Update from Saint Pierre - Day 7

No great photos to share this time.  I was so tired from my trip to Langlade that I slept for 9 hours.  I always look forward to breakfast.  Josette always has a big basket of bread and croissants, a few cups of coffee and a small shot gas of orange juice waiting for me in the morning.

The day was spent mostly in front of the radio.  It was a rainy day.  I still got in about 6 thousand steps of walking trying to find some lunch.  Today is Sunday and everything is closed.  Sandwich shops open in the evening at 6 pm. Y'a t'il un sandwich shop pres de la maison s;appelle Frangals.  It is a small family run shop where they actually have cold sodas.  The general store has a huge rack of sodas but it is not refrigerated.

The one thing that stands out about the life in Saint Pierre by the locals is that revolves around the family.  You see them on Sunday riding their bikes with their children or taking a walk on the mountain despite the foul weather.

I took advantage of an opening on 15 meters and logged about 50 or so contacts.

30m was especially good today during which I had a good run of over 100 QSOs in a pileup

Hopefully I can muster generating pileups in my last two days

I managed to make a few QSO's on 17m phone and Bob ND7J also tried to make contact but was unsuccesful.  Bob did manage to make a QSO on 20m via a SKED before posting myself on the cluster.

I tried to do some 80m but the band noise was S3 even in Saint Pierre.  WM4AA said the band noise in the Carolinas was S4.  With my puny signal buried in the noise, no chance.  I had not really planned to do 80m and I published as such on my website in the operating plan but 80m is so rare for Saint Pierre that I had to at least try.  Matt WM4AA listened for me but could not hear my signal.  Bruce WA8IQF, listened and heard a couple of W1s trying to call me but I could not hear them.  I got an email from some Japanese hams requesting 80m.

The ideal DXpedition to Saint Pierre and Miquelon is to have a team erect some tall verticals near the ocean for the low bands in the fall and it would have to be in Miquelon.  An 80m inverted L and a 40m 4-square would be ideal.  The high bands can suffice with either CrankIRs or dedicated monoband SVDAs.   The Auberge de L'ile in Miquelon is a promising location.  Bill Rodgers K3HZP is staying there for the weekend and will ask the owner to host a future DXpedition team.  Bill and I shared some time together at the Dodeman B&B.  He brought along his PFR QRP rig and a random wire.  I even saw him posted on the cluster (even with his 5 watts) - so I know L'Auberge in Miquelon is a good site for propagation.  An operation in Langlade will have to be a tent and generator operation.  The only way to do the above is by car.  Drive all the equipment to Sydney, Nova Scotia and take the 8 hour ferry boat ride from Sydney to Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland and then drive all the equipment to Fortune, Newfoundland and then take the ferry from Fortune to Miquelon with all the gear.  This would only be possible with the help of the local hams like Jean Pierre Carrere and one would have to recruit them as part of the team.  It has not been since 2004 for the last major DXpedition (by VE7SV and team) to Saint Pierre and Miquelon when they generated over 59000 QSOs.

Band/Mode breakdown

Band	PH	CW	RTTY	Total	Total %
40	1	146	0	147	9.6%
30	0	326	0	326	21.3%
20	1	749	9	759	49.6%
17	11	232	0	243	15.9%
15	0	56	0	56	3.7%
Totals	13	1509	9	1531

Continent By Band

Band	40	30	20	17	15	Total	Total %
AF	0	3	5	2	0	10	0.7%
AN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
AS	0	3	7	46	1	57	3.7%
EU	30	175	310	135	42	692	45.2%
NA	112	143	434	59	13	761	49.7%
OC	2	0	0	0	0	2	0.1%
SA	3	2	3	1	0	9	0.6%
Totals	147	326	759	243	56	1531

 

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.

Continent	Total QSOs	%
Africa	8	0.7
Asia	53	4.4
Europe	488	40.9
North America	635	53.3
Oceania	2	0.2
South America	6	0.5
Totals	1192	100.

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]

Date	Total QSOs	Uniques	Uniques %
18-07-2015	145	117	80.7
17-07-2015	139	102	73.4
16-07-2015	306	258	84.3
15-07-2015	288	249	86.5
14-07-2015	262	236	90.1
13-07-2015	52	50	96.2
Totals	1192	1012	84.9

Band/Mode breakdown

Band	PH	CW	RTTY	Total	Total %
40	1	93	0	94	7.9%
30	0	211	0	211	17.7%
20	0	695	9	704	59.1%
17	0	183	0	183	15.4%
Totals	1	1182	9	1192

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)

Band	160	80	60	40	30	20	17	15	12	10	6	Total	Total %
New Band	0	0	0	4	7	13	1	0	0	0	0	25	28.7%
New Mode	0	0	0	0	0	8	1	0	0	0	0	9	10.3%
New Band + New Mode	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	4.6%
New Slot	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	8.0%
New DXCC	0	0	0	5	9	25	3	0	0	0	0	42	48.3%
Totals	0	0	0	9	18	55	5	0	0	0	0	87

Update - Day 4 from St. Pierre

I saw on the propagation map of possible opening to VK and ZL.  VK3EW had a very nice signal.  I even thought he was K3EW.  No - he confirmed he was from VK.

I started calling CQ again and heard a very faint signal in the noise.  Turning on the APF I could distinctly make out the ZL and his whole call.  We spent about 10 minutes calling each other.

That was the highlight of the morning.  Other than that the high bands were not that good yet.

I met Jean Pierre Carrere FP5CJ for lunch.  That is his tower with a trap rotatable dipole.  He is a very nice man.  He took me around the island.

Here I am at the west side of St. Pierre overlooking Langlade.

QSO count over 900 and Clublog uploaded.  

I worked another famous DXer - Nigel Cawthorne G3TXF - winner of the Cass Award.

Update from St. Pierre - Day 3

QSO count now at 671.   Percent uniques still high at 88%.

I finally got the RCA cord for the keyer.  It is so much easier now as the computer does the heavy lifting.

Notable QSOs

3Z9DX - Dom the leader of the DXpedition to Cocos (TI9) and the solo op for P5 

FP5CJ - Jean Paul Carrere - one of the few hams from the island of Saint Pierre

W4DJW - sponsor from Greer

K4SV - first contact with Dave Anderson from Tryon

K4MMS - Ron Malone first contact

W4IXX - Phil ditto

N4IQ - Bill ditto

First run on 17m today.  30m continues to be a hot band as well and my favorite.  It appears dead until you call CQ on it.

Log uploaded to Clublog. I will do LOTW when I return and log scrubbed. 

More typical weather today, started out cold and damp with drizzle and fog.

The PX3 was a great aid in working the pileups.  KXPA heat sink getting hot but not complaining.  With the heavy duty heat sink on the KX3 - no problems there.

 

Operating in Saint Pierre at Maison Dodeman

My antenna behind the house - the base above and the mast below

And this is how the coax enters the building into my basement room - rather ideal because I have access without disturbing the other guests.  See below

Update from St. Pierre - Day 2

It was a productive day despite having done some sightseeing.  I visited Ile Aux Marin yesterday via zodiac boat.  (It does not feel like a real DXpedition without being on a zodiac).  The island has plenty of history and is largely inhabited only by summer homes.  It was once the center of fishing where they processed cod by the millions.  The cod has vanished for 20 years and the only fishing left is for lobster and a little crab fishing.  Lobster is very cheap here.  If you want to save money on your meals - eat lobster.  The breakfasts are really good and the coffee is so good I drink it black.  Typical French - croissants and bread.

I have worked 363 contacts in 2 days.  Here are the notable call signs:

G7VJR - Michael Wells - CQ DX Hall of Famer and owner of Clublog
VE3EJ - John Sluymer- DX Hall of Fame - and DXpeditioner to South Sandwich and South Georgia in 2002.

KV1J - Dxpeditioner to St. Pierre multiple times

W4BUW - George Hall
N0TR - Tom Rouse
WM4AA - Matt Collier
KU4XO  Matt Holley
N4XL - Kevan Nason

I am not as efficient in sending because the RCA cable is missing to connect my Winkeyer (still at Ken's place) so I have to send manually with a paddle.  Just try sending FP/NY4G with a paddle perfectly 400 times and you know what I feel like.  No complaints though.  The pileups were well behaved though.  There was this one Puerto Rico station that kept QRMing the W8 call and kept the W8 station from hearing my report.    It just annoys me that I keep calling PSE W8 and I still get the QRM.   I moved around the pileup to get away from the WP station and worked guys.  I finally felt sorry for him and worked the WP4 station.  He called me again on a different band and was well behaved.  Perhaps he learned his lesson.  Because of my relatively weak signal and 75 watts or so out - I will stay exclusively CW and RTTY as it will be the most productive.  The hike up and down the hill is formidable - about a 500 foot elevation gain.  I am at a nice elevation here at the B&B and have clear take offs to Europe and the US.  The weather is typically windy and wet so I will try to stay high and dry (andstay healthy   to boot).  If there is a nice day again (like yesterday - oh wow - yesterday was awesome) - I will try to work from one of the bluffs.  Also there is very little noise interference where I am away from the city center)

I got to a chance to pratique mon francais beacoup aujourd-hui and can switch from anglais a francais quite handily.   German keeps creeping in and invariably I mix in ein when I should be saying une..

L'ile Saint Pierre  est tres belle et Josette Dodeman est tres tres gentil avec moi.  Il y a beacoup a travailler aujourdhui avec les radio amateurs tout le monde.  A bientot de Saint Pierre de FP/NY4G