When the application has been processed the prefix will change to include the letter 'Q', as shown below;

This past weekend (April 13th to 15th 2012) saw the GMDX Convention take place at the King Robert Hotel outside Stirling, Scotland. Ant (MW0JZE), Tim (M0URX) and Chris (G1VDP) attended the event, with Tim giving a presentation on the trip to 4W6A by the guys in 2011.

Ant drove from his home in West Wales on Thursday evening and stayed over night with Tim at his home in Coventry. On Friday the pair made the short journey to collect Chris from his home and then drove the 300 miles to Stirling. This journey took them 4 1/2 hours arriving to a warm welcome at the hotel around 16:30 local time. This meant a quick refreshing drink and then get ready for the evening meal and having some fun with the other attendees who had arrived on the Friday evening.

Robbie (GM3YTS) had booked a table at a local pub/restaurant for 14 people, but this had expanded to 20 by the time everyone was ready to sit down. Fine cuisine and local hospitality was certainly welcome, and the company we were in was superb. The conversation (and beer) flowed well and new friendships were made over a glass or two. Returning to the hotel the conversation and beer carried on for another couple of hours, but the lads were all tired and decided to have an early night - by their standards - and retired to bed around midnight (local).

Saturday again was an informal morning with the convention kicking off with the presentations at 13:00, so this allowed the guys time to go and visit the Bannockburn Heritage centre next door to the hotel. The hotel, and indeed the local area, ar all on the edge of the historic battlefield of Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated the English army of King Edward 1st in 1314, and thus securing their independence from English rule. The centre has a short film depicting the battle as seen through the eyes of a small boy who then becomes a scribe and writes down his memoirs, and with the static displays and the chance to try on the armour worn back in the day which the guys found most interesting. One thing they did find out is that the chain mail armour that was worn weighed in at some heavy kilos, and the helmets would do more harm than good when struck. A  fascinating part of our past and worth the visit (see website here).

A return to the hotel and meet up in the bar for a quick lunch and chat with friends old and new before the proceedings started in earnest. Robbie (GM3YTS) kicked off the proceedings with his introduction and welcome speech before Chris (GM3WOJ) gave the first talk on his trip to ZK2V (Niue) and his experiences out there. Tim followed Chris with the presentation on 4W6A and once again we established a link with Stuie (VK8NSB) in Darwin, Australia over SKYPE. This was well received by all in attendance and a number of people were surprised at how well the link lasted and the quality of the video and audio from our friend in Oz. At this point a short break was taken for coffee, and we thank all who came up to Tim, Ant & Chris to comment on the presentation and the link with Stuie.

It was then the turn of John (G3WGV) and Clive (GM3POI) to give the presentation on the T32C trip to Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island) in the Pacific ocean. This trip was by the FSDXA who had spent thousands of dollars and many months planning for it to go wrong and then be rescued at the 11th hour. They broke some of the DXpedition world records and have once more moved the bar for this type of expedition to these remote islands and wanted DXCC entities.

Again a 5 minute break for the T32C guys to take out their laptop and for the Belgians boys in attendance to set up their laptop and get ready for their talk on the trip to Rockall (IOTA EU-189). Patrick (ON4HIL) and Marc (ON6CC) had been trying for over 2 years to make this happen - Rockall is basically a lump of Rock 300 miles from the nearest coast line of any Scottish Island or mainland and is in the North Atlantic ocean, a inhospitable place at the best of times! It is one of the most wanted island groups in the RSGB IOTA award programme and probably one of the most dangerous to get on and off to activate. They also showed a video of about 45 minutes of the journey out and on the rock. The team had to undergo a lot of training for their safety
and just to get the permission to get out to the island. We would like to thank the 2 guys for travelling from their homes and for the presentation. we also had some fun and drinks with them both in the bar on Friday and Saturday evening so thanks guys for attending.

Robbie then brought this part of the day to a close at 18:00, allowing all attendees to have a quick drink and chat in the bar before getting ready for the evening meal and socialising. This also gave everyone time to discuss where all the presenters are next planning to activate, and for some secrets to be gleaned from them. Don't worry we will keep it quiet on where you are going Patrick!!!

The time came for the everyone to sit down at their tables for the dinner and presentations. Tim, Ant and Chris were joined by Col (MM0NDX of DX World.net), Dave (MM0EAX), Clive (GM3POI), Cris (GM4FAM), Chris (GM3WOJ) and Colin (GM0RLZ). The conversation was naturally about DXing, contests and Antennas with Ant and Clive discussing the best antennas for inter UK working on 80M. There was also 3 quizzes running through out the meal. The first being one of flag recognition, where we had to name the countries flag and capitol city. A DX quiz and a general knowledge quiz. The table, table 3, came 2nd in the flag quiz - winning a bottle of white wine - and 1st in the DX quiz - winning a bottle of red wine. The General knowledge was not our best result. Fabulous fun and excellent company.

The presentations took place following the meal. These were in the guise of a GMDX Mug for all the presenters and 2 special presentations of a Quaich, a pewter dish with Celtic handles.



These werepresented to Col (MM0NDX) for his work on DX World, and to Marc (ON6CC) and Patrick (ON4HIL) for their work in activating Rockall. Well done to all who received a mug. Chris (GM3WOJ) donated his to the SHDXCG boys to send over to Stuie (VK8NSB) in Australia and we would like to thank Chris for this generous offer. I am sure Stuie will have it in his shack as a souvenir.













When all was done it was time to retire to the bar for more chat and drinks. There was a wide choice of Whisky to choose from behind the bar, and a few of the boys decided to sample a few of them. But before too long it was time to retire and sleep ready for the journey home the following morning.





Following a hearty breakfast the boys all checked out of their rooms and said their farewells, with a promise to be back again next year where they are thinking of extending the trip with their wives and girlfriends for a few days up in Orkney. On the return they decided to call in on Charles (M0OXO) and his wife Debbie to have a refreshing cuppa and a break from the journey. Charles and Debbie extended their usual superb hospitality and we thank them for the refresher. A quick drive through Barnsley and down the M1 to deposit Chris at his home, and Tim at his in Coventry. Ant eventually arrived home in Llanelli as the time approached 20:00 local - a total journey time of almost 11 hours.

We would like to thank the GMDX group for their hospitality and welcome, and to all who attended and spent time chatting with us. We hope to see you all again soon, and we will definitely be back for the next GMDX Convention!

We now have the dates confirmed by Greg, the RSPB warden, for this years trip to Ramsey Island (EU-124). Due to this year being a special anniversary for the island and the RSPB, it is 20 years since the RSPB aquired the island, and there are numerous activities happening throughout the year and we have had to slip in on a weekend when there will be no bird counts, no big visits, and when Greg & LIsa will be able to assist us with moving our equipment. There will also be a number of events in St Davids to help commemorate this anniversary so do look for them if you are in the area.

We will be using our regular call of MC0SHL throughout the weekend and if you require a QSL card then please use the OQRS service on Tim's website to receive your card.

This year we will only be having 2, possible 3, stations on the air, and there will only be a small team going over to the island. This will consist of Rob (MW0RLJ) and his wife Jane (our sanity and the best cook on a 2 ring stove I have ever met), Charles (M0OXO), Ant (MW0JZE) and Chris (G1VDP). Charles and Chris hope to do some RTTY using a Kenwood TS480 @ 200W output.

Sadly Tim (M0URX) cannot make it (at the moment but we all hope he does and have our fingers crossed), and Tony (G4LDL) is also unsure at the moment.

So do listen out for the guys on all bands from 80M through to 6M between July 12th 2012 and July 16th 2012. A full report and photos will be on here and we will also be uploading some videos to You Tube, and if you search for MC0SHL (or click on this link) there is a selection of our current videos from previous activations.

A couple of us will be attending the GMDX convention this year, with Tim (M0URX) giving a presentation on the trip in 2011 to Atauro Island - 4W6A. He will be aided by Ant (MW0JZE), who was also on the trip, and Chris (G1VDP). Hopefully they will also be able to get a live Skype link to Stuie (VK8NSB) in Darwin, Australia who was also on the trip. Tim, Ant and Stuie will be relaying annecdotes and also showing some of the many photos of Timor Leste and it's inhabitants.

Then following the trip to Scotland most of the team along with wives and girlfriends will be down at the club HQ to help Charles and Debbie celebrate 25 years of marriage. This will be mostly a none radio weekend, but you may hear some of the lads crop up on the bands now and then for a little fun.

**We're missing you already  ** 73 de MC0SHL

4W6A will be QRV on all bands 10 to 160 metres, using CW, SSB and RTTY with up to four stations simultaneously. It is hoped that log search will be available, thanks to the Clublog facility (go to www.4w6a.com/qsl-information/log-search), but this is dependent on a reliable Internet connection being available on the island. Col, MM0NDX, is the pilot for 4W6A and is responsible for providing feedback to the team. He may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it The QSL manager is M0URX, direct (SAE plus 1 IRC / $2), via the bureau, or LoTW. The entire log will be uploaded to LoTW as quickly as possible after the end of the operation or, if possible, also during the DXpedition. Direct or bureau QSLs may also be requested using the M0URX Online QSL Request Service (OQRS) at http://m0urx.com/oqrs (there is also a link from the 4W6A website at www.4w6a.com/qsl-information).

DAY 3 - REPORT

Well after the heads up from the rest of the Strumblehead Team, Rob, Chris and I managed to worked both of the guys down in Darwin. Tim was signing VK8/M0URX and Ant VK8/MW0JZE. Sig around 1300UTC were poor with heavy Qsb but an hour later and after a frequency shift they peaked 5/8 with me which also gave Ants wife Laura the opportunity to get thro from her home station, great job!

Here is the latest report from Tim 1400UTC 13th September);


After a long journey to Darwin Northern Territories Australia taking two days the plane finally touched down at 4.30am local time. Waiting for us at arrivals was Stuie, VK8NSB. We have spent most of the day acclimatising and making sure that we have no jet lag and have done this by staying awake all day and trying to keeping busy. Stuie has shown us around Darwin today which we have really enjoyed.

This evening we met up with Oliver VK8DX we all had lunch together before retuning to the shack to finish off preparing the K3s and K2 for the RTTY and CW operators of the trip. Having had very little sleep in 40 hours, we are off to bed, catch you all tomorrow.

Weather is baking hot as you would expect and we have purchased our hats (see photo) for our trip to Aturo Island in a few days.

Thanks also for all the guys that called in from the UK, EU and AS, great to have your support on the trip!





73 from Team 4W6A (M0URX)


DAY 5 - REPORT

Bernd, VK2IA, arrived from Sydney on Wednesday afternoon in Darwin. With 5 members of the team now at Stuie's house we had a meal and talked about the work ahead of us over the next 12 days. It had to be an early night for all of us as we needed to be awake at 3am to leave Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia for a 0545 hrs local time flight with Air North to Dili, East Timor. It was in the departure lounge that the team met with the Timor-Leste, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao our team leader VK8NSB Stuie had the chance to inform the Prime Minister of our DXpedition to Atauro Island. The team had a group photograph with the Prime Minister before boarding our flight (see photo left).

The team were met at the Dili International Airport by Kim & Tony our local support team and driven to the Dili Hotel where the team members had various pre DXpedition shopping and logistics matters to deal with. The final two members of the team are still in Bali, Indonesia prior to leaving for Dili on Friday. We had a meeting with Kim & Tony to discuss all the duties that we would need them to assist us with in getting the fuel over to the Island daily for the generators along with supplies for the team. The Hexbeam was delivered to the hotel, and the generators have been checked over for collection later.


DAY 6 - REPORT

Well the guys a little too busy today to give us any feedback, understandably they need to crack on with things at their side. I the meantime just a little addition to say that all is well and team arrived safely on Aturo Island. They have been very busy setting up and managed to get one station on the air around 10.45 UTC when they appeared on 21295.00. Signals were very good and gave a full 4 1/2 hours where the signals were 57 to 58 with me in Yorkshire (on my Hexbeam (MW0JZE build!). Tim, Steve and Ant were operating and had a huge pile-up resulting in a 5-20kc split at times. Tim and Oliver are concentrating on getting the Hexbeams up and we expect another update later today when they have time.

Well done guys, keep it up, a good start!



DAY 8 - REPORT

We have just received some news from Col, MM0NDX, the pilot station.

The team have lost one of the generators (possible breakdown) so they are limited with what they do at the minute. They are also hoping to get to the internet cafe to upload logs and get any news back to us here in the UK.

We will advise when more is forthcoming.

The first logs from 4W6A are now on line at http://www.4w6a.com/qsl-information/log-search.html

 

 

DAY 9 REPORT (.....troubles in Paradise )

The guys had troubles with the 20M station yesterday evening with several reports of very bad audio. The Pilot tried to make contact but without initial success. We hope now the situation is sorted. Here are a few lines from yesterday which try to explain yesterdays events and dont forget to check the Logsearch (click here) although uploads may only be every few days due to local internet and access issues;

''The main reason why contacts have been a little slow is that we had a malfunction with a transceiver, particulary on RTTY & SSB. We are now running without back up.

Due to a power failure not all the logs synchronised all QSO's logged for the upload. They are all showing on the network but did not all download. This will be rectified on next download/upload.''

Currently the team are experiencing difficulties on the 75/80M band from a yet unknown source. They will be back on 80M tonight (19th),or earlier if the issue is resolved, looking to work North America. Also, the generator issues are still hampering the team, so limited stations are the order.

As mentioned above, even now at 1530UTC there is still an issue with uploads to the 4W6A DXpedition log, there are qso's missing, but this DOES NOT mean you are NOT in the log. Hopefully, the problem will be resolved soon, but if in any doubt, please work 4W6A again. The team are working hard to get these jobs sorted but those of you who have been on these trips will realise how difficult it can be when you are in a foreign place without the comforts of home, please be patient!




DAY 10 - REPORT

The problems the team had with the audio on the 20M station rig was finally resolved yesterday. A chat with a team member said that it was in fact an issue with one of the K3's but after a full reset to 'factory defaults' it seemed to cure the problem. Up to yesterday evening (19th September) the team had logged just short of 15,000 qso's - Great job!!!

Further from the team (1030am UTC);

Next log upload in few hours. Partial log uploads only, due to generator issues. Feel free to work them again if you wish to confirm the band slots. The Internet is so unreliable, almost to the point of unuseable.

They will be QRV on 80 and 160 tonight for EU but still a very high noise level on 80, moreso than 160 which at this stage cannot be resolved.

Many thanks to everyone for their kind words and support in the last few days of problems.



DAY 11 - REPORT

Conditions continue to be good, though perhaps not quite as spectacularly good as on 16 and 17 September. As of 1130UTC today, 20 September, 4W6A has made approximately 18.5k QSOs.

We are aware that approximately 1000 CW QSOs made on the morning of 18 September on 20m and 30m are missing from the online log on Clublog. We hope to include these QSOs in future log uploads, but to be absolutely certain of a 'good QSO' you are invited to make another contact if you cannot find your call in our online log.

Last night was the first night without any local noise on 160m, and over 250 QSOs were made on topband to North America, including some East Coast contacts, to Europe as far west as the British Isles, and to Japan.  We should be on 160m each night now until 25 September.

We have received some reports of poor modulation quality on one of our SSB stations. We appreciate the feedback: the problem has now been solved. It would seem that the audio settings of one of the K3 transceivers had mysteriously changed in transit and we have now reverted to the factory default settings.


DAY 14 - REPORT


IMPORTANT UPDATE.... PLEASE READ.
This message was recieved from the Team yesterday as major problems were still being made as more qso's were uploaded. Yesterday for example, the 12M qso's from the previous day were all OK in the Logsearch. After the next upload however later in the day, most of the 12m Qso's were overwritten and NONE showed in the log.
PLEASE be patient. They guys are aware of the problem and the Pilot has hundreds of emails complaining about missing qso's. We have problems even contacting the team so as you can imagine, ammending logs is not possible at all at the moment. We understand that the main log is fine and the fault is with the partial updating. The full logs will be updated as soon as they have a stable internet connection and then we expect all the issues to be resolved;


'''16:36 UTC 23/09/2011
IMPORTANT UPDATE.... PLEASE READ.

It would again appear a problem with uploading logs from the jungle has taken place. We are attempting to establish comms with the team to ascertain exactly what the problem is, but for the moment we suggest all ops with "missing QSO data" keep details of your contact(s). As soon as we clarify the issue, the 4W6A website will be updated. ''

73 from/OBO Team 4W6A

DAY 15 - REPORT

73 from/OBO Team 4W6A