Washed Over

Six months from now, tanned and lubricated tourists will flock to these beaches.   Stretch out towels and relax in the bright sun lulled to sleep perhaps by the surf.   And on that sand they may wonder like I do over the amazing place they have arrived.

The callsign will fade out in the waves, washed up and replaced smooth.   The bands plied with the transceiver will quiet for a brief moment, then reawaken with spark and flutter as yet another QSO occurs between somewhere and somewhere else.   My callsign isn't my callsign, but just a borrowed identity.

Hopefully in your  log you can read out the report from our QSO, or more than one!   

As they say, "Don't forget to tip your waitress."  And the equivalent amateur  radio expression is, "OQRS staff are standing by for your order."  

The QSL paper will go out in due time.  But, the card cannot quite do justice to expressing how interesting, chaotic, beautiful and mysterious this island really is.   To find out, it takes going outside the boundaries on the tour map and that was far easier for me to do here in the low-season.  No one was really around -- except a huge population of birds, and a few local islanders.

For any other city where stress is the ground level of every experience, traffic and noise fills the void, and bias and ignorance just needs a spark to ignite into three-alarm blaze -- Lord Howe Island is the antipode of that place.   Physically and mentally.  

My flight leaves in less than 48 hours.  Half of the time left to dismantle and stow the gear.  Cinch up the bags and estimate weights for balanced luggage.   

A postcard message that I did not mail:

Dear [name withheld],  I believe during many instances across the Pacific DX'peditions test the newbie.  They discovered something about how this all is supposed to work.  Without a doubt, that moment arrived here with me trying to do this correctly.  With all my humility I can say everything you said was true.  I'm going to leave here better off with the knowledge gained for what I can do, and what I can do better. 

Best 73,  Jeff,  VK2/W7BRS

Why I Love CW

What's another cup of Nescafe gonna do?  Keep me awake! I hope.

I didn't mention it yet, but for fun I brought my KX3 (portable micro version of the K3) with me to Ned's Beach.  It's just a 10 minute walk from the QTH.  (Ned's Beach is looking out to the North-west)

I had cobbled together a vertical dipole from a used fiberglass mast pole left behind from a past DX'p 20 years ago.  Scrap hunting paid off.

A little wire, some duct-tape, rigged up a feed SO-239 and away we go.  What doesn't duct-tape do? 

This is why I absolutely love ham radio

I spent the morning horsing around with the vertical.

I was hearing JA's and even a DS on 12m.  I'll make this my very last stop before leaving the island.  After the bags are all packed, I will walk down for one more Run with the knapsack.  A K3, a pole, some wire, a paddle and just try to have a plain old QSO and kick through the leaves with whomever comes on the frequency.  It'll be low power, but I just don't care.

Why I love CW.

Time for a Walk

This afternoon I'm scheduled to take a tour of the primaeval forest at the foot of Mt. Gower on Lord Howe Island.

The visit to these mammoth Banyan trees should prove to be an experience.

I've been putting off a deeper exploration of the island (for sake of operating the station), but I need to take some time to explore the natural wonder of the island.

It is a thing to do.

On a nice day

On a not-so-nice day

Back to the Storms

For several days we had amazing weather here.  Sun and absolutely no wind.   I wondered if I was still on the same island.

I took some time to maintain the antenna -- I shortened the feed line after finding some excess length that was unnecessary.

Working conditions have been generally good for 20m and 15m.    The 10m noise (S9+40) seems to have abated but who knows if that will last.

15m SSB was productive, but it is virtually impossible to hold the split frequency on SSB from here because the stations up the band cannot hear me -- so they just park where I'm listening and rag-chew.

Oh well.  If my pile-up was larger then they'd scatter away.  But when there's 1 Q / 5min there's no hint for them to skedaddle.  I'm also not blowing their meter needle off anyway -- it's a wash.

But last night as the RSGB IOTA Contest was starting, the storm hit and the wind really gusted.. Felt like 40-50 mph and in the night, the tuner started to act strange. I put on my rain gear and investigated this morning at the first light.

I noticed that the 40m and 30m elements were misplaced at the top of the antenna. A strong gust must have snapped the driven element wire.   (Notice the dark grey sky)

I have to disconnect the UNUN from the base and unscrew the cap that holds the mast to the ground plate.

I loosened two of the guy lines and gently lowered the antenna.  Not only did the wire snap, but the fiberglass tube collapsed into itself.  So, not too much trouble.  I used some spare wire to splice the antenna driven element and re-stretched out the fiberglass. I replaced the clamps and then raised it back up into operating position.   I'm glad I brought my fly-fishing SIMMS rain coat.  Pockets for tools and big hood for keeping the rain off my face.

I did not expect to use up so many spare parts, but I have been glad to be prepared for this.   Even if the mast were to become completely destroyed, I have a backup.   I just wish I had a backup for the KPA-500 and KAT-500. Those units are going into a box and on a shelf when I get home.   Time to look at SPE Amplifiers, probably.

The band conditions for the IOTA contest have not been very good.  Having a really tough time copying stations and the spot-clusters from this side aren't showing a lot of hits of stations.  Perhaps later today when the greyline passes through the midwest NA then the west coast.

We shall see.

A Little Hint

• I work SPLIT always.   QSX +1 for CW,  QSX +5 for SSB
• You don't need the extra power/punch.  I do.
• So, if I cannot copy your call, it's one of two reasons
• You're too weak anyway (propagation, etc..)
• You're overpowering your radio(too much  mic gain, too much ALC)  Make the adjustments -- Lower the gain, Lower the ALC!

A Hint:

If I am repeatedly asking for your call, read above.

RSGB IOTA Contest

The RSGB IOTA Contest is coming up.  My visit to LHI was meant to overlap with that contest.

I will be working 10, 15, and 20 meters only for the contest.

I'll be S/P and Running as the band conditions dictate.

The Exchange will include "OC004" for the island.

Mediocre Fox

FT-8 F/H is a wonderful thing.   It automates a lot of the handling of QSO for multiple calls.  With 400W limit in Australia I can only manage to handle three streams because the normal F/H dilutes the strength of each stream by a 1/3 per stream.  Counting in the line losses that 400W is maybe around 50W per stream nominally.

Super Fox on the other hand refactors the envelope of the RF so that each stream is delivered with the full power of the amplifier minus the losses.  But to get SuperFox software, one has to go directly and ask for it -- because it involves secure keys and so on with the back-end.

I've searched (perhaps not deep enough?) for a copy of SuperFox WSJT-X.  It isn't found.

I'll settle for a middle way -- Mediocre Fox.  All of the high power (not diluted) but without the extra layer of  anti-DQRM features.

What are the chances of getting M/F soon? Negative zero.  Just something I could really use at the moment.

School Visit Today

On the island the primary school visited me for an hour or so.  I offered the invitation to the headmaster to bring students to the "shack" to share the experience of working DX from an amateur radio station.

The students trekked from their school up the hill towards the QTH.

The path they took is almost a kilometer

The 26 students and two teachers walked the whole way. The students walked the entire journey barefoot -- no shoes -- just bare feet on the ground.  That is the "uniform" apparently?

They finally arrived at the QTH to meet me:

Notice the bare feet?

Anyway they all assembled and I had a brief chat about amateur radio.  I explained why I was on Lord Howe Island and what the general idea was -- to work as many DX stations as possible.

Soon the kids wanted to get on the radio and work DX!

The school teachers put the kids into groups of 6 and they came into the shack and we tried calling CQ on 15m.   Not much luck so I asked one of the older boys to give it a go, and call CQ (I had a feeling that hearing a child's voice call CQ would be the magic..)   Sure enough on the first call, we had a contact with New Zealand,  ZL1LU -- Bill.

After I prepared Bill for what as about to happen, I had to quickly explain the whole QSO process and the Phonetic Spelling aspect. 

I asked each student their first name and then I wrote out the script to follow.  For example when it was Max's turn, this is what I prompted him with:

As you might expect they were talking really fast so we had to do it a few times on the air with Bill slower and slower so that Bill could make a copy of the message.

The kids took turns in each group giving Bill a short message and they learned how to respond to the questions from Bill (ZL1LU) with Roger-Roger and so on.

We had a great time.  They peppered me with questions about the radio, and how the signal works.  We didn't get into the technical details as much -- but I pointed out that the Sun and the solar cycle of sun-spots plays a significant role affecting propagation.    They were a bit astounded at the signal on the HF bands -- how it was not clear and not "full quieting" as we would call it.

When it was time to show how CW works, they perked up and I sent a sample  CW of each of their names.   They lit up and started to chatter with themselves trying to mimic the CW di-dah.   I think among all of the students there might be one who will start their journey with amateur radio.  If that is true then Lord Howe Island may not be as "rare" much longer with an active resident -- but we will have to wait and see.

I was very impressed with the students, the teachers and the outlook of the class.  These kids are great examples of our future and it looks quite promising at this stage.

The WWDXC was ready to assist with a operator on 'the other end' and it would have been good to make contact with them, but the band conditions were sub-optimal at the moment we had with the class.

Thanks Bill, ZL1LU and the WWDXC for their assistance.

The Talk

I had a long talk with my DX-Aku and he wasn't pleased.  The conversation went sort of like this:

--

"You aren't pulling in the numbers of QSO that you planned to?  Why is that?"

'Not a lot of stations out there.  The QSO rates are at best 1/min.'

"Bullocks!  You're not trying hard enough!  Are you actually using the propagation charts?"

'Bullocks? Is that some kind of Lord Howe Island saying?'

"Don't get smart with me.  Are you actually using the propagation charts?"

'Sort of?  I view the VOACAP site and got a fuzzy picture of what bands are good for certain areas, but it still doesn't seem to match up with reality.'

"Part of your problem is that you aren't actually on the air long enough.  By the time you get spotted, you've already QSY'd."

'True, but I don't see the point of calling CQ for 15 minutes without a QSO.'

"Yes, back to the question -- are you actually using the propagation charts?"

'I guess I am not using them correctly.'

"Right, you aren't.   The chart shows when the propagation should be good and you'll notice that it doesn't account for the local time schedule.  Your sleep habits have to be adjusted for when the propagation is good.  You won't get anywhere if you only operate when local-time waking hours."

'So, I need to adjust my own schedule to match the propagation?'

"Yes, that's part of it.  The other part is you need to just push through and work the band for a time and know that there's another band to QSY to eventually to keep working."

'Thanks, and I hope you realize that this wasn't in the study material?'

"You weren't instructed in propagation?   You cannot have been an amateur radio operator very long!"

'Well, I have been working HF radio for a while but this seems to be my blind spot.'

"Yes, indeed.  It is your blind spot.  You may think you understand how amateur radio works, build antennas, and even work pile-ups.  But, you have homework to do -- to figure out propagation and stick with the plan of following the propagation."

'I see.'

"Do you?"

'I think so.  Thanks'

"Alright. Now, go read your propagation data and make it work.  And  start to work more South America -- your numbers there are pitiful!

'Yeah, I know.'

"Alright, I'll leave you to it."

--

School Students

Goal

Provide the opportunity for the Students at the Primary School to see and hear a amateur radio station.

Solution

I've finally arranged a date and time to demonstrate the station for the Primary School students on the island.  There will be groups of them at the "shack" and after a brief 5 minute explanation of what this is,  there will be opportunity for them to sit, by me with the radio and work SSB with whomever we can pull up on the band.  

In that regard, I have a favor to ask:

If you're a strong station, perhaps able to participate here is when we are going to be "active" with the students:

A 90 minute block:

July 26,  10:00 am to 11:30 am  (LHI Standard)

July 25   23:30 UTC to 00:30 UTC  (UTC) 

July 25  14:30 to 16:00 (Pacific)

If you can be on SSB we will try to work you. 

I've talked with the headmaster of the school and they are enthusiastic about showing the students another form of technology that permits both fun in amateur radio and a mild amount of academic interest in propagation of RF.

If this all works out, I'll publish the results.  In the mean time -- if this is something that interests you -- let me know.  We'll be ready.  

Pass along to whomever you wish.  

QSL Logs

I've had a few questions about QSO/QSL Logs and such and so I want to make sure it's clear

The QSL Manager M0URX holds the keys to the castle. (I gave him the keys)

His log and his online system is the authoritative list of who/when/what.

My N1MM log is simply chopped up and sent his way every morning (my time).

The ClubLog system is ONLY used for LiveStream.   But, as a side-effect, they maintain a "Log" of sorts.  Things were smooth until I think it was last night that I lost Starlink Satellite connection for a little while and some QSO data (while I have it in N1MM) did not get pushed to ClubLog.

But rest-assured -- the QSO happened and the QSL Manager has the data.  

If you're still concerned, please drop me a line.  I'll make a quick check, but  my advise is to wait a day and see if the QSO appears in the QSL Manager Online Log System before sending me email.

Thank you.

Midterm Grade

(This morning right after I got a morning coffee, a rainbow shot across the lagoon.  It got so bright it masked the view of the trawler boats.  The wind was blowing about 30 mph at the time and the rain was starting to kick up too).

In about 10 days or so, I tear down the station.   I'm writing this several days in advance so that I don't forget to write a good summary of the DX'pedition to Lord Howe Island and include some insights and observations from the experience.

I will end up annotating this post as the days progress, but there are fewer days ahead of the trip than behind.  This week is the time I will be preparing (CW QSO's) for the RSGB IOTA contest this weekend.  I am anticipating the contest as I write this summary of the events that unfolded while I was on Lord Howe Island.

The stated goals of the DX'p were to do many things and you can review the goals by simply finding the Page on this blog (probably to the right or somewhere in the Menu for the page called simply "Goal")

The main goal I had was to get experience.

For the goal of experience, gain experience working a DX'pedition.  All that entails and the effort that goes into making the trip happen.  It started way back in late March and early April of 2024 when I decided that I was going to go on a DX'pedition.  I had not originally planned for it to be a solo-operation, but it would have been inconvenient for me to pull in a team at short notice.   Even so, many of the experienced DX'p people I've met, especially the experts who regularly visit the DX Convention in Visalia had recommended that the trip I do plan involved a team effort.   That was one guiding principle of the experience that was shared with me from those experts.  I value their opinion and advice -- all the while I still wanted to know what I was capable of.  Being on a team involves a key element -- that is called "followership" -- which simply means being a good and reliable team member and taking in the direction and advice of the team Leaders who are organizing the trip.

I didn't quite have the same level of "team" experience while on Lord Howe Island -- I had to do everything myself.  Let's just start with the activities ON the island:

• Chief Engineer
• Procurement Specialist
• Public Relations Officer
• CW Operator
• Pile-up negotiator
• Band Plan Analyst
• Propagation Scientist
• Coffee Maker
• Exercise Guru
• Sand Sweeper
• Radial Wire Scavenger
• Email Responder
• Sked Caretaker
• Health and Safety Officer
• Log Maintainer
• Database Administrator
• Software Programmer
• Sand Castle Fabrication
• Beach Cookout Participant
• Hike Planner
• Cyclist
• RFI Scrubber

Those are just a handful of the roles that I had to play.

The main insight I have had is this:

You can plan your DX'p perfectly -- make plans, lists, agendas and scope documents to your hearts content, but nothing will change the reality that bad things will happen.  By "bad" I mean things that you could not have foreseen, or at the least expected to be an issue as you start to deploy the station.

For this expedition, what was not expected was the severe weather patterns that would envelop the island at random times.   Rain and Wind I did expect, but not with the chaos that unfolds when those weather events occur.  It can be bright and sunny one minute and then the next, a downpour that would frighten the most native Seattle resident, with wind and violent air movement straining the guy lines that were put in place to hold the only antenna.

Things can and do go wrong and dealing with the adversity of unforeseen events is part of the experience.  I have had no regrets about the outcomes that have unfolded because of those events.  At times, I've been on a roll, doing a good Run and then suddenly have to QRT over an issue as mentioned.  It was not expected because when I am on the other side of the QSO -- when I chase DX, it seems like the operation just rolls on 24/7.  But I then have to realize those operations are team operations and there is usually at least 2 people or more at  several radios always working more bands at the same time.  They have the  throughput to handle the issues because their bench is deep.

In a solo operation the bench is not deep and the result is that at every moment, I have to deal with an issue.  Luckily, the issues have been somewhat spread out over time.   When I first arrived (July 10-11) the weather was probably the worst, but over the last week or so except for a weird lightening storm and wind storm (several of those), it has been relatively calm.   I write this just as at the very moment I can hear the wind kick up again and see the palm trees flexing in the strong breeze around me.  It never ends.

The other goal of this DX'p was to simply provide the amateur radio operators out there a chance to log Lord Howe Island.   It is not a super-rare DXCC entity, but rare enough that sometimes I get a message from folks via email indicating it was an All Time New One (ATNO).  I'm actually quite pleased to be able to do that -- provide them the LHI contact for either their DXCC tally, or maybe even their  CQ Marathon list.

Another insight that has been painfully obvious is that despite all that can go into the planning of a DX'p the LOCATION of the antennas is absolutely critical to success.  In this case, where I have my antenna, the situation is less than optimal.  I have a couple of trees nearby and there is a derelict structure that might be the reason why the propagation to the Northwest part of the US or at least the North and West part of North America has been so hard to work.   Location is everything -- you can have the weakest power or the strongest power -- but with the right location the signal can leap from the antenna and make its way to the other stations in the world -- if it is located well.  I have to deal with what I have in this QTH.    Lord Howe Island is a highly regulated location.  Every square foot of this island is protected and as a result it is not as if there is ample "public space" for anyone to put up an antenna farm.  It would be extremely unlikely that I could have deposited one antenna let alone a farm of verticals along any of the beaches here -- and there are two beaches in particular that would have been absolutely perfect for 270 degree swath of signal propagation.   Alas, that scenario would have not worked --- so the insight here is that you can plan, hope, strategize and plot any kind of DX'p you wish but if your antenna location is not ideal, it will play a significant role in how many contacts you have which is in direct proportion to the  likelihood the signal will get out.

I learned a lot so far from this.  The main self-realization moment was that despite how much I thought I could copy CW, there is always room for improvement.    My modest copy skills were enough to handle the perfect pile up -- the perfect pile up is ONE station at a time.   I can actually handle a few stations in a pile up, but there is another kind of pile up that I (should have been) am aware of -- that pile up that is just layers and layers of callsigns overlapping to the point it's just a hum of noise.  It's like trying to climb a hill of dry sand.  Try to get to the top of it means digging and clawing against the unstable structure.   I did my best ( am doing my best ) by working from the edges inward rather than trying to meddle with the inside of the maelstrom of signals.  I don't know if that is the "proper" way of doing it, but it has worked so far.   Another aspect in the pile-up I've noticed is that there are the ultra strong stations and the ultra-weak. In fact sometimes I can copy the ultra-weak better because often their signals (despite being weak signal strength) have the characteristic of highly crisp and clear tone quality.   I strive to work those just as much as the rest of the call signs.   Their "low signal" means something because they are probably like me -- perhaps -- and my home QTH is virtually a pea-shooter station so I am familiar with having a weak signal when I chase DX.    Still, I will work the ultra-loud stations even if I am not trying for that area (Asia vs NA) because I need their strong signal out of the way -- sorry -- there's no other way to put it.  If you're so strong I got to work you now and quick so that I can hear the average strength station and the rest of the calls.   I hope you understand.

Last, I will close with a few comments about something I started with -- regarding the Team effort.

Despite the fact that on the island I do not have a "team" per se, I do have a virtual team back home.  Several members of the excellent Western Washington DX Club have been absolutely vital in giving me some feedback, information and advice in the most productive way.  Rob N7QT, Robin WA7CPA, Rusty W6OAT, Eric N7EPD, and Mike N7WA -- and the rest of the gang back home.  

THANK YOU.

I do want to call out a special friend of mine back home, Bob W7LRD who has been the unofficial Captain of Pilots.  He has from day one been able to steer the ship a bit for me, at least providing a lantern in the dark for me to follow a path towards the best signal and best band to pursue.  Also, I will add that he's an incredibly gifted CW operator and DX'er himself.  I admire him greatly.

I with the best for the days ahead and look forward to talking with my friends when I return.   I owe a lot of this trip to the motivation I've received from the NCDXF members I know and the tutoring from Mark K6UFO, Tom ND2T and others who are involved in the NCDXF and other clubs and foundations.

This DX'p is a little one.  It is not going to blow anyone's hair back and I'm sure the other 60+ other better-wanted DXCC entities are far more interesting to work.  But, I wanted to start somewhere and this is where I started.

There is a lot of ocean out here and a lot of islands to visit -- which means my time in the Pacific has just begun.  As I told my host at the Lodge on Lord Howe Island, I will be returning back to the Pacific again and making friends where I go.  Those friendships will be lasting and formative -- and they will help smooth  out the weird requests that come up like "So, I can put up antennas here?" question.   

About 14 years ago I read a book called DX-Aku by Bob  Schmieder KK6EK.  When I read that book, the hook was set in me for doing a DX'p.   But, back then I had absolutely no clue what to do or how to do it.  Bob was kind enough then to exchange email with me and we pondered, planned and he advised me just in the same way the Aku he heard (metaphorically ?).    I had to shelve the plan for other duties at work and home, but the dream of putting my feet in the sand was not going to go away.  I was going to put my "feet in the sand" as it were, one of these days.  That has happened.

Now, back to planning my days for the lead-up to the IOTA RSGB Contest this weekend.  In the mean time, bias more time in CW than FT-8.  And, double check my Score Summary table for which bands I need to work more often.  I hear a lot about 17m SSB.  And I haven't scratched 10m very much simply because there's a S9 + 40 noise figure on the island on 10 m.  The best 10 m signal for me is going to be CW only, no SSB unless I work around 28,600.  Up the 10 m band the signal seems to quiet, the birdies (flock of birds) resides between 28,200 to 28,500 at S9 + 40.

Take care, check the Live Stream if I made a mistake and the QSL Manager M0URX will handle the OQRS for Paper QSL (which will be happily made once I get back and deliver photos to Tim).

For the folks reading this who are from the Pacific Northwest, do not forget that the Pacific Northwest DX Convention is happening this August.  Many very interesting talks and presentations will be given, plus a lot of work went into making the event full of fun and enlightening time with a great group of people.   I look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks and 73's for now.

Jeff

Live Stream Active

In order to help reduce duplicates and re-tries, LIVE STREAM is now active:

https://clublog.org/livestream/VK2/W7BRS

Courtesy of the StarLink Internet connection.  Expect a tiny bit of latency.   Updates to LiveStream are delayed about 10 seconds after my station confirms the QSO.

I hope that helps!

Imagine the Antenna Farm...

While the kids on the beach made sand-castles, I imagined a row of Vertical Dipole Array antennas.

Oh would that be good.

Cargo Dog

Yesterday, I had a slight detour with a family that invited me to have a cook-out at Neds Beach on the NW corner of the island.

Part of the tour included a visit to the pier where the cargo vessel makes routine trips to the island every two weeks or so.

Everything of any signficant size or weight -- is delivered via ship.  This ship.

And, every bit of cargo that arrives, before it's moved off the dock onto the island is inspected for biologic specimens that do NOT belong on the island (rats, mice, frogs, snakes, etc..)   Dogs are used to sniff out any of these critters and make a sign when they find something.    This is how the island is able to protect the native species that are endemic to the island.  Without this level of critical inspection, the native wildlife would be decimated.  In the past years it was almost decimated until after a serious and dedicated ten year plan was successful of removing every rat and mouse from the island.

The working element of this operation is really that dog which checks every single load off the ship.  The fork-trucks do not leave the dock with the item until the dog gives the "A-OK"

In this case the dog was sniffing out a crate of gravel.

Alarm didn't go off...

I had planned to wake up around 4am local time and see about 17, 15m for EU and NA but the phone didn't make a sound.

At least I got some contacts in on the trail end of the opening to EU and NA this morning.

Looks like 0400 UTC to 0600 UTC should be good for 20m into NA and SA.

Then 2100 UTC looks good opening into EU for 20m.

15m is almost the same story.

Now, to finish that Laundry and get breakfast finally.

Side note --

I've received a fair number of email messages.   I try my best to give a good response quickly, but if the response is short, I will re-address the message in full when I have down-time.   For those who are seeking a contact, I am aware and  with the better VOACAP data in hand, I can predict a bit better when to be operating -- so that should help us.

Thanks for your patience.   And, just for the sake of mentioning it, review the "Goals" page on this Blog.  You'll see exactly what I am striving to do.

So far, it's going more or less as I expected. 

Many thanks,

Jeff

Strangest Weather

Settled in, got the cans on and the band seems quiet.  Fire up the N1MM and hope to enjoy a couple hours of pile up before another cup of coffee.  Work a few stations, some stations that I've worked before on other bands (thank you), and all of a sudden the wind kicks up with a blanket of rain that coincides with a huge spike in QRN on the band.   Wipes it out.

So, I will make that second cup of Nescafe  (powdered coffee from the microwave) and see about another band.

Life on LHI.

I realize that early morning my time is ideal for EU so I will try to make that a regular occurrence.  I appreciate the contacts and I'm glad to work EU as well as the SA stations.  I haven't heard many of them.  My vertical is able to Rx SA, I just haven't heard them much.  EU and SA are a priority as well as the NA contacts.   The AS contacts are fairly loud all of the time, which is good.  If I can hear you, I will try to work you, without delay.

Thanks.

Logbook

A house keeping issue --

The online Logbook is updated daily when I send the Logs to the QSL Manager

Here is the link to check the log:

https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs/logsearch.php?dxcallsign=VK2/W7BRS

It's updated roughly every morning (local time)

If you find an error, please reach out to me quickly.

Thanks.

Youth Visitor and School Presentation

I was visited by a council member and his 5 year old son Clifton who were interested in what I'm doing with my station.   The council member represents the school board on LHI.

On a small island, word gets out.  And the school season will start next week for the kids on the island.

I've been invited to give a brief talk about Ham Radio and the Operations underway on LHI with the kids in the next couple days.

I will post more when that happens and provide a summary of the event.

QRG

Where is VK2/W7BRS?

• You got the updated country file, check.
• Now you gotta find me on the bands....

Here is a list of the frequencies I will use.   I will use DXSummit to self-spot when appropriate.

FT-8 Frequencies

Always 091 up from the band edge except as noted (*)

Always Normal F/H with WSJT-X (Not SuperFox)

• 80m - 3591
• 40m - 7077 **
• 20m - 14091
• 15m - 21091
• 10m - 28091

• 30m - 10105 *
• 17m - 18105 *
• 12m - 24922 *

** Australian Band Plan affects this.

CW Frequencies

Work split.  I will Tx on 038 up from the band edge and listen 1+.   Except where noted (*)

• 80m - 3538
• 40m - 7038
• 20m - 14038
• 15m - 21038
• 10m - 28038

• 30m - 10120 *
• 17m - 18070 - 18072 *
• 12m - 24895 *

SSB Frequencies

This is more difficult to predict, but these ranges are expected.  I will always work split (I will be listening UP 5 Kc, always)

• 80m - 3838 - 3844 (*)
• 40m - 7170 ~ 7180
• 30m - 10125 (**)
• 20m - 14208 ~ 14220
• 17m - 18140 ~ 18146
• 15m - 21222 ~ 21238
• 12m - 24945 - 24950
• 10m - 28550 ~ 28560

* Depends on antenna performance.

** Australian Band Plan affects this.

If I forget to self-spot, these are the frequency (or ranges) to find me.  IF you do work my station, it would be appreciated to spot if there is something notable (excessively strong or very weak, etc.  That will tell me information about conditions for adjustments).

I'd also recommend RBN to track skimmers who detect my CW signal.

I have to adhere to the Australian Band Plan, of course.  Please find it here.

Effort has been made to ensure that YOUR international (NA/SA/JA/EU/OC/AS) Tx frequencies are in-band as required. If there is an error on my part, please contact me (via QRZ Email), thank you.

Breakfast of Champions

When eggs and bacon aren't enough.

(Double chocolate brownie and Long Black coffee, at The Anchorage Cafe)

DX Commander Antenna

I'm not using one per se, but I cloned it for this expedition.

In the design, the elements can waver in the wind. In high winds, they can reach to make contact with other (band) elements.  This is a bad thing to happen.  So I could rip apart the antenna and place another spacer midway up the mast.  Or I can do the simple thing -- just guy/tether the driven elements a bit so they cannot brush up on other elements in the high wind.

A note to self -- revise the design to have lightweight and easy-to-attach spacers between elements.

The Station on Lord Howe Island

I took this picture a few days ago,  during a night shift.

Pictured left to right:

• PowerWerx 14VDC Switching Powersupply
• Beringer USB outboard 192kb Sound Card
• Dell Laptop (behind laptop - Anderson Power Pole Power distribution block)
• Mechanical Cherry MX keyboard
• LED Lamp
• USB Video Camera
• Elecraft K3/100
• N3ZN Paddle
• Elecraft KAT-500 below KPA-500
• Heil Pro-7 headset IC-6 element

WX

A couple of days ago, a quick bicycle ride down Anderson Road to the cafe for a morning jolt of coffee ("A Long Black")

When all hell isn't breaking loose with wind and rain, this is what to expect in the morning around 9 am local time.

Howea forsteriana, the Kentia Palm endemic to Lord Howe Island

Hold still, this won't hurt.

Wind just took it down.  Snapped that fiberglass.   I had just switched to 17 meters and started CQ.

Luckily...  Swiss army knife and some duct tape...    WDFA

 A couple hours later...

Repaired and rebuilt (better this time) and doubled the guy lines...

Amplifier Malfunction

The KPA-500 is having a malfunction.  I need to diagnose.

Is it not a DX'p unless you have to tear apart the amplifier?   Indeed.  

Still troubleshooting.

Equipment Arrived

On the brightest day yet on the island, the Dash-8 zoomed in for a perfect landing.  

The storm that passed through last night was epic strong winds and rain that pounded the roof.   But by morning the sun came out and for the first time I could see most of the island.  I had a good feeling that the flight wouldn't be canceled like the days before due to high winds or low visibility

What a great sight to see.

My missing bags that contained virtually everything that I needed to establish the station were on the flight.    The air tags literally turned this around for the better.

After getting the gear loaded in the pickup truck and rambling back to the QTH, I spent the afternoon until dark assembling the antenna.   It's laying out in the grass ready for connection to the station tomorrow. The station itself will go together rather quickly.  All of the systems are arranged on the wide operating table.

It's also a relief to have the extra clothing that I needed.

Current time is only 6:40 p.m. local but the sun has been down for about 45 minutes and when it goes down, it's pitch black dark.  No lights to speak of.   I have a headlamp but it only illuminates a little bit of what I'm working on.

I expect to have the station running tomorrow.

QRV ?? -- Let's pencil in 2200 UTC Saturday July 13.  

Let's Try Again

Current time on island is about 5:00 a.m.

Insomnia is taking its toll.  Yesterday, the flight from Sydney to LHI was cancelled so the gear could not be here.  The weather conditions are drastic.  The cloud cover was too low for the flight.   It never left Sydney.

Over the night, the winds reached about 50 km/h and I don't know exactly what the mph equivalent is, but the sound of the trees and the horizontal rain that fell all night against the corrugated roof of the paddock was enough to keep me awake all night.

The wind has died down and the rain has stopped.   I am hopeful that the flight will be here today, but you never know until later in the day for sure.

The farm land on which the QTH is situated is ideal for putting up antenna here, and with nothing else to do but wait, I've had time to scope the terrain even more.  I'll be discussing the antenna location with the host of the Lodge and I think a few spots are going to be ideal.

We found among the gear that was left here over a decade ago, bags of old coax and makings for antennas.  Mostly aluminum tube and clamps and guy lines.  I think it is the makings of a beam antenna for the higher bands like 20 or 10m.  Perhaps 6m.  There should be enough tubing here to cobble together a spare antenna.   I have my own gear to expect for the vertical wire antenna, but we will see how it goes.

It is definitely winter time though.  Cold, rain, wind.  I also feel as if I'm probably one of very few visitors to the island.   I can walk or ride a bike along the road that goes along the coast line and not run into anyone else that isn't already a resident.

But the hospitality of the folks who live here is remarkable.  Everyone seems keenly interested in why I am here and when I explain it (the amateur radio DX'p explanation) they are polite to nod along, but I don't think I will try to get into too many details.   One very kind woman who runs a local outfitter shop told me that by now, practically everyone on the island knows why I am here. News travels fast, nothing is a secret for very long.

I moved up the dates of the DX'p (to land on July 10th rather than original July 20th) just for this reason -- in case things go side-ways on the luggage issue.    I'll be making some notes on this and when I get back to the States I'll give a brief 10 minute talk about the situation and some key points learned when the Western Washington DX Club has their convention in Everett, WA later in August.

At any rate, the battery is running low and all of the equipment I need to facilitate the station is still in Sydney.   If all goes well, I'll have the gear transported here to the Lodge and begin the process of stringing out radials, putting up antenna and connecting the K3/KPA station and try to listen for the band-conditions and check propagation.

As I said before, things are looking up.  That's the only direction to look at this point.

Until then,  CQ soon.

Jeff

Immanent Cargo

Each day, the Dash-8 makes a regular stop on LHI.  Almost like clockwork, around 2:45 pm local time, from the north west, the head lights of the Dash 8-200 appear out of the clouds and the wing tips reveal the trouble the pilot must endure to balance and straighten out the final seconds before trying to land.

I stress "trying to land"   -- Not all attempts work out. At the last second you might hear the throttle rev up and see the plane jump back into the sky after just touching a wheel....  then the next attempt is made after circling the island once again. The control of the variable pitch propeller Dash-8 is remarkable.

I was there today, waiting for the plane hoping that the equipment would be on-board.  I had checked Qantas and (with the help of Air-Tags), I was assured that the bags arrived from Los Angeles in Sydney four hours before the Sydney-LDH flight.  Well, what a surprise (or not)... the bags weren't on the plane today.  The winds were easily 30km/hr and as soon as it landed, they kicked up even stronger with a new burst of rain.  A typical late Feburary or March Seattle weather pattern. 

Nothing else I can do.   The helpless feeling is just what it is...

So we wait, again.   

Island

Arrival on Lord Howe Island

The arrival on LHI was successful.  The pilot of the Dash-8-200 skillfully handled the intense cross wind and turbulence on the last seconds of the landing.

(DASH-8-200 out of SYD for LDH,  July 10, 2024  ~ 2:00pm local)

Everything is as it should be, except for the lack of bags.   All of the checked luggage did not get transferred to the plane in Los Angeles for Sydney because of a delay in the SEA-LAX plane was over an hour late.

In the mean time I have been getting caught up on sleep, making some notes and trying to keep my battery charged.

The rain is pouring outside and the sound of the creatures  in the wild is intense.

I know some are expecting QRV soon.  The delays were expected.   I'll have some work to do when the gear arrives.   Things are looking up.

Thanks.

T minus 1

Ready

Bags are packed and ready.   I decided to bring enough fiberglass mast material to try to get on the low bands so there will be a chance of working 80m and 160m.

No bag over 45 lbs.  Enough gear for decent station, K3, KPA, KAT, KX3 two Spiderbeam telescope masts, and coax and radials for the station -- and everything else that goes in between.

• K3/100 (Elecraft bag) (ensconced in foam)
• Antennas (top bag to right)
• Other Equipment (bottom bag on concrete)
• Fragile Electronics (big Pelican case)
• KPA-500 (ensconced in OEM foam cradle within small Pelican case)

I'll be leaving Seattle within 24 hours and it will be Tuesday July 10th when I touch-down on LHI.

It might take me a couple days to get setup.

The Call Sign

A few notes for DX spotters ---

VK2/W7BRS will confuse a bit because it will seem that it's on the mainland.  But LHI is part of call area 2 in Australia, not 9.  So expect VK2/W7BRS and if you do spot, just add the "LHI" note (for Lord Howe Island).   The regulations got stricter this year so Lord Howe Island is no longer (or was ever) really VK9L.  We will leave that discussion for another time.

Meanwhile -- all that can be prepared for is done.  Antennas are in the bag, as well as all of the radio equipment:

Primary Station

K3 with KPA-500

CW, SSB and FT-8 capable.

Backup Station

KX3 (with KPA-500)

CW, SSB and FT-8 capable.

Logging and QSL

Livestream will be setup (pending stability of the network connection)

QSO logs will be uploaded to the QSL Manager  Tim Beaumont https://www.m0urx.com

OQRS will be established and QSL (paper, LoTW) will be done after the trip.

QTH

The QTH is on Lord Howe Island and the GRID SQUARE is:  QF98ml

Operating

All operations will be split except for FT-8 which will be traditional F/H mode.   Super-Fox-Hound will not be used.

SA, AF and OC have priority regardless of who I am CQing, otherwise if I call JA, NA or EU try to listen for your turn.   Again, always work split, and up.

Update your Logging Software (it has been several weeks since the COUNTRY file has been updated so that the QSO will log correctly in your Software as Lord Howe Island)