Charles Wilmott - M0OXO

....and over the last few weeks we have been busy running the special event station for Antarctic Activity Week.

Operating times and modes varied but all in all it was a good event and was well attended as regards contacts. This Year we worked 2602 q’s which was one of the better years we have had bringing our total qso’s to 12654 for GB0ANT. For me the highlight was last week on 15M.

It was early for 15M but I started call on SSB at around 0740utc. It started very quiet for a few minutes and then there was a rash of activity from Asia with Ukraine, Asiatic Russia and Kazakhstan stations flying in very strong. I was very surprised to hear a VU calling but he wasn’t too strong and therefore didn’t make the grade to gain a place in my log. Shortly after than I was called by JR1NHD (Foto Right) from Kanagawa prefecture in Japan. We had a brief exchange and then all hell broke loose, what a pile up of JA! Its several Years since i have worked into JA and received such a fearsome response.

One after another then got into the log and they just kept coming. Strange as it was, there were none of the ‘usual suspects’ in the mix either, many of them new entries in the logbook.

At 0834 I logged the last two stations JR4CEB and JA2LHG from Japan which brought a total of 71 JA stations in the brief window, what a run! (Extract of Logbook shown below for those who may not quite believe it!)

Lets pray that things continue as they are now for a long time whether we are climbing out of the Solar Minimum or whether we are not. Its certainly a big boost to anyone's enthusiasm when DX such as that can be worked on the higher band for a change.

Thanks (to Japan!) and 73 to all....de Charles....

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Charles MØOXO & Ian MØIAA will be Qrv as GBØWFF on Tuesday 2^nd March 2010 from the  Derbyshire Dales Nature Reserve (GFF-091 [new]) and on Wednesday 3^rd March 2010 from the Lower Derwent Valley (GFF-010 [new]).

Antennas will be Dipoles at 10M and running barefoot from the Yaesu FT-897D. All being well and pending any disasters on the day we should be qrv around or just before 12.00 UTC.    

**Areas may be subject to change on the day due to Snow and other WX issues.

Qsl as always will be via M3ZYZ / MØOXO and bureau cards can be requested via the On-Line Qsl Request Form (OQRF).

All other Qsl options such as paying via Paypal for Direct Cards can be found by clicking here. Photo's of the trip will also be found in the World Flora Fauna section of this website in the coming days.

73 & 44 de Charles

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GBØANT kicked off on Monday the 15^th, a week earlier than Antarctica Activity Week (AAW) officially starts. The good propagation meant that we were able to devote time to the higher bands for a change and good pile ups were evident this Year.

John (G4RCG) started early Monday morning on CW (his last stint on 40M producing some VK's) and i had a play later that afternoon. The same routine took place yesterday (Tuesday) and CW, SSB and Digital modes were good. We were joined by Ian (M0IAA) in the afternoon and he had a great run on 15m to Asia with many YB stations in the log. I have to say that band conditions took a turn for the worse in the late afternoon and activity was well down on previous days, the SFI numbers not favourable at all. A move to 17 & 20M gave Ian a good run to the USA and then he took a severe beating from EU before calling it a day and having worked over 100 stations in his session.

Three days in and the total stands at just over 550 Q’s, a good start to 2010 with another 10 days of the event still to run. Check out more about the event under 'Special Callsigns' in the menu to the left. Thanks to all operators and callers and please remember, apply for your Bureau Qsl Cards on line to save time.

73 de Charles.....

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Band condx looking up again with the rare sight of Sunspots? How long will it last?

Tnx CDXC & ClubLog Members for several new ones. Michael G7VJR in the log 3 slots as VP8DMN from Port Stanley, Falklands, and Nick G3RWF for two new slots as 5X1NH in Kampala, Uganda.

Nigel G3TXF is travelling again and joining the TX4T team from North of Tahiti Hiti In French Polynesia (IOTA OC-046 new) (Foto left).Their latest Blog tells us:-

''More than 3000 QSOs on february 11th, more than 8000 in total. The rate is good (and our mood, too !) Thanks to all who call us, we look forward to contact you ! QRM is weak here, DO try to call us if you hear us !80 meters worked very well last night, with 900 QSOs. 160m was harder than previous night. 30m works well, opened to EU between 16 and 17Z. We had a good opening to EU on 17m (spiderbeam), at the same time we also were on 15m for EU (with the 40m vertical !) Nigel installed a 12/17m vertical, we’ll be able to operate 3 stations simultaneously, even during the day. We don’t know yet if we will take part in CQ WPX RTTY, as our main goal remains to favor the low bands.''

Preceding these contacts were several others such as XR0ZA on Robinson Crusoe Island, Juan Fernandez (foto right) and three new slots with the team on Fernando De Noronha off the coast of Brazil. Another new one was Mike R1ANP down in Progress Bay Research Station on Antarctica  (foto left) who is currently qrv on most bands.

All in all conditions looking up with great openings to Nth & Sth America on 15M and even VK’s again on 12. 40 & 80M have also been good with regular openings to the Pacific.

Have a good weekend and good dx! 73 de Charles.....

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MMØDGR/p will be operating from the Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve (GMFF-046) on Saturday, 6th February, 2010.

The portable station will be located at the Shore Wood (southeast corner of Loch Lomond). Equipment: Icom IC-706MKIIG with HLA-300 Plus (300W) HF Power Amplifier. Antenna: 9m high Vertical with CG-5000 Automatic Antenna Coupler.

Grid locator IO76RB, WAB NS48, EU Area SC31 (West Dunbartonshire), IOTA EU-005. Bands, modes and frequencies ± QRM: 20 m (BPSK63 14.072 MHz, CW 14.044 MHz, SSB 14.244 MHz); 30 m (BPSK63 10.142 MHz, CW 10.110 MHz); 40 m (BPSK63 7.044 MHz, CW 7.014 MHz, SSB 7.144 MHz). QSL-cards via MMØDFV (preferably RSGB QSL-bureau).

Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve (GMFF-046) lies in the southeast corner of Loch Lomond, in the southern part of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (GMFF-002). This portable expedition gives you two WFF reference numbers GMFF-046 and GMFF-002 simultaneously. The Reserve includes some of the woodlands for which Loch Lomond is renowned, including the wooded shores on the mainland and on the islands of Inchcailloch, Clairinsh, Torrinch, Creinch and Aber Isle and the wetlands at the mouth of the River Endrick.

Detailed information & map are available at http://www.srars.org/wff-reports/gmff-046.htm

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News received this morning is that the Northern Cross Rally 2010 held in Wakefield has been cancelled, the event no longer taking place on the 14th February as previously circulated. It is suggested it may take place later this Year with the month of June being a possibility.

The event is run by the Wakefield & District Radio Society and in recent Years has moved from the old QTH at the Thornes Sports Stadium Wakefield to a new location ¾ mile south of Ossett town centre, in the grounds of Ossett School, on Storrs Hill Road, Ossett, Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

It is disappointing to hear it is cancelled but should you require further information please contact their Secretary This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

73 de Charles.........

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As you read above, thanks to Warren ZL1AIX for allowing me the unexpected new IOTA reference OC-201 ( IOTA #461) from Awaawaroa Bay, Waiheke Island, New Zealand, on the South-East of the Island.

It was great to have the chat this morning and the opportunity to try the two SteppIR antennas against each other. Warren initially called on the long path as I was working the opposite direction with a Russian Station. Having tried both routes, long path again came up trumps with a signal from Waiheke of 59+10 as opposed to 59 on the short path, really FB sigs from his 3ele SteppIR

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Waiheke Island is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 17km  from Auckland. Waiheke Island is an easy-going getaway from the hustle-and-bustle of the city and enjoys a subtropical climate with its 100 km of coastline. The island is the second-largest, after Great Barrier Island, of all the gulf islands. It is also the most populous with just under 8,000 permanent residents plus another estimated 3400 who have second or holiday homes on the island^. This makes it New Zealand's most densely populated island, with 83.58 people/km², and the third most populous after the North and South Island.

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Many of you will have already seen this image but what a scene!

Snow blanketed Great Britain on January 7, 2010, as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead and captured this image.

Snow covers most of England, from the east to the west coast. (The large image shows snow cover over the entire island of Great Britain.) The cities of Manchester, Birmingham, and London form ghostly gray shapes against the white land surface. Immediately east of London, clouds swirl over the island, casting blue-gray shadows toward the north.

Frigid temperatures followed snowfall, leaving roads and sidewalks treacherously icy, according to news reports. As of January 7, overnight temperatures had plunged to -22 degrees Celsius in isolated spots, with more widespread temperatures (including at my QTH) of -10.2 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). The heavy snowfall downed power lines, leaving several thousand homes in southern England without electricity.

According to the Federation of Small Businesses, transportation difficulties kept an estimated 10 percent of the workforce home on January 5th through 8th, and over 40,000 schools were closed. Forecasters warned that frigid temperatures could linger for another 10 days at least. Eurostar was operating at a reduced capacity and airports remained open although passengers could expect delays.

A contributor to the persistent cold and snow across much of the Northern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes in December 2009 and January 2010 could be the fact that 'the atmosphere was in an extreme negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO)'. The AO is a seesawing strengthening and weakening of semi-permanent areas of low and high atmospheric pressure in the Arctic and the mid-latitudes. One consequence of the oscillation’s negative phase is cold, snowy weather in Eurasia and North America during the winter months. The extreme negative dip of the Arctic Oscillation Index in December 2009 was the lowest monthly value observed for the past six decades.

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Read more...

.......to my friends and colleagues.

Air passengers were warned of possible flight disruptions. EasyJet and Ryanair Holdings canceled flights from London Luton Airport as well as departures from Italy and Germany, where some airports also shut down. Gatwick and London City airports opened today after closing last night. Heathrow airport is running a “good service,” it said on its Web site.

Snow and low temperatures swept across continental Europe over the last four days and have been blamed for 80 deaths, including 42 people, mostly homeless, who died in Poland last weekend, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. A coach overturned in Cornwall today killing 2 passengers and injuring over 40 more after the coach slid on ice.

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We woke this morning to the sight of the first snowfall this Winter. Locally we had between 1 and 3 cm of Snow on the ground whereas just one mile away from here they saw 6 to 8 cm of snow lying on the ground. Forecasters say it is the heaviest and most widespread snow for six years with more Southern Counties of England seeing considerably more.

Temperature at my QTH dropped to minus 4.6 during the latter part of the night. Snowstorms are expected to hit south-eastern England through Sunday and into Monday morning, bringing the cold temperatures down further.

The authorities warn us that half of the UK's local authorities only have enough road salt for six days of continuous freezing and that roads are likely to become death traps as a result. The motoring organisation AA said it understood councils had 250,000 tonnes less road salt in stock than they would have had a decade ago. Local Government Association said the suggestion councils were not ready was just ‘’scare mongering’’. 

The Highways Agency, which grits all motorways and some A-roads, said it was doing what it could to assist councils struggling to keep roads gritted. Severe weather warnings were issued for heavy snow in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber and the East Midlands.

Around 12cm of snow fell in parts of East Anglia, making driving treacherous. In past of Cambridgeshire, high winds caused snowdrifts to form. Teachers said they expected many schools to be closed - the last day of term - giving youngsters an extra day of Christmas holiday, fortunately not in Barnsley!

**See more local Photos in 'Gallery' under 'Home QTH'

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Well it’s taken a few years and a lot of help from others behind the scenes but this morning i was pleased to open a self-addressed envelope which i sent outward bound in 2005. Inside were paper Qsl Card confirmations of 10 DXCC’s and 2 of them being new IOTA. The cards were from World traveller and DXpeditioner Vladimir Bykov UA4WHX, from a trip he did around the Countries of Africa around 2005.

Vlad told us some time ago now :-  ''Hello everyone! You must have been wondering if it is true. And the answer is - it is. It is all history now. For now - no more being on the air from Africa. I leave almost 310,000 QSOs behind me, 21 DXCC entities, almost 26 months of life, two radios gone and one finger missing. But I do have lots of people happy - that is what matters’’.

The Countries visited by Vlad can be seen from this impressive list of Callsigns:-

3D2VB 4K0VB 4L0B 5H3VMB 5R8VB 5W0VB 5X1VB 7P8VB 7Q7VB 9J2VB 9Q0VB 9U0VB 9X0VB 9X1AA 9X1CK 9X1KC 9X1NF A25VB A35VB AC4LN C21VB C91VB D20VB D60VB H40VB H44VV J20VB JA3ADW P29VVB ST2VB T20VB T30VB UA4WHX V31BV V51VV V63MB V73VV YJ0VB ZK2VB

Thanks to all the team behind the scenes who have managed to get the cards out and thanks once more goes out to Vlad for his excellent DX’

If you would like to see more of the Qsl Cards that have been received from Vladimir then please have a look in the Qsl Card section of the Gallery where most have been uploaded.

73 de Charles...

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Thanks to Cezar VE3LYC for the two new IOTA confirmations, the Qsl Cards arriving this week.

The first was VYØA Fox Island IOTA NA-186 and the second VYØO for Gilmour Island IOTA NA-230. Contacts were 30 & 20m respectively, both CW.

Cezar was born and raised in Romania, and holds a PhD in Physics. He was first licenced back in 1968 and holds the DXCC Honor Roll (335 mix, 334 ssb, 332 cw), 9BDXCC, WAZ (ssb, cw), 5BWAZ, IOTA Plaque of Excellence (969/964), and the Antarctica Award Honour Roll. 

He is an accomplished and respected IOTA activator and many of which are either all time new activations and/or the very rarest of islands.

These include:- Cham Is. (AS-162, 2002), Pamban Is. (AS-173, 2004) and Rennell Is. (SA-094, 2005). Together with Ken (G3OCA), he activated Finger Hill Is. (NA-194 (worked), Aug 2008) and Paul Is. (NA-205, Aug 2008) as VO2A. Of course from the thread of this article we also know that Cezar activated Fox Is. (NA-186, Apr 2009) as VY0A and Gilmour Is. (NA-230 New, Sep 2009). 

In Oct 2009, as a result of his achievements he was awarded the Premier IOTA Plaque for Outstanding Contribution to the IOTA Community.

Congratulations & well done Cezar!!

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