FJ/EA8DBM (FK87) 14-18 November 2024.

On the morning of November 14, I’ll take the 9:45 ferry to St. Barthelemy. The owner has promised early access to the QTH. If that works out and the location is good, there’s a chance I’ll be on the moon by the evening of the 14th. As far as I know, no one has operated from there yet. There are also many requests for HF, and few operators have confirmed LoTW from this spot. So in my downtime from EME, I’ll try to cover all the FT8 bands as well.

I’ll also be active in the ARRL EME contest, so if you’re participating, feel free to call—even if it’s a duplicate. I’ll respond to everyone.

The antenna, now updated with aluminum tape, seems to be performing well, so I’ll primarily operate in 30s B mode. For smaller stations, I’ll switch to 60s C mode. The amplifier appears to be holding up. For the very small stations, I might briefly switch to 120s D mode (when the moon is up at night and it’s cooler), but only for a couple of cycles at most.

A quick, easy ferry ride—only 45 minutes. There’s high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi on board, so plenty of internet access. For the first time ever at check-in, they didn’t try to charge extra for luggage: “We have no limit on weight or quantity, bring as much as you want!”

The island is stunning—clean, beautiful, and well-maintained, with countless shops, restaurants, and bars for every taste. The stores are packed with all kinds of food, just like in France rather than the typical Caribbean selection. It’s a fantastic place that makes you want to come back!

The location looks promising as well. It’s on a mountain, with a bit of tree cover to the east, but the declination is high, so it’s not a big issue. The west side is more challenging—there’s a building and another mountain, so the minimum elevation will likely be around 20 degrees.

I managed to set up everything before moonrise, but the rotator failed—turns out the connectors had rusted from the moisture. I managed to jerry-rig it for now, but I’ll have to re-solder it tomorrow. The moon was behind the clouds, and I had a feeling rain was on the way. Until the elevation reached 15 degrees, I was shooting through some trees, and they didn’t hear me very well. But as always, the first contacts are with the big guns, and a 4-5 dB loss isn’t a big issue for them.

Once the antenna rose higher, everything was working perfectly. A couple of times I had to pause the transmission because it started to rain, but thankfully nothing got flooded, and I was back up and running shortly after. I think I’ve worked everyone tonight—no idea who’s left for tomorrow )))

52 QSO Total

2024-11-14,21:02:30,2024-11-14,21:04:00,OK1DFC,,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:04:30,2024-11-14,21:06:59,OK1KIR,JN79,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-18,,,,

2024-11-14,21:07:00,2024-11-14,21:08:59,PA3DZL,JO21,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:08:30,2024-11-14,21:10:00,RA4HL,,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-23,,,,

2024-11-14,21:12:30,2024-11-14,21:15:00,G4CCH,,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:15:30,2024-11-14,21:18:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:20:59,2024-11-14,21:20:59,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:20:30,2024-11-14,21:23:00,HB9Q,,1296.100994,Q65,-11,-18,,,,

2024-11-14,21:26:00,2024-11-14,21:27:59,YO2LAM,KN05,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-22,,,,

2024-11-14,21:28:00,2024-11-14,21:29:59,SP5GDM,KO02,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-25,,,,

2024-11-14,21:30:00,2024-11-14,21:31:59,OK1VUM,JN79,1296.100994,Q65,-22,-29,,,,

2024-11-14,21:32:30,2024-11-14,21:35:00,UA9FAD,LO88,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:35:30,2024-11-14,21:37:00,PA3EXV,JO32,1296.100994,Q65,-22,-25,,,,

2024-11-14,21:37:30,2024-11-14,21:39:00,SM6CKU,,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-15,,,,

2024-11-14,21:39:00,2024-11-14,21:41:00,G0LBK,,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:41:00,2024-11-14,21:43:00,ON5GS,,1296.100994,Q65,-23,-21,,,,

2024-11-14,21:44:30,2024-11-14,21:46:00,ZS4TX,KG30,1296.100994,Q65,-23,-24,,,,

2024-11-14,21:46:30,2024-11-14,21:48:00,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.100994,Q65,-27,-20,,,,

2024-11-14,21:51:00,2024-11-14,21:51:20,PY2BS,GG66,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:51:30,2024-11-14,21:53:00,OK1IL,JN69,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-26,,,,

2024-11-14,21:53:30,2024-11-14,21:55:00,SP7EXY,,1296.100994,Q65,-15,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:55:33,2024-11-14,21:55:33,IK3COJ,JN65,1296.100994,Q65,-15,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:55:30,2024-11-14,21:57:00,NC1I,,1296.100994,Q65,-08,-12,,,,

2024-11-14,21:58:00,2024-11-14,21:59:59,PE1LWT,JO22,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,21:59:30,2024-11-14,22:01:00,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-18,,,,

2024-11-14,22:01:00,2024-11-14,22:03:00,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.100994,Q65,-15,-21,,,,

2024-11-14,22:03:30,2024-11-14,22:05:59,CT1WO,IM58,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-23,,,,

2024-11-14,22:34:30,2024-11-14,22:36:00,DL1AT,JO61,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-22,,,,

2024-11-14,22:36:30,2024-11-14,22:38:00,DF2VJ,JN39,1296.100994,Q65,-24,-23,,,,

2024-11-14,22:38:30,2024-11-14,22:40:00,IK2DDR,,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,22:40:30,2024-11-14,22:45:33,YU1SAN,KN03,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-23,,,,

2024-11-14,22:56:00,2024-11-14,23:02:00,DL1SUZ,JO53,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-27,,,,

2024-11-14,23:01:00,2024-11-14,23:06:00,PY2BS,GG66,1296.100994,Q65,-13,-15,,,,

2024-11-14,23:13:00,2024-11-14,23:17:56,IK2CDI,JN55,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-18,,,,

2024-11-14,23:19:00,2024-11-14,23:23:56,OZ6OL,JO65,1296.100994,Q65,-17,-17,,,,

2024-11-14,23:32:00,2024-11-14,23:35:56,W5LUA,EM13,1296.100994,Q65,-17,-19,,,,

2024-11-14,23:36:00,2024-11-14,23:39:56,DK3WG,JO72,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,00:03:00,2024-11-15,00:06:00,K5DN,,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-15,,,,

2024-11-15,00:11:56,2024-11-15,00:11:56,UA3PTW,KO93,1296.100994,Q65,-12,-12,,,,

2024-11-15,00:12:00,2024-11-15,00:15:56,N5TM,EL29,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-15,00:16:00,2024-11-15,00:19:56,N1AV,DM43,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,00:25:00,2024-11-15,00:28:00,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,00:29:00,2024-11-15,00:32:00,K5DOG,,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-20,,,,

2024-11-15,00:36:00,2024-11-15,00:39:56,W2HRO,FN20,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-20,,,,

2024-11-15,00:58:00,2024-11-15,00:58:00,GM4PMK,IO66,1296.100994,Q65,-24,-22,,,,

2024-11-15,00:58:00,2024-11-15,01:02:00,KB2SA,DM13,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,01:33:00,2024-11-15,01:37:56,VE6TA,DO33,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-19,,,,

2024-11-15,01:38:00,2024-11-15,01:42:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.100994,Q65,-24,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,01:47:00,2024-11-15,01:53:56,K1WHS,FN43,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-24,,,,

2024-11-15,01:55:00,2024-11-15,01:58:00,N6RZJ,,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-19,,,,

2024-11-15,02:30:27,2024-11-15,02:36:27,IU4MES,JN54,1296.100994,Q65,-24,-27,,,,

2024-11-15,02:43:00,2024-11-15,02:47:56,AA6I,DM06,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-23,,,,

Great start, but unfortunately at moonrise, there’s a tree about 10 meters away right in the antenna’s aperture, reducing the signal by 7-8 dB. Because of that, I couldn’t complete the QSO with YB2MDU—the window was too short, and the elevation too low. Once the moon rose higher, everything went smoothly.

2024-11-15,21:53:00,2024-11-15,21:57:56,OK1UGA,JO80,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-20,,,,

2024-11-15,22:05:00,2024-11-15,22:08:00,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.100994,Q65,-26,-28,,,,

2024-11-15,22:11:00,2024-11-15,22:14:00,YL2GD,,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-25,,,,

2024-11-15,22:15:00,2024-11-15,22:18:00,G4YTL,IO92,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-23,,,,

2024-11-15,22:19:00,2024-11-15,22:23:56,PA7JB,JO22,1296.100994,Q65,-24,-24,,,,

2024-11-15,22:28:00,2024-11-15,22:31:56,PA1PS,JO21,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-27,,,,

2024-11-15,22:54:00,2024-11-15,22:57:56,PA0BAT,JO31,1296.100994,Q65,-22,-18,,,,

2024-11-15,22:58:00,2024-11-15,23:01:56,F4KLO,JN18,1296.100994,Q65,-12,-16,,,,

2024-11-15,23:01:00,2024-11-15,23:04:00,DF7KB,JO30,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-15,,,,

2024-11-15,23:08:00,2024-11-15,23:11:56,SP3YDE,JO82,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-15,23:12:00,2024-11-15,23:15:56,CT1FFU,IM59,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-22,,,,

2024-11-15,23:18:00,2024-11-15,23:21:56,PE9GHZ,JO11,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-22,,,,

2024-11-16,00:05:00,2024-11-16,00:10:02,K0PRT,DM88,1296.100994,Q65,-06,-11,,,,

2024-11-16,00:10:00,2024-11-16,00:13:56,RA4HL,LO43,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-15,,,,

2024-11-16,00:14:00,2024-11-16,00:17:56,OK2DL,JN79,1296.100994,Q65,-08,-12,,,,

2024-11-16,00:21:56,2024-11-16,00:21:56,CT1WO,,1296.100994,Q65,-08,-20,,,,

2024-11-16,00:28:00,2024-11-16,00:31:56,IK2DDR,JN55,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-17,,,,

2024-11-16,00:32:00,2024-11-16,00:35:56,DL1AT,JO61,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-20,,,,

2024-11-16,00:36:00,2024-11-16,00:39:58,YU1SAN,KN03,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-22,,,,

2024-11-16,00:47:00,2024-11-16,00:49:59,OK2ULQ,JN99,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-17,,,,

2024-11-16,00:50:24,2024-11-16,00:50:24,DF3RU,,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-17,,,,

2024-11-16,00:52:00,2024-11-16,00:54:03,K5DN,EL19,1296.100994,Q65,-15,-16,,,,

2024-11-16,00:58:30,2024-11-16,01:00:00,RN6MA,LN06,1296.100994,Q65,-23,-22,,,,

2024-11-16,01:02:00,2024-11-16,01:03:59,UA9FAD,LO88,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-17,,,,

2024-11-16,01:05:00,2024-11-16,01:06:59,G4CCH,IO93,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-12,,,,

2024-11-16,01:08:00,2024-11-16,01:09:59,UA4LCF,LO44,1296.100994,Q65,-25,-22,,,,

2024-11-16,01:18:00,2024-11-16,01:19:59,N1AV,DM43,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-16,01:24:00,2024-11-16,01:25:59,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.100994,Q65,-17,-16,,,,

2024-11-16,01:27:00,2024-11-16,01:31:59,N5TM,EL29,1296.100994,Q65,-17,-22,,,,

2024-11-16,01:33:00,2024-11-16,01:34:59,G7TZZ,IO92,1296.100994,Q65,-22,-23,,,,

2024-11-16,01:41:00,2024-11-16,01:42:59,K5N,EM31,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-20,,,,

2024-11-16,01:43:00,2024-11-16,01:44:59,PE1LWT,JO22,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-18,,,,

2024-11-16,01:48:59,2024-11-16,01:48:59,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.100994,Q65,-14,-21,,,,

2024-11-16,02:05:00,2024-11-16,02:09:56,W2ZQ,FN20,1296.100994,Q65,-16,-22,,,,

34 QSO (22 Inits )

When the contest kicked off, things got a lot more exciting—except, of course, for the usual HB9Q chat lag that seems to happen during every EME contest.

At 02:10 UTC, a tropical downpour hit like armageddon. I barely had time to shut everything down, but there was no chance to bring the equipment inside.

Looks like the next few hours are going to be spent draining water from my amp and power supply, and then using a fan to dry……. :^(

The host has a powerful hair dryer, and I’ve perfected my drying technique by now. Within an hour, everything was dried out and ready to go again. Unfortunately, the rain outside didn’t let up, so I took a 4-hour break to catch some sleep.

By morning, Europe was already closed, but that’s not a big deal since there’s another moon pass coming up. The main goal today is to give JA and VK stations a chance to work.

Logged 8 QSOs (6 unique).

2024-11-16,08:45:00,2024-11-16,08:49:42,AA6I,DM06,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-21,,,,

2024-11-16,08:49:00,2024-11-16,08:53:56,N0AKC,EN44,1296.100994,Q65,-20,-18,,,,

2024-11-16,08:59:33,2024-11-16,08:59:33,VA7MM,CN89,1296.100994,Q65,-21,-19,,,,

2024-11-16,09:04:58,2024-11-16,09:04:58,JJ3JHP,,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-19,,,,

2024-11-16,09:05:00,2024-11-16,09:07:56,KN0WS,EN36,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-18,,,,

2024-11-16,09:09:00,2024-11-16,09:14:03,JQ3JWF,PM75,1296.100994,Q65,-19,-18,,,,

2024-11-16,09:15:00,2024-11-16,09:19:20,KB2SA,DM13,1296.100994,Q65,-17,-19,,,,

2024-11-16,09:19:56,2024-11-16,09:26:00,JA6AHB,PM53,1296.100994,Q65,-18,-19,,,,

The rain came and went all day, and about an hour before moonrise, it turned into a full-blown downpour with a thunderstorm. For the first two or three hours, I didn’t even consider stepping outside. Once the storm passed, I spent the next hour drying out the equipment with a hair dryer. (Pro tip for future expeditions: a powerful hair dryer is an absolute must! It’s only a matter of time before you get soaked—unless you’re operating in the Sahara.)

Finally, the much-anticipated start—and nothing happens. I spent another hour troubleshooting and fixing the issue. Still, I managed to log a few contest contacts and some new initials.

The most interesting QSO, in my opinion, was with Gene KB7Q. He’s using the same 2.4 m folding dish and a 400-watt amplifier. I worked everyone interested until around 04:00 UTC, then took a break until 05:30.

A bit of rain in the morning didn’t stop me from making contact with VK4CDI—probably the only active station on 23 cm from Australia right now. Even in my home logs, I’ve only seen 3 or 4 VK stations total.

Log summary for today: 18 QSOs (11 initials)

Detailed log:

2024-11-17, 00:16:00, OT7K, JO21, 1296.100994, Q65, -17, -22

2024-11-17, 01:29:00, OK1DFC, JN79, 1296.100994, Q65, -09, -07

2024-11-17, 01:31:30, DG5CST, JO60, 1296.100994, Q65, -05, -09

2024-11-17, 01:33:30, PA9RX, 1296.100994, Q65, -14, -22

2024-11-17, 01:37:00, OK1IL, JN69, 1296.100994, Q65, -16, -22

2024-11-17, 01:38:30, DL4DTU, 1296.100994, Q65, -10, -17

2024-11-17, 01:44:59, OK1KIR, JN79, 1296.100994, Q65, -09, -13

2024-11-17, 01:46:30, OH1LRY, 1296.100994, Q65, -09, -12

2024-11-17, 01:48:30, DL7UDA, JO62, 1296.100994, Q65, -18, -21

2024-11-17, 01:51:30, DM2CFH, 1296.100994, Q65, -14, -15

2024-11-17, 01:53:30, DG0FE, 1296.100994, Q65, -18, -23

2024-11-17, 02:20:00, VE4SA, 1296.100994, Q65, -21, -23

2024-11-17, 02:49:00, KB7Q, DN45, 1296.100994, Q65, -22, -27

2024-11-17, 03:01:00, YO2LAM, KN05, 1296.100994, Q65, -14, -19

2024-11-17, 03:47:00, K5N, EM31, 1296.090999, Q65, -19, -21

2024-11-17, 03:55:00, WA3RGQ, EL97, 1296.086788, Q65, -17, -23

2024-11-17, 10:07:00, NC1I, FN32, 1296.100999, Q65, -07, -09

2024-11-17, 10:35:00, VK4CDI, QG63, 1296.100999, Q65, -25, -22

Although there are still a couple of days left, there’s not much activity remaining, so I’ll start disassembling the antenna and packing up the equipment today.

Final log from FJ: 100 QSOs (91 innit)—a record result for me.

A big thank you to all supporters:

• Bruce PY2BS

• Gunars YL2GD

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