2012.01.03 12:33:41

MW0JZE

Well 2011 has come to an end, where did it go??

Many of you may know and indeed use the clublog facility on www.clublog.org. This a great way of keeping track of your DXCC count and keeping ahead of your fellow amateurs in a friendly (not for long hi hi) and competitive battle for the who can work the most DXCC in a certain year, mode or band.

I watch the tables build over the year and note call signs as many of my customers are regular up-loaders to www.clublog.org

Two Hexbeam users that stood out from the crowd this year are Andy M0TTB and Rob MW0RLJ

Rob MW0RLJ 2011 all band Phone total DXCC 265 Number 4 in the world

Andy M0TTB 2011 all band Phone total DXCC 256 Number 6 in the world

Check out the stations that were above them, this just shows that the Hex can compete with the big boys!

Well done lads, but what is more impressive is Andys 10m DXCC Total of  209 making him number 1 in the world on phone, well done Andy!

Andy started the year with his TGM 36SR so some of the credit also has to go to Tom at TGM :-)

Keep up the good work lads and keep the Hexbeam flag flying!

Cheers Ant MW0JZE

2011.06.16 12:50:08

MW0JZE

Hi followers :-)

Here is the write-up from Charles M0OXO from our anual trip to Ramsey island 2011, cheers Charles.

Ramsey Island 2Ø11; Trials & Tribulations

The Strumble Head team met at the Club House on Tuesday giving us time to test, prepare and pack the items needed for this year. As before, we always try to be more efficient and to take only the essential items to the island but also with consideration that we may have to stay longer than anticipated should the weather turn poor.

Sea and weather conditions were forecast to be very poor for the crossing on the Thursday morning but what a surprise to awake at 04:45 to see a beautiful morning on the Pembrokeshire Coast. The vehicles were loaded and we arrived at the Lifeboat Slipway around 07:30 where shortly afterwards the ‘Thousand Island Boat Charters’ arrived and we were on the Island by 08:00, amazing.

After heaving all the gear to the top of the ‘harbour’ we then had the massive climb to the top of the Island where we bunk in a Barn (complete with broody Chickens!). Carrying 2 x Acom 1000 Amplifiers, 2 x FT1000MPs and worst of all the Kenwood TL922 to the accommodation is always a huge challenge. Fortunately the RSPB Warden and his wife (Greg & Lisa) are very accommodating and helped us up the hill with the Quad and trailer for which we are always very grateful.

We got off to a good start and as always, no one sets their stations up until all antennas are fully up and we work together to achieve this. The 2 x G3TXQ Hexbeams (built by Ant MW0JZE) were the first up and then we worked on the Windom for 40 and 80M. Everything ran as a well oiled machine and shortly after lunch, all three antennas were up and we moved inside to set up the stations.

Around 15:30 local we had all three stations on air and were qrv from ‘IOTA EU-124 Ramsey Island’. Chris G1VDP started the Digi station on the Windom working 30M, Ant MW0JZE started up on 20 SSB and Tim M0URX worked 15m SSB. Pile ups were pretty fast, the World Flora Fauna reference helping to boost them as well ;-) . 
Almost immediately the station used by Chris suffered a major problem when lights on the FT1000MP flashed and the dedicated PSU and TL922 also shutting down. Then worse to come was that dreaded smell – something was on fire. A subsequent check showed a hole on a transistor within the PSU and sadly totally  n-repairable for here at least. We were now down to two stations.

We worked very well and most stations had solid pile ups until late in the evening. Conditions weren’t brilliant and most of the traffic was from EU with Yuri A65CA from Asia and a few stations from North America. Tim had a good run into SA and also the Caribbean but again, conditions definitely down. We had over  1000 in the log and with the two stations we were happy at that.

The next morning we all woke early after a terrible storm kept most of us awake during the night and we got started. We worked early on 40M SSB and then 20M SSB using both Acoms and running 300/400 watts. Rob MW0RLJ and Charles M0OXO decided to take a boat to the mainland to take the faulty equipment back and to collect a spare rig to replace it. The guys continued to work well and on their return the qso count was 2500.

It became very obvious that conditions were giving us some Sporadic E propagation so they started pushing the higher bands (17, 12, 10 & 6) to give the Island IOTA to as many that required it. We had an amazing time, many stations commenting on how pleased they were to get EU-124 onto the new bands and in particular many ‘G’s that needed it as a new DXCC Band slot. Ant had been slogging away on 6M for a long time with a huge pile up and handed the Mic to Charles to continue. 6M continued to be very good and in total we finished with well over 396 qso's & 29 Countries on one run on 6m, the better one maybe CN in Morrocco? Before we left we set ourselves  a target of 4000q’s for the whole trip and by midnight we closed on 4035 q’s, amazing and very pleased but that was to be short lived.

Charles got up the following morning (Day3) to find a problem. We had Voltage issues and it seemed the current was poor and not enough Ampage to run even the radio. We traced the problem to not  just one but both our generators had gone down, who would believe that? The black cloud descended over us and we spiralled into depression. We worked several theories for several hours and eventually decided to run the spare ‘Robin’ generator only and to run 100w only. We never gave up the fight and tried many theories were explored over a pot of Porridge (thanks Jane!) and we came up with a plan! Greg (RSPB Warden) kindly offered to allow us yet another Generator which could give us 6Kva so the mood lightened and again, we weighed up our options over a chat until 0930………

Time moved on and by 1130 we were on air again. Conditions were ok and by 1.00pm we were running well as we approached 1300 and the beginning of the World Flora Fauna’ GreenDay’ event, We used all bands from 40m thro 10m and as we were using 12 & 17m, we were not in a ‘contest’ but just an ‘event’! All continued OK with runs predominantly into EU but with the odd DX station thrown in the mix. When 1500 came the bands just died with barely a trace of anyone on 20 thro 10m. In a few hours this eased and we pushed on on 20m, 17 and 40M. 40M was running very well with Chris on the Mic running 100w from the FT890 but only 20 and 17 really had any decent propagation to EU. As the evening moved along we had another good run with many JA stations on 20M and a few down into OC with VK. We closed at 0030, filled the generator and after a few hours stargazing we slept………but not well!

We were kept awake most of the night with the predicted ‘bad weather’. Sadly it was worse than expected. Torrential rain was hammering at the windows of the barn and roof and the wind was tremendous. First light at 0400 saw 2 x Hexbeams both leaning to the side and getting buffeted by the very strong wind. There was little we could do, they were unusable in that state so after a chat (again over a bowl of porridge) we decided they needed to be taken down to prevent damage. We all donned out wet weather gear and got stuck in. Taking them down took 15 minutes for each Hexbeam with us all working on the same antenna at the same time before moving on to the other. It initially appeared that the fault was either the rotators not being up to the strain of the wind or the strain on the stub mast and clamps were too weak. Another thought for another day but they were all down and we left the Windom in place. We spent the remainder of the morning inside the barn, we dismantled all the equipment and packed it away just leaving the Elekraft K3 and the Windom to use later in the afternoon with a view to making the few required qso’s which would give us 6000 contacts.

The afternoon was poor but we worked through trying our best but pretty soon we ran out of time. We had the now (now traditional) 'Party' looming with invited guests joining us for supper and a few drinks. By the time 7pm came we had 11 people for supper including Greg & Lisa, Nia,Mike & Nicola. We must not forget the now famous Border Collie 'Dewi', now a celebrity after his debut on the BBC's 'Countryfile'! After a lovely meal provided by Jane, we all had a few drinks (some more than others!) and spirits ;-) were high. Some of us were in a bit of a tacking by 0030, and with an empty bottle of Famous Grouse, one of Romiel and several bottles of red wine, we turned in for the night. At that point it seemed extremely unlikely that we would wake in 6 hours feeling well but Charles did and fired up the generator for a quick blast. Another 60 stations were logged on 40m which brought us to a final total of 6024 q's and the end of the 2011 trip. We got the gear down to the slip and from that point it took us 50 minutes to load the boat, do the crossing, unload at the Lifeboat Slip, carry the gear up to St. Justinians and to load the Van for the trip back to the farm.

It just leaves me with a few thoughts and thanks for the help we received this Year. Greg & Lisa Morgan (RSPB Wardens) were once again invaluable in help, planning, advice and in allowing us on the Island, two people who's performance, committment and drive is outstanding and a major asset to the RSPB. 'Thousand Island Expeditions' once more gave their personal service to us and were extremely kind, a service recommended by us. Mike Chant and his crew aboard the 'Gower Ranger' also pulled out the stops with their prompt and personal service. Good luck to Nia Stephens (Assistant RSPB Warden) in her future career and not forgetting Mike and Nicola who give their time as RSPB volunteers. Finally a big thanks to all of you that worked us whilst on Ramsey Island. We were very pleased to give so many of you the new Band Slots, IOTA and WFF areas. I guess almost all stations on 6 meters would have been very pleased to get IO71hu in their logs so a good job all round. Some stations worked us on 7 band slots and many more with 6 contacts which was remarkable. Of course we wouldn't be without the odd negative comments either. Some made good points and others were well, just pathetic but all in all, a great trip to Ramsey in 2011.

Thanks to everyone from the Strumblehead DX Group; Rob MW0RLJ, Charles M0OXO, Tim M0URX, Chris G1VDP, Ant MW0JZE and of course Jane (our Support Staff ;-) ) who kept us fed with over 120 meals, doing this with 2 small gas rings on a Baby Belling stove and little facilities was a great & welcomed achievement!

**One thing we did learn was that ''two Acoms are better than one''....(well to fry breakfast on at least!!!)

2011.04.28 08:29:00

MW0JZE

I was asked a few months ago if I would help out with some sponsorship of a DX-Pedition run by Stan SQ8X to Jan Mayen Island, I was honored and excited of the prospect of two of my antennas being used in such a major activation of this rare island. Below is a passage from their fantastic website.

Good luck lads, hope to have you in my log!

****************************************************************

Website http://janmayen2011.org/

Welcome to JX7VPA - Jan Mayen 2011 ham radio DXpedition's website. We are excited that we may share more news on our DX project with you since now.

After over 1 year of preparations and changes to our itinerary, callsign and more, we are happy to announce our itinerary is set and confirmed. The journey begins on July 2, 2011, when the team gathers in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland and then heads for Jan Mayen island on July 4. All permissions and ham radio license have already been organized at relevant authorities.

We will sail on board on Aurora - a chartered yacht of the Borea Adventures - experienced and skilled company focused on sustainable tourism in the Arctic.

The destination of Jan Mayen is not a cheap place to go. Please consider donating to our project to help to organize the DXpedition.

Please subscribe to our Facebook page,  Twitter or RSS to follow more news that are about to come.

We are all very anxious to be at the island and to pick up your callsign in pileups!

****************************************************************

2011.04.18 09:51:06

MW0JZE

Big thanks to Paulo for choosing my version of the G3TXQ Broadband Hexbeam.

Paulo has been active for a few months with the Hexbeam and I have spoken to him on air a few times with good signal reports.

His QSLM CT1IUA is shipping a rotator to him soon but at the moment he is beaming due North

Hopefully some of you will work him soon.

Many thanks once again Paulo

2011.04.14 14:10:27

MW0JZE

Hi Hex nuts,

Just had a nice write up off Bill GM8RBR on his experence of the G3TXQ Hexbeam, thought I would share it with you all, Many thanks Bill.

***********************************************************************************

HEX BEAM IN SKYE

HI ANT

Firstly I am very satisfied with the hexbeam you supplied. The following details my experience building, mounting and using the hexbeam.

The hexbeam arrived well packaged and with no damage to the packaging or its contents.

The assembly took me approx 2-3 hours without any problems following the detailed assembly instructions. The parts are well manufactured and were assembled easily.
The assembled hexbeam was tested, mounted on an 8ft fibreglass scaffold pole, and the SWR reading across all bands did not exceed 1:1.3. At this time American west and east coast stations were contacted. Because of the wind conditions we experience I tywraped the 17 and 20 metre wire elements to the  mounting fixings on each arm to eliminate wind drag on the wire distorting the correct shape of those elements on
the antenna.

Mounting the hexbeam on a Tenamast took a few hours with the assistance of two local amateurs, scaffolding and ladders etc. due to the size of the assembled hexbeam and nearby obstacles ( mainly trees). The hexbeam is mounted using a 8ft fibreglass scaffold pole above two cushcraft 13 element 2 mtr yagis . The height of the hexbeam with the mast retracted is approx 27ft.( estimated 45ft when extended).

The hexbeam has been  used at this height due to the high wind and driving rain conditions we have experienced. The bad weather has not had any noticeable effect on the operation of the hexbeam and contacts have been logged in New Zealand , Japan, the east and west coast of USA and the far east. Contacts have been logged on all bands ( most on 17 mtrs ) with the exception of six mtrs . Received checks on six mtrs using the Inverness beacon are good compared with a 5 element  yagi , but no contacts have been made on this band.

Direct comparisons using a Cushcraft R7000 vertical antenna indicate that the hexbeam has increased gain of 2-3 db and significantly reduced background noise using a Icom Pro 3 as a test unit.

The next step is to wait for the better weather to extend the tenamast to its max height and see what effect this will have. It should improve the 6 mtr coverage .

***********************************************************************************

2011.03.23 09:57:21

MW0JZE

Many thanks to Michel F5GNY for his fantastic QSL CARD design, fantastic installation, well done!

Merci Michel and GD DX!!

2010.10.11 11:41:59

MW0JZE

Back in July 2010 during the IOTA Contest the Strumblehead DX & Contest Group again embarked on what has become an annual trip for us.

Due to logging issues in 2009 we only submitted a "checklog"  and therefore could not judge how well or how bad we did last year. This year we were determined to give a better account of ourselves, I think we did!

Again we used 2 x G3TXQ Hexbeams built by myself with a 40m ¼ vertical with 62 radials and a full size di-pole for 80m. This year we had fitted 2 x Yeasu G250 Lightweight rotators for the Hexbeams, these work great and are more than sufficient for the job. We used 2 x Elecraft K3’s 1 x Yeasu FT 2000 with 400w amplifiers.

All power was from petrol generators as power on the island is from Solar and back up generators which are only turned on at night.

Ops:
Rob MW0RLJ
Ant MW0JZE (me)
Oliver MW0JRX
Tim M0URX
Chris G1VDP
Tony G4LDL
Class IOTA DXPN MS MIX 24H HP
Q’s 1248
Mults 259
Score 2110332
Position 11
Link http://iotacontest.com/contest/iota/2010/finalScore.php?c1=id&c2=m&c3=m&c4=2&c5=h

Pleased with overall score, we did not have great conditions and things were a bit frustrating on times but a great holiday was had by all, we will be back.

73’s the Team!

2010.08.10 12:40:36

MW0JZE

Not being much of a BLOGGER I like to spend my time in the workshop making things and lots of noise :-)

A while back you may have read that John 9M6XRO purchased a Hexbeam off me for portable/IOTA events and the like of. Tim M0URX has just posted on his blog that the team is ready to go on September the 24 - 27 OC-295 Sebatik Island.

I would like to wish them a safe journey and successful DX'pedition.

Write up thanks to Tim M0URX

9M6XRO, 9M6DXX, 9W6AMC, 9W6LEE and G3USR plan to activate the rare IOTA island of Pulau Sebatik, OC-295, from 24 to 27 September inclusive. The operation will be on 10 - 80m with the emphasis on 15 - 40m. Two stations will be used with amplifiers to a HexBeam and verticals located directly above the sea water.

Callsigns will be 9M6XRO/P on CW and 9M6DXX/P on SSB and it is hoped to have both stations on the air during all the major openings to Europe and North America. OC-295 has only been claimed by 14.2% of IOTA participants, having been activated just once before, in July 2006. QSL both callsigns via M0URX, direct, bureau, or LoTW.

Image above - 'Kampung Air' stilt village, Sebatik Island.

See Sebatik 2010 for further details and for a link to M0URX's on-line QSL request form for both direct and bureau cards.

2010.08.04 09:33:23

MW0JZE

Not that you can see from this image,

BUT the MW0JZE hexbeam sits proud to the left of the Lighthouse on the Flannan Isles. There is the write up in the magazine which is word for word the same as my last blog entry below this one. Well done lads!

2010.07.01 08:18:15

MW0JZE

Final Report From The Flannan Team.


Fantastic & Fearsome Flannan Isles - a remote Island on the Air.


The first seeds of an expedition to a remote IOTA were planted in early August 2009. One
month prior I had visited St Kilda (EU-059) intending to activate that particular rare island group
during the IOTA contest. Unfortunately poor weather & sea state thwarted my efforts to remain
there during the contest weekend - I spent only a few hours on St Kilda then returned home.
A few weeks later - and in conversation with another IOTA activator - the words "Flannan"
and "Expedition" were first uttered.


Christian EA3NT and I had longed to form a team to activate a rare IOTA. Indeed, in 2007
we seriously considered Rockall EU-189, but soon realised the enormous effort and danger
involved in this. We looked at many islands and options within the Scottish (GM) coastline and
eventually decided Flannan Isles (EU-118) was worth the effort. Checking various most wanted
IOTA listings, it confirmed Flannan was in demand, especially in Japan.
By November 2009, the callsign MS0INT was issued. (This callsign will be used for future rare
Scottish IOTA activations). A google group was formed and all kinds of relevant info detailing
the Flannan Isles soon appeared - we learned very quickly the history of the place and just how
impressive an island group it is. If you like white sand beach islands, then EU-118 is not for you!
By the end of 2009, our team was formed. All seasoned IOTA activators, we felt the group was
as strong as it possibly could be. Vincent, F4BKV, Simon IZ7ATN, Bjorn SM0MDG, Christian
EA3NT, George EA2TA and Col MM0NDX. Between us, over 100 IOTA activated. Our QSL
manager would be Tim, M0URX with Nico, DD1MAT being webmaster. Things were taking
shape and the excitement rolled on.


Planning and organising an expedition to EU-118 is time consuming and costly, albeit
worthwhile. We had booked our boat charter way back in October 2009 - some eight months
before we would leave for Flannans. Due to the fact our team consisted of six, accomodation
and transport was required. A 12 seater minibus was hired and our base camp on the west side
of Isle of Lewis (EU-010) was situated just two miles from our boat charter; a perfect location.
We would use the base prior to and after the expedition.


February to late May 2010 was constant planning, logistics and organising. A monumental
effort was given to this. Everything from how many litres of water would we need to what
type of generators would work best to power three stations. Norman, GM4KGK based in
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis was a huge help in locally sourcing various items we required to make
the expedition a success. Ant, MW0JZE very kindly loaned us a G3TXQ Hexbeam . Icom UK
supplied us with two IC7000 transceivers and Alloa Hire Centre (AHC) provided 2Kw generators
to charge our battery tanks. GDXF and CDXC (Clipperton) provided cash support. Donations
came in from all corners of the world too. These would greatly help offset costs incurred. Even
the guesthouse at our base camp stored hundreds of kgs of gear ahead of our arrival, thus
saving us flying into the Western Isles with literally tons of kit.


Tuesday June 15, 2010 was when the MS0INT story really began! That evening Christian
EA3NT and George EA2TA arrived at Edinburgh airport. We had a beer and chatted excitedly.
We had also kept a close eye on recent weather conditions/forecasts and formed the opinion we
had a great chance of pulling this off as the wx looked unusually good out in the North Atlantic
for the foreesable future! By next day, Wednesday June 16, the entire team met at Edinburgh
and off we set to Stornoway, full of optimism. On arrival at Stornoway airport we met Norman,
GM4KGK. He handed over all our "goodies" purchased locally - the least we could do was treat
him to fish & chips! Next stop was the local supermarket. Six guys buying food for three days
camping on a remote island is quite a sight to see! By late evening, we travelled from east to
west across the Isle of Lewis on mostly single track road. The surrounding terrain resembled
a moonscape! Soon we arrived at the guesthouse, settled in, checked all our equipment had
arrived and fell asleep exhausted.


Thursday June 17, would see the team assemble and experiment with all equipment.The
G3TXQ Hexbeam worked very well in testing and we were confident in erecting it on the
Flannans. (This is testament to MW0JZE's instructions). Soon MM/IZ7ATN, MM/F4BKV & MM/
EA2TA had pileups as it seemed the waiting world knew our next stop would hopefully be EU-
118. That evening we were all buzzing as word spread that a landing would likely be possible
due to continued good sea state. We retired for the night at 0100 local, ready for the "off" at
0800 on Friday, June 18.
Friday was a truly beautiful day. Clear skies and a gentle breeze. Perfect for a sailing out into
the Atlantic.We left our mooring at 0900 and soon Sea Trek boat charter had us on the high
seas looking for Basking sharks - we saw one or two, adding to our already excited minds. After
90 mins at sea, from the distance the Flannan Isles appeared. At first glance they looked tiny,
then they grew, and grew....


On approach, jaws dropped as we looked up at the sheer scale of the islands. Eilean Mor (main
island with the lighthouse) now made us feel tiny! Our skipper Ian (a very funny guy) surveyed
the best landing site. Either east or west would be possible - most unusual. He opted for the
slightly "easier" east landing as we had a good amount of equipment which needed hauled up
by rope onto a platform just above this particular landing site. We anchored, and then two at a
time on a small hard zodiac, we headed for the east landing. First operator to land on Flannans
was Christian EA3NT, followed by Bjorn SM0MDG. Congratulatory pictures were taken and
instantly sent to Niko DD1MAT, our webmaster in Germany. For some unexplained reason we
never did have cellphone coverage again after the initial first landing picture was taken. Perhaps
this was a curse of the lighthouse keepers who disappeared some 110 years earlier?! That story
is well documented on Wikipedia.Once we all landed, we breathed a hugh sigh of relief and
immediately got to work in hauling up all our gear from the zodiac to the platform.


The steps at the east landing are not in good condition, although considerably better than
the west side!. One small slip could have been fatal so we really had to be aware when we
ascended. As we climbed further, the steps were in better condition. The climb itself is steep
and tiring. It takes 45 mins from landing to reaching the island lighthouse, some 88m ( 264ft) in
height. We had to do this trip three or four times with heavy equipment, food, water and outdoor
gear all hoisted on our backs, with each arm stretched out carrying other pieces of equipment. I
think adrenalin covered the fact we were hurting carrying all this gear.


We quickly realised the lighthouse was a perfect base. The take off for all antennas was ideal.
Ocean upon ocean with no obstacles in our way. The area below the solar panels of the
lighthouse would be our "shack". Three lightweight tarpaulins were used to provide a waterproof
shelter/roof. Remains of an old outhouse building next to the lighthouse would now be our
cooking area. Near to the ruined chapel we pitched tents. The Hexbeam was the first antenna to
be erected thanks to Vincent F4BKV and Simon’s IZ7ATN efficiency. We decided not to begin
operations on three bands simultaneously as the main target was to give out as many Qso's as
quickly as possible. To wait until all stations were complete would waste valuable "on air" time.
Shortly after 16:30 local on Friday June 18th, Christian EA3NT was first to transmit on
14260Mhz. "CQ, CQ, MS0INT, EU-118 Flannan Isles". Instantly, Ukraine was first to make the
log, followed by JA8MS. Within one minute, and being spotted on the DX Cluster, the pileup
was as we expected - HUGE! The first 100 stations were logged in no time. By end of day, two
stations were on air, and we quickly made 2000 QSO's. The opening to Japan on 20m was
particularly pleasing as we knew how much EU-118 was needed there.


CW ops were EA3NT & SM0MDG. A special mention to them for working through the following
nights as the SSB camp slept! By Saturday morning June 19, we had two HF stations and
6m (50Mhz) on air. Pileups were impressive and we noted how well behaved/controlled the
callers were. Deliberate QRM appeared non-existent, which was pleasing to say the least. By
end of Saturday, 4000 QSO's in just over 24 hours were made. We were delighted. Oh, and
we got sunburt too! However, by late Saturday afternoon, poor weather soon approached. A
party from the Hebridean Book Trust were due to visit and land the Flannan’s on the Saturday.
Sadly for them the sea state was too rough to land. For us, we knew that landing on the islands
at all was lucky - to depart three days later without any issues would be exceedingly lucky!
Sunday, June 20 was a difficult day, weather-wise. The wind was blowing from the north making
it feel nothing like summer! The rain and low level cloud added to an already miserable weather
day. Coupled with this, the seas were far choppier than previous days, and I personally believed
we would not get off the island on Monday morning such was the change in conditions. Of
course we couldn't do anything about this, so continued to operate 24/7. 10m was going great
guns on Sunday. Whole of Europe seemed like they were calling in. Split operation was a
necessity until the pileup eased a little. Other bands continued to impress, with JA being worked
easily on 17, 20 and 30m. By end Sunday, we erected the 80m dipole as we knew some ops
needed EU-118 on this band for an all time new one. Propagation was not good on 80m -
daylight never really left us - but we soldiered on and made approx 100 QSO's on a seemingly
dead band. After midnight on Sunday, we continued to run 3 stations, and with contacts being
worked so very quickly, the QSO count reached 7000 in 55 hours of operating.


1am Monday morning, June 21 Bjorn SM0MDG and Col MM0NDX are working 30 and 40m
respectively. NA, SA all loud. A small amount of whisky continues to keep us warm, as Christian
EA3NT prepares to take over the 30m CW station at 3am. Everyone else is now asleep!
A few hours later, three stations back on air, and I'm amazed at the number of stations still
calling in. 20m has a pileup which resembles the opening of MS0INT operations three days
earlier. Unbelievable! Sadly, we had to take two stations off air at 0800z on Monday morning.
The boat was coming and already visible on the horizon as we disassembled. 20m SSB would
keep going until the last minute. At 1000z local, MS0INT ceased operations.
Once packed up, we had to carry all gear back down the steep descend of Eilean Mor. This
was no fun as we learned we would not be using the platform used to haul the equipment up on
arrival. We would need to use the broken steps at the bottom of the east landing as our return
boat was a RIB (we used motor vessel Lochlann on the outward journey to Flannans . George
EA2TA was the mainstay of this "operation" as we passed gear down to him who inturn passed
onto Bjorn who was already on the RIB. Suffice to say, a little bit of the Atlantic soaked George
as the swell kicked up!


Finally at 11:05z on June 21 we left EU-118. Happy. A total of 8194 QSO's were made in 66
hours.


The journey back to EU-010 was very fast aboard the RIB. By 12pm local were back on terra
firma, unloading. Our hire bus was at the pier so we quickly got organised and drove to our
base camp a few miles south. A much needed shower was the order of the day! Nobody felt like
transmitting that evening! We had smoked salmon, wine and some beers, and then hit the sack,
still high on adrenalin after a brilliant three days on Flannans.
The team wishes to thank everyone who called in, no matter how many times you made the
log. Every QSO was welcome and we're delighted EU-118 is now so much less wanted,
particulary for Japan. Special thanks to CDXC (Clipperton), GDXF, F5CWU for the loan of band
pass filters, Norman GM4KGK for local support, Niko DD1MAT for maintaining & updating our
website, AHC, SeaTrek and everyone who kindly donated. We also acknowledge the Sea Gods
were with us!


QSL cards will be available within the next few weeks. Planning for our next trip has already
started.


Col, MM0NDX


On behalf of MS0INT Team

2010.06.18 16:58:43

MW0JZE

The team have arrived and started transmitting around 1600 local time. Signal is weak to me at the time of writing this but I hope to work them soon.

What a location!! Flannan Island EU-118

2010.06.17 22:22:59

MW0JZE

The Flannan Team are ready to go.

The team have been on air for a few hours today testing out the antennas for the trip to Flannan island tomorrow the 18th June

Managed to work MM/F4BKV, MM/EA2TA and MM0NDX/p from the island of Lewis EU-010 on 20m on short E layer propagation.

All is well and the HEXBEAM is working well!

If all goes well the team hope to be active from Flannan island at 1300 local time!

2010.06.15 22:14:24

MW0JZE

31st May 2010,

After the success of the Hexbeam on Ramsey island during the 2009 IOTA weekend Rob showed some interest in having one installed at his QTH. Rob has a 60 foot tower and lives in a very exposed location on the west coast of Wales. This will be a very good test for the Hexbeam as Rob gets winds of around 100 mph during the winter months.

Sealing the coax connectors with hot glue and heat shrink tubing.

CQ DX!!! Happy!

2010.03.27 22:16:11

MW0JZE

Well it was to good to last I suppose. The fantastic conditions we have had over the past week or so came to an end. Although I made some nice DX contacts on 15m today the pileup just didn't happen for me or many of my DX buddies.

I decided to set my alarm for 5.50 am and skip the first 6 hours of the contest as I thought the band would be closed until sunrise. I got in the shack at 6am, turned the radio on to be met with a wall of silence! things started to pick up around 8am and a small opening to AS but no JA as yet. At around 12 midday I managed to get a small run of about 50 stations into east Asia and China and somehow KH7! but that was the highlight of the day.

SMS messages and on-line chat rooms proved to be a good source of info and we all shared the same story, lack of conditions. I managed 220 Q's in 13 hours !!! Thats is a huge reduction to what I could normally work on a normal afternoon on 15M Even the serial numbers of some of the big UK stations doing SBSO entries were not much more than mine, lets hope for better conditions tomorrow the 28th March 2010.

2010.03.25 18:14:59

MW0JZE

I will be active with my contest call GW4OH for the 2010 WPX SSB contest from March the 27th to 28th

Transceiver Elecraft K3

Antenna 6 band G3TXQ Hexbeam @ 12M ABG

Power 400w

Band 15m

I will also do some S&P on all bands with my MW0JZE call for new DXCC's and new band slots for 2010

Good luck and c u in contest

2010.03.25 18:05:44

MW0JZE

Chris G1VDP will be active as MW9W in WPX SSB contest this weekend 27 & 28th March 2010 from the QTH of MW0RLJ which is our adopted club house for the StrumbleHead DX and Contest Group MC0SHL.

This antenna is the Hexbeam that we lend out for our DX-pedition sponsorship and is it first on air test. Chris has managed to get it on a 30 foot mast and the SWR pattern is laid out below.

20M      14004 = 1.1                 14175 = 1.1                    14345 = 1.0

17M      18069 = 1.0                 18101 = 1.0                    18167 = 1.0

15M      21002 = 1.0                 21225 = 1.0                    21443 = 1.1

12M      24890 = 1.0                 24903 = 1.0                    24988 = 1.0

10M      28010 = 1.1                 28470 = 1.1                    28995 = 1.2

10M      29010 = 1.2                 29470 = 1.4                    29696 = 1.5

6M        50016 = 1.1                 51000 = 1.3                    50198 = 1.2

Chris will send me some photos over the next few days and a report on how he competed in the contest. He is a SOSB 15m High Assisted

2010.01.22 15:11:07

MW0JZE

Great news today.

The MS0INT team that will be active from Flannan Island from 18th till the 21st June 2010 will be using a MW0JZE - G3TXQ Hexbeam! Big thanks lads and good luck!

In a Pan-European project, SMØMDG Bjørn, EA3NT Christian, EA2TA George, EA1DR Oscar and leader MMØNDX Col will – weather permitting – try to be active from the remote North Atlantic island group of the Flannans 20 miles north west of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Activated in 1989, 1995, 1999 and 2002, the mysterious Flannan Isles are certainly a much needed but extremely difficult to access IOTA.

MSØINT plans to have 3 operational stations manned with 5 operators on air. Our main target will be working as many JA stations as possible. Additionally, we would like to give everyone a fair chance of working the EU-118 IOTA reference.

The Flannan Isles are a small island group in the North Atlantic ocean 32 kilometres (20 miles) west of the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The archipelago is also known as 'The Seven Hunters'.

The islands are split into three groups. The main cluster of rocks, which lie to the northeast, include the two principal islands of Eilean Mòr (English:Big Isle) and Eilean Taighe (House Isle). The highest point is 88 metres (290 ft) above sea level on Eilean Mòr.

There are two possible landing places to the east and west for yachts visiting Eilean Mòr, although this can be hazardous given the regular heavy sea swells.

The isles provide nesting for a population of seabirds, including Atlantic Puffins, Northern Fulmars, European Storm-petrels, Leach's Petrels, Common Shag and Black-legged Kittiwakes. The Flannan Isles became a Site of Special Scientific Interest in December 1983.

Good luck lads! Ant MWØJZE

2009.12.19 12:09:55

MW0JZE

Many thanks to Tim M0URX for putting John 9M6XRO in touch with me regarding supplying him with a G3TXQ Broadband Hexbeam. John who is originally from Scotland and holds the call of GM3OOK is now living in Malaysia. We both looked into shipping direct to him but the price was just ridiculous.

However not all was lost, John was to visit his home-town during the Christmas period so We decided to get it shipped to Scotland and John would take it home via the "oversized Luggage" route :-) The Hex left the workshop on the 14th of Dec and he received it the next day!

John is very active and loves the portable aspect of the hobby and as can be seen from the picture above. Hopefully John will be very active in the coming months and I can bag a few IOTA's off him :-)

Cheers John!