Start: 15-11-2024 End: 25-11-2024 IOTA: AS002, Falkland Islands
Introduction
Like most other DXpeditioners, I am constantly exploring destinations for my next DXpedition. This search is not simply a look on the Most Wanted List, but also involves all aspects of how to get there/accessibility, can it be a suitable location for setting up station, power supply, local support, etc. For me there is also an element of general interest in remote locations.
The Falkland Islands was one of the destinations that I always had an interest in visiting. But how does it rank on the MWL? You never see this mentioned as a highly demanded country for DXers. However, when I looked at the MWL in a bit more detail, I found out that it ranks low for SSB and Digital, but for CW it was surprisingly high. The table below shows the details for most continents. As a CW operator, my interest was born, and I decided to take further steps to start this project.
Some time later, Jose CT1BOH posted an even more detailed chart on X, confirming my analysis.
Courtesy of Jose Nunes, CT1BOH
First thing to obtain a license and that turned out to be easy. I requested the VP8G call sign and to my surprise, I got the license with the VP8G call sign in just 2 days after the application. Now I had to find a suitable location and the transport to the island.
In general, it is not too easy to find hotels that have sufficient space around for setting up antenna, but even when they have, they will not allow you to do so. The other issue is the use of LED lights and solar panels that cause interference. When I was surfing the internet for radio operations from the Falklands, I came across a report from G3ZAY and G7VJR who were operating from Darwin Lodge in 2010. When I looked it up on Google Earth, I could understand why they took that location. Close to water and just three other houses in the area. I contacted the hotel with the request if I could use my radio station when staying at their place. I quickly got a positive response. Next, I started to ask questions about whether I could place antennas in the area around the hotel, if cables could be brought into the room and if there was ample table space to place my radio equipment. It was advised that Renato, the manager, should answer all these questions.
Planning antenna setup
Renato turned out to be a perfect host and did everything possible to help me get things organized. He made pictures and video clips to show the details of my room. When I showed him a picture of the planned setup, he told me he would replace the twin bed with a single bed and put two dining tables in the room. With that, my room was well prepared.
The other remaining part was transportation. I had heard that military flights were available from the UK, so I started to explore that choice. There is a military base at Brize Norton (close to Oxford) from where they have regular flights to the Falklands, with a refueling stop at Ascension Island. These flights are operated by Air Tanker. There is a mixture of military and civil passengers on these flights. After a few enquiries I finally made a booking. Now the last piece was to travel from my home to Brize Norton. Flying from Amsterdam was not an option as you cannot fly to Brise Norton and would require extra road/rail transport. Finally, the most suitable possibility was to drive in my car to Brize Norton via the Calais Folkestone tunnel.
The flight would be at 00:35 local time, so I could make it the same day traveling by car. However, if anything went different (for instance with customs), or getting into trouble with the care, I would miss my flight. Therefore, I decided to travel one day earlier. One other issue was to find a place to park my car during the stay in the Falklands. After checking with several hotels in the neighborhood, I found one with enough guarded parking space and no extra costs. With that, everything was in place to start my next DXpedition. For the setup of the station, I used the same configuration as I used for the VP6G Pitcairn operation.
Block diagram of the station setup
With the above configuration I would be able to run two stations in parallel, given enough distance between the antennas and using BPFs.
On the radio side nothing changed although I left the e-Coder for the FT8 station home as it helped to reduce weight. For the antenna-part, I choose again for the DX Commander and a Hexbeam. The DX Commander was a proven concept for me and the antenna was ready.
The Hexbeam was another case. At Pitcairn I used a lightweight G3TXQ DXpedition version Hexbeam. That version had issues with rain (causing high SWR) and took quite some time to assemble. I also donated that Hexbeam to a local HAM on Pitcairn. I needed a new Hexbeam and decided to buy the SP6CYN version. The Dutch distributor Ham Radio Land was so kind to sponsor me for a next DXpedition and offered the antenna for a reduced price. The antenna is of high quality and made of excellent quality materials. However, weight is always a crucial factor for planning my DXpeditions and assembling time is important. Therefore, I decided to build my own DXpedition-version Hexbeam.
After a lot of research and considerations, I was ready to construct my own version. I had decided to use the K4KIO design and use the SP6CYN fiber spreaders tubes as they are of particularly good quality. That meant using only aluminum for the metal parts, welding the spreader holders instead of using clamps and using different means of wire guides. This all helped to reduce weight and shorten the assembling time. A complete description of my Hexbeam is here on my web site.
The next major hurdle was packing all equipment, materials, and personal stuff. The airline allowed each passenger to carry one suitcase with a weight of 27KG and hand carry a small bag of 9KG. Obviously, I would need more luggage, so the challenge was to get it all in two other suitcases/bags, each also 27KG. Since I needed a small 6m telescopic aluminum mast (for the Hexbeam), which 140cm long and the fiber spreader tubes of 125cm, it was necessary to carry this in a sturdy 150cm long bag. Also, the Spiderbeam pole for the DX Commander and the roll of 70m long coax cable were included which made it all together 27KG. The second suitcase held the SPE amplifier, parts of the Hexbeam, a roll of 30m coax cable, guy wires, etc. Finally, all together I had 3x 27KG of luggage plus a backpack.
81KG of luggage at check-in at Brize Norton RAF airbase
Although the flight with Air Tanker looks like any other civilian flight, the booking is different. At the booking, you get one suitcase of 27KG, and hand carried luggage of 9KG included. Excess luggage cannot be booked in advance and needs to be requested only two weeks before departure. It should be noted that excess luggage is charged at GBP10/KG, not cheap! Explaining that I had to be sure that the excess luggage was necessary to travel with me, otherwise I had to cancel the whole trip, did not help. Two and a half weeks before departure I made my request for excess luggage, complete with a picture and dimensions. It was only on Monday that I got my confirmation for a flight on Wednesday!
On Tuesday morning at 05:00hr left home for a long drive to the UK. Everything went according to plan and arrived in my hotel around 16:00hr. Plenty of time to relax. I also received an e-mail saying that the flight would leave 2 hours earlier, now 22:35 on Wednesday instead of 00:35 on Thursday. The next day I took a taxi at 16:30hr to the Brize Norton air base. From that moment it was unclear to me what exactly would happen. First, we were picked up from the main gate by a minibus to transport us to the air terminal. The rest was like any other check-in at an airport and the many hours of waiting started.
The flight to the Falklands made a refueling stop of 2 hours on Ascension Island. We arrived around 14:00hr local time (GMT-3) at Mount Pleasant, the RAF air base. I was collected by Renato, the manager of Darwin House. It took 45 minutes to reach the hotel at Darwin Settlement.
Courtesy of Mapsland
Because the flight came in earlier gave me extra time on Thursday 14 November to work outside on the antennas. Most important was to have an antenna that could also cover the lower bands during the night, and therefore I started to work on the DX Commander. The weather was good (no rain and mild winds) and at that time I did not realize how different the weather could be.
First, I rolled out the 70m coax cable to allocate the place for the DX Commander. After the DX Commander was set up and provided with a second set of guy wires higher up the mast, the outside work for that day was finished. The next day Mario VP8A/VP8EME came by as a surprise. It turned out that he also has a house at Darwin settlement, just some 200 meters away from the hotel. We had a nice conversation and also briefly discussed the antenna guying. I mentioned that I brought some small guy anchors, as bringing large anchors would be very costly. Not much later he delivered 5 large guy anchors which I used to replace for my own anchors at the DX Commander. Later this proved to be essential for keeping the mast up during the storm.
DX Commander close to the water front
Radial system of the DX Commander with 32 radials of 3.5m long and heavy duty guy anchors
Next, I started to assemble the radios. As mentioned before, Renato had converted the room into a real amateur radio shack. There was enough space to create a convenient operating position. The two coax cables were entering the room via a window.
Very comfortable room and “Radio shack”
After everything was connected and tested, I started my CW operation and had my first QSO on 15 November at 17:26Z with N4RJ on 12m. From that moment the pile-up started.
The next day, I started at 07:00 local time to assemble the Hexbeam. Putting the antenna together and fixing the antenna wires was a bit difficult with the strong wind.
Putting a Hexbeam on a mast can be a real challenge. During my preparation, I asked Renato (manager Darwin Hotel) if he had a tall ladder and if there would be someone to help me set up the Hexbeam. Later I reviewed many pictures of the hotel and found that the fence was made with big wooden poles about 1.5m high which could be a good base for the telescopic mast.
When the Hexbeam was ready, I fixed the telescopic mast to a pole of the fence, using two straps and tie wraps. Even without guy wires, the mast could not move anymore, so did not need someone to support me. With a short stair, I was able to place the Hexbeam on the mast and pushed the sections up and secured them with the clamps. After that, the four guy wires were fixed to the fence and a guy anchor.
I fixed two ropes to two of the spreaders to be used to keep the antenna in position or to turn the antenna in position. A quite simple and effective method.
In total it took only a few hours to have the Hexbeam ready and connected to the radio. With that, the setup was completed, and I could focus only on operating. Later I experienced that unexpected work was waiting, due to the weather. As Falklanders say: “In the Falklands you can have 4 seasons in a day”, something I have experienced during my stay.
The Hexbeam fully assembled
Hexbeam on an approx. 5m tall mast which was fixed with straps to a pole of the fence
16-11-2024
In the morning it was nice sunny weather but, in the afternoon, heavy wind with snow and hail. I was happy the outside work was completed.
I had issues getting the second FT8 station working. Finally got the SunSDR2 DX working with FT8 and in the evening, I started with FT8 on 40m and CW on 20m, using BPFs but had to reduce power to 400W on CW.
17-11-2024
I woke up around 04:00 and took a shower and started working on 40m CW with full power. Had a huge pileup from Japan with strong signals and a very quiet band. Later I changed bands.
Interestingly, Japan was to the south, but there is a high hill nearby in southern direction but JA’s were very loud with my Hexbeam pointing to the north.
In the afternoon it was raining.
19-11-2024
From my operating position, I could look through the window and see the Hexbeam and the DX Commander in the distance. Although I have seen that the DX Commander was kept in position very well with the two guy sets, all of a sudden, I saw it was tilted. I went outside to see what was going on. It turned out that one of the clamps was not tightened enough and as a result one section glided down. In the heavy wind I could not do the repair work so took the antenna down and left it for a moment when there would be less wind.
That day I made a short trip with Renato to visit Goose Green village, not far away from Darwin settlement.
20-11-2024
We had strong winds and storm, and I was anxious watching the antennas. I was a bit concerned that things would go wrong and destroy my antennas.
Two antenna wires of the Hexbeam (20 and 17m) got loose due to the storm
Due to the storm, the 20m and 17m wires came loose from the fiber spreaders. Surprisingly, even with that situation, I was still able to work on the other bands.
The fact that the wires got loose from the wire guides is because I used open S-hooks. They are easy to install the wires, but now it turned out they are not a desirable choice for situations with heavy wind. Originally, I had chosen to use small stainless steel carabiner hooks. Obviously, back home I will replace the open S-hooks with stainless steel carabiner hooks.
The situation was now that the DX Commander was down and the Hexbeam had two bands that needed be repaired. However, with the storm this was not possible. I did not want to lower the Hexbeam and not have the guy ropes securing the mast. I did not want to risk the mast to be damaged.
Renato asked me if I was interested in joining him for a trip to Port Stanley. With the antenna situation I thought it was a good opportunity. It was the only opportunity to see Port Stanly and started the 2-hour drive. During the visit to Stanley there was still a storm and sometimes it was difficult to keep yourself standing on the roadside.
I visited the museum, which was interesting and informative. There was also a small building about telecommunication. When visiting this part of the museum, I discovered that amateur radio and telegraphy were extensively exposed. A display with QSL cards, straight keys, radios, etc.
After returning back at the hotel in Darwin, the weather completely changed, and it was sunny with little wind. This was the right time to do the work on the antennas. I fixed the wires on the Hexbeam and brought the DX Commander in shape again. Together it took only 45 minutes. I was fully operational again.
A very convenient operating position
21-11-2024
Being on the Falklands, I wanted to see pinguins in the wild, but it would need a journey to one of the pinguin colonies. An unexpected opportunity happened as a visitor of the hotel had planned a trip to New Heaven, a place at the Falkland Sound and where the ferry goes to Port Howard on West Falkland. Fortunately, I could join this trip, so we went for a half hour drive to see the Gentoo penguins.
Visiting the Gentoo pinguin colony at New Heaven
23-11-2024
During the weekend of 23-24, there was the CQ WW DX CW Contest. Normally I try to avoid a contest during my stay, but based on the available flights, I could not avoid this one. During the contest weekend I had to focus on the WARC bands and FT8. However, even the FT8 segments were covered with contest stations and conditions were not that good on the higher WARC bands. As a result, the weekend resulted in fewer QSO’s.
25-11-2024
After 00:00Z I started to run CW on 40m for those who were still chasing me on that band.
Based on the experience with the weather during my stay, I did not want to risk taking down the antennas and bringing in all the materials during rain, hail/snow of storm. Therefore, I announced that I would operate till 12:00Z.
I first started to work on the DX Commander. I brought all the materials and wires to the yard of the hotel for further preparation and packing. Also, the 70m coax had to be coiled so it would fit in the bag again. As the weather was favorable, I continued the operation until 13:08Z when I made the last QSO with HB9MEJ on 10m.
It took me till 18:00 local time to pack all antenna materials and after dinner I completed the packing of my luggage, ready for the trip back home.
26-11-2024
The next morning, we left the hotel at 05:00 local time for the Mount Pleasant air base. After the check-in procedure, the waiting started again. On the flight back, we made a refueling stop on Ascension Island again.
27-11-2024
Back at Brize Norton air base early in the morning, things went smoothly. We were transported to the main gate from where I had to call a taxi to take me back to the hotel where my car was parked. It was a bit difficult to get a taxi and they all had long waiting times. When I finally was picked up by a taxi, I was told that there were floodings in the area and the reason for the delay.
When we came close to the hotel, the road was closed due to flooding. The taxi driver chose an alternative route but when we were about 500m from the hotel, the road was also closed due to the floodings. Fortunately, I had a truly kind taxi driver who took my heavy 27KG bag and carried it to the hotel entrance. I took my two suitcases and followed him.
I packed my luggage into my car and drove back to the Netherlands where I arrived at 21:00 local time back home.
Results
As explained, the demand was for CW contacts and that is where my focus was. With a MWL ranking of #27 for EU, I wanted to give priority to those who needed VP8 as an ATNO. With the good propagation, I had a preference to work on the highest possible band. Low band activities can be done by others at the time propagation is dying out on the higher bands and improving for low bands. Although also operated FT8, there was no intention to spend too much time on that mode.
Thanks
I would like to thank several organizations and individuals for their support;
- Renato, Carlos, and Stefanie who made my stay at Darwin House unforgettable.
- The clubs and foundations that provided financial support; GDXF, CDXC, Clipperton DX Club, KC5WXA, NODXA, DDXG and Ham Radio Land. Further all the individuals that made financial contributions.
- Last but not least, my QSL manager Charles M0OXO who again will provide excellent QSL services.
The wonderful team of Darwin House: Carlos and Stephy, both chef, and Renato, the manager
The QSL manager for this operation is Charles, M0OXO.
| Method | Buro | Direct cards | LoTW | Price |
| Buro | Twice a year | After 6 months | Free | |
| LoTW | After OQRS request | € 3 | ||
| Direct | After printing | After OQRS request | € 5 | |
| Donors | After printing | 1 day after QSO | >= € 10 |
Donations: If someone donates 10 Euro or more before or during the DXpedition, the LoTW confirmation will be send in approximately 24 hours after the QSO is made.
After 6 months, all QSO’s will be uploaded to LoTW.
After the QSL’s have been printed and delivered to the QSL manager, the direct QSL will be sent.
QSL cards to anyone who mails adequate funds for return postage and includes SAE will be answered.
All Missing QSO/Not In Log enquiries must be sent ONLY via the ”Not in Log” form on M0OXO OQRS. This is the fastest way to get your enquiry resolved.