6m EME DXpedition to Mayotte (FH)

[Lance Collister, W7GJ]

During my birthday dinner celebration 3 years ago on the beach in La Digue Island in
the Seychelles, Erik NI6G suggested that it might be possible to travel to Mayotte
for a 6m EME DXpedition. Well, tomorrow the XYL and I leave Montana on our way to
Mayotte! Mayotte was selected for this DXpedition because NOBODY from NA has ever
worked FH on 6m, and it is still needed by many in Region 3 and even a number of
people in Region 2! Provided the planes fly as scheduled and all the luggage arrives
with me, I am planning to start setting up the mast when I arrive at the site around
mid-day on Tuesday September 6:

http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/TO7GJ%206M8GJ%20Mast%20Site.jpg

The 6M8GJ yagi will be 66' above the ocean. Yes, there are some big trees along the
beach to the west, and I won't know if the antenna will be high enough to see over
them until I get there. Hopefully they won't attenuate my ground gain too much during
moonset! All the information on how to contact me as TO7GJ in Mayotte, including
links to the planned operating schedules, is on my web page:

http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Mayotte%202022.htm

Updates with the daily worked list as well as any other info will be sent to the
Magic Band EME email group and I will try to post updates on the above web page.

This operation is challenging for a number of reasons. One is the very small space
available to set up the mast and 6M8GJ yagi, as you can see from the link above. The
other is that the TO7GJ moonset is also moonset in western EU as well as moonrise in
NA. The result is undoubtedly going to be MANY horizon-only callers (as well as NA
callers who have elevation but will probably  have to be aimed on the horizon because
of the low moon elevation). Please follow the instructions on the above web page and
spread out to provide the best chance of getting into the log ;-)

Obviously, I will need to complete contacts as quickly as possible, so as soon as I
receive an RRR or 73 from you, I will move on to the next station. I would have liked
to have been able to run Q65-60A in the NA CONTEST mode to speed up the contacts, but
unfortunately, that mode provides no way for me to determine what stations are
copying me at a particular time :-( Standard Q65-60A also only provides that
information if I can fully decode a station, but that is the best option currently
available, so that is what I will be using for EME. Please only call me with TX2
(calls and signal reports) if you are seeing my trace during my previous transmit
sequence - otherwise, please just call with TX1. I will try to move quickly, working
stations where Faraday Rotation is giving us reciprocal propagation. The
non-reciprocal contacts will take longer. Thanks in advance for your patience and
understanding - I will be doing my best to get all the serious callers into the log ;-)

When there is no moon, I will be trying to work ionospheric propagation using FT8
mode. CU soon from FH!

GL to all and VY 73, Lance

--
Lance Collister, W7GJ(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M, TX5K, KH8/W7GJ, V6M, T8GJ, VK9CGJ, VK9XGJ, C21GJ, CP1GJ, S79GJ, TX7MB, TO7GJ)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11 - 6m DXCC #815 - FFMA #7

Interested in 6m EME? Ask me about subscribing to the new Magic Band EME
email group, or just fill in the request box at the bottom of my web
page (above)!