Red circle shows location of Choll
village on the main island of Palau |
Red Labels show the locations of Palau
and Yap in the western Pacific
|
Red circle shows location of Falalop
Island in Ulithi Atoll, FSM
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INTRODUCTION
By now, you know perfectly
well why somebody would haul all the
equipment for a serious 6m operation to
the opposite side of the world at a
time of year and during a solar cycle with
little to no chance of ionospheric
propagation.
It is because good locations were found
there to take advantage of the superb EME
conditions afforded at this point in the
low solar cycle and minimize ionospheric
interference at this time of year! If you are
thinking about a trip, you might as well
go someplace VERY rare so you can hand out
a new DXCC with virtually every half
million mile contact.
In order to provide sufficient advance
planning for stations wishing to contact
me while I am overseas, I am providing
plenty of advance notice of this
DXpedition. I urge you to gain experience
with JT65A
and especially review the QSO
PROCEDURE that I use most
effectively on these DXpeditions I
look forward to contacting you on 6m!
As you know, a good location
can mean everything to the success of one
of these DXpeditions. I always look
for a site with as many of the following
ideal factors:
1. Reliable AC power
2. View out over the ocean on moonrise and
moonset for ground gain and extended
window with more distant stations
3. A site such that the antenna will never
be aimed at the village or any buildings
during common moon windows, decreasing the
chance of receiver noise
4. No buildings, hills or other solid
structures on the ground between the
antenna and the ocean on moonrise or
moonset or during EME operation to degrade
ground gain
5. Secure and safe location for the
equipment
Operation from Palau is
challenging because of the steep terrain
and location of most of the lodging
establishments being blocked either toward
the east or west, and being located in
close proximity to a noisy urban
area. After considerable
investigation, a suitable operating site
for T8GJ was found in a very rural village
on top of a ridge with excellent views out
over the ocean to both the east and
west. The first few days, my horizon
toward moonrise may be around 1.0 degree
elevation; after that, I have a negative
horizon out over the ocean for all my
moonrises. All my moonsets
have a negative horizon out over the ocean
during the entire operation. I look
forward to activating T8 for the first
time on 6m EME.
Falalop
Island is still devastated after Typhoon
Maysak in 2015,
but I am going there again to try to
catch up with the stations I missed last
year when my power supply and amplifier
failed. I hope to complete
with many of those stations I missed
last year - so you get yet another
chance to put V6M in the 6m
log! Of course, if we
completed last year from V6M, please
stay out of the way, since I still
expect there to be many stations calling
during the short common moon
windows. All my moonrises and
moonsets are negative horizon out over
the ocean.
I hope you
will make the effort to look for me from
both these DXCC!
LOGISTICS
Because of the lengthy
plane flights, in addition to the
layovers waiting to connect with
non-daily flights, plus all the time
required to assemble and tear down
the station and antenna at each
location, there unfortunately are a
number of extra days required in
which there won't be any 6m
activity. As a result, I
expect to have only 7½ full days of
operation from Palau and 5 full moon
passes from Falalop Island.
The remoteness of both these
locations also causes the common
moon windows with EU and NA to be
relatively short. However,
these days DO include the lowest
Degradation days of the month (even
taking place over a weekend while I
am in Palau), plus good common moon
each day with both all of NA and EU,
so I hope that will provide enough
opportunity for people who are
serious about contacting those DXCC
on 6m EME.
I will be leaving home on
Monday August 15 and hope to be set
up in Palau before NA moonset
on Thursday, August 18.
Because I will have to leave the
site by late morning on Saturday,
August 20, I will have to begin
dismantling the antenna and station
after the NA moonset on Thursday,
August 25. Unless there
are unforeseen local obstacles,
I expect to be able to erect
the antenna in Palau so it will have
a view of both moonrise and moonset
over the ocean. Since the
antenna will be about 130' above the
ocean, I expect to be able to
operate EME down to -1.5 degrees
elevation in both
directions. KB3SII has very
generously provided a GO!
Iridium satellite transponder so I can send
brief updates to the Magic Band EME
email group regarding my status and
stations worked. These will be
posted by SM7FJE daily on the page
listed below, in the PHOTOS
AND UPDATES
section. I will try to add
photos and updates myself when I have
access to the internet, which I hope
to be able to do at least in between
T8 and V6.
I
will flying from Palau to Yap on
Sunday, August 28 and will be
arriving on Falalop Island in Yap
State, Micronesia late in the
morning on Monday, August 29.
I know it is challenging, but if the
weather permits, I hope to be set up
by my moonrise that evening, to take
advantage of that optimum day of low
Degradation. From my operation
there last year, I expect to be able
to start copying signals below +1
degree on my moonrise and down to
-1.5 degrees on my
moonset. As
explained above please watch for
daily updates to the Magic Band EME
email group, which will also be
posted on the SM7FJE page shown
below. Other than that,
please just refer to my posted
schedule above and watch for me on the
air. Also, please
watch the ON4KST EME CHAT page and DX
Cluster for reports that show my
activity. I will be leaving
Falalop Island on Monday morning,
September 5 so I will have to tear
down and pack on Sunday, September
4. That means my last planned
activity will be a few hours after my
moonrise on Saturday, September
3. I will be returning
home from Yap on Wednesday September 7
(the next flight out of Yap).
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EQUIPMENT
The updated 6m station will
be a Yaesu 857 with my Mirage KP-1/6
external preamp, and an M2 6M1K2
amplifier. I
will be using a pair of new Meanwell
RSP-2000-48 110/220 VAC switching
power supplies (run in parallel) for
the 50 VDC required by the amplifier
and a new PowerWerx SS-30DV 110/220
VAC switching power supply to
provide 12 VDC for the transceiver
and preamplifier.
The 50 VDC from the
power supplies is connected to the
6M1K2 amplifier via a twisted pair
of #8 stranded copper wire cables,
attached to the #10 pigtails coming
out of the amp using a 50A battery
cable connector (NAPA #740234, like
a really big Anderson Power
Pole connector). The
Meanwell power supplies (very
generously donated from GW4WND at The
DX Shop ) were
specially programmed to provide full
power output for up to 60 second
transmit periods, even down to 100
VAC input voltage. In fact,
initial testing here indicated full
power output down to 92 VAC input
line voltage!
A RIGblaster Plug
& Play interface will be be used with
my HP Windows 10 laptop computer to
operate JT65A for EME mode from
WSJT10. Please use JT65A mode in the
WSJT10 Version 6088 (or more recent)
program release: http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/WSJT-10.0-r6088-Win32.exe
The antenna again is my 6M8GJ
yagi with my
home-made manual
elevation mount
and fed with 75' of low loss LMR600 low
loss cable. As you can see
from reviewing the results from previous
6m EME DXpeditions, many contacts were
made with single yagi horizon-only
stations. The smallest station
contacted from many of those places was
N3CXV with his single 6M5X
yagi. If you have a good yagi,
good ground gain, a quiet QTH, good power
and lots of patience, we should be able to
complete! This is especially true
with western European and eastern NA
stations, since there many situations in
which we should both have ground gain at
the same time!
OPERATING
SCHEDULES/PROCEDURE
If you copy me, please spot
me on the DX Cluster so people will know
the correct grid locator, as well as the
frequency and my status. I will diligently try to
be QRV during all my moonsets and
moonrises as published on the operating
schedules posted above. Please
watch the ON4KST
EME CHAT page and/or the DX
Cluster for updates on what people are
copying and when.
Please keep calling me even if you copy me
working someone else. As long as you
are not on the same frequency as the other
station, you will not be interfering with
them. Please coordinate your calling
frequency with others on the ON4KST EME
CHAT page to prevent interfering with each
other - ideally, stations should be spread
out every 200 Hz. Closer spacing
than that can cause false decodes on the
"shorthand" two tone messages of RO, and
73. I try to decode all callers
every receive sequence, and I make a note
of each caller and their DF so I can reply
to you as soon as I am able, and will use
that DF to identify you later if you
are copying me (by sending me OOO -
see the special DXpedition QSO
procedure link above).
Therefore, NEVER
change your transmit frequency after you
start calling - pick a clear frequency
nobody else is using and stay on it!
I will try to contact any callers I can
copy, but first priority will be given to
people who are copying at that particular
time, contributors, and stations with
shorter common moon windows. Please
understand that I will be watching your DF
for partial decodes showing "#",
indicating that you are copying me at that
time, and I will know which caller to
answer by referring to my list of DF's
from previously decoded
callers.
Because I am so far west,
the only possibility for eastern NA is
during my moonrise, and the only
possibility for western EU is on my
moonset. Please
refer to the posted planned operating
schedules above. If you
think that you will not be able to be
QRV for any of the times shown on the
operating schedule, or are concerned
that you think I may not be QRV during
your only moon windows, please send me
an email and I will try to make a
special effort to watch for you.
However, remember that I will only
have regular internet access from home
until August 14! I know there
also are a number of new stations
planning to come onto 6m EME in the
coming months - please make sure that
I have your callsigns and grids
squares in my CALL3.txt file so I
don't disregard your call as a false
decode!
REMINDER TO ALL
STATIONS:
I STRONGLY encourage you to try to
elevate your antenna so you can contact me
when my moon is lower in elevation,
when I have ground gain.
Remember that I am using a single yagi,
and it can be elevated only to a maximum
elevation of 65 degrees (with great
difficulty, trying to interlace the
elements between the guy ropes), and if
the guy ropes are wet, the elements are
shorted out causing high SWR, making
operation impossible. I have a lot
better success when my elevation is below
45 degrees. So....even if you figure
we have plenty of common window time,
PLEASE don't wait until my elevation is
too high to work you - if you are
horizon-only, I encourage you to try to
contact me - if
at all possible - during
the trip when my moon is lower than 45
degrees elevation! I have included
these guidelines on the operating schedule
sheets. There is also another
reason for trying to contact me when my
moon is lower - Because my antenna
is only 20' above the ground, I do get
additional ground gain when my moon is
below 45 degrees elevation. That is
one reason why I have been so successful
on 6m EME with only a single yagi!
In the above proposed operating schedules,
I have indicated times when the elevation
is over 50 degrees by marking the time
periods with dotted cells. If
possible, I will try to remain QRV when
the moon is high and elevate as high as I
can, especially during the days of lowest
Degradation. However, if nobody
seems to be around, I may choose to go QRT
if nobody is calling during those periods,
or if I have already worked stations whose
moon is on the horizon during those
periods.
Please also note
that heavy rains can create a
1.5:1 SWR on the antenna, which is
high enough to shut down the
amplifier. So, I may have to be
off the air at times. Please
just keep watch on 50.190 and I will
try to stick to the published schedule
as closely as I can.
CONTACT
INFORMATION
As
explained above, I probably will only
be able to send short satellite
updates while I am QRV from Palau, but
am sure I will at least be able to
send out a more complete summary when
I have access to the internet at the
end of the operation before I leave
Palau. I also expect to be
able to send out updates and access
email from Yap before and after I
travel to Falalop Island for the 6m
EME operation. However, I don't
expect to be able to send updates from
V6M on Falalop Island other than the
very updates via satellite.
Please share any updates regarding my
activity with others on the ON4KST EME
CHAT page and on the Magic Band EME
email list. If
there is some question regarding a
contact, please DO call
again. However,
once you have confirmed a contact with
me, please do not call for a second
contact - the common moon
windows are very limited, and
many stations are expected to be
calling. In order to avoid
confusion and save time, please use
the standard W7GJ
DXpedition procedures and
STANDARD JT65A messages!
QSL
INFORMATION
Sorry, no LOTW, eQSL or other
newfangled ways of confirmation. I
will be using old fashioned photo QSL
cards. Please QSL DIRECT
with SASE (foreign stations include a
current IRC or $USD for postage) direct
to:
Lance Collister, W7GJ
P.O.Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA
FREQUENCY AND
SEQUENCE
For
EME, I plan to operate on 50.190 and will
always transmit in the first sequence
JT65A mode. Please check the ON4KST
EME CHAT page for news from other hams in
case I have to change this frequency due
to receiver birdies at my end (although I
anticipate that both locations will
extremely quiet)! If you should copy
me on some ionospheric mode while I am
pointed at the moon and calling CQ on
JT65A mode, please answer me on JT65A mode
and let's make a contact! It is very
inconvenient for me to switch modes while
I am calling CQ or working EME stations on
JT65A mode during my limited moon windows,
so please do not call me on CW or SSB and
expect me to switch over to answer you
using some other mode. When I
am not aimed up at the moon, I very well
may be on CW or SSB, or ISCAT mode.
CONTRIBUTIONS
It is
extremely expensive to haul a 6m EME
station halfway around the world to these
locations - and the excess baggage charges
alone are staggering, especially since I
am not taking my little KX3! Too many times, we hear
DXpedition stations say they can't take
a 6m beam and/or amp because "they are
already overweight and cannot afford the
excess baggage fees". If you
want to do a good job and are committed
to going halfway around the world to
succeed, this unfortunately is a large
part of the necessary expense. And
the V6M operation again is a solo
DXpedition and, unfortunately, I also
will have to take a lot of extras (such
as food, water, island gifts, etc.) in
addition to all the 6m EME
equipment. Although I always
keep my costs as low as possible, my
travel and lodging costs will be quite
high for this trip to activate two
DXCC. Therefore, any contributions
toward the DXpedition are greatly
appreciated! If you would
like to contribute via PayPal, please
send your contribution by check or cash
to my QRZ.com mailing address, or
directly via PayPal to my email
address, which is my current
PayPal account. I am only able to
do these long distance 6m EME
DXpeditions every year because of the
continued support from the 6m community
and I am extremely indebted to you for
your continued support. I
have the time and equipment to go more
often than once a year to activate new
rare DXCC, but I just don't have the
finances available.
Many thanks to the following hams who have
already very generously contributed to the
success of this DXpedition:
SM7FJE,
KJ9I, G8VR, KB7Q, K7CW, ZL3NW,
K2ZD, N3XX, K6QXY, W6XU, DL8YHR,
DF9OX, G8BCG, W5ADD, ON4IQ,
ZS4TX, K6EME, GW4WND at The
DX Shop, N7IP,
KR7O, OH2BC, KB3SII, K5QE,
YO9HP, EA8DBM, SP3RNZ, W8PAT,
GD0TEP, S51DI, IW5DHN, KG7H,
K7RWT, S57RR, K4PI, KT1J, OZ4VV,
N7NW, OA4TT, F6BKI, W7JW, W3XO,
SMIRK,
W9GA, LZ2WO, SP4MPB, K0DAS,
N0LNO, K0EGQ, KC0SKM, AC0RA,
NR0X
MNI MNI TNX for your continued
support!!
PHOTOS
AND UPDATES
During the DXpedition,
SM7FJE will be posting current daily updates
of status and stations worked on a separate
page HERE.
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