Chairman’s Chat Rob GM3YTS

TX5K Bob KK6EK

Low Angle Reception on 40m Vince ZL1VL

W0GJ moves to IOWA Glenn W0GJ

Getting Started in Contesting Chris GM3WOJ

Your Fellow Member Drew GM3YOR

This electronic magazine is © The GMDX Group 2013. Articles may be

reprinted freely by other Amateur Radio Magazines or Newsletters

provided credit is given to The GMDX Group and the individual authors.

Copyright of any photographs remains with the owner whose permission

should be sought before publication.

GM

DX

DIG

EST

Patrick - of “Rockall Fame”

Points to the GMDX Logo at

Friedrichshafen 2013

No 69 Summer 2013

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GMDX GROUPhttp://www.gmdx.org.uk/

Chairman...... Robert Ferguson,GM3YTSgm3yts@btinternet.com

Secretary ......Mike Eccles,GM3PPEmichael@eccles00.orangehome.co.uk

Treasurer......Sheree Ferguson

Gavin Taylor, GM0GAVgm0gav@hfdx.co.uk

Geoff Crawley. MM0AHOGeoffrey.crawley@googlemail.com

Drew Givens, GM3YORgm3yor@btinternet.com

Malcolm Hamilton, GM3TALmh@interactscotland.co.uk

Editor.............Tom Wylie,GM4FDMtgwylie@virginmedia.com

Youreditor’spen!

This is my last editorial. When working I used to dream ofthe day when I could retire and put my feet up. The realityis now that I am retired, I don’t know how I ever found timeto work. It seems that I am busier than ever, running fasterand faster to stand still. I have to say that its all self inflictedand I prefer to be busy rather than sitting at home all daydoing nothing. Perhaps its something to do with work ethic.I think the new Editor is likely to be Malcolm GM3TAL and Ihope that Malcolm will continue to enjoy the support I havehad over the years.

The most important change in my time as Editor has beenthe progression to an all colour electronic magazine. Thereare still a few out there mutter from time to time, that they stillprefer paper, but I’m satisfied that electronic is the way to go,allowing for a more attractive magazine at a low cost. Thisallows the Group to use its money to support expeditionsrather than producing a very expensive paper magazinewhich still has to be posted. An Electronic magazine allowsthe editor to be as creative as he or she likes and we arelikely to see even more changes under our new editorship.

As I am writing this, it’s blowing a gale outside. I can’t helpmyself from time to time glancing out the window to check onmy Cushcraft A4S which I mounted yesterday after refurbish-ment. I sourced a supplier of aluminium which was a snugfit into the American tube of the Cushcraft, but as I don’t yethave confidence in the strength of the new tube, if it’s still upthere after this gale passes, I’ll be a happy bunny. I alsomounted my Hustler 6BTV with radials for 30 and 40m. Myfirst call snagged an HK1 on 40m so at least that’s working.When the weather improves I might add a few more radials.

I didn’t have a great deal of success DX wise on 6m thissummer, perhaps I was just in the wrong place at the wrongtime.

Anyway, I wish the new editor success and hope to continuereading the GMDX Digest for a long time to come.

Tom – GM4FDM

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Chairman’s ChatBy Rob - GM3YTS

Hello Folks sorry for the delay since the lastDigest. This is a late summer Edition and wehope that an Autumn edition will followquite soon after the AGM.

We have been enjoying an excellent summerwith the garden keeping us very busy how-ever we have been rewarded with a bumpercrop of fruit and vegetables this year.Given the lovely weather there has not beentoo much time for Amateur Radio but I havestarted doing a bit of SOTA (Summits on theAir). I have had an FT817 since I retired 6years ago and decided it was time to startusing it!

So I approached GMDX Member JackGM4COX who is an avid SOTA activator forsome guidance and within a few days wewere climbing Ben Ledi my local hill and weactivated the summit. From this I learnt agreat deal about keeping things fairly light-weight and what kind of antennas to use. Iwill try to tell you more in the next Digest.Not only is SOTA an interesting add on toAmateur Radio ,climbing those hills helpskeep the fitness levels up and the weightdown!

Conditions on 6 metres this season weregood to start with and I managed to bagquite a few new ones such as D2EB, V51YJ,9J2BO,ZD7VC, FR4NT, YI1RZ, LU5FF, sev-eral PY’s and a few others but since theseopenings early in the season the band hasbeen very disappointing with no big open-ings to North America or the Caribbean.

We are approaching the coming 6 monthswith much hope of plenty of juicy DXpedi-tions to search for. Currently Burma hasbecome active after several years of QRTZorro JH1AJT who is working there has gota license as XZ1Z his current activity withtwo others ends shortly but he promises toreturn in November with a big team of oper-ators. Our member Colin MM0NDX has

recently been on an island hopping expedi-tion in Panama with his group of DXingfriends and no doubt we will hear more ofhis experiences in the next Digest.

The AGM is on the 28th September at theKing Robert Hotel starting at 1pm. I hope tosee many of you there and I am lookingforward to hearing Chris GM3WOJ’s talk onCocos Keeling Island and DietmarDL3DXX’s talk on Clipperton. Should begood fun.

73 Rob GM3YTS

AGM

The Annual General Meet-ing of

THE GMDX GROUP

Will take place onSaturday 28th September

At 1p.m.

In The King Robert HotelBannockburn

After the meeting the speak-ers will be

Chris – GM3WOJ andDietmar – DL3DXX

A good turn out is requested

4

The TX5K Expedition by BobKK6EK

OriginLate in 2011, I was invited to join an

independently organized and funded expedition toClipperton in March 2012. Called “The ClippertonProject,” its aim was to bring attention to fragile andsymbolic ecosystems around the world, and topromote holistic approaches toward their protectionand management. I accepted, but within a few monthsit became clear that in the context and with thelimitations of the format of that project, I would beunable to carry out the kind of scientific work andamateur radio operations that would make theexpedition worth the effort. With regret, I withdrewform that project, but immediately announced that Iwould organize a separate and comprehensiveamateur radio expedition, including selected scientificprojects. I scheduled it for March, 2013.

PlanningMuch of the original planning for the radio

operations (the “DXpedition”) was done with JohnKennon (N7CQQ), who had organized and led threeexpeditions to Clipperton (1990, 2000, 2008). WhenJohn was unable to participate in the 2013 expedition,I substituted Chris Janssen (DL1MGB), who hadexperience from numerous DXpeditions and contests.It was agreed that Chris would take primaryresponsibility for organizing the radio equipment,team, and operations, and I would take primaryresponsibility for organizing the facilities, logistics,schedules, fundraising, and the scientific projects.

TeamThe team was assembled by Chris and the author,

primarily from personal contacts. A few of the radiooperators approached us and offered to join. All radiooperators had considerable experience, as shown bytheir resumes.

About half the team was Europeans, mostmembers of one group, the Bavarian Contest Club.The other half was primarily Americans, spreadacross the country, practically all of whom did notknow each other previously. This structure had theadvantage of enabling simpler management of thewhole team, but as we were to find out on theexpedition, led to some major difficulties due tounresolved cultural differences.

As we were nearing completion of thepreparations, we were approached by a team from theFrench TV program THALASSA, who wanted to

document theexpedition. Theyoffer to pay theirexpenses and wereadded to the roster(see appendix).

In addition, theFrench governmentrequested that twoacademicresearchers from theUniversity of Tahitibe landed on theisland during ourstay, and return withus to Cabo san Lucas. We were pleased to welcomethem, although they did not provide any financialsupport.

PermitsTwo permits were obtained: the landing permit,

issued on 20 Dec. 2012 by Stephane Jarlegand, andthe radio operations permit, issued 2 Oct. 2012 byJean Chartier, both issued in the name of the HighCommissioner for French Polynesia. Copies of thesepermits are provided in an appendix to this report.

Radio equipmentThe radio equipment was assembled at the contest

station DR1A at Goch, Germany, in December, 2012.It was packed in a container and shipped to San Diego.

FacilitiesThe first step was to secure an appropriate vessel.

We made a trip to San Diego and examined severallong-range fishing vessels from the fleet at H&Mlanding, eventually selecting the Shogun, basedmostly on their experience in taking multiple previousexpeditions to Clipperton.

The author, together with several colleagues (RichHoloch KY6R, Walt Wilson N6XG, and the author’swife Kay) designed the facilities and arranged thelogistics for the expedition. The facilities included themain tents, sleeping tents, air mattresses, tables andchairs, generators and electrical distribution systems,water and fuel containers, cooking facilities, eatingutensils, emergency rations, tools, lights, shadenetting, antenna masts, anchors, ropes and tie-downs,microwave and BBQ, garbage cans and bags,sanitation facilities, WiFi, and satellite telephones.Most of the items were selected and bought directlyon the internet, mostly from Amazon using the“Prime” option (2-day delivery, no shipping).

One item that proved to be essential was the All-Terrain-Vehicle (ATV). I made an arrangement witha friend to rent his new Kawasaki Arctic Cat 450 for

5

the month, with promise of no-damage return. Asdescribed below, the ATV was an extraordinarilyvaluable tool in the Clipperton environment.

Another facility I assembled was a fresh-waterpurifier (FWP). The lagoon is only mildly brackish,probably potable in emergencies. I assembled a 4-stage filter system, including a generator, pump, andhoses, to use for washing and emergencies. Thesystem provided water for washing and showers,which significantly improved the morale of the team(See description below).

DepartureThe facilities equipment were assembled at a

warehouse in Richmond, California, and a weekbefore the scheduled departure was loaded on a rentedtruck and driven by the author to San Diego. Thecontainer with the radio equipment had alreadyarrived from Germany. In 4 hours all the equipmentfrom the truck and the container were loaded on theShogun, much of it stowed below deck in the holdswhere they were stored.

Ten of the team members elected to board thevessel in San Diego. It departed in the early eveningof 18 Feb 2013, and headed due south toward Cabosan Lucas.

The voyageThe voyage down the coast was uneventful, and

we enjoyed good weather and calm seas, with one dayexception.

Approaching Cabo san Lucas, we were ahead ofschedule, but were unable to enter the port to pick upthe rest of the team due to customs/immigrationrequirements. About 12 hours was therefore spentwaiting for the early morning, whereupon theadditional team members, mostly Europeans, cameaboard.

The voyage south from Cabo to Clipperton waslikewise uneventful. Many on the team slept or restedin their bunks, so practically no group meetings wereheld. The crew did some fishing, and the teamoperated radio using the callsign K6K/MM (maritimemobile). The QSL card for the MM operation isshown in an appendix.

ArrivalDark. About 8:30 PM. February 26, 2013. The

skipper of the Shogun announced that we had arrivedat Clipperton. In theory, the island lay directly in frontof us, but with the full moon diffused through atenuous overcast, all we could see was the glowingspray from the violent surf pounding every foot of theperiphery of this remote coral atoll. The team wasquiet, introspective, anxious. We spent the night in the

belief that tomorrow we would be sleeping on theisland.

At dawn, the Shogun started moving counter-clockwise around the island, studying the surf andsearching for a suitable landing. In the crystal-clearmorning, the island lay stretched out before us, farbigger to our eyes than we had expected. The clumpsof palm trees seemed denser and greener than weexpected. Now and then, the skipper sent a zodiac offto assess the surf, but invariably it returned with thenews “Nope. Not here. Not now.”

We continued our circumnavigation, passing asmall sailboat, sometimes recognizing some featurefrom pictures we had studied. Overtaking the sailboatagain, we realized we were into our second trip aroundthe island, and murmurs of anxiety started diffusingthrough the team. We watch the dolphins riding thebow and jumping in graceful arcs. The team remainedquiet, but I could sense the anxiety.

Then around 2 PM, the skipper made a tacticaldecision and selected a very handsome grove of trees,announcing that they would take some boxes ashore.Quickly I selected the containers with emergencyfood, lights, radios, medical supplies, and a smallgenerator. The zodiac was away and our spiritssoared. But soon they returned with bad news: nomore boxes or people–it was too rough. The Europeanradio operators were not happy; their pre-defined goalof 150,000 QSOs had just been dashed. I thought ofApollo 13: “We just lost the moon.” But there wasnothing we could do. Just wait until tomorrow.

LandingWith first light, the skipper judged the surf to be

workable. We began to move equipment and peopleto the island. By 5 AM the first load of cargo was onthe beach, and I began to offload the team membersaccording to the sequence of work we had planned.With two zodiacs working in push-pull, we were ableto take almost 10 loads in an hour. By 8 AM the majorpart of the equipment was on the island, and we weretransferring tables and chairs, large generators, andantennas. By 11 AM we were scouring the corners ofthe boat for the lower priority items.

In a rush of excitement, we could see that the teamon the island already had two main tents erected.These were the greeting, eating, meeting (GEM) tentand the communications (COM) tent. The team wouldlive and work in these tents when not operating radios.One item we did not send was the ATV and thewagon. Frankly, I didn’t know how to do it, and I wasrelieved when the skipper delayed it until the next day.

That night we were thrilled to see flashlightsfloating back and forth on the island as the onshoreteam worked into the night constructing our camp. To

6

our surprise, we also saw several other lights acrossthe island, other boats at anchor. We had expectedClipperton to be a remote and lonely place, but thisnight it felt like a busy resort. The floodlights of theboat burned continuously through the night, and someof us went out periodically to marvel at the seacreatures attracted to the light.

The next morning, the moment I dreaded camesuddenly: the skipper decided to load the ATV onto azodiac and drive it to shore. As he zoomed away, Ithought “Be still my soul.” On the beach, tiny butclearly visible, one of the crew members jerked hisarms skyward in the “touchdown” gesture, and weapplauded: the ATV was safely on the beach!

The campBy the end of the morning every load of cargo and

every other team member were on the island, so I tookthe last zodiac ride and stepped onto ClippertonIsland. What I beheld was breathtaking: a village ofeight tents surrounding a pristine fine white sand yardimmediately in front of an extraordinarily handsomegrove of palm trees. Two solitary trees, much tallerthan the grove, stood between our village and thebeach, providing a prominent marker, like a flag on agolf course. At the entrance to the camp, the team hadestablished a kind of corporation yard: the variousshipping cases and gasoline jerry cans were arrayed inrows, providing a kind of open-air warehouse. Mostof the team members were busy completing the tworadio operation tents, designated site A (for SSBoperation) and site B (for CW operation). Even thesleeping tents had been erected and populated by cots,air mattresses, blankets, and pillows. I took the lastbed, and posted my callsign on the doorway.

I should not have been so surprised, but the teamdid not follow the detailed plans for erecting the camp.For instance, we had meticulously designed thefurniture layout and wiring diagrams for the GEM andCOM tents, but the team simply moved quickly toinstall the facilities ASAP. No matter. A small amountof rearrangement, and I declared them operational.

The team agreed that the campsite, at the largepalm grove on the east side of Clipperton, was the bestof all sites on the island. Most of the island is open,bare, and extremely hot. Bougainville offeredprotection, but generated a depressing feeling due toits ruinous condition. Camping at Clipperton Rockmight have been an acceptable alternative, butnegotiating around the steep beaches and debrisdeposits would have been challenging.

The ATVIt was immediately obvious that the decision to

bring the ATV was very wise. It turned out that

perhaps half of the team already had experiencedriving an ATV, but it wasn’t really so hard after all.The ATV and its wagon trailer moved back and forthbetween the main camp in the remote radio operatingsites, carrying equipment, supplies, and sometimespeople. The surface of the atoll near our camp wascovered in a deep layer of very fine unconsolidatedcoral sand. Even walking in this material was difficult,and pulling a wheelbarrow (of which we had broughtthree) would have been exhausting. The four-wheel-drive ATV was able to move through the sand,although in the process the top layer, which hadturned dark in the intense sunlight, was plowed under,leaving a bright white track. However, since therewere no birds or burrows on the roadway, we were notcausing any damage to the environment or the wildlife.

The radio stationsThrough the rest of this day and the next, many

members of the team spent many hours erecting manyantennas. We brought exclusively vertical antennas,some connected into four-square arrays especially for80m, 40m, and 30m. Altogether, the team put together10 complete HF stations on the two main sites and one6m/EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) station about 1 kmaway. Because the latter was essentially self-contained, and was not connected to our local Wi-Finetwork, and because of the special needs of the 6mEME operation, he had very little interaction with therest of the team and was not updated on DXA.

VisitorsWhile the radio team was erecting the antennas

and installing the radios, I received several groups ofvisitors. The French Navy arrived in a large warship(the “Prairie”), and with a large contingent of veryyoung cadets, brought ashore Prof. Christian Jostfrom the University of Tahiti and his associate Prof.Jean Morschel. Jost is probably the foremost expert onClipperton Island. This was his first visit to the islandin some years and he was eager to carry out counts ofthe trees, birds, crabs, and geographic surveys. Theywould return with us to Cabo San Lucas. Next camethe commander of the Prairie, and we had extendedsessions posing for the cameras, usually with LuisXE1L in the middle (as usual!). We were also visitedby the young French couple from their sailboat, theone we had encountered in our circumnavigations.The wife generously climbed two of the palm treesbehind our camp in order to hang up a banner showingour callsign: TX5K.

Going QRVOn the night of the second day, around nine

o’clock most of the radio operators assembled in theGEM tent. Surprise! We were within about two hours

7

of being able to go QRV. We had a very shortdiscussion, and then I made an executive decision: wewould go on the air at 11:00 PM, in about two hours.I sent a note to our blogmeister Rich KY6R to expectus to go QRV soon.

DXAImmediately, I queried Ed KE3D about the Wi-Fi

network. The network was crucial, not only for theredundancy is provided, but because one specialcomputer had been reserved exclusively for DXA, ourreal-time online log server. DXA would listen to all ofthe HF stations, capturing the individual QSO data,packetizing it, and uploading it every 60 secondsthrough the Inmarsat satellite link to a server on theUS mainland. Anyone with a browser on anycomputer anywhere in the world opened to the URLwww.dxa2.org would see a map of the world andother basic information about the DXpedition,including the total number of QSOs logged, the bandmodes on which TX5K was active at that moment,and the map of the world showing flags and call signsof the location of each station entered into the TX5Klog within the last minute.

While not formally part of the stations and theradio operation, DXA was an essential part of theDXpedition, providing an important aid to DXerswanting to make a valid contact with Clipperton. Edset about getting the Wi-Fi working. I was optimisticand excited.

Then, to my horror, in spite of our year-longpreparations to implement DXA, and repeatedassertions that it was perfect and ready to go, wediscovered that there were multiple problems, both inhardware and in software. The radios went QRV onschedule, but DXA was not working. I was frantic,and bounced back and forth between the variouspeople who had created various components of thesystem, some there on the island and some at home. Itwasn’t until late the next day, perhaps 18 hours afterthe radios started logging QSOs, that we succeeded inupdating the data in DXA and getting it to correctlydisplay the QSOs logged in each minute interval.From that time forward, the DXA system workedflawlessly, and it received universal compliments andappreciation.

The showerOnce DXA was working, I carried out my secret

operation, planned months before but not shared withthe team. I loaded several cases from the corporationyard into the ATV/wagon and drove to the solitarypalm tree at the edge of the lagoon, about 300 feetfrom our camp. There, undetected, I extracted andassembled the various components–a small generator,

a 12 volt water pump, a three stage filter bank, twolong hoses, and a nozzle on the end of a 6 foot polestuck in the ground.

Wading into the lagoon, I was surprised to feelprickles over my skin, thinking it might be some sortof biting aquatic larva. Later, after some discussionwith Prof. Jost, I understood that it was the sulfuricacid in the water, created by the large amount ofhydrogen sulfide gas released by the rottingvegetation that grew in the stagnant water. I carefullyplaced the hose with its intake filter in a submergedbush, and returning to shore.

Expectantly, I started the generator, and waitedanxiously for about two minutes. Then suddenly, withseveral burps, fresh cool water came squirting out ofthe nozzle, and I let out a triumphant whoop. Theshower worked! I stripped down and spent easily 20min. luxuriating in this fresh cool clean shower bath.Because of the intense heat on the island, especially inthe morning, every member of the team was suffering,and I figured correctly that the shower would be verypopular. Indeed, for the rest of the time we were there,a continuous parade of men went to and from the littletree. At the end of our operation, even the mostvociferous complainer spontaneously dubbed it “thebest thing on the island.”

OperatingAs we progressed into the next few days, the DXA

counter ticked off the rise in total QSOs logged. Nowand then, we actually had all 10 HF stations workingsimultaneously. The average rate at which TX5Klogged QSOs was slightly over 14,000 per day. I spentmy time monitoring DXA, filling its generator everyfew hours day and night. Next to me in the COM tent,Ed KE3D, set up a remote video camera and recordedsome of the interesting behavior of the maskedboobies that nest on the ground all around our camp.Ed even captured images of a rat, which wassignificant (see the scientific work below).

SuppliesOn most days, the Shogun arrived in the morning

with supplies: food, water, and gasoline. The food wassuperb–steaks, hamburgers, pork chops, lasagna,macaroni and green salad, and desserts of variouskinds. When hamburgers arrived, with all thetrimmings, we opened up the gas-fired barbecue andthe team was treated to freshly grilled, hot, juicyburgers. Unfortunately, I had not made it sufficientlyclear to the team that expeditions involve a certainamount of overhead, such as setting up for the meals,heating the food, and washing up afterwards. As aresult, there was more than a little bad feeling betweensome team members who thought that their only

8

responsibility was to work pileups and others whodidn’t feel they were there to be servants.

ExploringMost of the team members took the time to hike

the entire circumference of Clipperton, some 7 miles,and they returned with many interesting observationsand valuable photo-graphs. In particular, theydocumented the 2008 site of the TX5C DXpedition,which was recognizable because some items had to beabandoned when their departure was limited by thehigh surf. Another interesting site was the stacks ofartillery shells, left on the ground in the open, birdsblithely roosting among the potential bombs. Somepeople have reported hearing these explosivesdetonating, and we gave them as wide a berth aspossible, consistent with getting good photographs.Elsewhere, team members documented the remains ofa forklift, a bulldozer, and a jeep. Interestingly, therubber tires on the jeep were intact and seemingly ingood condition, while the rest of the vehicle, made ofsteel, was almost completely rusted away.

Clipperton RockClipperton rock is truly an other-worldly artifact.

The erosional remnant from the original volcano thatenabled the growth of the coral atoll, it is a prolatespheroid not quite 100 feet high and 200 feet long,shot through with major cracks and tunnels, and evena few natural flying buttresses. By crawling on yourstomach and climbing a cliff with the aid of a rope, itis possible to reach the summit. There you can beholda most spectacular view of the entire island, tickingoff the individual locations that were by nowbecoming familiar. Significant numbers of the nearly100,000 gannets (boobies) on Clipperton roost andnest on the Rock, and inside the areas that areprotected from direct sunlight sustain growth ofcalcium carbonate nodules covered with emeraldgreen algae. I found a brown booby wedged in acrevice near death, but in spite of extricating it andbringing it to water, it soon died.

BougainvilleLike numerous other teammates, I made a special

trip to the large grove of palm trees on the oppositeside of the island called Bougainville. The site hadbeen occupied numerous times in the past, includingby major military and scientific expeditions, as well asshipwreck survivors and other visitors. Bougainvillehad been my primary destination, based on the factthat it has many trees which would provide shelterfrom the wind and sun. One morning I commandeeredthe ATV and drove to Bougainville by way ofClipperton Rock.

Mounting the ATV, I drove across very steepdeposits of sand and broken flotsam, emerging ontothe long flat hard surface that led to Bougainville.Even as I approached, I had the feeling that the areawas less attractive than I had imagined, and this wasconfirmed when I arrived. True, there were a largenumber of palm trees, but there were also thousandsof dried and dead coconuts on the ground in adepressingly gray cover that made walking difficultand unpleasant. Bougainville had the feeling of ruins,of a disaster area, and in a sense it was. I was surprisedand disappointed at the extensive equipment andfacilities that had been simply abandoned: concretebuildings, plastic water tanks, electric motors, steeldrums now almost entirely rusted away, householdfurniture, and thousands of small items that mightonce have been tools.

Beyond the main grove was a clearing almostentirely covered with green plants, suggestive of aplaying field, and while this provided some relieffrom the ghostly palm forest, the image of childrenplaying ball and adults having a picnic lunch was nota very believable illusion. Just a little further away,the large French flag announced that this islandbelonged to the Republic of France. While seeminglyredundant, such formalities are a central part ofinternational politics: most nations claim an exclusiveeconomic zone extending 200 miles out into theoceans around their borders. For this tiny atoll, in astrategic location in the Eastern Pacific, it givesFrance autonomy over more than 100,000 squaremiles of ocean containing some of the richest tunastocks in the world. Clipperton is in such a strategicposition that several countries, including Mexico andthe United States, have historically competed to claimownership, and various expeditions have gone there toobserve nuclear bomb tests and satellite launches.

Beyond Bougainville is the long, wide, flat, andhard northwestern side of the atoll that had beenbulldozed for a landing strip, and beyond that thesights of various radio DXpeditions including TX5Ccould be found. Nearby were the hundreds ofabandoned artillery shells, stacked neatly on theground and clearly not-to-be-touched.

Scientific workTeam member LouPhi Loncke, the other

Explorer’s Club member besides myself, and I madeabout 15 collections of sediment in a search for themicroscopic one-celled animals called foraminifera.These samples were transferred to Dr.Mary McGannof the U.S. Geological Survey, who examined someof them immediately and identified two genera:Bolivina and Sorities.

9

With the help of several teammates, LouPhi and Isearched for, and documented, several maskedboobies exhibiting the “Angel’s wing” deformity thatrenders these birds flightless. LouPhi shot anastonishing video of two brown boobies in mortalcombat, possibly an indication of how some adultbirds come to have a broken wing.

We brought with us two kites, and used them toloft cameras that provided a large number of high-quality and informative aerial photographs of ourcampsite and other parts of the island. We alsoattached a large net in an attempt to capture flyingairborne insects, but none was collected.

Prof. Jost counted birds and palm trees, sometimeswith the aid of another kite-borne camera. He alsoinstalled survey markers and documented the crabpopulation.

We also noted cockroaches and rats near thecampsite. There were a few crabs, perhaps a dozenthat came in the night, but nowhere near the largenumbers reported by previous visitor to Clipperton.One of the most startling sights was the extensivegrowth of the vine-like plant since the 2008 TX5Cexpedition. It is apparently growing rapidly due to thereduction of the crab population by the rats. Webelieve that within 5-10 years it will cover the entireisland, which also has been the case in the past.

The crabs themselves were not aggressive, andactually seemed tame, except naturally they fled whencrowded. We wanted to estimate how many crabswere at our campsite, but it was nearly impossible todistinguish one crab from another. So to identifyindividual crabs, we marked some of them on thecarapace, using an erasable marker, typically usingradio callsigns or names to distinguish the individuals.Interestingly, we never saw the marked crabs a secondtime, indicating that the individuals we observed werepart of a much larger population that randomly cameinto the camp, rather than a few individuals who camerepeatedly.

The two French TV filmmakers, Ramon Gutierrezand Jean Bazille, spent most of their time with twoparticular radio operators. While it was disappointingthat they concentrated on such a narrow focus, it wassatisfying that the project was documented. The 30-minute film was completed in late May and will bebroadcast in France on September 13.

Thinking about leavingAs the days progressed, the radio operators kept

up an extraordinarily energetic regimen, and the totalnumber of QSOs rose above 90,000. About four daysahead of schedule, some members of the team alreadywere discussing the strategy and procedures forshutdown and leaving. I was a bit surprised, since I

assumed they wanted to extend the operating time tothe maximum. In fact, some members apparently weremaking extremely tight schedule arrangements for ourreturn to Cabo San Lucas and were nervous about ourdeparture. From experience, I knew that such plansare very dangerous, and I advised the team to becareful about making such tight plans, just in case theweather turned bad.

Weather predictionsAs usual, I consulted with the skipper on the boat,

who was in direct contact with the home office in SanDiego and had all the available information about thecurrent weather and predictions for the next few days.His input was that we would probably experienceincreased winds for two more days and then the windswould subside. However, it is the state of the surf, notthe wind, that would determine whether we could getoff the island, and the surf was determined by majorweather patterns hundreds of miles away. Andalthough it was my role and responsibility to keepeveryone informed with the best informationavailable, when I brought this information to the team,I was not popular.

100,000 QSOsOn March 8, a little over a week after we began,

the DXA counter displayed exactly 100,000 QSOs.Quite a few people around the world anticipated thismoment and took pictures of the screen, suitable forframing.

ShutdownTwo days before the scheduled shutdown, we

stopped the CW operation and dismantled the Site Btent. With the increasing awareness that we would beleaving in two or three days, some team members whohad not yet ventured out of the camp took theopportunity to make the 7-mile circuit around theisland.

The next day we discussed when to stopoperations altogether and dismantle the site A tent. Ithought we might have another day to operate, sincethe surf was decreasing nicely. But apparently theteam preferred to not risk being late to leave, sopacking began in earnest. I marveled at the efficiencyand speed with which they dismantled the camp andmoved the bundles and containers to the beach.Already the crew from the Shogun was runningshuttles, and the whole operation reminded me of acolony of leaf-cutter ants dismantling a bush andcarrying it down a trail where the pieces woulddisappear into the nest.

In an amazing replay of a week before, the teamsimply lifted the ATV into a zodiac and the skipperdrove it through the rising surf safely back to the boat.

10

Soon, team members themselves were being transported back to the boat, and the number of people andamount of gear waiting on the beach diminished nearly to zero. He boat crew did the final sweep, gatheringthe last crates and personal bags.

A clean campsiteAt that point I took the opportunity to walk back to our campsite, now completely bare, and systematically

inspected and photographed the entire area. I was extremely impressed with what the team had done: they hadcleaned it completely. I found not one single scrap of paper, piece of wire, fragment of food, or any otherevidence of our stay there, save the fact that the soft white sand was unusually clean, at least compared to theneighboring areas. In a relatively short time, the wind would return our campsite to its previous state,including deposits of plastic debris that float in from the ocean.

DepartureAround noon, the Shogun left Clipperton, about 12 hours earlier than originally scheduled, bound for Cabo

san Lucas. The trip back was surprisingly quiet. Only a fraction of the team showed up for meals, and therewas relatively little general socializing. The team was physically tired from the exertion, and socially tiredfrom the sometimes stressful personal interactions. Much of the team spent much of their time napping. Thegentle rocking of the boat was conducive to relaxing, remembering, and writing. The Shogun ran due northon the calmest seas the crew had ever seen. I took the credit for bringing the good luck.

The return voyageOne evening Prof. Jost treated us to an extremely interesting presentation about the past and future of

Clipperton, particularly pointing out the importance of active management of the island to protect its naturalresources and the French Exclusive Economic Zone.

After four days of sailing, we were in Cabo, and the majority of the team (mostly the Europeans) left theboat, presumably in time to make their scheduled flights. The remaining nine of us continued another fourdays to the home port in San Diego, where we were greeted by wives, sweethearts, and a wonderful sign thatsaid “Welcome Home Shogun.”

Ed:

Bob is the founder and Expedition Leader of Cordell Expeditions, a nonprofit research group be-gun in 1977. The group is responsible for the creation of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctu-ary and for numerous research expeditions to remote oceanic sites. Professionally he is aresearch physicist, with about 100 publications and four patents. He is the founder of NanoLogicInc. He is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and former Chairman of its Northern California Chapter.In over 30 years he has been listed in almost every Who's Who in the world. He is the owner andoperator of a research vessel, the Cordell Explorer.

AMATEUR RADIOLicensed since 1962, he holds Extra Class license KK6EK. His specialty has been world-classDXpeditions and developing new technology for DXpeditions and DXers. He was the inventor (forXRØY/Z) of the online log server and DXA, the real-time log website (for K7C). Other callsigns hehas used include: XF1/KK6EK, VP8CPK, 4K1/KK6EK, CEØ/KK6EK, and VK6EKK.

HONORSCQ Amateur Radio Hall of FameDXpedition of the Year (3YØPI, XRØY/Z,VKØIR)Life member, Central Arizona DX Association

11

Pictures

The track of the vessel for the expedition Part of the team sailed from San Diego

Location of the landing/campsite Landing the ATV

The site selected for the TX5K campsite The campsite at the beginning of setup

12

The TX5K campsite. Sleeping quarters at left The GEM tent (left) and COM tent (right)

One of the operating tents Part of the antenna inventory for TX5K

One of the operating sites Mealtime in the GEM tent

13

The shower The kite used for aerial photos and insect col-lection

Aerial photo of the TX5K campsite Aerial photo looking north over the TX5Kcampsite

The cases with supplies and gasoline jerrycans

The ATV was essential for transporting sup-plies

14

A typical pair of masked boobies Clipperton Rock about 1 km from TX5K

One of the red crabs, marked for identifica-tion

The author with Prof. Jost in front of thecamp

Flying the flags of the countries and sponsors The Explorers Club flag

15

The TX5K campsite, situated in front of a palm grove, on an open flat sand deposit,with the lagoon in back

The TX5K campsite as left by the team. No debris was left and no damage was doneto the environment

16

Statistics of the Radio OperationsThe radio operating statistics

[Source: ClubLog] The total operating time was 7 days, 19 hours, 32 minutes. The number of unique callswas 24,480. The average logging rate was 610 QSOs/hour. The cost per QSO (taken to be the total cost of theDXpedition divided by the number of logged QSOs) was $1.70.

# QSOs by Date

# QSOs by Continent

# QSOs by Band\Mode

The last table is plotted in the diagram below.

Date Total QSOs Uniques Uniques %09-03-2013 5432 1032 19.008-03-2013 15974 2593 16.207-03-2013 16461 2793 17.006-03-2013 14486 2599 17.905-03-2013 19789 3596 18.204-03-2013 20429 4554 22.303-03-2013 16056 4342 27.002-03-2013 4974 2971 59.7Totals 113601 24480 21.5

Continent Total QSOs %Africa 814 0.7Antarctica 2 0.0Asia 16311 14.4Europe 34990 30.8North America 56914 50.1Oceania 1621 1.4South America 2949 2.6Totals 113601 100.0

Band\Mode PH CW RTTY JT65 Total160 423 3662 0 0 408580 771 5485 0 0 625640 7508 5347 9 0 1286430 0 7412 3171 0 1058320 6048 6843 2429 0 1532017 6812 7428 2815 0 1705515 8686 9280 226 0 1819212 7366 8317 0 0 1568310 6873 6375 0 0 132486 208 53 0 54 315Totals 44695 60202 8650 54 113601

17

# QSOs by Continent\Mode

# QSOs by Continent\Band

# DXCC entities by Band\Mode

Cont\Mode PH CW JT65 RTTY TotalAF 405 326 0 83 814AN 0 2 0 0 2AS 5593 9533 0 1185 16311EU 10694 20841 28 3427 34990NA 25387 27812 19 3696 56914OC 816 701 4 100 1621SA 1800 987 3 159 2949Totals 44695 60202 54 8650 113601

Cont\Band

160 80 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 6 Total

AF 5 15 53 47 150 130 118 128 168 0 814AN 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2AS 326 1070 2686 1811 1875 2155 2399 2299 1690 0 16311EU 994 1835 4198 4451 4365 5178 5918 4922 3101 28 34990NA 2709 3230 5586 4048 8190 8944 9044 7729 7403 31 56914OC 29 70 191 146 322 237 234 183 205 4 1621SA 22 36 150 80 417 410 479 422 681 252 2949Totals 4085 6256 12864 10583 15320 17055 18192 15683 13248 315 113601

Band\Mode PH CW RTTY JT65 Total160 10 79 0 0 8080 33 90 0 0 9340 115 101 4 0 12530 0 112 89 0 11720 118 116 88 0 13617 117 120 79 0 13615 118 126 32 0 13612 119 129 0 0 13810 112 113 0 0 1286 12 9 0 23 33Totals 154 150 109 23 166

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LOW ANGLE RECEPTION ON 40M –A THEORETICAL COMPARISON BETWEENA 3EL YAGI AT 80FT, 4SQ AND2 WAVELENGTH BEVERAGE.By Vince ZL1VL/G3TKN

One of the main problems when listening from Europe for low angle DX signals is thelarge amount of strong high angle European stations that cause interference.

To receive weak DX signals we need the following:

1) An antenna that reduces the high angle European signals.2) An antenna that has a relatively narrow beamwidth.3) Low noise location4) Receiver with good IMDR.

Receivers such as the K3, Persius SDR, Yaesu FTDX5000 all have good IMDR performance.

Countryside locations will in general be quieter than suburban ones.

If we assume that we have a receiver with good IMDRR and an electrically quiet location, we now come downto how the antenna will behave and in particular its rejection of high angle Eu signals.

EZNEC modelling of a 3el 40m yagi at 80ft, a 40m 4SQ, and a receive Beverage shows without question the3el yagi at 80ft will be an outstanding transmit antenna. However, the purpose of this analysis is not toconsider the transmitting properties of these antennas but to look at their rejection of signals with arrivalangles around 90 degrees and also their beamwidths.

All three antennas modelled showed good low angle lobes between 23degs to 28degs over average ground..

However, the following results were obtained for high angle rejection (90degs) and beamwidth;

3 el yagi at 80ft Rejection at 90degs compared to main lobe -15dB; Beamwidth 68degs at main lobe.

4 SQ (average ground) Rejection at 90degs compared to main lobe >-30dB Beamwidth 100degs at main lobe.

2 Wavelength Beverage Rejection at 90degs compared to main lobe >-20dB Beamwidth 57degs at main lobe..

It becomes obvious from these results that the 4SQ will offer the best rejection to high angle signals, with theBeverage coming in second.

The 4SQ does suffer from the disadvantage of a very wide beamwidth which may prove a problem in areaswhere there is local noise off the side of the main beam. Verticals tend to be more prone to noise pick up, andthe high yagi is likely to have a better signal to noise ratio; certainly if used in a suburban area.

The Beverage is a cheap and easy directional antenna to install if one has the space. It may give better signalto noise than the 4SQ and even the yagi; especially during stormy weather. It will also provide improvedrejection of high angle signals compared to the yagi. A two wavelength Beverage on 40m shows a beamwidth

19

of 57 degs; the narrowest beamwidth of all three antennas. This narrower beamwidth may well help reducelocal noise pick up from noise sources off the side of the beam.

A terminated 2 wavelength Beverage may well have distinct receiving advantages under certain conditionscompared to either the 3el yagi at 80ft and the four square.

I feel it is under extreme contest conditions (ie CQWW) when the 40m band has a high occupancy rate ofvery strong (high angle) European signals that the use of a number of low angle unidirectional Beverages on40m may be a very useful addition even if a 3el yagi is available.

The reason for this simple analysis was my observation during the 2010 CQWW contest of a number of verybig European contest stations on 40m who appeared to be having difficulty hearing VK and ZL signals whowere calling them; most were all complaining of high levels of QRM. Many of the large contest stations nowtend to use multi-element yagi antennas, but I wonder how many have looked at the advantages of using anumber of terminated multi wavelength Beverages for 40m reception.

=================================================================

Anybody put a name to some of these well know Dxers?Photo taked at a Convention held at Cardonald College sometime in the late 1970s.- Early

1980s. I can identify GM4FVQ, GM6MD, GM4FDM, GM8MJ, GM3ITN, GM4KHE

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DDDXXXiiinnnggg fffrrrooommm MMMiiinnnnnneeesssoootttaaa --- LLLaaannnddd ooofff 111000,,,000000000 LLLaaakkkeeesss

***TTThhheee YYYeeeaaarrr ooofff 555333 WWWeeeeeekkksss***WWWØØØGGGJJJ MMMooovvveeesss tttooo IIIooowwwaaa

by Glenn Johnson, WØGJ

Having lived in northern Minnesota for 25 years, moving to another state for ajob change should be a fairly simple thing to do….unless one has an antenna farm.

Back in 1989 when we moved to Bemidji, MN, I initially had a single tower. We built a home anda tower was part of the “antenna allowance” in the building financing. It was a Rohn 55G with arotating base at 90 feet and two stacked TH7s and a 3-el 40m beam at the top (150 ft), or about 170ft above the lake we lived on.

When a Minnesota-based ham radio dealer went out of business a few years later, the TH7swere replaced with a pair of 20m monobanders, and 15m &

10m monobanders. A new 4-el 40m was put on aseparate 140 ft tower. The two TH7s were put on aseparate rotating Rohn 25G tower, spaced for maxi-mum gain on 15m. A single 160m vertical (Rohn25) and three 4-squares (80, 40 & 30m) were added.And, some smaller towers with a single TH7 and6m beams. Yes, there was some haphazard plan-ning, but things seemed to come together for a con-test/DX station.

The shack for many years was a pair of Icom 756Pro IIs and various amplifiers.

A few years ago in Visalia, I heard a talk by TomTaormina, K5RC titled “Is 3 dB Worth a Di-vorce?” This summer, Tom completed the W7RNComstock Memorial Station (www.w7rn.com), a pro-ject over six years in the building. It includes 3/380m Yagis! There was a lot of common sense inTom’s talk about getting the most out of relativelysimple improvements, where the point of diminish-ing returns begins to limit practicality.

I started working in Decorah, IA in early 2010,working part-time and commuting to/from Bemidji,MN every 2-3 weeks. We decided to make themove permanent when we had an empty nest. And,as retirement approached, we wanted to down-sizethings. During the commutes, I had a lot of time tothink about planning a new QTH. We wanted a“good location” as every ham dreams of, but theseare hard to find. For two years, we looked andfound nothing available.

910 feet of tower in the moving van.

One day, the retiring administrator of the clinic Iworked for dropped by my office and asked if I wasstill looking for a place. He and his wife had decidedto sell and move to another state when he retired acouple of years hence. I went out to visit the site andcouldn’t believe what I saw. They lived in the middleof 68 acres on top of the tallest hill in the area, with acommanding 360 degree view.

The Decorah area of NE Iowa is quite hilly and isthe so-called “driftless area.” The last glacial flowwent around this area and didn’t smooth it off. Also,“the hill” is on the rim of a giant 3.1 mile diametermeteor crater!

The house is a 2007 ranch style, with everythingwe need on one level; perfect for when we get oldand need wheelchairs. There is a walkout lower levelwith spare bedrooms; perfect for guest ops!

We identified with the parable in the Bible, wherethe man finds the perfect treasure in a field, and hesells everything he has to buy the field it’s in.  Matt13:44-46.

We took possession at the end of July 2012. Inmid-August 2012, KC1XX and crew were in Minne-sota, and we spent almost three days taking down allof the antennas & towers in Bemidji. During thethird week of August, the moving van packed upthings and we made the move from the Dakota Divi-sion to the Midwest Division. I was fortunate to havea ham in the Bemidji area willing to buy anything Iwanted to part with. He took all of the HF antennas,except for my favorite M2 4-el 40m and 4-el SteppIR(20-6m) Yagis.

During two years of planning, my goals were:

1. Have a competitive contest/DX station.2. Keep it simple.3. Get that extra 3 dB (or so) without a divorce.4. This is my “retirement station,” where I will

spend my final years….with my first wife!

Sounds easy, but the details are legion:

1. Minimize the loss of crop land (we cash rentthe crop land).

2. Preserve Mama’s view from the main area ofthe home….maybe this is #1 priority! IfMama isn’t happy, no one is happy.

3. Have an SO2R, M/S, M/2 station. No thoughtgiven to multi-multi.

4. Easy access: shack to antennas, operators tosleeping rooms, etc.

5. Keep everything modular for easy trouble-shooting and for change-outs/upgrades.

6. Use existing tower hardware.7. Main (run) antenna tower and multiplier an-

tenna tower.8. Flexible, easy to use/install HF antennas.9. 30m beam; as 30m is one of my favorite

bands.10. Improve the 80m 4-square. (I think my

Bemidji 4-square could have worked better.)11. Phase two 160m verticals (one worked

great! But, a 4-square??)

I spent a year playing with HFTA terrain analysissoftware planning tower locations, antenna place-ments, etc. I poured over aerial photographs andmaps. Our county’s only antenna restriction is that

ft high, with 160 ft of Rohn 55G above. The guyrings are at 40, 76, 112 & 148 ft. In the pictures youwill see the KØXG boom mounts, which make“landing” booms to the side of a tower a piece ofcake. Installation - check

HFTA had a verysweet spot for the 4-el40m beam between 150to 155 ft in almost everydirection. It was amaz-ing to see some signifi-cant path degradationseven at 160 ft to manyareas. Higher is not al-ways better. With a guyring at 148 ft, and easyto stand on, the 40mboom bracket was

the base of a tower must have 110% set-back from aproperty line.

placed at 152 ft, perfectworking height.Effective – check.

KØXG rotating base forRohn 55G.

Aerial view of property.

The crest of the hill is 100 feet to the north of thehouse and the main view from the rooms is to thesouth—perfect. My side of the house gets the an-tennas and Vivien’s side of the house gets the view.The shack (11 ft by 16 ft) was used as an office, andis on the north side of the house, near the front doorand at the top of the basement steps….easy accessfor guest ops and for access to the towers.

I wanted to rotate the main tower from theground this time. I used KØXG’s rotating base(with prop pitch motor) and four guy rings. Thetower base is 120 ft from the shack, and is almost 4

Mounting the 4-el 40m beam at 152 fton the 160 ft-tall Rohn 55G.

I acquired a 4-el, 20 to 6m SteppIR antenna sev-eral years ago and had it on a TIC ring at about 60 ftin Bemidji. That antenna played almost as well asthe 5/5 20M stack above it! At Dayton one year, Ilistened to a talk about “The Poor Man’s Stack,”which described that a 3 or 4-element tribander atabout 60 ft was within 1-2 dB of stacked mono-banders. I can confirm this is the case. The othernice thing about the SteppIR is that in a couple sec-onds, the antenna can be reversed to check long path

or even changed to be bi-directional. Flexibility –check.

The best bang for the buck is a 2-element beam.Each additional element gives up to .75 – 1 dB moregain, then rapidly diminishes and physical factorsbecome extreme. Since I had such good luck withthe 4-el SteppIR, I decided to put the old one on themultiplier tower and get three new ones for the maintower. These are not huge, and I can handle themmyself. True, they are mechanical and there will bemaintenance issues at some point, but even fixedelement antennas have maintenance issues. Regard-less, on a rotating tower, any antenna can be fairlyeasily trammed up and down between guy wires,unlike an antenna on a mast above guy wires.Maintenance – check.

20m is the toughest band for competition andstacked antennas for that band would sure be nice.I modeled HFTA for about every conceivable con-figuration for not just 20m, but also 17m to 10m.The heights of 78 ft and 114 ft were wonderful on20m to just about everywhere, and 42 ft workedwell to the Caribbean. The other bands fit in nicely,with rare exceptions. The top two positions showedsome degradation on 12m & 10m, but 42 ft wasnice!

I have the Dunestar 800 phase controller that canselect any single or any combination of the threeantennas. Regardless of the HFTA analysis whichworks with the average signal paths and angles, thereal world, as we know, is very dynamic, and signalpaths and incoming signals vary, sometimesquickly. The SteppIRs and the phasing system suremake it fun to play with DX signals! The middleSteppIR is on a TIC ring for independent steering.With my antenna switching setup, I can leave each

SteppIR on a single band or combine them. RUNantenna Flexibility – check.

WØGJ Shackshowing antenna switching and phasing controls

Adding the three 4-el SteppIRs to the 160 ft tower.

View inside theNEMA box atthe base of

the Rohn 55G.

Prepping the SteppIR elements.

The rotating Rohn 25G tower is 540 ft from theshack; 600 ft to the rotating bearing at 60 deg.There is a guy ring at 30 ft, 60 ft and at 92 ft. AT2X Tail-twister rotates the 50 ft “mast” above it.At 62 ft is the old 4-el SteppIR. At 96 ft (4 ft abovethe guy ring) is a 3-el 30m full-size Optibeammonobander. I thought HFTA would have opti-mized this beam higher, but, again, trusting the soft-ware, 95 ft was about optimum for all directions.At 112 ft is a 40m rotating dipole for multipli-ers…..maybe a 2-el 40m some day. At 60 ft is aninverted-V for 60m.Multiplier beam and 30M beam – check.

80m 4-square.

The rotating Rohn 25G: 4-el SteppIR at 62 ft, 3-el30m Optibeam at 96 ft and 40m dipole at 112 ft.

The 80m 4-square center is about 600 ft awayfrom the shack, about 1100 ft east of the multipliertower. Insulated bases are about a foot above theconcrete pads. Each tower is 60 ft Rohn 25G, witha “stinger” for tuning at the top. Each vertical hastwo gull-wing elevated radials. SWR is less than2:1 across the entire 80m band. The phasing systemis the new Array Solution 80m 4-square controller.I also have a 75m dipole suspended from the 112-ftguy ring on the big tower. It is cut for 3.850 mHz,but also has an interesting dip at exactly 3.520mHz! Go figure. Flexible on 80M – check.

As many of you know, I like 160m! In Bemidji, Ihad a single full-size elevated radial 160m vertical.I placed First Place World four consecutive years inthe QRP category of the ARRL 160m contest, andhave several other QRP plaques from other 160mcontests. For “another 3 dB,” I used the rest of mysupply of Rohn 25G to put up two full-size 160mverticals with insulated bases at 25 ft for elevatedradials. The total height for each is 154 ft. They arein a pasture SE of the house, 850 ft from the shack,and can be seen from the house living area. I think itis a most beautiful view…..but mama isn’t toohappy. But hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.She is getting used to it now and she “sees throughand beyond them, but I still can’t!

I use the Array Solutions phasing control andwith the verticals spaced ½-wave apart using 3/8-wave electrical feedlines, I can beam 75 deg, 255deg, end-fire (E-W) or broadside (N-S). There aretwo to four S-units difference between end-fire andbroadside!

We got the last of the towers up as the snow wasfalling last December. The phased 160m verticalswere the only antennas operational last winter. I fin-ished the phasing and coax only hours before theARRL 160m Contest. I did have the rotating 25Gup at that time, and had a 160m inverted-V at the115-ft level. I did A/B testing between the two, andeven though the inverted-V was a killer, it was noth-ing compared to the verticals!160m “beam” – check.Divorce – no check …..yet.

are around the house and “service box.” An electri-cian helped me redo the wiring/grounding of thehouse. There is a 110Vac outlet at the base of thetwo rotating towers and at the phasing boxes of the160m & 80m arrays. All towers and house havecommon grounding. We’ve used nearly four dozenground rods grounding the towers and the house.Redundancy – check.

160m phased verticals.

It is one thing to have a single “low” tower andone radio. As one gets more radios and antennas,there is a logarithmic curve in the complexity.ALL guys are Philystran. There is no steel. I bor-rowed a trencher for my Bobcat, and have over2000 ft of trenching. Everything is buried, includ-ing control lines. I’ve used over 3000 ft of 7/8 inCATV hardline. Yes, it is 75-ohm. Some runs need75:50 baluns at one end, or maybe both. OthersI’ve tuned/trimmed for a match. I bought this sur-plus for the same price as one would pay for goodRG-213. My loss on 160m is 0.3 dB for an 850-ftrun!

I came into possession of some surplus LDF 7,tons of LDF 6 and some LDF 5 Heliax. I use LDF6 & 7 for the 40m beam and the calculated loss issomething like 0.09 dB! LDF 6 is one long run forthe 80m 4-square. For the two rotating towers, Ihave buried spare runs of hardline and control ca-bles. The only coax in use is for jumpers fromhardline to lightning protection or rotation loops.

All buried feedline is hardline, and all feedlineup the towers is hardline. The SteppIRs all have theremote driver/lightning protection boards, and useCAT5e cable runs instead of control wire. I haveI.C.E. & Polyphaser coax and control line lightningprotection at each end of every feedline and controlline run. Every antenna feedline comes into theshack to an A/B switch. I’ve used dozens of Cinch-Jones plugs on all control lines for modularity andtroubleshooting. I have a standard wiring colorscheme. In the trench between the main tower andhouse are ground rods every 10 feet. Many more

The view inside the NEMA “service box”mounted on the outside wall of the house.

In the shack, I have a large operating desk withplenty of elbow room and plenty of room for twooperating positions. (See photo on page 4.) Thereare two rigs: Icom 7800 (with Acom 2000A) andIcom 7600 (with Icom PW-1), almost ergonomicallyidentical. I have the DX Solution Smart AntennaSwitches (SAS-6) for each radio. These are con-trolled by the radio, and each radio automaticallypicks from an A/B switch the desired antenna.There is an automatic default for each band that canbe overridden with the push of a button. These alsochoose the proper band pass filter (Dunestar 600s).A microHAM MK2K+ is used for SO2R.Flexibility – check.

I officially COMPLETELY finished this projectone year and one week after we started taking downthings in Bemidji. I’ve spent hundreds of hoursplanning, and it seems like even more on the towerand in the trenches (literally). I’ve checked and dou-ble checked each connector and connection at everystep of construction and assembly. Everything islabeled and organized. I’ve kept an “engineeringnotebook” of everything I did with descriptions and

dates. I’ve been extremely pleased with the effec-tiveness of everything. I’ve added a lot of new bandcountries, especially with that killer 30m beam! Itstill catches my breath to watch that big tower rotatewith all of those antennas on it!

Finished – check. 53 weeks start to finish.Satisfied – check.Would I do anything different at this point? No!

I want to thank author Patrick McManus, my fa-vorite outdoor writer for some “help” with my pro-ject. He says the critical number of guns to own isfour. If you have one, two or even three guns, yourwife can count them. If you have four or more, it is“just all those guns!” So, you can go out and buymore and she will never know, because it is still“just all those guns, radios and antennas.” Vivienwill never notice the 160m verticals. Or, if I decideon “just one more antenna”……..Divorce – no check.

I also want to thank Tom Taormina, K5RC for alot of the inspiration for this project; Dean Straw,N6BV for his HFTA program; KC1XX & crew fordismantling the old station; P & K Antenna forhelping get the new towers up; Richard Bennett,KØXG for his help with the rotating tower compo-nents and boom brackets; Paul Bittner, WØAIH forhis help with me on the tower (I mean me helpingPaul), as a crane lifted the Yagis up to us; the manyTCDXA/MWA, EIDXA and local hams whohelped, some who donated many hours of help andmost importantly, to my wonderful wife Vivien forher continued support. I’m still married to KL7YL,the real love of my life for 39 years.

Now, I AM looking forward to retirement in acouple of years… to enjoy the bottom of the currentsunspot cycle……..I’m ready. I’m especially look-ing forward to this upcoming contest/DX season.

What a LONG year it has been - 53 weeks, to beexact!

+3 dB - CheckDivorce….No check!

73!

Glenn, WØGJw0gj@arrl.net

My amazing tower guy Paul, WØAIHfirst licensed in 1949.

Vivian, KL7YL and me.

Checking the morning long path!

GMDX DX DIARYCourtesy - Colin MM0NDX andDX-WORLD.net

FP, ST PIERRE AND MIQUELON Peter,DJ4TCand Hermann, DL2NUD are operating as FP/call un-til September 21. They are QRV on 2meter, 70and23 centimeter using JT65B and JT65C. QSL viahome calls.

S2, BAGLADESH Yuki, JH1NBN is QRV asS21ZBA until September 23. QRVduringtheevening. QSL via home call. http://www.1nbn.net:

T8, PALAU Masashi, JL1FUQ willoperate as T88GJfrom September 20 to September 24. QRV from 20to 6 meter using SSB anddigital modes. QSL viahome call, direct or bureau.

TN, CONGO Arie PA3A, Marian PD1AEG,AdPA8AD and Angelina PA8AN will be QRV asTN2MS in cooperation with DAGOE FoundationandMercy Ships. They will be MM between Septem-ber 22 and September 27. Further they will be activefrom Pointe Noire from September 28 until October11. QSL via OQRS on www.tn5ms.nl/qslpolicy.php.or via PA3AWW bureau. Lotw will be uploaded af-ter the trip.

VK9L,LORD HOWE ISLAND Thomas, VK2CCCplans activity on 80and 160m from Lord Howe is-land from September 22until September 29.QSL viahome call.

XZ, MYANMAR Look for XZ1Z until September23on 10, 15 and 20meter mainly in CW. QSL viaJH1AJT.

9N, NEPAL Pekka, OH2YY will be active as9N2YY between October 2and October 5. QSL via home call, LoTW.

A5, BHUTANPekka, OH2YY will be QRV as A52YY betweenOctober 6 and October 9. QRV during theevening on 10 and 20 meter using SSB. QSL viahome call, LoTW.

CY0, SABLE ISL Gary, VE1RGB and Murray,WA4DAN aregoing to be QRV between October 1 to October 11.Look for them as CY0P. They will operate from 160

to 10 meter in CW, SSB and RTTY. More info tofollow.

FO, AUSTRAL ISLGrant, KZ1W and Rob, N7QT will operate as TX5Dbetween October 2 and October 14.QRV from 80 to 10 meter using CW, SSB and RT-TY. Logs will be daily updated via Clublog, QSL viaLoTW, Eqsl or bureau.

KH0, NORTHERN MARIANAKazu, JH8PHT plans to be active as AH0KT be-tween October 3 and October7. QRV on all HF bands. QSL via home call.

KH9, WAKE ISLANDK9W A team from 12 operators will be active fromOctober 7 to October 18. Number15 most wanted. Wake is extremely limited and thetime frame is very limited. They will put up 5 sta-tions on all HF bands and in all modes for a period of14 days. TheDXpedition combines a commemora-tion of the 70thanniversary of a tragic event duringWorld War II. www.wake2013.org

9L, SIERRA LEONEN4WDT and K4ZIN will be active between October16 and October 21. They will setup 2 stations from 160 to10 meter. Call sign is pending. QSL via home callsor LoTW.

HK0, SAN ANDRESA large team will be active between November 1 andNovember 10. Callsign is pending. They will operate in SSB, CW andRTTY from 160 to 6 meter. QSL via EA5RM.

S2, BANGLADESHThe Mediterraneo DX Club is organizing a DXpedi-tion to take place from November19 to November29. A team of 20-22 operators from 9 countries willbe active on all bands and modes with several sta-tions. The team aims at establishing "a real coopera-tion with the local hams to assist them in anyneedsand improve their knowledge and skill in the Ama-teur Radio world". Further information will be avail-able in due course. A dedicated website is underconstruction atwww.mdxc.org/bangladesh2013.T30, WEST KIRIBATITed, JF1CCH and Kazu, JA1FUF will be operatingbetween November 28 and

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December 4. Call sign is not yet known, but they willbe QRV from 40 to 10 meter using CW, SSB anddig-ital modes. QSL details to follow.

T32, KIRIBATITim, NL8F will be QRV fromKiritimati between November 27 and December 4.Activityfrom 160 to 10 meter using SSB and RTTY. QSL viaK8NA.

T32, CHRISTMAS ISLA team is gathering to be active between December 3and December 11. Plans are tobe active from 160 to 10 meter using CW,SSB and RTTY. More onhttp://www.t32-2013.com/home.html

T33, BANABAT33A A large group of operators will be active be-tween November 5 and November 18. Theywill put up 6 stations in CW, SSB and RTTY from160 to 10 meters. QSL via W2IJ, OQRS and Clu-blog. See www.t33a.com.

VK9, MACQUARIESteve, VK3ZAZ will be QRV during the winter in2013. Priority will be 6 meter.Further info follows.

YV0, AVES ISLThe 4M5DX Group is organizing a DXpedition totake place from Aves IslandSome time between November 1 2013 and February28 2014. Eleven operators fromVenezuela,Argentina, Finlandand Spain will be ac-tive as YW0A on 160to 6 meterall modes. QSL viaEB7DX (OQRS for direct and bureau cards on ClubLog) and LoTW. Bookmark www.avesisland.info for further information and updates.—-------------------------------------------------------------

‘Getting started in Contesting’– part 1 of 3September 2013

Chris Tran GM3WOJ / GM2V

Contests – you either love em or hate em,but they are difficult to ignore. In 2013 thereis a contest on one or more HF bands almostevery weekend – some specialised, someseemingly pointless, some interesting, somerequiring extra skills.This short series of 3 articles might help youstart becoming involved with contesting, sothat you can at least say ‘I’ve tried HF con-testing and I don’t like it’ instead of ‘I’ve nev-er tried HF contesting but I don’t like it’

The key factor, for me, in HF contesting isthat it crams a lot of radio into a relativelyshort time – with a reasonable station youcan make several thousand QSOs in oneweekend, amongst which will almost certain-ly be some juicy new DXCC entities that youmight not have worked before. The side ef-fect of this ‘compressed radio’ activity is thatyou have more time for normal life – veryimportant if you have a family, a job and oth-er interests.

Hang on a minute – if you work thousands ofstations that means the hassle of thousandsof QSL cards, doesn’t it ? No – most of theactive contest stations nowadays don’t wantpaper QSL cards, but do upload their contestlogs to Logbook of the World, so removingthe need for a paper QSL to be sent unlessspecifically required. Also, it is easy to have aQSL Manager who receives all the paperQSLs instead of you receiving them. General-ly speaking, all you need to do is pay for twothousand QSL cards every couple of years

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and forget about QSLs, unless you are inter-ested in them for any awards. The QSL Man-ager covers most of their other costs by the$$ enclosed with the incoming cards.

Is it really difficult to register with the ARRL’sLogbook of the World ? Some people make abig fuss about this, but how difficult is it totake a photocopy of one page of your UK li-cence, stuff it in an envelope and post it –not difficult. Since LoTW started (about 9years ago I think) I have uploaded 450000QSOs resulting in 190000 electronic QSLmatches – making lots of people happy withDXCC credits, stopping people asking me‘why you no QSL Chrees’ and saving lots oftrees! (I definitely don’t make 50000 QSOsevery year, but I do upload QSOs for about15 different callsigns)

There are quite a few other reasons whycontesting is growing in popularity whilstragchewing is on the decline. You could ar-gue that modern society is changing and thatpeople have less to say to each other, butthere are still nets and stations willing tochat if you want to. Whether the weekendHF contests annoy you or not, you have toadmit that they are keeping our HF bandswell occupied, whereas they can be quiet onan average weekday.

Apart from anything else, contesting is greatfun – you don’t need to be particularly com-petitive when you start entering contests,but hopefully the bug bites and you startthinking about how to improve your operat-ing techniques, how to improve yourantenna(s) in the available space, etc. etc.

Lastly – contesting does not need to be anever-ending spiral of expenditure – in reali-ty almost any station, no matter how smallor with restricted antennas, can be used for

HF contesting and achieve results. What theoperator does is often more important thanthe hardware. Contest logging software isfree to download and use, so there are nocosts there.

In the next short article I’ll discuss how bestto use your equipment and antennas forcontesting and in the final article I’ll discussoperating skills and contest logging software.

Between now and the next GMDX Digest –start practising typing fast, please !

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Your Fellow GMDX Member

For the benefit of those who did not attend the AGM, Rob mentioned in his Chairman's report that we wouldbe running a column on “The Other Man's Station “in subsequent issues of “The Digest”.The idea is to introduce each individual member to the membership in general. Each member is thereforerequested to provide a short biography of themselves giving details of their background in amateur radio,their current interests and aspirations. This could be as long or as short as you wish and if possible shouldinclude some photographs.

GM3YOR – Drew Givens

My first interest in radio goes back to when I was about 10 years of age and due to sickness was confined tobed for several weeks. Our broadcast receiver which had long, medium and short wave bands was broughtalong side my bed to keep me occupied, and I would spend the time tuning around the different bands to seewhat could be heard. Initially this was mainly on the medium wave and eventually the short wave becamemy main interest listening to broadcast stations from around the world and occasionally sending receptionreports to them.

One day when tuning round on 40m I heard by first amateur on AM, it was GM2CPC Charlie fromInvergowrie, Dundee in contact with some English station who I could not copy. After several yearslistening now for both broadcast & the odd amateur I discovered that the local Barber, where I stayed inKirkcaldy, was a radio amateur and I became friends with John GM3PFQ .

Kirkcaldy Amateur Radio Club3rd Place in Short Wave Magazine Clubs Contest 1967

Standing SWL's Brian, Bill, Drew (to become GM3YOR)Seated John GM3PFQ Jim GM3FXM

I was introduced to the local Kirkcaldy Amateur Radio Club and soon had taken and passed my RAE andwith John's tuition passed my morse test and received my licence in July 1969 and activated GM3YOR for

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the first time on 30 July 1969. First contact being GM3VPJ on 80m CW, Douglas from Glasgow, whichlasted for over 2 hours, little did I know then what had started. My first station consisted of a homebuilt 10watt CW only transmitter for 160 & 80m, an Eddystone 640 receiver and a long wire antenna.

The Glenrothes & District Amateur Radio Club winners RSGB CW NFD 1972 & 73Standing GM4DEX Ian, GM3YBQ Ken, GM4BFQ George, SWL Bill, GM3OLK Dave, GM4AQO John,

GM4EJI Gavin, GM3YOR DrewSeated GM3ZAP Ben, GM3PFQ John, GM3FXM Jim, GM4ALK Bob

As the there were several small clubs in Fife in the early 70's it was decided to amalgamate and theKirkcaldy, Leven and Glenrothes Clubs to become Glenrothes and District Amateur Radio Club which Ithen became a member. The new Glenrothes club members merged well and became interested in contestoperating participating each year in the RSGB NFD CW contest. This was my introduction to contestoperating which I still enjoy to this day.

In 1972 I worked as a Shift Maintenance Engineer at Kincardine Power Station in Fife and as I worked on a3 shift pattern found I could operate at times when most of Europe was asleep and as a result my low bandcountry total began to show a significant increase and by 1979 I had attained DXCC.

In 1978 I left the power station to take up employment at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy as AssistantMaintenance Engineer and returned to constant day shift working. I decided that my station requiredupgrading and a Kenwood TS840 Transceiver and a Hygain TH3 3 ele 3 band Yagi was purchased. Icontinued DX chasing now on the HF bands and I achieved 5 band DXCC in 1984 and 5 band WAS in1986. I remained at the hospital in Kirkcaldy until 1987 when I decided to try a new adventure and moved toa new hospital in the Sultanate of Oman . I could not get a licence whilst in Oman which was veryfrustrating as I would have liked to have had the opportunity of operating from a relatively rare country.Although not being able to operate from A4 I have operated from GI, GJ GU, 4S, C5, EI. OH0,OJ0, OY,SV5, SV8, SV9, TA, TF, VP2M, & ZB2 mainly in holiday style operations and enjoyed the fun of beingDX to many.

I returned to the UK in 1989 and started at Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock as Senior MaintenanceEngineer. Having access to the main boilerhouse at the hospital and its 147 ft high chimney, I was able to

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support some wire antennas from this for the LF bands and I managed to attain WAS 160m in one weekendoperating in the 1995 CQ WW DX CW contest. I now had both 6 band DXCC and 6 band WAS and withthe introduction of the WARC bands decided to try for 9 bands in both awards.

In 1997 I married my wife Moira who was an Administrator at the hospital and we bought a house firstly inGourock then moved to to the present QTH in Inverkip where I have installed a 12 m Tennamast and a 4 ele5 band (20 - 10m) TA-53-M Mosley Antenna with the TA-30-KR 30m extension. This along with dipolesfor 40 & 80m, my Yaesu FT-1000MP transceiver and an Acom 1000 amplifier is my current setup.

GM3YOR TA-53-M with TA-30-KR

I am still keenly interested in chasing DX and have DXCC Mixed (332 current/347 all-time) CW (332/343),Phone (235/342) and 9 bands DXCC (160m 130/134, 80m 219/215, 40m 253/260, 30m 279/284, 20m296/307, 17m 277/282, 15m 269/276, 12m 233/237, 10m 233/239). Still looking for FT5Z, KH1, KH5,KH5K, KH9, P5, T31 and VK9W for full house. For my Worked All States Award I have WAS (160m &40 through 10m) still looking for Idaho, Nevada and North Dakota on 80m to complete all 9 Bands. WorkedAll Zones (CQ Magazine) 80 through 10m with 31 on 160m, not been active on 160 for a few years now somay take some time to complete for 9 bands WAZ.

Chasing DX has changed over the 40 odd years I have been active, there is now not the need to spend hourstuning the bands to find a new one, with the advent of the DX-Cluster you simply look for one on the list,tune rig to the frequency, turn beam to direction and call and hey-presto a new one in the log. Still that'sprogress so they say, it has taken away the thrill of finding the DX yourself and then working it.

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We would like to expand on Drew’s work and ask that any member of the GMDX Group write a similarpiece either on their own shack. Just supply the written work and a scan of the photos in JPG format andlet the editor do the rest.

Ed……..