k3trm

VP9/K3TRM Bermuda 2007

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Date: August 30 - September 3. 2007 Grid: FM72pi IOTA: NA-005 Zone: CQ-05, ITU-11

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My wife and I have grown very fond of Bermuda during our previous visits, so we have been anxious to return again with our daughters. With the long Labor Day weekend ahead of us, before the girls started back at school, we decided that it would be a great way to end the summer! I planned to be active on 80-10M SSB and RTTY, as time permitted.

Results

Band	SSB	RTTY	CW	Total
80	44	2	0	46
40	67	12	0	79
30	0	151	1	152
20	64	114	0	178
17	45	0	0	45
15	0	0	0	0
12	0	0	0	0
10	0	0	0	0
Total	220	279	1	500

Although my "on air" time was limited, since we were only visiting for a few days and wanted to spend as much time as possible showing our girls around the Island, I still managed to log 500 QSO's. I had hoped to secure special permission for 60M, but unfortunately the person who could approve the request was on vacation.

Conditions on the higher bands were marginal and the first decent 17M opening occurred about an hour before we left for the airport. The low bands, on the other hand, were a different story. On my previous trips, the QRN was terrible and made copy very difficult. This was the first time the bands were quiet, so I spent my time in the evenings focused on 30, 40 and 80M. In two evenings of operating on 30m RTTY, I had nice pile-ups resulting in 151 contacts.

Peter, G4PUQ, even managed to talk me into a 30M CW QSO. I was delighted to be his first QSO with VP9! Thanks to Peter, he's motivated me to work on getting my copy speed up so I'm less "intimidated" by the thought of starting a CW pile-up on my future DX trips! hi hi

Equipment

My station consisted of an Icom 706MkIIG and LDG Electronics AT-100Pro antenna tuner. WriteLog v10 was used for logging and a K1NU interface for rig control.

I had access to several antennas in Bermuda covering 160-6M. The main antenna I used was the Cushcraft A4S for 20/15/10M. On the lower bands I had a G5RV for 80M and resonant dipole on 40M. The G5RV also worked well on 30M and 17M. The M2 6M5X yagi was in need of repair, so the G5RV was also used on 6M. Although I did not operate 160M, there was also a nice Inverted L available.

QSL Information

QSL's can be sent to my home call with SASE or through the US bureau. Non-domestic SAE's should include $1 US or 1 IRC. Cards with insufficient postage will be returned via the bureau. Additional information can be found on my QSL Information page.

Accomodations

We again stayed at Tarrafal Apartments, which are owned and managed by Mr. Ed Kelly, VP9GE. Ed provides very nice, well-equipped guest apartments and use of his nice antenna farm for visiting hams. If you're interested in visiting Bermuda, be sure to check out the link below for Tarrafal Apartments!

Conclusion

While this trip was far too short, I guess that's the case with any vacation! Everyone had a wonderful time and we cannot wait to return again for a longer visit so our girls can see the rest of the Island. We are very grateful to Ed for accommodating us on such short notice, as our plans were last minute, and I was thankful that he was able to quickly arrange for my operating permit.

Useful Links

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