3B7 St Brandon Archipelago DX Pedition

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3B7A St Brandon News 4 April 2018
The six remaining 3B7A team members expect to depart for St. Brandon tomorrow. F5CWU and F5PTM are already on their way. They should begin operations sometime tomorrow.

[4L5A]

The 3B7A team have made it to St. Brandon.
They expect to be QRV later today.
Topband ops will want to keep an ear out for these guys as they have been known to start a DXpedition on 160 Meters!

[4L5A]

3B7A on 20m SSB WX0V recording

3B7A 40m CW IZ3BSU recording

3B7A 40m IK7JTF recording

3B7A 12m SSB JA5XAE recording

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3B7A DX Pedition Log available on ClubLog

https://clublog.org/logsearch/3B7A

[4L5A]

3B7A News

The South island exceeds so little of the horizon that it is necessary to wait for the last moment to discover how beautiful it is when the boat approaches it finally. It was mid-afternoon yesterday, so we finally reached Flo F5CWU and Pascal F5PTM arrived earlier with the first boat trip. After a 26 hours boat ride, we were also very happy to have a meal before continuing immediately. Our two friends of the “pre-team” had already set up all the VDAs and the 30m Four Square. We took advantage of the last hours before the night to install the 40m Four Square. We also hoped to complete the installation of the 160m antenna to start during the first night, but the wind decided otherwise. At the end we installed the stations during the night and began operating just after. Despite the fatigue of the first day, the operators took their turns all night long and more than 3000 qso were in the log early in the morning.


For this new day, the installations of the remaining antennas were resumed, while maintaining a maximum of active stations. The setup is now complete for both transmission and reception. The rythm will now be fully reached.

Regarding the island, it reminds us Tromelin and Juan de Nova very much, both in terms of fauna and flora. Based on these previous experiences, we have been able to avoid disturbances for birds as much as possible, and select the right areas for the antennas. Many terns incubate their eggs and toddlers barely open their eyes. It really looks like heaven.

We are fortunate to share the island with Mauritian fishermen friends who are very willing to give us a hand, and even share the results of their catch.

With this first communication also comes the first online log. We ask you to make this expedition a success by providing helpful information to our pilot stations.

Lets get the party started !

3B7A first log upload - https://clublog.org/logsearch/3B7A - 7,476 QSOs logged between 2018-04-06 17:01Z and 2018-04-07 15:22Z

[4L5A]

3B7A Saint Brandon Africa, 80m Band, CW, 80m Dipole Antenna, SPE EXPERT 1.3K-FA, IC-7600, AF-015, Worked by HL2WA
Author - HL2WA

3B7A 160m cw 07-04-2018 21:35 UTC
Author - IZ0AEG.

[4L5A]

3B7A St Brandon DX Pedition News
Second full day on site with a lot of work done. Several additional VDAs have been installed in order to be able to traffic inband and thus optimize openings. The propagation was different from yesterday, the higher bands remained almost silent. We will be available again this evening on 80/160 with an improved pattern and new antennas for reception. The last night, although complicated, allowed us to achieve many QSOs on the low bands.

Information are coming from our pilots and we take your remarks into account.

This day was also the occasion for us to wish Patrick F2DX a happy birthday, what a beautiful place for such an event!

[4L5A]

3B7A Saint Brandon Islands News

Very good day on Saint Brandon. After the heavy work done the past days, we were finally able to devote almost 100% to traffic.

All the equipments are operational and there is no problem to report. The different receiving antennas installed for the lower bands are globally satisfactory and help as expected.

Last night was excellent for 80m to contact all continents. The 160 remains a little more difficult but many EU and some NA were done. We will try to start earlier tonight to maximize the chances with JA.

On all the bands, we continue as planned, following our propagation predictions, to optimize the openings with the most difficult zones, generally with success. Thank you all for cooperating and follow the instructions of the operators.

After so much work to achieve this moment, be sure that we take a lot of pleasure to contact you! Let’s hope it’s the same for you.

[4L5A]

3B7A News 10 April 2018
One more very good day on Saint Brandon.
The propagation is generally correct even if the conditions are uneven from one day to another. Our setup with “feet in the water” is probably the main advantage in these good results.

We continue to insist on increasing the number of QSOs with the most difficult areas, especially during NA slots which are quite short. Once again, thank you all for your cooperation. Our schedules are updated according to each day’s openings and the information you provide to our pilots.

Regarding the 160m, we started our emissions at sunset to increase the chances for Japan. Some QSOs could be realized at that time. Later in the night we then switched to EU / JA every 10/15 minutes until JA SR which permited us some QSO 3B7-JA. We will try again tonight. Luckily, the static noise level is low on the low bands since the beginning of the expedition. Let’s hope it will stay like that to the end.

[4L5A]

3B7A Here is a sizeable NA pile-up chasing 3B7A on 40 meter CW. The 3B7A op was superb. That guy can work CW!
Author - WX0V.