DX-Peditions
ZF 6 Meter DX – Pedition
Jim Holt K4BI and I started our 6 Meter DX-peditions in 1988 as PJ0M Saba Island. We had a strong believe that a Sporadic E path existed from the Caribbean to the UK and Europe during the last two weeks of June and into the month of July. We based our beliefs on our many years of operating on 6 meters and the reports by other operators who had reported EU video into the US and Caribbean. Jim and I decided the last week of June and the first week of July might be the most productive. PJ0M produced the first PJ7 Sporadic E QSO into the UK. We copied the EU video on most days of our stay on Saba Island. At this time most stations in Europe had not received 6-meter privileges and we were confident that the path was there to Europe and Africa.
Subsequent trips to 8P6 Barbados as 8P9JM and 8P9BI in 2000 and PJ7M St. Maarten in 2004 resulted in hundreds of contacts into Europe, the UK and Cyprus as well as North America during the last week on June and the first week of July. In the later part of 2007 we began discussing the possibility of an “instant “ dx-pedition from the Cayman Islands ZF. Jim K4BI owns a home on Grand Cayman Island with a 55-foot tower and a 6M5X Yagi and is licensed as ZF2BI. I had vacationed many times on Grand Cayman and held the call sign ZF2SO that I later changed to ZF2ZD. Our XYL’s Meredith K8BBN and Daphne N2TIN both love Seven Mile Beach and shopping together, so the trip was a “no-brainer”.
In discussions with our friends in the UK, Neil G0JHC and Jose, EA7KW in Spain, we knew that the Sporadic E path from ZF to the UK and Europe would be difficult at best. ZF is located about 1000 miles East of our previous trips to Barbados, St. Maarten and Saba Island. Previous contacts with ZF mostly occurred during F2 and on SSB only, so we knew that there would be a demand for ZF. Additionally, I learned from W7GJ lance, that ZF had not be worked on 6M EME so another challenge was presented to us.
ZF1RC Roger Corbin graciously lent us his ACOM 1000 amplifier, ZF1DC, David Corbin provided us with a 20-foot portable tower for the 6M7JHV, which I had shipped to the island for the EME operation. We thought that we had the antenna in place for an EME contact on 6M. Never under estimate “Murphy’s Law “, more on this later. Jim and I both use the Yaesu FT-100D for portable operations, so as usual we had two 50 MHz radios. I have a US Interface Navigator Digital Interface that I use for 6M EME and other digital modes. A Logikey K3 Keyer by Idiom Press was used for the beacon and I brought my Begali Signature Model Paddles for CW.
Jim and Meredith arrived on June 26th to open the house and ZF2BI was on the air to start our operation. Jim’s keyer died so he couldn’t run a beacon but made many contacts with the internal keyer in the FT-100D. I arrived on June 28th with my keyer, which I had pre-programmed with ZF2ZD in beacon mode, so the operation continued as ZF2ZD.
As in our past operations, we always have one operator at the radio during the time the beacon is running. The beacon speed was sent at 25 wpm and the power output was reduced in the beacon mode. Our day usually started at 4AM and ended at 8 PM local time, we rarely had an opening after 8 PM. The usual Chat Pages and Packet Clusters were monitored to alert us of any activity, as well as tuning for beacons and EU video. Once a pile up started, the 2nd operator would assist in logging and posting alerts on the ON4KST Chat Pages and DX Clusters.
North America stations were worked almost immediately and we saw a posting by W5UWB that he was CQ’ing on JT6M. We gave John call on 50.260 and the first ZF JT6M QSO was logged by W5UWB. Jim and I began assembling the 6M7JHV for a EME sked with W7GJ at 1820Z on June 28th. There was a delay with the delivery of the portable tower but we kept the JT65A EME sked with Lance W7GJ using the 6M5X on Jim’s 55-foot tower. At 1921 Z with the Moon at 3 degrees looking out over the ocean, we completed the first ZF 6 Meter JT65A EME contact with W7GJ. Lance was –22 db with the 6M5X and we were –26 db at Lance’s qth.
A few days later, the portable tower arrived but we had to wait for additional help to mount the antenna. On the day our help arrived, the sun was shining and the temperature was over 95 degrees. When we finally got the antenna up in the air, with the portable tower rope tied to a column on the house, we realized the 6M7JHV was too close to the roof top. A check of the SWR revealed a very high return loss, with the hot weather, and the pending loss of the hired help, we decided to cancel further work on the 6M7JHV. We didn’t want to lose any more valuable operating time.
We didn’t have what was thought to be the minimal antenna to use on 6 Meter EME. The 6M5X was mounted above HF yagi and there was concern that this arrangement would affect our ground gain. But we completed 6M JT65A EME QSO’s with W7GJ, W1JJ and VK4ABW. Additionally, we did decode JR6EXN, G4IGO and K6MYC on JT65A EME. Although most of the gain was on the part of the stations with large 6 meter EME arrays, one cannot discount the gain realized while operating very close to the water. ZF2BI’s qth is only about 175 feet from the waters edge. So I guess the point we trying to make is to give it a try. Even if you only have a 5element yagi but can run some power and are close to the water; you can make 6 Meter JT65A EME contacts on these 6 Meter only trips with dedicated operators on both ends of the path.
N5SIX was worked on FSK441 for the first digital meteor scatter contact followed by WA5UFH. We were disappointed by the lack of activity in the early morning hours we felt that more stations could have been worked on this path. The remainder of the day and early evening was devoted to sporadic E propagation.
Unlike our previous Caribbean trips, the EU video was not a reliable indicator of the path into Europe and the UK. There were times that we had openings without a sign of the video and others the video was present. Jim and I believe that this was the result of ZF lying an additional 1000 miles East of our previous operations.
Most of the signals from EU and the UK were very weak with deep QSB. On CW many stations were dropping their call signs one time resulting in many requests for repeats. You must send your call sign more that once with weak signals. Partial call signs were not logged; remember we need a complete call sign exchange for a valid contact.
We honored requests to switch to SSB but usually there was a big decrease in the number of stations worked. It is our opinion the CW is still the most reliable general mode for weak signals. This trip, Jim and I noticed a sharp decline in stations giving their grid squares or requesting ours during these brief opening, this resulted in many more stations getting into the log.
The following is the summary of the ZF2BI/ZF2ZD 6 Meter Only Dxpedition.
750 QSO’s
29 DXCC Countries
29 US States
Best DX Sporadic E distance with HA5JI
First ZF 6-Meter EME QSO with W7GJ
First ZF to VK 6M EME with VK4ABW
First ZF 6-Meter JT6M QSO with W5UWB
First ZF 6-Meter FSK441 QSO with N5SIX
6-Meter EME QSO with W1JJ
Decoded JR6EXN, G4IGO and K6MYC via 6 Meter EME but QSO not completed.
We wish to thank ZF1RC Roger and ZD1DC David for the assistance and friendship. Our XYL’s Merideth K8BBN and Daphne N2TIN for their understanding and support; and all who called us in the pile-ups. We hope we gave many of you a new DXCC on 6 meters. Hope to see you from our next destination in 2010. 73, Mario & Jim.
