KH2/EA8DBM QK23hg Guam is.

This morning, I’m flying from Saipan to Guam—a short hop, just 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to get to my rented house before 14:00 local time. The host has strict rules—if you want to check in even an hour earlier, it’ll cost $100/hour . I’d rather save that money, so in the meantime, I’ll meet Ed, KH2L, who kindly agreed to receive a 200-watt PA for 13 cm, built in record time by Peter, AG6EE. By the way, his 600-watt PA for 23 cm passed its first real-world test with flying colors—running for hours in Q65 60C mode, in a 30°C tent, and barely getting warm. At just 6 kg, it’s an ideal travel companion for anyone planning crazy adventures like mine.

The weather in Guam for the next few days looks about the same as here—around 30°C, winds of 15–25 km/h, and occasional rain. As always, the biggest challenge is tracking the Moon. The rotator can’t be too heavy, otherwise, I’ll have no luggage allowance left for anything else. To compensate, I never tighten it too much on the tripod—this way, if a gust of wind hits (and with a parabolic dish, even a light breeze can act like a sail), it will shift slightly instead of toppling the entire setup. But of course, that means the dish is always at risk of drifting off target, so I need to visually check its alignment every so often. And what do you do when the Sun has set, and the Moon is hidden behind clouds? Great question! And before anyone suggests using a phone app—try heading 100–200 km away from home and actually working a full moon pass. Theory is one thing, practice is another.

After yesterday’s “antenna launch,” when the azimuth and elevation rotators decided to part ways after a year of living together, the sensor cables were completely ripped out. I have no idea which wires go where, so the first task after check-in will be testing the controller and re-soldering the connectors. I estimate about an hour for that. Setting up the entire station will take another two hours—assuming I don’t go into Turbo Super Mario Mode™️. If all goes well, I should be ready by 18:00 local time (08:00 UTC), which gives me about four hours before moonset—the best time for working MR in Europe. I’ll be pushing hard to make the most of it.

As for the operating plan, I’ll be on 1296.100, Q65-30B, 1st TX at 1000 Hz. I’ll start with the big guns—the sharks who will trample everyone if I don’t—then move on to the barracudas, and finally give the smaller “trigger fish” their turn. If you have a short lunar window or your moonset is approaching, message me in the chat or on WhatsApp, and I’ll prioritize you. If you’re calling, don’t hesitate to write something like “calling 1700 Hz” or “calling on OK1IL’s frequency.” Even if you’re a big station, I might momentarily lose the Moon and miss your signal. If you’ve worked me, occasional reports like “Alex -20 dB” or “signal getting weaker” really help. I don’t always have time to reply, but I appreciate it—it helps monitor system performance and catch potential failures early.

If needed, I can switch to 60C or 120D mode for weaker stations. The new PA allows me to run 120-second transmissions even in 30°C heat. And if you have limited visibility and need me to wait, let me know! If it’s my last day and I see no activity, I may pack up early, but if at least one person still needs a QSO, I’ll stay on till the very end. One exception—if you have a 1-meter dish and a 10-watt rig, maybe don’t ask me to wait three hours just for you!

Requests for CW QSOs? Well, I have a rather complicated relationship with CW. If someone asks, I can switch to CW, but only if there’s a big station on the other side, there’s absolutely nothing else to do, and I’ve already worked everyone else. But that rarely happens. The window when the Moon is high and declining lasts about 10 days, and I try to activate as many locations as possible in that time. If flights are short, I can realistically hit three locations in one cycle. That means time is always limited, and a big chunk of it goes into carefully packing everything for flights—so that nothing gets smashed by baggage handlers.

That said, if there’s time and I feel like it, I don’t mind pressing the key and calling CQ. The problem is, I have no clue what frequency I’ll be on due to Doppler shift, and I certainly won’t remember where I need to transmit or listen to catch my own echo. I also don’t travel with an SDR receiver. So, the responsibility is on you—find me, and call in a way that I can hear you by adjusting RIT within a couple of kHz. My apologies to the “holy CW” purists and the haters of “digital filth.”

As for HF activity, I have a 100-watt IC-7100 with a manual tuner and a 7-meter telescopic rod with four counterpoises, covering 80m to 6m. I only set it up if I have time and energy left after EME. I don’t operate HF and EME in parallel—HF is always secondary. I work only in FT8 or FT4 in auto mode. Skeds aren’t encouraged, but requests for specific bands are possible (though not guaranteed). I usually run in 2-3 streams and not on the main frequency, so check the cluster. All QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW after the expedition.

I think that’s everything. Quite a lot going on—blame the 8-hour jetlag! ;-))

+++++++

Arrived right on time at 14:00—the location is fantastic. I can set up the antenna on the roof, and sunset aligns directly with the ocean, which should provide a nice gain boost. At sunrise, there are some small mountains, but I should still be able to work the U.S. once the elevation reaches 7–8 degrees.

As soon as I arrived, I got to work soldering the torn cable to the controller—luckily, I had all the necessary tools. A couple of hours later, everything was fixed, set up, and calibrated. Then I hauled the antenna and tent up to the roof, but the strong gusts of wind were concerning. I decided to wait for the wind to die down, but by moonrise in Europe, it had only gotten worse. With no other option, I rushed to the nearest hardware store to buy ropes and bungees for extra security.

I hated the thought of wasting the evening, especially since people were waiting, so I took the risk and got started. The result exceeded all expectations—38 QSOs in the log! I was running up and down so much that I barely had time to check the chat, but overall, a great first session.

2025-03-04,10:34:30,2025-03-04,10:34:44,OK1KIR,JN79,1296.100999,Q65,-11,,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:34:00,2025-03-04,10:36:00,OK1DFC,,1296.100999,Q65,-10,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:36:00,2025-03-04,10:38:00,PA3DZL,,1296.100999,Q65,-14,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:38:00,2025-03-04,10:40:00,HB9Q,,1296.100999,Q65,-11,-11,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:40:00,2025-03-04,10:42:00,DG5CST,JO60,1296.100999,Q65,-09,-12,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:42:00,2025-03-04,10:44:00,UA3PTW,,1296.100999,Q65,-16,-13,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:44:00,2025-03-04,10:46:00,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.100999,Q65,-17,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:47:00,2025-03-04,10:49:00,JJ3JHP,,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:49:00,2025-03-04,10:51:00,G4CCH,,1296.100999,Q65,-14,-13,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:51:00,2025-03-04,10:53:00,SM5DGX,,1296.100999,Q65,-12,-13,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:53:00,2025-03-04,10:55:00,DK4RC,,1296.100999,Q65,-10,-14,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:55:00,2025-03-04,10:57:00,JQ3JWF,,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:57:00,2025-03-04,10:59:00,JA6AHB,PM53,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,10:59:00,2025-03-04,11:01:00,OK1IL,JN69,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-23,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:01:00,2025-03-04,11:03:00,IQ2DB,JN45,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:05:00,2025-03-04,11:07:00,G0LBK,,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:07:00,2025-03-04,11:09:00,SA6BUN,,1296.100999,Q65,-17,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:09:00,2025-03-04,11:11:00,IK2DDR,,1296.100999,Q65,-16,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:11:00,2025-03-04,11:13:00,DL8YHR,,1296.100999,Q65,-14,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:13:00,2025-03-04,11:15:00,YL2GD,,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:15:00,2025-03-04,11:17:00,SP5GDM,,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-19,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:17:00,2025-03-04,11:19:00,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:19:00,2025-03-04,11:21:00,PE1L,,1296.100999,Q65,-17,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:23:00,2025-03-04,11:25:00,ZS4TX,KG30,1296.100999,Q65,-23,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:25:00,2025-03-04,11:27:00,YO2LAM,KN05,1296.100999,Q65,-15,-19,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:27:00,2025-03-04,11:29:00,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:30:00,2025-03-04,11:32:00,IK3COJ,JN65,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:32:00,2025-03-04,11:34:00,DF2VJ,JN39,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:34:00,2025-03-04,11:36:00,SP7EXY,,1296.100999,Q65,-17,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:37:30,2025-03-04,11:39:59,OK1VUM,JN79,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:42:00,2025-03-04,11:43:06,IK1FJI,JN44,1296.100999,Q65,-15,-17,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:43:00,2025-03-04,11:45:00,PA0BAT,,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-17,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:45:00,2025-03-04,11:47:00,SM6CKU,,1296.100999,Q65,-15,-11,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:51:00,2025-03-04,11:53:00,IK7EZN,,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-17,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,11:58:00,2025-03-04,11:59:07,F5KUG,JN03,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,12:15:30,2025-03-04,12:17:59,OK2DL,JN79,1296.100950,Q65,-13,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-04,12:20:30,2025-03-04,12:22:59,OH3LWP,KP11,1296.100950,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,

+++++++

After a morning flight, antenna repairs, installation, multiple trips to the hardware store, battling the wind, and running up and down the stairs about 200 times, I decided to push through to the very end. At 11 PM, after moonset, I set up the GP with radials to give someone the chance to log KH2 on HF.

But—nothing comes without a price. I left all the equipment in the tent on the roof, securely snapped shut. However, overnight, strong wind and rain swept through, and by morning, I found everything soaked. No big deal—I’ve had plenty of experience drying out gear, and luckily, I spotted a hair dryer in the house.

And then—surprise. In an American house, owned by Americans, with American mains voltage and sockets, the hair dryer has a European plug and runs on 220V. Brilliant. Might as well have left a papier-mâché hair dryer instead. At this rate, my next location will probably have a fireplace painted on the wall, a fake stove, and a cardboard microwave…

Though, given the way the world is going, I doubt anything in America can still surprise me.

Now, I need to rush to the north of the island—where civilization exists—to buy a hair dryer and dry everything before my MR.

On the bright side, I have everything ready to attempt 13 cm again. The 300W amplifier from AG6EE is here, the LNA is tested, and the feed is configured. I still have doubts about how well my “aluminum dish” will work and how much it’s skewing, but I did manage to get 4 dB of sun noise on it.

Today, I’ll work through both MR and MS on 23 cm until the end, and tomorrow, I plan to set up and test 13 cm. Let’s see how it goes.

+++++++

Unfortunately, the wind picked up even more in the morning, and by my moonrise, I was seriously worried about the safety of the antenna. Creaking with my old bones, I hauled all the equipment down from the roof to the lawn in front of the apartment. Working from below meant needing a higher elevation angle to reach the East Coast of the USA, but at least it was less windy.

However, by the time the moon was supposed to appear over the buildings, the wind only got stronger. The gusts must have reached 50–60 km/h. At some point, to keep the entire setup—anchored by three 40-liter water bags—from toppling over, I had to add my own 90 kg of body weight, just to keep everything from flying away.

I managed to roughly align by eye using the sun, set the azimuth, and started tracking the moon. But as I was “driving” toward it, a sudden gust of wind knocked everything out of alignment. The dish was shaking wildly—left, right, up, down—probably by half a meter in each direction.

Yesterday, I bought two ropes: one I tied to a tree, and the other I secured to the leg of my sofa inside the apartment. That way, if the wind took everything, it would at least have to drag the sofa with it.

Despite the chaos, I somehow managed to complete 7 QSOs. Hopefully, tomorrow will be calmer, and I’ll be able to work a few more.

No major losses—yet. One rib cracked from the wind gusts, though it’s still holding for now. Not sure if it will survive the rest of the expedition. The rear plastic retaining sleeve, however, didn’t make it—it’s completely shattered.

2025-03-05,02:22:00,2025-03-05,02:24:00,NC1I,FN32,1296.100950,Q65,-21,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,02:24:00,2025-03-05,02:26:00,KB2SA,DM13,1296.100950,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,02:28:30,2025-03-05,02:30:01,XE1XA,EK09,1296.100950,Q65,-17,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,02:29:00,2025-03-05,02:31:00,K5DN,,1296.100950,Q65,-18,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,02:32:30,2025-03-05,02:33:27,VE6TA,,1296.100950,Q65,-16,-14,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,02:38:30,2025-03-05,02:40:59,W2HRO,FN20,1296.100950,Q65,-19,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,03:32:00,2025-03-05,03:32:00,W5LUA,,1296.100950,Q65,-17,-20,,,,,,,

And this is what the “system of checks and balances” looks like :D

The paddle is not without meaning or purpose either!

It seemed like I had planned for everything—except for actually having someone to work with. Aside from unsuccessful attempts to complete a QSO with Phil VK4CDI, there wasn’t much activity. With about 3–4 hours left before moonrise in Europe, I switched on the HF transceiver, tuned GP to 28 MHz, and settled in to wait.

As the time approached to remove the support ropes, I walked over to the antenna and was horrified to discover that hours of shaking in the wind had loosened the bolt connecting the couplings of the rotator and elevator. The entire parabola—along with the counterweight, septum, and elevator—was hanging on by its last thread. Another 5–10 minutes, and everything would have come crashing down, most likely beyond repair!

There was no time to waste. I had to disassemble everything immediately, unscrew the rotator, and try to reassemble and reinstall it as fast as possible. There was no other choice! Fortunately, I had a full set of tools with me—as if I had somehow sensed this was coming. :-((

I was in such a rush that I completely lost track of time while disassembling, tightening the bolts, and putting everything back together. In the end, everything seemed to work out—but that was way too close for comfort.

Then, as usual, I put everything back in place, turned the dish, and aimed for the moon, since the sun had already set behind the horizon. The wind came and went—sometimes calm, sometimes gusty—but it was still much quieter down here than on the roof.

Reception was noticeably worse than yesterday, but I was still being heard well. I had to drop my power down to 300 watts because the three European-to-American plug adapters I brought turned out to have 7-amp fuses inside. Two had already blown when I tried to transmit at the full 500 watts, and finding the right fuses on the island—or even another adapter in the evening—was out of the question.

So, I worked in 60C mode, and toward the end of the moonpass, when I had good ground gain, I made three QSOs in 120D. One of them was even with ON4MU, who has a setup similar to mine—just a small folding fabric dish and 150 watts.

In the end, it turned out better than expected—30 QSOs in the log.

2025-03-05,09:34:00,2025-03-05,09:38:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.101442,Q65,-23,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,09:38:00,2025-03-05,09:42:00,OK1USW,,1296.100999,Q65,-27,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,09:45:00,2025-03-05,09:49:56,DG0FE,JO62,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,09:53:00,2025-03-05,09:57:57,RA4HL,LO43,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:06:00,2025-03-05,10:08:05,PA1PS,JO21,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:09:00,2025-03-05,10:13:56,DL7UDA,JO62,1296.100999,Q65,-27,-23,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:28:00,2025-03-05,10:32:00,UA9YLU,,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-28,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:30:00,2025-03-05,10:34:00,G4YTL,IO92,1296.100999,Q65,-25,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:47:00,2025-03-05,10:50:00,DM2CFH,,1296.100999,Q65,-15,,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:51:00,2025-03-05,10:55:56,RD4D,LO42,1296.100999,Q65,-14,-15,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,10:55:00,2025-03-05,10:59:56,DL1AT,JO61,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:00:00,2025-03-05,11:04:00,DK3WG,JO72,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:04:00,2025-03-05,11:08:00,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:10:00,2025-03-05,11:14:00,OM4XA,,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-26,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:15:00,2025-03-05,11:19:56,CT1FFU,IM59,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-23,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:30:00,2025-03-05,11:34:00,DL4DTU,,1296.100999,Q65,-23,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:34:00,2025-03-05,11:38:00,OM4XA,,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-24,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:39:00,2025-03-05,11:43:56,IZ8GGF,JN70,1296.100999,Q65,-23,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:43:00,2025-03-05,11:47:56,PE1LWT,JO22,1296.100999,Q65,-20,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:47:00,2025-03-05,11:51:56,LZ4FR,KN13,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:50:00,2025-03-05,11:54:00,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:54:00,2025-03-05,11:58:00,F1RJ,,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,11:58:00,2025-03-05,12:02:05,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,12:10:00,2025-03-05,12:14:00,DL1SUZ,JO53,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,12:19:00,2025-03-05,12:23:56,SP3XBO,JO81,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-24,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,12:24:00,2025-03-05,12:28:00,DJ2DY,JN39,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,12:32:00,2025-03-05,12:36:00,IK2CDI,,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-20,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,13:00:00,2025-03-05,13:08:00,ON4MU,,1296.100999,Q65,-34,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,13:16:00,2025-03-05,13:20:35,9H1BN,,1296.100999,Q65,-27,-25,,,,,,,

2025-03-05,13:20:00,2025-03-05,13:28:00,RA9FLW,,1296.100999,Q65,-28,-23,,,,,,,

Tomorrow’s plan is simple but crucial:

I’ll rush to Home Depot in the morning to buy some “thread locker,” then quickly disassemble the rotator again, finish the nut, and tighten it properly. Once that’s done, I’ll return the rotator to its place, unfold the antenna, and try to work anyone I missed during my MR.

After that, I’ll switch the feed and amplifier to 13 cm and try to work some stations there. Once that’s done, I’ll return to 1296 and continue.

Of course, all of this depends on the weather cooperating, so I’ll adjust my plans as needed if any surprises come up.

+++++++

In the morning the weather started to improve, the wind died down and when the moon came out from behind the buildings I managed to quickly make a few QSOs. It was time to try to activate the 13 cm band. I unpacked the amplifier that was sent to me and only now remembered that I forgot to take the same power connectors for it as on the 23 cm amplifier. So an hour and a half while I somehow figured out and made the power supply. Then I quickly assembled everything, changed the feed. I turn on the LNA - no change in noise.

Within another 3 hours it became clear what the problem was, but it was already dark and there was no more time left. I will sort it out already on Pallau.

By the evening there was no wind at all, I wish it was like that in the previous days, but that would have been too easy

Total 10 QSOs in the log for the day:

2025-03-06,03:26:00,2025-03-06,03:30:00,K5DOG,,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,03:30:00,2025-03-06,03:34:00,AA6I,DM06,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,03:39:00,2025-03-06,03:43:57,KA1GT,FN54,1296.100999,Q65,-26,-18,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,03:50:00,2025-03-06,03:54:00,VK4CDI,QG63,1296.100999,Q65,-28,-21,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,10:48:00,2025-03-06,10:55:58,LA3EQ,JO28,1296.101538,Q65,-27,-24,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,12:13:00,2025-03-06,12:17:56,PH0V,JO22,1296.101538,Q65,-25,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,12:45:00,2025-03-06,12:49:57,OE5VRL,,1296.101538,Q65,-32,-22,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,13:35:00,2025-03-06,13:43:57,UA9FA,LO87,1296.102999,Q65,-30,-26,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,13:57:00,2025-03-06,14:01:57,ON4QQ,JO20,1296.102999,Q65,-22,-16,,,,,,,

2025-03-06,14:11:00,2025-03-06,14:15:56,BA7NQ,OL63,1296.102999,Q65,-23,-20,,,,,,,

TOTAL; 85 QSO

Tomorrow morning, packing, putting the equipment in suitcases, weighing, wondering where so much junk came from and where to stuff it ;-)

And in the evening, a flight to Pallau.

A huge thank you to everyone who was able to support me financially:

NC1I, ZS4TS, G0LBK, PA0BAT,DK4RC, IZ8GGF, DK3WG, PA3DZL, W5LUA, DL4DTU, IQ2DB, KB2SA, G4CCH, OM4XA