Sunday, July 19, 2015

Update from Saint Pierre Day 5


Set up on the beach on Langlade

This is perhaps the highlight of my trip - a DXpedition within a DXpedition.  Langlade is a most picturesque place especially for nature lovers, bicyclists, or just to enjoy a day away from civilization.  Miquelon is a 25 km bicycle ride.  The first few miles on the trail is rough with sand and rocks which then gives way to a paved road for most of the way.  The trip to Miquelon by bicycle is into the wind - so be prepared to do battle with a headwind.  If you come back early in the afternoon - the wind is at your back and one can cruise along almost effortlessly.


Above we are just leaving the port of Saint Pierre


It was a 2 hour ride in the Catamaran La Jeune France.  It was quite cold that morning with a brisk wind and I took shelter in the enclosed cabin below.  The ocean views were spectacular with the chance sighting of a whale blowing water  in the distance.  Here is a very unique rock formation on Langlade.  There are only a dozen or so families that live on the island - mostly to cater to the daily visitors.


The way to get on the island is via zodiac boat.  If you are not careful getting off - you will get very wet.


Here we are leaving the big boat La Jeune France - headed for the island of Langlade.  It is not a separate IOTA but still listed as part of NA-032


A chance meeting with Jean Pierre Carrere - a local ham - one of a handful.  His call sign is FP5CJ.  He and his wife were traveling to Miquelon by car to relax.


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With my counterpoise radial pointed north - the 17m band exploded with S9 signals from Japan.  I got an email from JA1FNO courtesy of Paul Greaves W4FC stating that I was a strong 579 into JA land even with only 50 watts.  I was able to work 53 JAs in the short period of time I had battery power.  (I had lost my connector to the solar panel which would have extended my operation.  I found it a little bit later (too late) lying in the grass).  The propagation was so good into JA that when the wind blew my antenna down onto the beach I was still able to make QSOs until I relaized something was amiss.  Some JA stations are smiling now that they have FP into their logs which is quite rare for them.  Here is the breakdown by continent.

ContinentTotal QSOs%
Africa80.7
Asia534.4
Europe48840.9
North America63553.3
Oceania20.2
South America60.5
Totals1192100.

Daily totals.  Almost exclusively CW.  I was too tired from the trip to Langlade to partake in the NAQP RTTY Contest.

Daily QSOs (last 30 active) [Clickable]

DateTotal QSOsUniquesUniques %
18-07-201514511780.7
17-07-201513910273.4
16-07-201530625884.3
15-07-201528824986.5
14-07-201526223690.1
13-07-2015525096.2
Totals1192101284.9

Band/Mode breakdown


BandPHCWRTTYTotalTotal %
401930947.9%
300211021117.7%
200695970459.1%
170183018315.4%
Totals1118291192
According to the Clublog tools - I was a new DXCC for 48% of my contacts.  which makes me very happy.

Expedition Impact On Users' Totals (info)


Band1608060403020171512106TotalTotal %
New Band0004713100002528.7%
New Mode00000810000910.3%
New Band + New Mode0000220000044.6%
New Slot0000070000078.0%
New DXCC0005925300004248.3%
Totals000918555000087







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