ZD9GJ - Edinburgh on the Seven Seas

[4L5A]

ZD9GJ. Lance Collister, W7GJ will be active as ZD9GJ from Edingurgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha Island, IOTA AF - 029, 23 August - 30 September 2024.
He will operate 6m EME and possibly HF.
QSL via W7GJ direct.
Ads for direct QSL:
Richard COLLISTER, PO BOX 73, FRENCHTOWN, MT, 59834-0073, USA.
QTH Locator - IF32uw.

[4L5A]

Hello 6m DXers!

I finally received an email this morning that my August berth from Capetown to Tristan da Cunha has been assigned to an electrician that they need to service the electrical system on the island :-( I have requested to be put on the waiting list for a berth on the MV Lance departing Capetown on September 18 and a berth on the MFV Edinburgh to leave the island on October 27. I have updated the DXpedition website.

Of course, the possibility exists that I will be bumped for a third time if there are higher priority passengers needing the berth. All my equipment is checked, packed and sitting here ready to go with me on the next DXpedition - I just need a confirmation of passage.

In the meantime, I am also investigating the possibility of activating another rare DXCC for the first time on 6m EME, in case the ZD9 trip is canceled again. I was hoping that ZD8 could be a backup location, but research has shown that there currently is no place to operate and only friends and relatives of those already living on the island are issued visas to enter ZD8. I am still investigating the possibility of H40 and D6, but neither of those DXCC currently have good lines of communications, so it is taking longer to move forward on those. In the meantime, fingers are still crossed for ZD9!

Thanks for your patience and understanding! I will provide updates as soon as more information is available!

GL and VY 73, Lance

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Lance Collister, W7GJ(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M, TX5K, KH8/W7GJ, V6M, T8GJ, VK9CGJ, VK9XGJ, C21GJ, CP1GJ, S79GJ, TX7MB, TO7GJ, 3B9GJ) P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT 59834-0073
USA

[4L5A]

As of tomorrow, it will be 2 weeks since I began this trip. Sorry I have not been in touch better. The connections to the internet have been very erratic and marginal on the ship and also after I landed here on the island. They are working on the internet here, which means we are often without service. I have tried to provide short summaries on my web page on what has been going on.
In addition, I have been posting some photos and videos on my FACEBOOK page, which is open for anyone on FACEBOOK to view (you don't need approval to be my friend first).

In summary, here is the short story since leaving the S.A. Agulhas II:

Tuesday September 10 - Arrival off Tristan at dawn and transfer to the island by helicopter. Photos and videos are on my FACEBOOK page. After all the gear was delivered (also by helicopter), I began unpacking. My ham shack is in the same room as Yuris ZD9W used last year. As is often the case with these DXpeditions, the available space for the antenna was not ideal. In addition to requiring room to mount the 43' long yagi on the mast and raise the mast without hitting the building, I would have liked to have been able to get over onto the other side of the fence to the north to provide a better place for tie-down lines. However, after some time evaluating different scenarios, I finally decided on a location for the mast and Prop that would provide enough space to mount the yagi. I would have preferred to locate the mast further from the building so I had the opportunity to elevate it when it was aimed north but that was the space I was given. As usual, I started out assembling the mast, Prop and Falling Derrick and by the end of the day had them all assembled.

Wednesday September 11 - I spent the morning setting up the prop and guying the mast so I could successfully raise and lower it back down into the cradle on top of the Prop. Then I loosely assembled the front and rear sections of the antenna boom and carried both halves outside. I borrowed several buckets from an organization up the hill so I could raise the boom off the ground as I finished building it. After sunset, inside my room, I assembled all the elements, carefully measuring all the lengths.

Thursday September 12 - I was up at dawn and started mounting all the elements on the antenna boom. Then I tightened the hinged elevation mount and the new extension mast (which holds the fiberglass cross arm that supports the yagi guy lines). Everything was ready by 11 am, so I wandered down to the police station and finally got my passport stamped as officially arriving here, and then changed my USD to GBP at the Finance department in the Administration building. Helpers arrived at noon as pre-arranged to assist me in mounting the antenna on the mast. The coax was installed and the antenna was up and secured by 1 pm ;-) Next, I added a second safety guy anchor to each of the four mast guy lines. I then set about connecting all the equipment inside the shack. Everything seemed to work fine, but the Degradation and moon elevation were too high for EME and the Kp index was 6, so there was no sign of life on 6m. Just before sunset, I noticed a huge cow had escaped somewhere from the pasture and found its way way to the thicker grass in my small antenna area. Fearing that it might step on the LMR600UF feedline or run into the tie-down lines or guy lines for the Prop, I steered it away from the Creche area and through the small gate into the main pasture. After dark, I strung my extra rope and nylon tie-down line across the entrance to the antenna clearing in the hope of discouraging wayward cows from returning. The Agriculture Department says they are going to relocate the cows to a different pasture on Monday...

Friday September 13 - I guess this was a fitting start to a Friday the 13th! I experienced the first really strong wind gusts and rain out of the southwest. I tied down the antenna pointed toward 40 degrees azimuth (toward eastern Mediterranean) as securely as I could. I also tied off the halyard rope (used for raising the mast) which is just under the antenna, to provide additional force to keep the antenna/mast secure against the gusts. I don't know if the wet lines, where I was aimed, where the cow stepped on the cable or something else resulted in the high SWR, but I measured 1.25:1 with the NanoVNC. The match did seem better when I first tested the system.

I still have very marginal WiFi, but finally was able to download a few of the 444 emails on the server before my computer timed out! I had not been able to download anything since arriving on the island. This certainly is NOT a preferred way to get in touch with me if the need is current. I made over 50 EU contacts on TEP this afternoon using FT8, despite the fact that I had to keep the antenna very securely tied down against the fierce winds.


I have been on the ON4KST CHAT page (when we have internet here) and people have been asking me about EME. I would like to try my moonrise on Sunday morning if the weather permits. I should be able to provide a status report Saturday (tomorrow) evening. I will have to be careful to schedule my EME operations when the moon is not too high in elevation here (I will try to experiment with different elevations when the winds decrease and I can untie the antenna) and when it is not a time of day when I will have TEP to interfere with the EME signals. If the winds remain high, I may be limited to the horizon operation (moon under 20 degrees) with a well secured antenna. More info as we get closer! Thanks for your patience and understanding - I am doing the best I can under these trying circumstances down here.

GL and VY 73, Lance

Lance Collister, W7GJ(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M, TX5K, KH8/W7GJ, V6M, T8GJ, VK9CGJ, VK9XGJ, C21GJ, CP1GJ, S79GJ, TX7MB, TO7GJ, 3B9GJ, ZD9GJ)

[4L5A]

Saturday September 14 - I put up an inverted V for 6m, using the Falling Derrick as a mast. It is oriented to radiate north/south. I figured a broad northern pattern might be optimum for TEP. I spliced all the extra cables I brought down with me and came up with around 50', which just reached the rig after 4 splices! Glad I brought all the adapters to join all the cables together! I worked another 30 EU stations on TEP. I quit early to take a nap before the Island Administrator's reception party for people who had arrived on the recent S.A. Agulhas II voyage.

Sunday September 15 - I tried out EME during my moonset for the first time, since the Degradation was down, the Kp was down around 3, and the moon was starting to become lower. Faraday Rotation caused non-reciprocal signals between many stations but it was an ideal time for me, since it was in the middle of the night and there was no high TEC in the way to interfere with the EME signals. It also was dead calm here, which is HIGHLY irregular. However, as my moon was setting, a wind out of the south started up and brought light snow flurries with it. Here are the first 23 6m EME stations worked so far: N7NR, N8RR, NU4E, N7IP, N0TB, K1UU, KJ9I, AA7A, K4PI, W9GA, PY2XB, W5ZN, N9IW, K9RX, K2ZD, NJ6P, N1DG, N6JV, W6UC, W7JW, K7KX, WA5VGI, NG7E. The weather forecast is frightening for the coming week, and I hope I can keep the antenna in the air!

GL and VY 73, Lance, ZD9GJ

[4L5A]

ZD9GJ from Edingurgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha Island on 50323 now.

[4L5A]

Wednesday October 9 - As predicted, the wind was extremely strong this morning out of the northwest. I tied down the antenna toward 80 degrees (where the mountain blockage starts to the east) in the hope that there might be a skew path toward Indonesia. The Kp index was up to 4.7, so the Geomagnetic Field was still quite disturbed and it was hard to know what might be possible. I started calling CQ to the east at 0645 and continued for 2 hours. After breakfast I continued to call CQ to the east for an hour and then called CQ toward the Middle East for 2 more hours. Nothing was received. After lunch I tied the antenna down toward eastern Europe and tried again. Most of the contacts I made today are when I turned the antenna toward North America and contacted stations from the USA East Coast to the West Coast.

I received a new key for using SuperFox on the newly updated WSJT-X. All I need now is some propagation again! Please spread the work to people to download the most recent version of WSJT-X so they can work me if I decide to go on SuperFox again. I will announce the frequency on the ON4KST chat pages.

After dinner I got on the air again but could not make any contacts after dark here. It seems the "MUF hotspot" in the southern Atlantic has just moved too far out of reach by sunset :-(

GL and VY 73, Lance