9M0L – finally!
I’d given up being able to hear the Spratly Island DXpedition, let alone working them, and was consoling myself with the fact that another DXpedition there would take place in 10 years or so.
Seeing them spotted on 18.071, I figured, ‘what the heck – let me set myself up for disappointment again’ as I tuned to their freq. Barely above the noise level they were – but definitely copiable.
On went the amp as I mentally rotated the fixed dipole to the far reaches of the South China Sea. As the Moody Blues said, “Thinking is the best way to travel…”
Or to rotate non-rotatable dipoles in an effort to will the RF to the northwest.
9M0L was working stations up 2 – got him on the second call, thanks to a well-behaved pile-up and a good op at Spratly. That 3-500Z is earning its keep as well.
All this, just as their signal faded into nothingness. Sometimes Murphy’s Law works in reverse.
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Themocracy
Good morning John, I too had spotted up on 18 as well but when I tuned him in there was nothing. Maybe over the weekend. It would be a nice addition for the DXCC list.
Good luck to you Mike. I confess to being a bit spoiled by some of the mega-DXpeditions to that part of the world, like 4W0B with their huge antennas. The Spratly group is using hex-beams on the higher bands so, compared to multi-element Yagis on towers, the problem is not just working them, but even hearing them.
Congratulations! My radio time has been down due to travel and other stuff during 9M0L but when I have been on I have only once been able to actually hear them when jumping on a spot, and I have never once heard them while tuning when there were no spots (my preferred mode, given a similar non rotatable antenna {Windom}).
The one time I did hear them was 18.071 when the spot said something like “building in the SE” by a W5 – maybe that was when you worked them. I couldn’t reliably copy who they were coming back to, so didn’t spend much time.
So, that one will remain on my “bucket list”!
73 John K3TN
Thanks John – I hope you get them since that’s such a tough entity to arrange for a DXpedition. Have you read this 1983 account of a German group’s attempt:
http://www.ae5x.com/docs/spratly.pdf
Good luck to you and see you in the pile-ups!
Maybe it won’t take 10 years. In fact, Spratly was recently activated in 2008 by 9M6/N1UR: http://www.n1urspratly.com
Another big effort had to be cancelled earlier this year:
http://www.dx0dx.net
Shocking story about the 1983 tragedy. DJ6SI has continued to bring us exotic DX nevertheless. We often forget that it isn’t always simple and safe on the other side of the pile up. Nor a bargain to get there. That makes the bestial behavior of some in the pile ups even more a shame, ruining the fun for all.
I had my hopes up for DX0DX and was sorry to see it fizzle, then deteriorate into finger-pointing, blaming, etc. Glad to finally have that one in the log – now if someone can only get Monk Apollo interested in CW…
Apollo was on 40 CW one evening (my local time) about two weeks ago. It was a bit too early for a clean shot from W5 but there were some east coasters audible in the pile up.
I tried working him (need it in CW) but the EU mess was horrible as usual and after a while he QRT’d. I was about to do the same.
I worked Mt Athos on 17 SSB when I just got my HF ticket in late 2000. It was only my QSO #79 ever. There was no pile up and when my logging program said ‘Mount Athos’, I had to look it up. Soon I discovered I worked something pretty rare. Little did I know back then HI.
I sent a direct request and I got a full color folded QSL card.
Soon after that I fell in love with CW and I only keep track of CW DXCC. Too bad I haven’t logged this one in CW so far. I don’t care enough about DXCC anymore to listen to messy pile ups and jammers.
OTOH: it’s good to keep some open slots on the DXCC check list. What if we’d have worked them all?
cgrts John
from here it should be easier
but if the EU pile is at full power the funn is over
We are not in the best position in EU
Heard them vy well at 160m but no RX antenne there or high QRN? my Acom1000 was not enough
got them on 28MHz Sunday vy weak at the start but easy they hear well if the pile is not too big and undissiplinned..
now 28 20 40 80
Cgrts to you, Jaap. I’d been hoping for 40/80 but never heard them or even saw them spotted there during NA sunrise. They are now down to one station and will be QRT later this evening.