New Try: SZ5RDS will be QRV From 14 APR through 20 APR, 2024

 Flights and accomodation are booked. Please stay tuned for updates.

DXpedition is Cancelled!

We are very sorry but due to sudden health issues with DH7FB the DXpedition is cancelled. Frank can barely move at the moment because of problems with sine and chips. 

We are currently discussing alternative dates.

Please stay tuned.

Amp is en route to Rhodes

Bernhard Korte with BEKO just informed that the amp he made available for us is on the way to Mike, SV5BYR.

SZ5RDS: X-Team QRV From Rhodes

Soon we will be QRV from Rhodes SV5 (DXCC Dodecanese)

Dates: March 30th - April 3rd, maybe we start even the evening UTC of March 29th.

Callsign: SZ5RDS

Locator: KM46CK

Modes: Q65A-60 and JT65B

We plan for 2 m and 70 cm EME with our usual setup.

Rig:

FT857D

LNA with MGF1302

BEKO HLV-xxxx kindly made available for the DXpedition by Bernhard Korte.

Plus our own LDMOS sspa as backup.

2 x 8/8 ele xpols 28 Ohm ultralightweight yagis DK7ZB design.

The antennas for 70 cm are not decided yet. Power that band will be ~200 W out.

With the kind support from Mike SV5BYR we will be QRV from the SZ5RDS clubstation's location.

Frequencies will be determined when on site.

Final Report

A week ago at 0630 am local time Frank DH7FB and I arrived back home at DF2ZC’s place in JO30RN. It was once again a very boring 850 km drive through the night but as it is not yet high season the ferry Jersey – France schedule is very basic: we only had the chance to leave the island at 1840 local (which is the same as UTC). So again we had to drive through France and Belgium at night.  You love the illuminated Belgian motorways which help a lot against fatigue…

We did not expect many QSOs this time from GJ anyway as we were QRV from the same place 10 years ago and many ham friends had already worked that DXCC back then. However, we are still disappointed. We did not even copy a single station from Japan, for instance. On the other hand we completed with FK8CP right the first day – so moon bounce at moonrise worked. Rod ZL3NW who was also calling us the same time and also at moonrise the following day was never copied here, neither hpol nor vpol. Moreover, given we had both polarities available we do not know why none of you JA friends was seen on our screen. That is very sad.

Moreover…in the garden the small tree from 2010 had grown to a big one and blocked many hours of precious moon time. It had no leaves yet but apparently sap was already rising in the tree which made it a substantial obstacle between us and the moon. I remember that trees are said not to have such bad impacts on 144 MHz compared to higher frequencies but apparently here this tree did. A funny experience was that also the noise picked up substantially when we pointed the antennas to the tree. Electric noise from trees? Never heard of. But that effect was reproducable at any time. Behind the tree was just an open field with the next building some 200 m. The same was the case with a second tree in a bigger distance. 

Also direction moonset we had only some 10 degrees azimuth available once the moon was right of the tree before suddenly noise increased by 10 – 15 dB. This was definitely from buildings but in the short time we were QRV we did not find out about the reasons.

Compared to our stay back in 2010 I feel we heard indeed not as well as then, though we had in general the same setup. Also we did not hear as well as in EA9 (during the periods down there with little or no noise). So…was the basic noise floor substantially higher at our place than in 2020? Maybe. On the other hand if we copied normal stations via moon – why did we not copy a single JA station at all?

Weather was pretty much different from April 2010 and also from last year in EA9, no surprise. We often had some misty foggy wx, often high winds, sometimes even heavy rain and mostly some kind of drizzle. However, there were also short periods of sun shine. At times we even had strong static noise which also did not make things a lot of fun.

Our short activity on 70 cm was quite successful. Though running only 150 watts at the antennas (2 x 16 ele flexayagi at some 16-17 dBd max we quickly completed with 6 stations though being QRP only. That 70 cm day was once again a rainy day. As we had placed the amp on a bench close to the antenna we had to take care that no water could enter the chassis. My barbour wax jacket did a good job and therefore spent the night outside on the amp.

The time between the moons we spent making some tropo QSOs to DL/F/ON/PA in the range of 800 km max. This was a little surprise because our antenna was just 2 ½  m above ground, good for eme but not for tropo. However, direction central Europa was a slow slope down-hill the first 2 km, then the sea and at the horizon France. Therefore the effect of the small antenna height was not as bad as it could have been. Also on 70 cm we made tropo QSOs up to 700 km. Moreover we completed a bunch of meteor scatter contacts of 2 m.

The rest of the time we spent at the local pub where we were soon greated just like locals, travelling the island, checking equipment and trying to find the reasons for the low performance as well as argueing with one another.  

On the 14^th we felt lucky to be back in France because it was not sure whether the ferryes would perhaps be suspended due to COVIC-19. Since we feel our results this time were below the expected we would not rule out travelling to GJ again – and not again in 10 years. Only to give that DXCC to those who still need it. Then maybe from another location – or not. At least with more that the 30 m antenna cable we had so that we could then use an antenna location further away from that tree. We feel we still are in debt to so many ham friends, especially but not only in JA. It wasn’t meant to be…or as Frank DH7FB always says: “You can’t milk a bull”.

Direct QSLs via DF2ZC with 3 $ and SAE or better an address sticker. Or via paypal request with QSO data and address to xteamdxp@gmail.com

Preparing For Travel Home

We are breaking down the station now in the typical drizzle rain here and are preparing for our travel home. The ferry is leaving at 1830Z on the 14th and will arrive in France at 2005Z. Then some 850 km car drive through the night are waiting for us to JO30RN. After a breakfast at DF2ZC's place DH7FB will then continue some 650 km to Berlin.

The latter is also the reason we decided against operating two or three hours today early morning. The risk of alling asleep while driving seems too high.

A more detailed report on the entire activity will follow some time next week here by DF2ZC.

Moon Pass March 12th/13th

Complete QSOs:
UX0FF, LZ2FO, S59A, LZ4OC, YO5BIN, K9MRI, IK7EZN, HA8CE, K2TXB, VE2JWH, PA2CHR, PA3FYC.

Not Complete:
UX5UL, DK9WI, IK1FJI.

Moon Pass March 11th/12th

This pass we were QRV on 70 cm with about 150 watts at the antenna and 2 x 16 ele flexayagi.

Complete QSOs:
UA3PTW, HB9Q, DL6SH, DK3WG, UT5DL, DL7APV.

When the antennas beamed into the tree we stopped and returned around 0300 UTC for the American window. However, no caller was copied during two hours so we stopped.

We placed the amp on a bench close to the antennas and secured it with DF2ZC's wax jacket against the rain, see pictures below.

Now we are changing back for 144 MHz. We will start at 2200Z our moonrise today 12th. Only, within 20 minutes we could loose moon then because of the tree. We will then suspend operations and return between 0400 and 0500 Z until we loose moon.

 View into the shack...room getting chilly at night due to open window foer letting the cables in.

 

 The 70 cm antennas.

 DF2ZC's wax jacket keeping the amp dry.

Moon Pass March 10th/11th

Complete QSOs:
SM5KWU, RW3PX, SP4K, OK1NI, S56P, ES6RQ, ZS1LS, ES3RF, R3PA, OK2DE, S51ZO, WA1NPZ, DL8FBD, WA3QPX.

Not complete:
YO5BIN.

For whatever reason we did not copy a single staion from Japan yet.

The little tree from 2010 has grown into a large one until now which means that at a certain QTF we are beaming straight into it and losing the signals. Sometimes we also feel we have an elevated noise floor here. This was different ten years ago. To make things worse today we had rain most of the time and a very windy, misty weather. We hope for improvement...

Moon Pass March 9th/10th

Complete QSOs:
FK8CP, UA3PTW, RX1AS, I3MEK, UR3EE, S52LM, OK1IL, SM5DIC, SM6NOC, IK4WLV, DL2HWA, ZS6JON, IK2DDR, SP4KM, SK5AA, ZS4TX, IW4ARD, S56P, DK4RC, SM2BYC, S57M.

Not Complete:
YO5BIN.

Story
After a 10 hour night drive from JO30RN and bumpy ferry crossing Jersey welcomed us with sunshine and nice weather - which sadly did not last long. Setup inhouse was quickly completed, outside it took a little longer for a number of different reasons but was finally completed at 1300Z. After 1400Z we made some tropo QSOs in FT8 with JO30, JO31 (roughly 700 km) with loud signals though our antennas were at just 2 m height only which meant everything was working fine. At moonrise we look a little downhill slope with the sea in about 2 km and France at the horizon.

Before we started operations on our dedicated frequency 144,114 MHz we ran two skeds with stations from Oceania and New Zealand on a different frequency for reasons of their really short window with us which is even getting shorter and shorter every day. We trust everybody will understand the reasons. At least with FK8CP (RG37FR) we completed a QSO.

Next moonpath which starts at 1918Z we will again try the 15 minutes common window with  ZL3NW on a different frequency and we ask please not to call in. Then we'll move to .114, MJ/DH7FB calling first. We will stay up until we loose moon due to the building but we should still see the Western USA before.

Some trouble arose with local French and GJ stations believing they needed to call us in JT65, SSB and CW while we were doing EME, and sometimes just tuning on our frequency. That was no fun and destroyed some QSOs. We hope this situation will not return next pass.

WX was not our friend, it's cold, very windy and was raining heavily last night. Long periods we had S5 - S9 static noise which finally killed our preamp. Since it was 2200 h local here and one of us was already sleeping after having stayed up > 36 hours without sleep operations were ceased: A single person at night with just a torch could not replace a LNA in our LNA box while it was raining heavily. Now the LNA is replaced and we look forward to a successful 2nd moon pass from here.

70 cm operations are scheduled for Wednesday.


Please use Lance W7GJ Procedure!
In order to help us use the time efficiently and speed up the QSO process we ask you all to use the W7GJ EME procedure. It is described at the right side at "How To Maximize Chances Working Us".

                                                   Can you find the antennas on the picture?

We arrived in Saint Martin, Jersey (IN89XF) and are setting up

QTF 90 deg

Shack to be

Soon Leaving for Jersey

Car is loaded with gear, will leave JO30RN at 1600Z today March 8th and travel via DL, ON, F to St. Malo where we will take the ferry tomorrow at 0640Z. We should be operational by MR on March 9th on 144.114 MHz from IN89XF. MJ/DH7FB tx always first.
Please check here for updates.

DXpedition Schedule Changes

We have changed travel plans: We will now arrive on March 9th early morning and we are optimistic we will be operational by moon rise that day.

Departure is scheduled for March 14th afternoon.

DXpedition to Jersey (DXCC GJ)

We have just received the rental agreement for our location Meadow View Apartments in St. Martin, Jersey (Locator IN89XF). We were already QRV from there back in April 2010, so it is maybe time to go there again. At the moment there is no permanent EME activity from GJ Jersey.

We will arrive on March 10th and stay until March 15th. Activity is planned for 2 m and 70 cm.

Our equipment is as usual:

FT857D
LNA with MGF1302
Tajfun 1000 SSPA
2 x 8/8 ele xpols 28 Ohm ultralightweight yagis DK7ZB design

The antennas for 70 cm are not decided yet.

On youtube you can even watch an old video from 2010...



Please stay tuned here for more details!

QSL Sending will start after Easter

The process of replying received QSLs will start after the Easter holidays. So everybody should receive his card within the next three weeks.


Direct QSLs with 3 US-$ via DF2ZC ONLY, together with SASE or address sticker (the latter is the preferred way for USA stations as a SAE is of no use due to envelope format).

You can also request your QSL by sending us 3 US-$ via paypal (see button at the right). No need to send your own QSL. Please do not forget writing QSO details in the comments field.

Final Diary March 19th and 20th

The EF9LZ activity is finished. With 178 QSOs the number of contacts is far higher than we had even dreamed of the first evening when we realised the actual noise situation on site. We cannot imagine many worse things than knowing that many ham friends are copying us well while we do not have copy from them in either polarization due to the high nose floor. Luckily at times it was so much better like on the 16^th and 17^th when some hours it felt like a “normal” DXpedition in normal noise situation.

At moonrise we always had not just a hill but also a big tree between us and the reflector in the sky. It felt like this tree would harm the rx side more than the tx side. This got gradually better from day to day as the declination became less and the moon rose to more southerly directions. From FK8CP we finally at least saw a sync during our last moon rise in EA9 but sadly we could not manage to complete a QSO.

More or less reliably all rx signals disappeared when our moon rose above 70 degrees: Zero copy was observed in both planes, strange. And strange was also that we had nearly zero return power from our antennas. They were the same as with CR2EME or D44TU etc when we always had some 5 watts return from our Tajfun LDMOS amp. This time it was just 100 mW which normally cannot be. However, as we were copied very well and also had some loud signals at times, best 4 yagi signal was -18 from DL1DWI, best signal at all was -15 from HB9Q, the system obviously ran well.

The 70 cm thing (SWR 1:2 on both antennas combined as well as on each single antenna) will be investigated. Maybe it was always that high? Then we would have made all our 70 cm QSOs with a sub-optimal antenna system at CR2EME. We had double-ckecked booms, element spacings and lengths as well as both dipole boxes but did not find even a clue.

When returning home on the 20^th with leaving the house at 6 am we noticed quite high winds and hoped the ferry would not be cancelled. Luckily it was not but we had quite a bumpy ride from EA9 to EA7. There we collected our rental car from the parking house (rental companies do not permit to bring their cars from EA mainland to EA9) only to realize that somebody had dented the rear bumper bar – which added some 250 € to the rental cost. Then driving 140 km to Malaga airport and catching flights home. Personally I always feel a bit uneasy at the security checks when I have to present my hand baggage with the FT857 and the 12 V power supply. You never know if you run into some poseur who takes himself very very serious. So far I have never met such a person at the security checks but you never know. This time in Malaga there was just a nice-looking young lady who wanted to know if the FT857 is something such as a police radio…no, of course not. And again nobody checked the weight of my pilot’s case which was 12 kg, way over the 8 kg limit. When carrying it you always had to maintain a face that it is a very lightweight thing hi. It also paid off to have a jacket with many pockets because the weight of the jacket does not add to the pilot’s case content ;-).

With our checked-in luggage everything was fine. It sure pays off to always add a copy of the radio license and a paper with “Amateur Radio Equipment” in capital letters with contact details into every box and also on top of the entire content when packing the suitcase. Chris PA2CHR once told that he always does so – and this helps a lot, thank you Chris. A friendly smile at the check-in person also helps to avoid excess charges if you have 2-3 kg more than permitted.

QSL Routes are via DF2ZC only, direct with SAE and 3 US-$ - no IRCs please. However, to keep it simple you can also send us 3 US-$ via paypal by clicking the donate-button at the top/right of this side. Please do not forget to enter QSO details!

The X-Team will also go on DXpedition in 2020, most probably in March again. To where we do not know yet…but we will be on the road, for sure.

Last not least: A BIG THANK YOU goes to Jorge, EA9LZ. Jorge was a big support to us not only arranging for the location in EA9 but also helping with customs and many petty things. EA9 for instance is part of Spain and also of the European Union but it is tax-free. Therefore there could have been a big mess bringing so much equipment into EA9 and particularly back to EA mainland. Jorge went with us to the Guardia Civil and explained to them. We finally received a paper to confirm we brought the equipment into EA9 before we brought it back to EA. This saved a lot of time let alone nerves. One must not forget it is very hard to find an English speaking person in administration (and also elsewhere) in Southern Spain. So communication would have been tough.
Muchas gracias Jorge!!!

Log March 19th

10 Complete QSOs:
PA5Y, F6CVY, DK5EW, DM1CG, OK1VRY, UX0FF, CT1EIF, OK1IL, OK2PMS, HB9Q.

Not complete:
FK8CP, YO4GJH

Diary March 18th

This morning after had swapped the 2m for the 70cm antenna we had a bad surprise: When checking SWR it was consistently 1:2. Checking each individual yagi both also showed 1:2. We measured thematching boxes at the dipols - both ok. We controlled phasing lines (which could not be the reason because both yagis showed 1:2 each) - all ok. Elements were mounted in correct sequence and correct distance from one another. We did n ot find any clue for this weird behaviour. The antennas worked ok with CR2EME last year and were lying in DH7FB's cellar since then. We did not want to take the risk of killing our 250W sspa for 70 cm so swapped back to 2 m.

Bad luck for the few 70 cm guys who missed out on EA9 when Zdenek OK1DFV was QRV from here in 2017 but what else could we do? On the other side good luck for 36 2m stations which we did not work yet. Though we still feel a little like having let down the 70 cm guys.

After moon rise the usual behaviour we know from the past days: We were being copied well but we have a poor reception, beaming through the big tree in rise direction (Do trees have stronger negative effects on reception but on transmission signals?) Once we got clear of the tree the fun began. Though the high noise floor of course did not go away we sometimes had big rx signals (best was DL1DWI with -18) and worked yet another two single yagi station making it three altogether (R3PA, DL1VPL, DK5AI). At times we had S9 QRM, sounding like voice signals. This was the first time since we started here. Maybe it had to do with the military (gun?) shot noise we heard all morning, maybe there was some kind of exercise? One should not forget that Ceuta is 90% military. Anyway, we are very please with the results yesterday. Though strangely when moon is nearly on top of us we did not copy anything in neither polarisation and went QRT after 45 min NIL and moon approaching ares where he is being blocked by neighbouring houses and hills.

In the afternoon we even had some time for sightseeing:

Next moon rise (0 deg) is 1702 UTC. As the moon is rising a little more to the South every day now we might catch him earlier (at lower elevations) than before. We plan to be QRV until 21Z at the very latest because we still have to break everything down after QRT - and the taxis is collecting us at 6 am the next morning. We then need to catch the ferry back to Algeciras on Spanish mainland, collect our rental car from parking, travel to Malaga and fly home from there, taking off at 1440 UTC with LH1149 to Frankfurt.