W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
-
VK4CZ
- Forum Diehard
- Posts: 680
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:14 am
- Location: Clear Mountain - Brisbane (Nth West) - QG62lp
- Contact:
W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
Sorry for the late post... just catching up on emails from the 6m EME reflector (only a couple of months behind)!
W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
Re: W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
Somehow your url does not show up Scott (not here anyway). Probably one of the follwing?
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Samoa2011.htm
http://www.mmmonvhf.de/latest.php?id=3769
Nothing has happened on "terrestrial" propagation direct from 5W except to Warwick E51WL who is about 1500km away. I've only seen Lance's JT65A signal here via EME ... sometimes as strong as -23, but QSB due to Faraday rotation (or something) has been massive. So far he reports having worked 38 stations + a few a few more today going by the current comments on the ON4KST EME page.
73, Bob ZL1RS
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Samoa2011.htm
http://www.mmmonvhf.de/latest.php?id=3769
Nothing has happened on "terrestrial" propagation direct from 5W except to Warwick E51WL who is about 1500km away. I've only seen Lance's JT65A signal here via EME ... sometimes as strong as -23, but QSB due to Faraday rotation (or something) has been massive. So far he reports having worked 38 stations + a few a few more today going by the current comments on the ON4KST EME page.
73, Bob ZL1RS
Bob, ZL1RS in the Bay of Islands at RF64vs
-
VK4CZ
- Forum Diehard
- Posts: 680
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:14 am
- Location: Clear Mountain - Brisbane (Nth West) - QG62lp
- Contact:
Re: W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
Talofa lava!
Finally back home again after countless hours traveling! In summary, I completed with 42 stations via 6m EME, plus one on Es (E51WL), who called me in sequence on JT65A while I was calling CQ aiming at the moon. That is a great way to break in when the band is open, since when I am aiming at the moon 12 hours a day, I really don't have free time for dedicated listening for ionospheric openings! And the increased sensitivity of JT65A permits contacts during strong ionospheric openings even if the beam is not aiming exactly at the other station.
WORKED
1 G4FUF
2 G5WQ
3 G8BCG
4 G8VR
5 GM4WJA
6 K2ZD
7 K6MYC
8 K7BV
9 K7CW
10 K7XQ
11 KB7Q/7
12 KB8RQ
13 KR7O
14 LA8AJA
15 LY2BAW
16 N2TIN
17 N3CXV
18 N6RMJ
19 N7NW
20 NR5M
21 OH2BC
22 OH6MIK
23 OK1RD
24 ON4GG
25 ON4IQ
26 OZ4VV
27 PA3HP
28 S57RR
29 SM7AED
30 SM7FJE
31 UT7QF
32 VE1JF
33 VE3KH
34 VE5UF
35 W1JJ
36 W5UWB
37 W7GJ
38 W8PAT
39 WA4NJP
40 WA7U/7
41 ZL1RS
42 ZL3NW
In addition to the above stations, I copied 37 other callers with whom I was not able to complete:
COPIED
1 DJ5JK
2 EA7KW
3 ES6RQ
4 G3WOS
5 G4IGO
6 HA0DU
7 IW5DHN
8 JR6EXN
9 K4PI
10 K4RX
11 K7AD
12 K9CT
13 KD7YZ
14 KH7Y
15 KJ9I
16 LZ2CC
17 LZ2WO
18 N3WXW
19 N5DG
20 NN7J
21 NR0X
22 OA4TT
23 OE9ICI
24 ON9CC
25 PA2CHR
26 PE1BTX
27 PE1L
28 S51DI
29 S59A
30 UN8GC
31 W4CSW
32 W4IMD
33 W7EME
34 W7IUV
35 W7KNT
36 W7UT
37 W9RM
So what do I think? Well, I knew going into this trip that the windows with EU were shorter and the period of low Degradation was shorter than from 3D2LR last year. So, although I was hoping for as many contacts from Fiji (52), I really didn't expect as many from this more limited operation. And, although the moon positions during this DXpedition did avoid directions during the day of typically high TEC, the peak of the solar cycle is approaching, so the general geomagnetic field disturbances were higher, and people reported aurora in Europe when I first started my operation. And, although the solar flux may not be high enough to have any effect on 6m signals from my home QTH in Montana, there certainly is some effect in the TEP zone, where I was operating, even if the MUF was usually not enough to produce ionospheric propagation back down to earth! So, there were certainly some unforseen disruptions that caused EME cndx to be less than ideal. I found many times that reciprocity was not there or was not alternating over a reasonable amount of time with stations I was trying to work. It was very frustrating to me to be unable to complete with the many stations I copied, and also disappointing that a number of stations I have worked in the past were not copied or active during this operation.
Having said that, I have to say that these results were very encouraging, since the total number of stations copied off the moon from 5W0GJ (79) was almost 15% greater than from 3D2LR last fall (69)! I think I definitely could complete with several dozen new stations on another trip there during a period of optimum EME cndx.
As far as the QTH is concerned, I highly recommend Bungalow #4 at the Bayview Resort on Savai'i for ham radio, and especially for EME. If I were to go back again to 5W, I would have no hesitation to go to exactly the same place. The moonrise is out over the water except on very southern declinations, and the moonset is over the water in the distance during northernmost declinations. The AC power did go off for 30 minutes during one of my moonrises (which was probably the worst possible time for a power outage) but it was operational the rest of the 12 days. The location is far from the main TV transmitters in Apia, and I did not detect any interference on 6m from the Samoan Channel 1 TV. I also did not have any line noise, although I did have noise (which sounded like welding) on a couple occasions when I beamed west toward the village. The Bayview Resort offered internet via Wi-Fi for $10/hour, which was much more handy than the nearest internet services available from the previous 3D2 or E51 locations. Although the Bayview Wi-Fi reached most of their units, the operating position in the northern corner of Bungalow #4 was just out of range, so I had to dismantle the computer and leave the station in order to file update reports.
Many thanks to all those who made the effort to get on and so patiently and persistently kept calling me. I would decode all the callers each sequence to check if the conditions were changing so as to be reciprocal with anyone. If nobody was copying me at that time, I would just continue calling the person I had started with, even if they were not visible to me at that particular moment. I am exploring other possibilities to try to provide a bigger signal next time, but it is obvious that the people who could take advantage of my moonrise ground gain over the ocean really had a much easier time of it. Especially during trying conditions, being able to see the moon during that extra ground gain on my moonrise was really helpful!
To those of you who sent in contributions, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! The excess baggage charges, in addition to the expensive travel costs, were very high, and it will be some months before the credit cards can be paid off! It is your very helpful support that makes it possible for a guy on Social Security to activate these rare DXCC every year. The accessible and reasonably affordable places to get to are dwindling in number, but I think we will be able to come up with a very desirable location for next year
GL on 6m and again, MNI TNX! VY 73, Lance
--
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ@hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815
Finally back home again after countless hours traveling! In summary, I completed with 42 stations via 6m EME, plus one on Es (E51WL), who called me in sequence on JT65A while I was calling CQ aiming at the moon. That is a great way to break in when the band is open, since when I am aiming at the moon 12 hours a day, I really don't have free time for dedicated listening for ionospheric openings! And the increased sensitivity of JT65A permits contacts during strong ionospheric openings even if the beam is not aiming exactly at the other station.
WORKED
1 G4FUF
2 G5WQ
3 G8BCG
4 G8VR
5 GM4WJA
6 K2ZD
7 K6MYC
8 K7BV
9 K7CW
10 K7XQ
11 KB7Q/7
12 KB8RQ
13 KR7O
14 LA8AJA
15 LY2BAW
16 N2TIN
17 N3CXV
18 N6RMJ
19 N7NW
20 NR5M
21 OH2BC
22 OH6MIK
23 OK1RD
24 ON4GG
25 ON4IQ
26 OZ4VV
27 PA3HP
28 S57RR
29 SM7AED
30 SM7FJE
31 UT7QF
32 VE1JF
33 VE3KH
34 VE5UF
35 W1JJ
36 W5UWB
37 W7GJ
38 W8PAT
39 WA4NJP
40 WA7U/7
41 ZL1RS
42 ZL3NW
In addition to the above stations, I copied 37 other callers with whom I was not able to complete:
COPIED
1 DJ5JK
2 EA7KW
3 ES6RQ
4 G3WOS
5 G4IGO
6 HA0DU
7 IW5DHN
8 JR6EXN
9 K4PI
10 K4RX
11 K7AD
12 K9CT
13 KD7YZ
14 KH7Y
15 KJ9I
16 LZ2CC
17 LZ2WO
18 N3WXW
19 N5DG
20 NN7J
21 NR0X
22 OA4TT
23 OE9ICI
24 ON9CC
25 PA2CHR
26 PE1BTX
27 PE1L
28 S51DI
29 S59A
30 UN8GC
31 W4CSW
32 W4IMD
33 W7EME
34 W7IUV
35 W7KNT
36 W7UT
37 W9RM
So what do I think? Well, I knew going into this trip that the windows with EU were shorter and the period of low Degradation was shorter than from 3D2LR last year. So, although I was hoping for as many contacts from Fiji (52), I really didn't expect as many from this more limited operation. And, although the moon positions during this DXpedition did avoid directions during the day of typically high TEC, the peak of the solar cycle is approaching, so the general geomagnetic field disturbances were higher, and people reported aurora in Europe when I first started my operation. And, although the solar flux may not be high enough to have any effect on 6m signals from my home QTH in Montana, there certainly is some effect in the TEP zone, where I was operating, even if the MUF was usually not enough to produce ionospheric propagation back down to earth! So, there were certainly some unforseen disruptions that caused EME cndx to be less than ideal. I found many times that reciprocity was not there or was not alternating over a reasonable amount of time with stations I was trying to work. It was very frustrating to me to be unable to complete with the many stations I copied, and also disappointing that a number of stations I have worked in the past were not copied or active during this operation.
Having said that, I have to say that these results were very encouraging, since the total number of stations copied off the moon from 5W0GJ (79) was almost 15% greater than from 3D2LR last fall (69)! I think I definitely could complete with several dozen new stations on another trip there during a period of optimum EME cndx.
As far as the QTH is concerned, I highly recommend Bungalow #4 at the Bayview Resort on Savai'i for ham radio, and especially for EME. If I were to go back again to 5W, I would have no hesitation to go to exactly the same place. The moonrise is out over the water except on very southern declinations, and the moonset is over the water in the distance during northernmost declinations. The AC power did go off for 30 minutes during one of my moonrises (which was probably the worst possible time for a power outage) but it was operational the rest of the 12 days. The location is far from the main TV transmitters in Apia, and I did not detect any interference on 6m from the Samoan Channel 1 TV. I also did not have any line noise, although I did have noise (which sounded like welding) on a couple occasions when I beamed west toward the village. The Bayview Resort offered internet via Wi-Fi for $10/hour, which was much more handy than the nearest internet services available from the previous 3D2 or E51 locations. Although the Bayview Wi-Fi reached most of their units, the operating position in the northern corner of Bungalow #4 was just out of range, so I had to dismantle the computer and leave the station in order to file update reports.
Many thanks to all those who made the effort to get on and so patiently and persistently kept calling me. I would decode all the callers each sequence to check if the conditions were changing so as to be reciprocal with anyone. If nobody was copying me at that time, I would just continue calling the person I had started with, even if they were not visible to me at that particular moment. I am exploring other possibilities to try to provide a bigger signal next time, but it is obvious that the people who could take advantage of my moonrise ground gain over the ocean really had a much easier time of it. Especially during trying conditions, being able to see the moon during that extra ground gain on my moonrise was really helpful!
To those of you who sent in contributions, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! The excess baggage charges, in addition to the expensive travel costs, were very high, and it will be some months before the credit cards can be paid off! It is your very helpful support that makes it possible for a guy on Social Security to activate these rare DXCC every year. The accessible and reasonably affordable places to get to are dwindling in number, but I think we will be able to come up with a very desirable location for next year
GL on 6m and again, MNI TNX! VY 73, Lance
--
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ@hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815
-
VK4CZ
- Forum Diehard
- Posts: 680
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:14 am
- Location: Clear Mountain - Brisbane (Nth West) - QG62lp
- Contact:
Re: W7GJ 2011 6m EME DXpedition to AH36un in Samoa
Well, several people pointed out that I overlooked the last page of my logbook 
I THOUGHT I was missing a couple of contacts somewhere!
I also worked W1VHF and W7CE, bringing the total worked on 6m EME up to 44, with a total number of stations copied over 17% higher than from 3D2LR last fall. Thanks for the excitement! Can't wait to see what happens from the next rare DXCC
GL and VY 73, Lance
--
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ@hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815
I THOUGHT I was missing a couple of contacts somewhere!I also worked W1VHF and W7CE, bringing the total worked on 6m EME up to 44, with a total number of stations copied over 17% higher than from 3D2LR last fall. Thanks for the excitement! Can't wait to see what happens from the next rare DXCC
GL and VY 73, Lance
--
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ@hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815