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INTRODUCTION
Providing the first ever 6m contacts
to the United States from FH last fall is a tough
act to follow! Until recently, 3B9 also had never
been contacted before on 6m from the United
States, but 3B9FR is doing a great job on TEP and
F2 ;-) So I will focus on activating 3B9 on 6m EME
to contact stations who cannot take advantage of
the ionospheric propagation to 3B9. In order to provide sufficient advance
planning for stations wishing to contact me
while I am in 3B9, I am providing plenty of
advance notice of this DXpedition. As you know, a
good location can mean everything to the success
of one of these DXpeditions. I have been looking
for months for a suitable QTH in 3B9, and think I
finally found one that will provide capability for
good EME and terrestrial success. The location on
Rodrigues is shown on the above map. The maps show where in the world this
remote place is located I hope you will
make the effort to look for me! ![]() LOGISTICS
EQUIPMENT
As you can see
from reviewing the results from my previous 6m EME
DXpeditions, many contacts were made with single
yagi horizon-only stations. The smallest
station contacted from all the DXCC so far 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
in the many situations in which we should
both have ground gain at the same time! A complete
description of all the equipment being used on
this DXpedition can be found here.
OPERATING SCHEDULE
My tentative
operating schedule as an Excel spreadsheet
is here,
in pdf is here.
The 3B9 local time is 4 hours ahead of
UTC. On the
operating schedule, I have indicated
times when the elevation is over 55
degrees by marking those cells in
red. 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 shows up
during those periods, or if I have
already worked stations whose moon
is on the horizon during those
periods. Please check on the
ON4KST EME CHAT page for updates
regarding my activity during such
periods. Please
just keep watch on 50.190 and I
will try to stick to the
published schedule as well as I
can.
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 moonrises and moonsets as published on the operating schedule. The antenna should have a good view at a height of 240' over the ocean, and it will soon become clear after a few moonrises which elevations are best for my ground gain lobes. Please watch the ON4KST EME 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 100 Hz. I will be using Q65-60A in the "Q65 Pileup" mode in the most recent version of WSJT-X. This averages callers on their particular offset frequencies, so 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. Because of my location in the Indian Ocean, the only possibility for ground gain with NA is when the moon is rising or setting for one or both of us. I expect to have many callers from horizon-only stations in NA as the moon rises across the continent. Depending on your location, I may also have ground gain during my moonset at your moon rises. Let's make some real magic! NOTE TO ALL STATIONS: The days of lowest Degradation are August 29 to September 3, which includes a weekend ;-) How much more convenient can it be for you? However, please be aware that the Moon's Declination is further south during the beginning of the trip, which makes my moon even higher. 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 when my moon is lower than 45 degrees elevation and/or when you have ground gain if at all possible! There is also another reason for trying to contact me when my moon is lower - because my antenna is only 24' above the ground, I do get some 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! CONTACT INFORMATION
As
explained above, I expect to be able to send
out daily updates to the MAGIC BAND EME email
group and revise this website daily with a
list of the stations worked. Please
watch the MAGIC BAND EME email list for
updated information. Please also share
any updates with others on the ON4KST EME CHAT
page. 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 - some of the
common moon windows are very
limited, and many stations are expected to be
calling.
QSL INFORMATIONSorry,
no eQSL or other newfangled ways of confirmation.
I will upload all contacts to LOTW. I also
will be printing photo QSL cards. Please QSL
DIRECT with SASE (foreign stations include
a current IRC or $2 USD for postage) direct to:
Lance Collister, W7GJ P.O.Box 73 Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073 USA If we have completed an EME contact, I am happy to QSL direct to you free. However, I will very much appreciate receiving a self addressed envelope to relieve some of the burden of looking up all your addresses on QRZ.com FREQUENCY, MODE AND SEQUENCE For EME, I
plan to operate on 50.190, where I run EME skeds
when I am at home. I will
always transmit in the first sequence Q65-60A
using "Q65 Pileup"
mode. Please call me using either
Q65-Pileup or NA VHF Contest Mode from
the most recent version of WSJT-X.
Please DO NOT
call me using any other modes. I
will not be sending signal reports - in
NA Contest Mode, only the grids are
exchanged! So if you want to get in the
log, make sure to spread the word to get
on WSJT-X and operate in NA VHF CONTEST
mode, which is the most sensitive for me
to decode with Q65 Pileup mode on my
end, and also results in faster
contacts. And
this will NOT work well with
compound callsigns!!
That is why I have applied for a real
3B9 callsign and I suggest that you just
send me your callsign and grid, even if
you are operating portable. Do NOT call
me with a /P or /R or /# after your
callsign - your grid will show where you
are!
Here is the link to download the most recent version of WSJT-X: https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html Here is my step-by-step checklist to setting up Q65-60A for success on EME: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Q65SETUP.pdf And here is a more detailed explanation of the DXpedition procedure I am using: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DXpedition%20Procedure%20with%20Q65.pdf Remember, PLEASE, DO NOT USE A SINGLE RR73 to try to complete a contact with me! Change your messages so you send RRR instead, for as long as it is needed! 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 ! It is very inconvenient for me to switch modes while I am calling CQ or working EME stations, so please do not call me on CW or SSB or FT8 and expect me to switch over to answer you. If you should copy me on some ionospheric mode while I am pointed at the moon and am calling CQ on Q65-60A mode, please answer me in that mode and let's make a quick contact! Please do NOT call me on anything other than EME unless I am calling CQ! Please only contact me once! Do NOT interrupt me if I have already contacted you before! When I am not aimed up at the moon, I very well may be on SSB or FT8 mode. For FT8, I will be using the most recent version of WSJT-X on 50.313 MHz. If signals are strong and there are many callers, I may switch to FT4 on 50.318. CONTRIBUTIONS It is extremely
expensive to haul a 6m EME station halfway around
the world to this location.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. Although I always keep my
costs as low as possible, my travel, excess
baggage and lodging costs alone will be over
$7000. Therefore, any contributions toward
the DXpedition are greatly appreciated!
If you would like to contribute, 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 using the "FRIENDS AND FAMILY" option.
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 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
this DXpedition:
PHOTOS AND UPDATES |
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SUMMARY OF RESULTS
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