PJ5/K3TRM St. Eustatius 2012
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Date: August 5-18, 2012 Grid: FK87ml IOTA: NA-145 Zone: CQ-08, ITU-11 |
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Since the break-up of the Netherland Antilles on October 10, 2010 there have been a number of operations on Saba and St. Eustatius. Despite this activity, this entity still remained in the Top 100 Most Wanted, mostly likely because it is not home to a major contest station or active local operators. After some research, St. Eustatius, known more colloquially as Statia, seemed like an ideal spot.
Results
| Band | SSB | RTTY | Total |
| 80 | 76 | 32 | 108 |
| 40 | 547 | 109 | 656 |
| 30 | 0 | 46 | 46 |
| 20 | 344 | 164 | 508 |
| 17 | 788 | 360 | 1148 |
| 15 | 1117 | 152 | 1269 |
| 12 | 1124 | 448 | 1572 |
| 10 | 287 | 9 | 296 |
| 6 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Total | 4299 | 1320 | 5619 |
Statia provided one of my most incredible DX trips to date. The bands were very cooperative and generated some of the biggest pile-ups I've experienced. I ended the operation
with 5,619 QSO's, although there were more to be had since I lost the middle weekend after the antennas blew down from high winds and needed some repair work.
I had good conditions on all of the HF bands, so much so that I wound up spending very little time on 20M. The higher bands through 12M were workable worldwide. 10M was less
productive, mainly opening only to NA.
6M did not provide any late season magic, with only 16 QSO's. Quite a difference from a year earlier where I had several strong openings into NA from Belize.
Equipment
Rigs:
n 2x Icom IC-706MkIIG
n Elecraft KPA-500
Antennas:
n Spiderbeam 5-band (10-20m)
n G5RV
n M² 6M5X
QSL Information
QSL cards can be sent direct or through the bureau to my home callsign. Direct requests must include an SASE or SAE with either an IRC or $2US for return postage. Additional
details can be found on my QSL Information page.
All logs have been uploaded to LoTW and ClubLog. Online QSL Request Service (OQRS) for both direct and bureau is available through ClubLog.
Accomodations
We stayed at the Keli Keli rental home located on the northern slope of The Quill. The terraces provide amazing views of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean with clear takeoffs to Oceania, Central & North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Keli Keli hosted the PJ5/SP6EQZ & PJ5/SP6IXF DXpedition in 2010 & 2011.
Useful Links
n Keli Keli Rental Home
n St. Eustatius Tourism
Logbook Search
Photos
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