New One by 14DA028 Phil .

10 & 11 November 2013 .

This is my story for the 54DA/HI activity…

1st Day — 10/11/013

I left my home in France at 3:45 GMT in the direction of Luxembourg (Division 54) with a fine rain that has not left me during the journey. My spirits are high!

I arrived in Rosport, a commune and small town in eastern Luxembourg at 8:10 GMT and after a short rest and breakfast I head to the spot on Google maps for my inland water island (IWI) DXpedition.

Towards the parking lot which is located on the heights of the dam, I found a perfect place for the portable station on the small island of ‘Helt’. This equipment consisted of a 501 + KL + IC-706 MK2 transceiver, Skypper antenna — all powered by a battery 130A / H. The coordinations are 49°48’07.38″ N 6°31’10.82″ E.

The first call as 54DA/HI on 27.555 MHz USB went ahead, then I QSY to 27.470 MHz USB to listen.

My first QSO is with 13IR074 Daniel at 8:59 GMT at 5/8. He is followed by 18VOG049 Theo at 5/9 and DA-RC member 14DA049 Fred at 9:10 GMT at 5/5.

Then suddenly the QSO’s ‘chained’ at great speed with some nice pile ups of eager IWI Hunters. It was a joy to activate under these special DX conditions, with the antenna beaming 180° and every QSO a set constant on the frequency.

Unfortunately, I needed to go QRT at 14:00 GMT to get to the hotel to take the keys to my room but the day had a been a huge success and I was very happy with the result so far.

The 10th of November has concluded with 127 QSOs in a 5 hour long transmission with six DA-RC members (14DA049 Fred, 14DA181 Jean-Marc, 3DA012 Roger, 13DA121 Ralf, 13DA110 Uli and 19DA109 Marcel) and 23 DXCC [Germany (13), Greece (18), France (14), Poland (161), Austria (35), Denmark (47), England (26), Canary Islands (34), Thailand (153), The Netherlands (19), Brazil (3), Italy (1), Belgium (16), Spain (30), Guadeloupe (196), USA (2), Puerto Rico (11), Curacao (347), Argentina (4), Switzerland (15), Canada (9), Russia (50) and Scotland (108)].

14RS/BFI on Bois François Island, 14RS/CLI on Cabanes du Levant and 4SD/EI on Elida Island were also worked, rounding off a great day’s DX!

2nd Day — 11/11/2013

After a good hearty breakfast at the hotel, I leave for Helt Island again to activate the second part of this new and exciting IWI. But alas the day is not like yesterday. After installing the station and antenna, I run many CQ DX calls on 27.555 MHz USB. I look for QSOs on QRG but there is nobody to answer me. Not a sound anywhere on the band.

I closely examine the station — the transceiver, accessories and antenna — and everything seems ok. The excitation of the ICOM IC-706 to 501 KL is okay as diodes KL 501 are all on. So what is the issue? It’s a mystery.

I change the antenna and install a 1 element Bamby but there isn’t anything to change either. So after 2 hours of research on the problem, I decided to go QRT and hit the road.

Total 0 QSO on 11/11/13. Sorry to the OM’s who could not be logged on this day. Believe me when I say that I am the first disappointed.

Thanks to everyone who called my station and congratulations to those guys who made the log for the first ever IWI activation in Luxembourg.

73 Phil 14DA028

LOG   10/11/2013