1L was the first QSO from there again, even before the beer.

After intensive internal discussions in the team Frank took down the phasing cables and the splitter on the 12th and installed a matched transforming cables from dipoles to a T-connector instead, bringing cable loss before the preamp down by another 0.3 dB. It was no easy task to convince Bernd to do so, not for technical reasons but for the “never change a working system” rule. Admittedly, this might have been the difference…signals were much stronger ;-) indeed after this ingenious improvement of the antenna-system made by the great DH7FB ;-) and so they then were able to decode even the smallest signals. This system will be used also next time.

On 13 April the late morning the antenna system was taken down and finally they had time to travel across the island. Sadly this was the day with the worst weather, all other days they had excellent wx with lots of sun. On the 13th it was windy and rainy. However, it was interesting to drive the Tourist Trophy race course but it is hard to imagine that the bike racers do an average speed of more than 200 km/h there - particularly as any mistake easily can be the final mistake: there are stone walls to crash on everywhere.

In the afternoon the equipment was stored it in the car, the next morning at 0845 am the ferry left from Douglas back to Heysham. The travel back home on 14 April was without any problem, this time straight through without stop in Oxford. At 01Z on the 15th they arrived at DF2ZC’s place again.

Where to go next? After Frank and Bernd have now activated all wanted European DXCCs reachable by car there is only OH0 left, which is not a quite rare they one believe. And of course there is ZB land. The latter is off-limits for any serious 2m DXpedition because with the consent (!) of the Gibraltar Amateur Radio Society the maximum power allowed on 2m is 100 watts EIRP! No way for EME, not even for meteor scatter. DH7FB and DF2ZC have a good location there with the Caleta hotel from their 2007 activity before the new rules were put in force, but there is no point going there again if those rules remain unchanged. If you are not happy with this, you can address to the GARS http://www.gibradio.net/. ZB most definitely would be a wish for them to activate again.

All other places involve a flight. Therefore Frank and Bernd will modify their system to bring the overall weight down by avoiding rotators and other heavy parts. And then we’ll see where they go next time.

For those who really did miss out – there is hope. Mike GD6ICR had visited the DXpedition twice. On 10 April he even made his first EME QSOs. Mike plans to become QRV on 2m EME by the end of the year.

Now the DXpedition equipment is going back into the storage room at DF2ZC's place...waiting…

Frank and Bernd wish to thank Shirley and John for their support. At times it appeared they both were more worried the location would not be suitable for the DXpedition purposes than the actual DXpeditioners themselves. It was very much suitable as we know now and Close Taggart is highly recommended for a tranquil and quiet holiday stay in a beautiful landscape. It is a lovely place…

10 April 2011 Callsign MD/DH7FB
001 0947 VK2KU 0952 -20 1 VK
002 0951 DF7KF 0955 -17 2 DL
003 0957 DL9MS 1003 -16
004 1005 RK3FG 1009 -17 3 RA
005 1011 JM1WBB 1015 -20 4 JA
006 1015 SM7GVF 1019 -18 5 SM
007 1019 RX1AS 1013 -25
008 1023 DK5YA 1027 -17
009 1027 OH7HXH 1035 -22 6 OH
010 1035 RU1AA 1041 -18
011 1053 JH0MHE 1059 -20
012 1059 SP2OFW 1103 -17 8 SP
013 1107 DK3WG 1111 -20
014 1133 IK1UWL 1137 -18 9 I
015 1141 JE1TNL 1147 -25
016 1149 G4ZFJ 1153 -25 10 G
017 1207 I2FAK 1211 -13
018 1211 I2RV 1215 -21
019 1223 DL1DWI 1229 -22
020 1229 PA3FPQ 1233 -24 11 PA
021 1235 PE1L 1241 -23
022 1249 JM1GSH 1252 -25
023 1309 OH4LA 1313 -25
024 1311 UT6UG 1317 -24 12 UT
1325 RU1AA 1329 -19 *
025 1331 RW3WR 1335 -23 *
1335 RX1AS 1343 -16 *
1347 RK3FG 1351 -16 *
026 1355 DK5LA 1359 -16 *
027 1359 YO3DDZ 1405 -18 YO *
* QSOs were made by visitor Mike, GD6ICR, who made his first ever EME QSOs.
028 1409 TK5JJ 1413 -22 14 TK
029 1419 OK1CU 1423 -21 15 OK
030 1423 PA0JMV 1427 -16
031 1425 DM2BHG 1431 -17
032 1431 OK1UGA 1435 -17
033 1435 OM3BC 1439 -17 16 OM
034 1441 I3MEK 1445 -16
035 1445 SM5DIC 1449 -20
036 1449 DL2NUD 1453 -19
037 1453 DL8YHR 1457 -23
038 1503 LZ2FO 1507 -23 17 LZ
039 1507 EA2AGZ 1511 -16 18 EA
040 1517 DH3YAK 1527 -18
041 1523 PA5MS 1527 -19
042 1527 DJ4TC 1533 -22
043 1539 IK2DDR 1545 -23
044 1545 PA1GYS 1549 -21
045 1549 PA1BVM 1553 -21
046 1601 DG8NCO 1605 -21
047 1609 PA4PS 1615 -20
048 1615 F1AFJ 1619 -19 19 F
049 1619 DG1VL 1623 -24
050 1625 OY4TN 1629 -24 21 OY
051 1629 OH6ZZ 1635 -22
052 1631 KB8RQ 1635 -11 22 W
053 1639 DL4WO 1647 -24
054 1643 DL2LAH 1649 -23
055 1653 PA1T 1659 -22
056 1659 SK5AA 1703 -19
057 1737 OH7PI 1741 -19
058 1741 OH2LHE 1745 -22
059 1745 OH6UW 1749 -25
060 1751 OH8MGK 1755 -25
061 1813 SM5CFS 1819 -20
062 1817 PA3CMC 1821 -19
063 1824 S52FO 1827 -18 23 S5
064 1827 PA3DOL 1831 -23
065 1831 WZ5Q 1835 -23
066 1835 DK5SO 1839 -22
067 1839 W5UN 1843 -14
068 1843 F6HVK 1849 -16
069 1849 DK1CO 1853 -18
070 1853 UA4AQL 1903 -20
071 1903 F6APE 1907 -22
072 1907 KD3UY 1911 -22
073 1911 F6BKI 1915 -18
074 1915 F1DUZ 1919 -18
075 1923 ES3RF 1927 -21 24 ES
076 1927 VE1KG 1931 -20 25 VE
077 1937 K6MYC 1941 -19
078 1949 DM1CG 1953 -14
079 1955 W7MEM 1959 -25
080 1959 EB5GP 2003 -13
081 2003 SV8CS 2007 -24 26 SV
082 2011 SW8NAC 2015 -21
083 2015 W7AV 2019 -23
084 2033 PJ4X 2035 -25 27 PJ4
085 2043 DJ8MS 2047 -22
086 2047 OZ1LPR 2051 -12 28 OZ
087 2057 K1OR 2103 -24
088 2103 WA3PQX 2107 -19
089 2127 RA6A 2131 -17
090 2131 N9LR 2137 -21
091 2137 K5DOG 2141 -23
092 2143 KI4TZ 2147 -23
093 2147 K0AWU 2155 -25
094 2151 VE5UF 2203 -24
095 2159 S51ZO 2203 -23
096 2213 S52LM 2217 -18
097 2227 F5GHP 2231 -19
098 2235 N7NW 2239 -23
099 2239 AA7A 2243 -22

11 April 2011 Callsign MD/DF2ZC
100 1105 JS3CTQ 1109 -25
101 1121 VK5APN 1125 -24
102 1131 DL7FF 1135 -20
103 1133 I3EVK 1137 -17
104 1139 RN6DJ 1143 -25
105 1143 JH5FOQ 1147 -18
106 1149 RW3AC 1157 -18
107 1205 GM6VXB 1209 -21 29 GM
108 1209 OK7XX 1215 -23
109 1227 VK4CDI 1241 -23
110 1249 HA8CE 1253 -25
111 1253 UA3PTW 1259 -22
112 1259 ES1RF 1303 -21
113 1313 F8DO 1319 -21
114 1359 RV9UV 1408 -25 30 RA9
115 1411 S58M 1415 -25
116 1423 LZ1FG 1427 -23
117 1435 UR3EE 1439 -21
118 1451 HA8CL 1455 -25 31 HA
119 1455 YU7XL 1439 -25
120 1501 G4EZP 1505 -25
121 1511 G4FUF 1515 -21
122 1517 DD0VF 1521 -25
123 1523 HA6NQ 1527 -21
124 1527 GW3YXW 1531 -25
125 1539 RA9YDL 1543 -25
126 1543 F9HS 1551 -19
127 1601 DJ9MG 1607 -21
128 1609 SM5CUI 1619 -23
129 1619 PA3EXV 1623 -21
130 1643 UT5UAS 1647 -22
131 1835 K9KNW 1839 -20
132 1839 PA2CHR 1843 -25
133 1847 SW8KOU 1852 -22
134 1851 K5QE 1905 -16
135 1911 DK5EW 1917 -24
136 1919 OH2BC 1923 -25
137 1927 DK2PH 1931 -18
138 1949 OH7C 1953 -15
139 1953 ZS6OB 2003 -21 32 ZS
140 1957 YL2HA 2103 -23 33 YL
141 2003 I3LDP 2007 -23
142 2007 S57SU 2013 -18
143 2023 OK1TEH 2027 -23
144 2027 DL8EBW 2033 -24
2035 DK5LA 2039 -16
145 2039 DL7APV 2043 -18
146 2043 PE1DAB 2047 -21
147 2057 YO6OBK 2103 -25
148 2108 NZ5N 2111 -23
149 2111 N8PR 2117 -24
150 2137 N0KE 2143 -25
151 2151 W8PAT 2157 -25
152 2157 SP2NJI 2201 -22
153 2203 DK3EE 2207 -14
154 2209 DF6SM 2215 -22
155 2231 DJ3VI 2237 -23
156 2239 VE7DXT 2243 -25
157 2243 W4RBO 2249 -25
158 2253 W2DBL 2259 -21

12 April 2011 Callsign MD/DH7FB
159 1221 ZL3TY 1227 -22 34 ZL
160 1229 RV3IG 1237 -21
161 1239 VK3AXH 1243 -21
162 1249 DL6ZAU 1253 -21
163 1317 IZ3KGJ 1321 -14
164 1427 UA4HTS 1435 -21
165 1441 OH3KLJ 1515 -21
166 1527 DG5CST 1530 -25
167 1553 F6BEG 1601 -25
168 1713 DL2FCN 1722 -23
169 1721 IK2CDI 1723 -23
170 1725 UA3MBJ 1731 -25
171 1729 IR2ITA 1735 -16
172 1811 UX5UL 1816 -25
173 1823 UY5UG 1827 -25
174 1853 RZ6A 1857 -23
175 1921 UN9L 1929 -25 35 UN
176 1925 F8ARR 1933 -21
177 1935 YT1VP 1939 -25 36 YU
178 1945 K1JT 1949 -18
179 1959 W5UWB 2003 -13
180 2009 YO5LD 2013 -21
181 2033 K5DNL 2039 -25
182 2041 AE3T 2047 -25
183 2049 N5YA 2053 -20
184 2057 DK5WL 2102 -16
185 2103 DK4RC 2107 -24
186 2107 XE2AT 2117 -25 37 XE
187 2135 RA7A 2141 -9
188 2141 YO5AVN 2145 -24
189 2147 UR5LX 2153 -24
190 2155 DL6MFK 2159 -24
191 2159 SM0EJY 2205 -27
192 2215 RA3WDK 2211 -25
193 2221 EA5SR 2227 -20
194 2237 N7SC 2245 -19
195 2247 PA3ECU 2251 -24
196 2259 WA2ODO 2303 -25
197 2303 N4BH 2309 -22
198 2309 WA3BZT 2315 -25
199 2315 KC6ZWT 2319 -25
200 2335 K2TXB 2339 -25

We fund all these activities by our own money and we do it for our personal fun - and to give much wanted DXCCs to our ham friends. So no donations are asked for!!!

However, if you can and if you DO want to give a little financial support you can now do this also via paypal. Every little helps to fund future activities and our beer bills...but again, NOTHING is asked for.


Sponsors:
We are very grateful to UKW Berichte and to SSB Electronic and to Stecker-Profi for sponsoring this activity.

Thank you to all individual Sponsors of this DXpedition:
IK1UWL, SV8CS, JE1TNL, KD3UY, DL2FCN, VE1KG, DL7APV, W4RBO, I3EVK,...


QSL Information:
We prefer direct QSLs. We will only answer direct QSLs with sufficient $s for postage PLUS self adressed letter. For within Europe 1 US-$, outside Europe 2 US-$. Direct QSLs to our home adress in QRZ.com DH7FB or DF2ZC.

DXpedition Report

DXpedition Report

DXpedition Report

DXpedition Report

DXpedition Report

DXpedition Report and Pictures

1998 OZ/DF2ZC (JO75KF)
1996 EI/DF2ZC (IO41WS)
1995 GM/DF2ZC (IO76NX)
1979 DF2ZC/3A (JN33)

With the exception of the 3A activity all were family holidays with some ham radio...and surprisingly the holiday location in or close to a rare square...