Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #428
Yuri Nikitin
SB DX @ WW $OPDX.428
Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 428
The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 428
BID: $OPDX.428
September 27, 1999
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1
Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, W1LU, WW2R, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
& The 59(9) DXReport, K3UG, WB3JFS,AA5DX, W4SMG, KH6BZF REPORTS, K8YSE,
NE8Z/HC1MD, BD7NQ, DJ5AV & DX News Letter, EA5BY, EA4DX, F6AJA & Les
Nouvelles DX, G3SWH, JA1ELY, JA1SGU, JI3DST, OH2BR, OZ6ACD, PY2ZX &
QTC Magazine, ZR6AXB and 9M2TO for the following DX information.
3C0, ANNOBON ISLAND. The 3C0R operation is now QRT. Tony, EA5BY, reported
that the team had some misfortunes during their operation and trip there:
1) The RTTY equipment was damaged and could not be fixed.
2) One amplifier was damaged during the operation.
3) One laptop was damaged during the operation.
The GOOD NEWS is: The team has obtained from the authorities the approval
for future operations from Annobon. Therefore, they will leave all the
generators and gear at the Base.
3V8, TUNISIA. "The 59(9) DXReport" reports that Albert, F2KN, will be
active from the 3V8BB club station October 5-15th. PLEASE NOTE: QSL this
operation ONLY via F6FNU.
6 METER BEACON. Tex, 9M2TO, reports that the members of MARTS have
installed a new 6 meter beacon on 50.005 MHz. The beacon is on the island
of Penang (9M2TO QTH) using the callsign is 9M2TO/B. The beacon is on 24
hours days running 25 watts into a 5/8 GP.
9M6, EAST MALAYSIA. Phil Whitchurch, G3SWH, informs OPDX that he will be
active as 9M6PWT from Sabah between November 3-15th. He menitions that
this will be a holiday operation on all bands 40-10 meters, CW only. He
will be staying in three different hotels, and he already has
permission to put up his antennas. Times of activity will be on an
"as and when" basis, but he will probably follow the extablished
pattern of early mornings and late afternoons, local time. QSLs will
be via my his home address.
AGELESS DXPEDITIONER HEADS FOR AFRICA. Look for 76 years old DXpeditioner
Mako, JA1OEM, to be returning to West Africa. His planned schedules are
as follows:
C56HP - The Gambia from October 1-6th. Activity will be on various
bands on CW (very slow speed) and SSB. No low band operation
at this time.
XT2HP - Burkina Faso from October 8th and November 3rd. Activity on
all bands 160-10 meters and on CW (very slow speed) and SSB.
QSL direct ONLY and NO Bureau cards. Direct address is: Mako Toyofuku,
P.O.Box 9, Sawara, 287-0003 JAPAN
ATTENTION TOPBANDERS! Propagation Guru Lee, KH6BZF, informs OPDX that
in the northern hemisphere during the evenings/nights of October 1-2nd,
2-3rd, and 4-5th, respectively, some low K-indices are expected. Lee
would like to hear how you did during these nights. His E-mail address
is: KH6...@arrl.net
E4, PALESTINE (Update). Ayar, E44/OZ6ACD, informed OPDX that he has not
been on the air for a couple of months due to a death in the family. He
has planned to be active again by September 17th, but reports that his
down system is down. His is currently trying to restore his antenna and
hopes to be on the air soon. Ayar states that he plans to be active until
Christmas, but he "might continue well beyond the Millinium celebrations!"
He wants to remind OPDX readers NOT to send QSL cards to his callbook
address. QSL ONLY to Allis, OZ1ACB. Ayar travels to Denmark every 2-3
months, so it is much better/easier to send the cards directly to Allis
or via the bureau to her.
FO & FO0, FRENCH POLYNESIA AND MARQUESAS ISLANDS. The "LNDX" reports that
Serge/F6AUS and F6AOI will be active as FO/home call or a FO0 callsign
from the following scheduled islands:
FO0 Marquesas Islands (OC-027): Hiva-Oa from November 3-10th
Nuku-Hiva from November 10-14th
FO French Polynesia Island: Raiatea (OC-067) from November 14-17th
Bora-Bora (OC-067) from November 17-20th
Moorea (OC-046) from November 20-22th.
The operators will be active on SSB, CW and RTTY.
FT5X/FR5HR QSLS ARE NOT GOOD FOR DXCC. Mike, W4SMG, reports that he and
others are finding out that these cards are being rejected by the DXCC
Desk. The Desk states that the operator was not physically on the island
and was operating from aboard a ship which will not count. By the way,
this operation took place back in January, 1998.
HC, ECUADOR. Rick, NE8Z, will be active as HC1MD from Tumbaco, Ecuador,
and HC1MD/HC7 from the Amazon Jungle from November 30th-December 14th.
Most of his activity will be on the WARC bands CW. Rick will also be
especially active on 6 meters with a TS680s and a Cushcraft yagi. All
QSLs go via: K8LJG, direct CBA or bureau.
SPECIAL NOTE FROM RICK/NE8Z: "Maria (HC1MM) and I will be touring EA
(Barcelona & the Eastern coast of Spain), C3-Andorra, ZB2, EA9-Ceuta,
CN-Morocco and EA6-Palma/Mallorca beginning October 22nd. I would like
to meet local DXers in those areas if possible. I plan on only taking 2
meters for the mobile. ---- My E-mail address is: ne...@mich.com ----"
IOTA NEWS.......
AS-041. Takeshi, JI3DST, reports that he had to cancel his trip to
Oki Island because of a typhoon. He will continue to make
plans to go here in the future and will inform OPDX on the
new plans.
AS-139. The GuangXi DX Club of China announces that they will be
going to Wei-Zhou Island. Operators BA7QT, BA7QQ, BA7QN, BD7QY,
BD7QJ, and BG7SX will activate this island as BI7W on some of
the regular IOTA frequencies October 1-3rd. Wei-Zhou Island
belongs to GuangXi Province P.R China in south China sea area
(109e25 21n37). This will be the second time for amateur
radio waves to be sent out from this small island. QSL via
BA7JA (P.O.BOX1713#, Guangzhou, P.R. China, 510600) with a
SASE please and direct only. They will set up two stations
and operate on 40-10 meters SSB/CW. Suggested frequenices
are: 7025, 7055, 10115, 14038, 14260, 18098, 18128, 21038,
21260, 21400, 24918, 24945, 28038, 28465, 29.280 (FM only)
kHz.
J6, ST.LUCIA. Barry/K3UG, K3LP, N3NT and K7KL will be here for the CQWW
SSB Contest using the callsign J6R. QSLs to N3NT's CBA. They will be
active on all bands during the week prior to the contest concentrating
on CW/RTTY and WARC contacts.
J8, ST. VINCENT. Look for Mike/K6MYC and Jimmy/W6JKV to be active from
Mustique Island (IOTA NA-025) between October 29th and November 6th. At
this time their reported activity will be on 2 and 6 meters. Also, no
callsigns were mentioned.
KH0, MARIANA ISLANDS. Yama/JA1SGU and Kaz/JJ1KZI are to be active October
6-9th as KH0T and KH0V, respectively. They will be active mainly on the
WARC bands CW. QSL via following their home callsign; KH0T to JA1SGU
(S. Yamazaki, 1-6-10 Towa, Adachi-ku, Tokyo 120-0003 JAPAN) and KH0V to
JJ1KZI.
KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE?? Jeff, WB3JFS, sent this question to OPDX and states
"Just wanted to let you (your editor) and the readers of OPDX in on a news
story that appeared to be imminent. Could Montenegro be next?" Check out
the following Web page: http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9909/24/kosovo.us/
PJ2, NETH. ANTILLES - Joeke, PA0VDV will be active from Curacao (NA-145)
as PJ2/PA0VDV between October 7th and November 15th. His activity will
be mainly CW.
PS2, VITORIA ISLAND (New DIB!). Al Archangelo, PY2ZX, editor of QTC
Magazine, informs OPDX that the LABRE-SP (Brazilian Amateur Radio League)
is promoting the first DXpedtion to the Vitoria Island (IOTA SA-028). The
callsign will be PS2V (Papa Sierra Two Victor). The island is located on
the north shore of Sao Paulo State, and will be activate for the first
time giving out a new DIB number 76 (DIB, the "Brazilian Islands Award").
Also, on the island is a lighthouse which is 101 meters above sea level
having the DFB number SP03 (DFB, the "Brazilian Lighthouses Award"). The
PS2V DXpedition will take place October 8-12th. Operators will be:
Martins/PY2HN, Tony/PY2MT, Jac/PY2PA, Claudio/PY2KP, Waldir/PY2WC,
Tom/PY2YU and Al/PY2ZX. Activity will be on all the HF bands (WARC bands
included, 160 meters to be confirmed) and the VHF bands (6 and 2 meters)
on SSB and CW. QSL via PY2AA, the LABRE-SP International Bureau.
QSL INFO AND NEWS.......
Roberto, EA4DX, reports that the logs from his T24DX and 3D2DX operations
have been updated and can be found on the Web at:
http://www.qsl.net/ea4dx/Tuvalulog1.htm
The printing of the QSLs should be done before December, so please do
not send second requests yet. QSL via EA4CP to one of the following
addresses: Jose Diaz, Doce de Octubre # 4, 28009 Madrid, SPAIN
Jose Diaz, PO BOX 50546, 28080 Madrid, SPAIN
G4FRE/SV9 QSLs. As of September 24th, all direct QSL cards for G4FRE/SV9
sent to WW2R have been answered. By the time this is published, the logs
should be online at: http://www.flash.net/~g4fre/logsearch.htm
QSL UT9NA via UR4NWW either direct (P.O.Box 8100, Vinnitsa 286050,
Ukraine) or through the bureau. Serge, UT9NA, was active in the CQ/RJ
WW DX RTTY Contest this past weekend.
W1NLK was activated by the "Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Club" from
Sheffield Island (IOTA NA-136 and USI CT-008s). For more details and
QSL information, check the U.S. Island Home Page at:
http://www.eng.mu.edu/~usi/
REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR THE DOUBLE TROULBE DXPEDITION. They will be active
this week until October 3 from Kanton Island as T31T. Please refer to
OPDX.423/422.
SPECIAL EVENT. Look for special event stations ZS100ZAR and ZS100OVS to
be active from South Africa for the centenary commemorations of the Anglo
Boer War. According to Marius, ZR6AXB, "the Boers were the first in history
to order two-way radio telegraph equipment for military purposes. To
commemorate the war with the focus on the roll of communication during
the war, special event stations will be active in the capitols of the two
Boer Republics- Oranje Vrystaat (Orange Free State) and Zuid Afrikaansche
Republiek: Bloemfontein and Pretoria, using the special event call signs:
ZS100-OVS and ZS100ZAR respectively. The stations will initially be active
over the period 7 to 13 October, including the date of the outbreak of
the war 100 years ago." Suggested frequencies are: 3640, 7082 and 14160
kHz. QSL cards will be issued.
TY, BENIN. The "DX News Letter" reports that Eddie, W6/G0AZT, planned to
participate in the CQWW RTTY Contest this past weekend and continue to
be active until September 29th as TY1RY. Outside of the contest, he will
also be on SSB. QSL direct ONLY to Eddie Schneider, PO Box 5194, Richmond,
CA 94805, USA.
USI ALERT. Scott, W1LU, will be operating as W1L from Little Comfort
Island, Rhode Island (No IOTA, but new U.S. Island) on September 28th
at 1600z. QSL to W1LU (ex: WA1P). Suggested frequency will be 14260 kHz
ONLY, and he also hopes to make a trip to Great Island (U.S. Islands
# RI-012S) later that day.
V6, MICRONESIA. Tunehiro/JA7AB and Shoji/JA7HMZ will be active from
Pohnpei Island September 27th through October 3rd. JA7AB will sign V63TM
and JA7HMZ will sign V63DX. Activity will be on all bands CW and SSB.
They will concentrate on working Europe and the east coast of North
America. QSL via their home callsign.
JA7AB - Tunehiro Miura, 60-208 Terauchi, Akita, 011-0901 JAPAN
JA7HMZ - Shoji Igawa, Yokobori, Ogachi, 019-0204 JAPAN
VP6BR PITCAIRN ISLAND DXPEDITION. The following is an excerpt from a press
release by Jukka Heikinheimo, OH2BR. Jukka will start his DXpedition to
Pitcairn Island in January 2000 to celebrate his 40 year long Amateur
Radio career. The goal is to give the DX community a maximum number of
VP6 contacts on all ten amateur bands from 6 to 160 meters on CW, SSB
and RTTY. Pitcairn Island, VP6, stands at position 52 on the 425 DX
Bulletin 1998 Most Wanted List. With the recent DXpeditions its actual
position would be closer to 30. The call sign to be used has been
confirmed as VP6BR. QSL via home call OH2BR. SPECIAL NOTE: OPDX InterNet
Subscribers will receive the complete press release as an additional
bulletin.
VQ9, CHAGOS ISLANDS. Ron, AA5DX, will be returning to Diego Garcia at
the end of this month. He plans to stay until the end of January, beginning
of February 2000. He will be active as VQ9DX, mostly on CW, concentrating
on the lower bands 160 and 80 meters. Ron states that he will also be
active on the other HF bands as well as 6 meters. QSL via AA5DX (home
callsign) and allow for time to reply as he will only be able to answer
the cards upon his return stateside.
ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. "The 59(9) DXReport" reports that Yasu, JI1NJC,
will be active from Rarotanga October 5-10th. His activity will be on
all bands and 6 meters. Look for his beacon on 50.105 MHz. Yasu's callsign
will be issued upon his arrival. QSL via JI1NJC.
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OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE):
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/opdx.html
ALSO VISIT THE NORTERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/nodxa.html
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From: "Jukka Heikinheimo" <oh...@kolumbus.fi>
To: <kb...@barf80.nshore.org>
Subject: VP6BR DXpedition support
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 15:59:47 +0100
Dear Tedd, KB8NW,
hereby I send you the
Appendix: VP6BR Pitcairn DXpedition press release
VP6BR PITCAIRN ISLAND DXPEDITION
Jukka Heikinheimo OH2BR will start his DXpedition to Pitcairn Island in
January 2000 to celebrate his 40 year long Amateur Radio career. The
goal is to give the DX community a maximum number of VP6 contacts on all
ten amateur bands from 6 to 160 meters on CW, SSB and RTTY. Pitcairn
Island, VP6, stands at position 52 on the 425 DX Bulletin 1998 Most
wanted list. With the recent DXpeditions its actual position would be
closer to 30.
The call sign to be used has been confirmed as VP6BR. QSL via home call =
OH2BR.
Apart from cruise ships too expensive for a DXer?s budget, Pitcairn
Island is linked to the rest of the world by P&O cargo ships travelling
between Auckland, New Zealand, and Eastern U.S.A or Europe. These ships
visit Pitcairn every three or four months supplying the islanders with
everything they cannot produce themselves. The transportation to
Pitcairn will be confirmed by the shipping company only one week before
the ship?s estimated departure from Auckland. This makes it impossible
to publish any accurate information on the starting date of the
DXpedition at this time.
The equipment to be used consists of YAESU FT-1000MP (if the airline
gives it a "free ride"), ICOM IC-706MkII as a spare rig normally used
only on 6m, a factory prototype of the new remote controlled automatic
ACOM 1kW linear amplifier covering all bands from 6m to 160m, triband
and duoband yagis for 10 to 20 meter bands and vertical antennas for the
low bands. The intention is to leave the antennas either for the
pitcairners or in Auckland for future DXpeditions in the region and
therefore are still to be defined pending support from the manufacturers
and DX foundations. Two 2 kW generators and 1400 liters of gasoline are
planned for maximum reliability of power supply. The islands diesel
generator cannot be used as a power supply for a DXpedition as it is
available only for a few hours in the morning and evening times. The
islanders are depending on a few long wire antennas so a serious DXer
has to take his own antennas with him. Any beam antennas would probably
be destroyed by salt water environment in a few years time.
Donations are welcomed to cover the high costs of extra equipment,
transportation, generator and gasoline expenses. The address is:
Jukka Heikinheimo, Rikunkuja 4, FI-01420 VANTAA, FINLAND.
Jukka will be hosted by Tom and Betty Christian, VP6TC and VP6YL. The
operation site is the VP6PAC club site up on the flat top of the hill
providing 360 degrees view for LP openings and lots of room for LF
vertical radials.
For 6m enthusiasts: the prospects of serious 6m operation depend on the
feasibility of taking a beam antenna to Pitcairn as well as the demand
for such an operation.
For the IOTA enthusiasts: side trips to the rare IOTA Henderson and
Ducie islands may be considered if there is enough interest from the
IOTA community and the local conditions warrant such mini-DXpeditions.
The islanders might visit Henderson to collect the miro wood for their
carvings but Ducie is too far for their longboat. A shipping vessel
should be chartered for a trip to Ducie.
Log search and home page for the VP6BR DXpedition are under construction.
73 and DX de Jukka OH2BR (VP6BR)
oh...@sral.fi
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Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 13:10:15 +0930
From: Stuart Birkin <vk8...@octa4.net.au>
To: "kb...@barf80.nshore.org" <kb...@barf80.nshore.org>
Subject: IOTA UPDATE
MELVILLE ISLAND OC-173 - 4th - 9th Nov 1999 &
CROKER ISLAND OC-229 - 11th - 16th Nov 1999
Northern Territory IOTA DXPEDITION NOVEMBER 1999
TEAM :
STUART VK8NSB (TEAM LEADER)
PETER VK8PDG
ALLAN VK2NNN
PETER ZL1HN
TEAM PILOT & WEBMASTER : RUSTY KG4AU
TEAM QSL MANAGER : JIM VK9NS
QSL INFO : VIA VK9NS DIRECT OR VIA THE VK8 BURO
ALL QSLS WILL 100%
TEAM'S IOTA WEBPAGE : www.rustman.com/IOTA ( FOR ALL UPDATES )
GOAL'S :
1. to arrive safely on both islands
2. to activate a amataur radio display for the children on both
islands
3. to have 4 complete hf stations setup & 2 x 24hr for 6 days on
each island
4. to activate both IOTA'S for the world's amateur radio community
5. to have fun & enjoy ourselves ...
Stations ( planned at the moment ) :
At the Schools FT - 920 , FT - 757 , TS - 50 ,
Antenna's 3 element tribander , R7 vertical , G5RV
80m / 40m Dipoles
At the Accomadation FT - 890 , FT - 757
Antenna's 3 element tribander , 3 ele 10m yagi , R5 vertical
Amps : Due to none of the Team owning Amps there won't be any at the
moment , If you wish to loan the team 1 please email me ASAP .
Freq : The Team will stick to all IOTA freq's , except for Ritty &
SSTV modes , SSTV will only be operated on the 5th / 8th from Melville
island & 12th / 15th from Croker island , Ritty will be operated when
able ,, CW & SSB are prority modes ..
Sponser's : ( thank you all ) IOTA . IREF . AIRNORTH . H.I.D.X.A .
VK8HA . 9V1YC.
SUPPORT TEAM : VK8HA - Henry , VK8NGP / ZGP - Geoff , VK3NDS - David .
Schools & Amateurs supporting the team :
WA5POK - MIKE , N9WDQ - DENNIS , VK4MDS - DOREEN
(would you like to help us for the Children on both islands ?? please
email me ASAP)
As team leader i would like to thank everyone who has been involved with
this project , without your support this operation would not have been
able to be put together in the 1st place , please distribute this email
as wide as possible please , any questions please visit the webpage and
process a feedback form for me to read.
73,s DE VK8NSB Stuie Team Leader
LETS ENJOY IOTA
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Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 17:27:12 -0400
From: Mike Dalrymple <GM4...@compuserve.com>
Subject: LIGHTHOUSE REPORT 1999
To: kb...@barf80.nshore.org
Hi,
This year's International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend took place from 0001
UTC on Saturday 21st August until 2359 UTC on Sunday 22nd August 1999, when
218 amateur radio stations were established at lighthouses and lightships
in 39 countries. The event is not a contest, its prime aim is to show to
the members of the public the obvious connection between the international
aspects of amateur radio, lighthouses and lightships.
Here is a short report on other stations=92 activities, based on reports I
have received, on their station. The lighthouse at Hoburgen, Gotland
Island [IOTA EU-020] had two stations operational, 7S1LGT on HF and SK1BL
on 50 MHz, and made around 300 contacts on HF and 534 on 50MHz. They were
in the JO96 square and was apparently very popular among the 6m folk. In
Greece, J41LH, at Melagavi lighthouse operated at times in temperatures of
38-40 deg C but managed to make just over 3100 contacts whilst J47LHA,
Alexandrouplois lighthouse, with only two operators made 1019 contacts.
In Scotland the station GB2LBN was established at Barns Ness lighthouse,
which is situated about 30 miles to the east of Edinburgh. The bands worked
were 80, 40, 20 and 15m with both 20m (585 contacts) and 15m (178 contacts)
being the most prominent bands. 80m was totally dead with only 37 contacts,
40m was extremely noisy and chaotic with 111 contacts made. A total of 911
contacts overall.
In England GB2HL, Happisburgh lighthouse, operated primarily on 40 and 20m.
A winch mast trailer with a Mosely 5 bander TA33 Jnr for 10 to 20m with a
pump up mast with an inverted V trap dipole for 40 & 80m was their aerial
system. They used 2 x FT102, TS4308 with ATU and a TS950 all on loan from
members. A total of 412 contacts (90 on 20m, 19 on 15m, 276 on 40m and 27
on 80m) of which 21 were lighthouses/ships.
In the U.S.A. the Great South Bay ARC, Islip ARES and the Suffolk County RC
set up 3 HF stations, a VHF/UHF FM voice and a VHF packet station at Fire
Island lighthouse. A 40 ft tower with a 3 el triband yagi, an R5 and
160-80-40 windom netted 1035 QSOs, 13 lighthouses, for W2GSB. This year's
activity was dedicated to the memory of Rich Tygar AC2P. K2L at the
Buffalo lighthouse made 764 QSOs during the weekend. K7L at Cape Blanco
lighthouse had relatively poor DX conditions with no good openings to
central and northern Europe or Africa and marginal to the rest of the
world. A FT-900 with a G5RV between the top of the lighthouse and deserted
Coast Guard barracks building, one end up 55 feet sloping at 30 deg over
sloping ground to 30 feet at the other end and running NE - SW. 650 QSOs
into 20 countries, 50 US States and 15 lighthouses/ships.
Looking at New Zealand, Branch 78 NZART combined with Branch 28 and Branch
84 to operate ZL1FND from Cape Reinga Light. The weather was atrocious
with high winds, thunder and lightening but they managed to erect a
Tri-bander, a Sky Loop and a 160m inverted vee. The weather caused a
slight delay on getting on the air but the first contact was on CW with
NA6R on 15m at 0220 UTC. Communications were set up on 15, 20, 40 and 80m
with all bands providing good contacts and they were particularly pleased
to be able to work some stations on 160m. ZL3AO at Akaroa Lighthouse
reports that propagation was better than last year but due to solar flares
the propagation was selective with deep nulls. They had better conditions
to Australia with plenty of QSOs including a few mobiles. Branch 13
NZART operated from Cape Kidnappers with the callsign ZL2AS and had 1 Km
of rope slung between two hill tops, one end anchored with the other end
through a pulley and down the hillside to a vehicle. As they wished to
raise/lower the aerials/rope they simply drove the vehicle
forwards/backwards as required. On the rope was a 40m Deltaloop, which
suited operations on 15m also. Further along the rope 80m and 20m dipoles
with a common feeder coax, a fan dipole, and any impedence/matching
problems were fixed with the ATU as required. The rope ran in an east/west
direction and generally the aerials were 90 ft AGL. A 230V generator
and/or 12 V batteries drove two TS450 transceivers and linear amplifier.
Most of their contacts were on 20m and besides New Zealand lighthouses they
managed contacts with lighthouses in Australia, U.S.A. and Portugal, 9
lighthouses in all.
VP8LGT - Cape Pembroke Lighthouse. A lovely week leading up to the event
and then on the Friday evening it snowed and blew out of the south, cold.
Early Saturday morning the ground had a reasonable covering of snow but was
also frozen, useful for the last 4 Km off road 4x4 to the lighthouse. A
300 ft sloping V pointing south and a simple 10m dipole strung inverted V
style from the gallery at the top of the lighthouse. this was stoked up
and all hell broke loose. Running 100W from an FT-100 there followed a six
hour pile up until the band went dead. It was a little cool in an iron
tower even with a portable gas heater generating lots of condensation. The
operating position had one 500W Halogen light shining down on it and
another shining under the operators seat. Same situation on Sunday, solid
pile up on 10m. All together 947 QSOs from 56 countries. The big 300 ft
sloping V pointing south never did get used.
In Sweden two amateurs Lars SM3AVQ and Andy SM3/EA3CN operated as SK3GK
from Bona Lighthouse, one of the oldest in Sweden. Lars used a Ten-Tec
delta II and Andy his IC-751 into 2x19m inverted V and a vertical dipole
for 14Mhz. Operations were from a little museum at the base of the light
and because the doors were open they also served as guides to quite a lot
of visiting tourists from different countries. They were surprised to find
a modern active radio station in the old lighthouse. 532 QSOs of which 453
CW and 79 SSB into 51 countries and 24 lighthouse stations.
The Gibraltar Amateur Radio Society established a station at Europa
Lighthouse. A total of 1246 contacts were made of which 76 were with
lighthouse stations spanning six continents.
Marblehead Lighthouse, Ohio, W8TTS/P. Due to a restriction that they could
only operate during daylight hours they did not arrive at the lighthouse
until 1100 UTC on the Saturday. The station was a Yeasu FT1000MP feeding a
ground mounted Hustler 4-BTV, power being supplied by a 1500 watt
generator. Because of poor band conditions only 42 stations were worked of
which 4 were lighthouses. On Sunday arrival about 1200 UTC and the
stations set back up. Band conditions were again very poor and only 28
stations worked. The furthest being a station in Mexico and the closet a
station in the parking lot. One additional lighthouse in Florida was also
worked. Next year it may be possible to work from the keepers house, as it
will be turned into a museum, and maybe permission to work the full 48
hours.
In Scotland the Ayr Amateur Radio Group set up their station at Turnberry
Lighthouse, GB2LT. Dipoles were used for all bands, except 14 MHz, and
they were hung from the balcony at the top of the lighthouse as either
slopers or inverted Vs. A ground plane was used on 14 MHz. Different
rigs were used during the weekend as each member was asked to bring a rig,
you never know a rig can fail and if you haven't brought a replacement
it is too late. A TL 922 was used on 14 MHz until the PAs were accidentally
blown up. That will cost the group money to replace them. 3.5 MHz was
found to be flat and dead over the weekend, 7 MHz was noisy and crowed, so
most of the operations were on 14, 18 and 21 MHz. Over 900 QSOs were made
over the weekend. Down the coast GB2LMG, Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, was
set up by the Wigtownshire ARC using a trap dipole slung from the top of
the lighthouse and a 3 element beam for 10, 15 and 20m perched on top of a
mobile tower, the transmitter was a TS 850 running 100 watts. A VHF and
Packet station was sited about 200 metres away near the helicopter pad.
240 V power was supplied by around 200 meters of extension cable but when
the set was switched on nothing happened. A quick check with the multi
tester showed a reading of 139 V, frantic checking and pulling of plugs and
hair finally located the problem, a positive wire had come out of one of
the plugs. The HF station made in all 584 contacts using SSB and CW.
GB2PL, Pendeen Lighthouse in the south west of England made 391 contacts of
which 29 were other lighthouse stations. Two stations were established,
one in the lighthouse itself using member's own rigs to a full size G5RV at
40 ft running NW/SE. The other station was behind and above the lighthouse
using a trailer type crank up mast - 30 feet - on top of which was fitted
a Cushcraft R7000 vertical and an Icom 746. Most of the contacts were done
on Saturday only as on the Sunday the PSU's in both decided to die. One
was a 25 amp model with the "back-up" being a 35 amp unit. There must
have been a "blip" somewhere as the chip regulator went in both of them.
So that was the story of some of the stations that took part in this year's
event. Next year the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend will be
from 0001 UTC on Saturday 19 August until 2359 UTC on Sunday 20 August
2000. So if you have not already decided, come and join us in the fun of
playing radio outside a contest environment, the more the merrier.
73s to all,
de Mike GM4SUC
e-mail: gm4...@compuserve.com
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Tedd Mirgliotta KB8NW
InterNet: kb...@barf80.nshore.org
Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS (BARF-80) +1 (440) 237-8208
"Totally devoted to Amateur Radio" - 24 Hrs a day 8/N/1 28.8k-1200 baud
... E-Mail: RA...@uc.tmn.ru or YNik...@SibNefteProvod.ru