With the number of new countries dwindling as I near the top of the DXCC there were even fewer new ones than last year but the lack of numbers didn't dampen the excitement of logging 11 all-time-new-ones in 2016. Several dxpeditions to top-ten most wanted entities were on the calendar and I didn't plan to miss any of them.
The year started with a nail biter. I was in KH6 for most of January and would be back just in time to work K5P from Palmyra Island. Any travel delays and I'd be hooped as they were scheduled to shut down the day after my return. Just for fun I worked them with my QRP portable setup in Hawaii and did make it home in time to work them on 20m SSB. As a bonus, I even managed to get them on 80m CW the next morning before they went QRT.
Following right on the heels of K5P was the top-ten-double-header of VP8STI and VP8SGI. It had been a long time since a dxpedition had visited South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia Islands. Conditions on South Sandwich (both weather and propagation) were not very good but I got in their log before they evacuated the island early due to the deteriorating weather. The situation on South Georgia was much better and from there I picked up several new bands and modes.
Ken LA7GIA and Nobu JA0JHQ are outstanding operators who have traveled to several rare entities in the past few years. In 2015 I worked Ken from Comoros Islands and Nobu from Cocos-Keeling Island. This year Ken's trip to Equatorial Guinea resulted in a new one for me and my last "Guinea" (there are four: Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea) and I was also lucky to snag Nobu when he was in Bhutan as his working conditions there were not very good.
The big one that everyone was waiting for was VK0EK, the once in 20-years opportunity to work Heard Island. Conditions to North America on the higher bands were poor and with the 400W output power limit imposed by the Australian regulations for many they were a tough one to work. Luckily for me they came up on 30m the first day right at our mutual greyline time and I was one of the first North American stations in their log.
Right on the heals of VK0EK was an operation by large team of French operators to another top-10 most wanted entity, Juan de Nova Island. Conditions were great for this one and they were loud everywhere which was a big relief after the somewhat sketchy signals from Heard Island.
After the string of blockbuster expeditions in the first quarter things slowed considerably. I was very busy the remainder of the year with other things although I did manage to put Spratly Islands, Saint Paul Island, and Temotu Province in the log for #312, 313, and 314.
At the end of October the antennas all came down in anticipation of putting up the new tower. Unfortunately, several unexpected trips combined with deteriorating weather and dwindling daylight to stall that project until the New Year. I did see a few semi-rare new ones go by but I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to work them again soon (famous last words, right?).
73 and Good DX to everyone in the New Year!
One of the challenges of operating from an 'urban' environment is the constant battle to reduce the received noise on the HF bands. Since a lot of that noise is conducted via common-mode signals, ie; on the outside of coax and control cables, part of my new antenna effort includes placement of RF chokes at critical locations to block the noise. As well, since the tower will be used as part of the 80m/30m sloper antenna system, chokes are required to keep the RF from running back into the shack on the outside of the cables.
The choke at the top of the picture is the feedpoint choke for the yagi, a 3-element Mosley S-33 17/20/40m. The other three go at the bottom of the tower. The one on the left is for the rotor control cable and the two on the right are for the antenna feedlines, one each for the yagi and the sloper. All the antenna chokes are made from 13 turns of RG-142 teflon coax wound through a double-stack of mix 43 ferrite rings and enclosed in a weatherproof PVC box. They should provide a high choking impedance right across the HF spectrum and be good for full legal power and a modest amount of SWR, although I probably wouldn't want to push them too hard at any non-resonant frequencies.
A good source of information on how to tackle RFI issues and keep the common-mode noise at bay is Chuck W1HIS. His paper on the subject is amazing and anyone building a station needs to give it a read. I had to think hard about what he wrote for a long time before I decided that he's not crazy, although his station does seem to employ a significant fraction of the world's ferrite production.. If you have read this far and it is still the weekend of the Sweepstakes contest you will have undoubtedly surmised by now that I will NOT be on the air for the contest. I had intended to get the new tower and antennas up in time for CQWW SSB at the end of October but here it is SS Phone weekend in November and I'm still QRT. Life has a way of messing up the best intentions and between a bout of the flu, a string of unexpected trips out of town for various reasons, and the ever decreasing amount of daylight available, things have just not come together as quickly as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I will continue to plug away and really do expect to be on the air again within a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!
ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: VE8EV
Operator(s): VE8EV
Station: VE8EV
Class: SOSB/20 HP
QTH: Inuvik, NT
Operating Time (hrs): 34
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80:
40:
20: 1393 105
15:
10:
-------------------
Total: 1393 105 Total Score = 433,440
Club:
Comments:
The forecast said that it was coming and, oh boy, did it ever hit me hard! Sunday its usually difficult enough to find new guys to work when you're doing SOSB but from up here, with the K-index at 7, it's excruciating! I CQ'd endlessly in every direction and regularly S&P'd the band but to no avail. The last four hours had only two dozen Q's and a third of those were dupes and VE's.
The band was mostly ok on Friday and Saturday before the aurora hit and I'm glad I took the opportunity to make hay while the sun shined. As always in this contest there were lots of zero-pointers and an astounding number of dupes but it was still lots of fun. The station is really starting to come together now and next contest season is going to be even better!
73
John VE8EV
Call: VE8EV/KH6
Operator(s): VE8EV
Station: VE8EV/KH6
Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: Maui
Operating Time (hrs): 6
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80: 1 1
40: 8 6
20: 11 7
15: 8 5
10: 1 1
-------------------
Total: 29 20 Total Score = 580
Team:
Comments:
First time ever QRP but I'm an expert at operating from the middle of nowhere when no one can hear you calling. All the bands were open at one time or another and I S&P'd my way around, just happy to be here. Most stations I called eventually did pull me through although I felt a bit bad for them all as "VE8EV/KH6" is a bit of a mind-bender and especially so at QRP strength. I managed to work both coasts but didn't hear any VEs.
73
John VE8EV
105ft dipole up 30ft in the trees, Flex 1500
