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The goals for this trip were as follows: Test out our new MID SIZE 2MXP20 dual polarity or cross polarized Yagis in a field environment and shoot for a record number of EME QSO's using this system. Our goal was to work 100 stations or at least break our old record of 90 EME QSO's set two years ago in St. Kitt running 8 X 2M9SSB M2 Yagis. We also wanted to see if we could cut down on the time to make QSO's by having the capability to switch instantly between Horizontal and Vertical polarity. Another side goal was to be able to take the entire setup as standard baggage. I ended up with two bags that weighed 69.5 pounds each plus one "carry on" and a small shoulder bag. The following is a quick summary of the results:
Jim Treybig, W6JKV / J79KV was my partner on this trip. Jim was invaluable as always on those marathon moon rise to moon set days where I tire from the white noise. Jim comes to my rescue and saves QSO's when I just can't copy the calls anymore. Jim generally covers 6 meters with his 40 ft "special trip" M2 Yagi and 800 Watts. My job was to make 2 meters play. We had hoped for a good Trans Atlantic opening on 6M which might allow us to try for the first ever 2M QSO across the pond, but Mother Nature did not bless us with even a 6M opening. We arrived in Dominica about 2PM on Thursday, June 25. Shortly after collecting our baggage, Errol Harris V73EH, arrived with our radio licenses. We taxied 45 minutes up winding mountain roads to Vena's Paradise resort where we made our home for the next ten days. Up 1700 feet in the protected rain forest, Vena's place was nestled in between some very imposing mountains but in the directions we needed to work, we had less than 4 degree horizon blockage. On HF it was a dynamite location and even ten meters never closed. Vena and staff were most accommodating and even had a standby generator on hand if the local power failed! In addition, Vena is a wonderful cook.
We were all setup and running by Friday evening but finished just after moon set so we had to wait for the Saturday morning moonrise to try the EME system. The first day we had 27 EME QSO's and should have had more but since this new system had never even been put together before we had a few things that interrupted our first day. Not bad as QRM levels were high; something like the low end of Twenty meters! We were hand tracking the moon and had ZERO visibility due to clouds and the moon's proximity to the sun. We transmitted on the odd minute on a frequency of 144.082. On the even minute we listened on 144.080 for any schedules which had been arranged for us by Lionel, VE7BQH. We also listened on 144.084 plus minus a KHz or so for the "Random" callers who were many. Dominica was a rare country. Only 3 stations in the world had been worked on 2M EME by Jim's visit 8 years earlier.
By the end of our stay our QSO total on 2M EME stood at 102 and individual stations worked was 92. Not quite the 100 new ones we were looking for but at least a new personal and "world record for 2m Dxpeditions. Out of the total here was the distribution by area: 58 Europeans, 30 US and 4 Canadian stations. Since we were in a rain forest, we had a lot of rain. I estimate about 20 inches. We had no rain related problems except the demise of our "Smart Level which gave us the upward tilt angle (elevation) of the array. I had brought a spare mechanical backup. The brand new FT-847 performed flawlessly and the home brew 8877 amp continually pushed out the legal ( max by conditions of our license) 800 Watts from the "hotel" room wall socket.
Because we had both vertical and Horizontal polarity on the four 22 foot long Yagi booms, and EME polarities are not always reciprocal, we kept track of how we transmitted and listened for each QSO except the first day. I counted the first day as if we had transmitted and received Horizontal that affected the result. If the first day had the same distribution of Vertical and horizontal combinations that we had the rest of the time, it would have worked out at 25% for each of the four combinations. Transmit horizontal is coded TH and Listen vertical is coded LV. Here is how it worked out. 49% TH-LH (first day effect) 18% TH-LV, 17% TV-LV and 17% TV-LH. Many times not noted we had QSO's that started one way and ended up another, further demonstrating the advantage of polarity flexibility. It is doubtful that we would have passed 60 or 70 QSO's without it.
We had pushed our luck with the Airlines so I decided to make my returne trip less stressful. I donated the entire array to the Local ham club in Dominica, headed up by Errol Harris. Hopefully they will put it to good use. They really need good inter-island communication during the Hurricane season!
Many fellows contributed their time and energy to make this trip successful and to you who participated my sincere thanks. For those of you who are just thinking about trying EME we can help you out with both product and tips on how to get the most for you time and money. Take a look at this web site for details on the new 2MXP20, our very successful longer version, the 2MXP28 and our new Elevation rotator the MT-1000 that handles up to eight long Yagis.
73 for now, Mike, K6MYC / J79MY