One of the projects we embarked on for the expedition was to take a 4-square antenna for 40m with us. Then we added 30m to the mix as well. These two antennas have really taken the stations capabilities to the next level. Without the 40m one in particular our SSB activities towards Europe would have been very difficult indeed.

During the CQ WW RTTY contest the 40m 4-square was invaluable in trying to separate the simplex pileup on RTTY as well. The power to switch in 20-30dB front to back and add gain to the signal was fantastic.

40m 4-Square

Oly VK5XDX took the lead in developing the 40m 4-square antenna and did a fantastic job. Based on 4x 12m fibreglass fishing poles, he used an elevated radial system to maximise efficiency.The controller and phase shifter was all home brewed especially for this expedition.

What we hadn’t bargained on initially, but which has been invaluable in the expedition has been the power to take one of the 40m elements by day and tune it to 15m as an omni. We used this to great effect to enable multiple high band stations on the air at the same time using the antennas we had.

30m 4-Square

The 30m 4-square was the brainchild of Steve VK5SFA. Using similar fundamental designs as 40m, Steve developed this antenna using 10m fibre glass fishing poles. Again an elevated radial system was used and results were also impressive.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize on this antenna for a long. Initially due to running out of space on the site, we installed it across the driveway. That proved a problem when rapid access was required for the fire truck. After hastily being lowered to the ground, it was decided to re-erect it as a single 30m vertical which is what we have run for the rest of the expedition. It was disappointing that we couldn’t use it longer but it worked great when it was in the air.

We also made a modification to this antenna and found that it could be made to run on 10m with a 100:50ohm transformer and a tweak to the element length. It was great to be able to multi-purpose these antennas on site during the expedition.

 

The team has today passed 12,800 contacts with 123 DXCC Worked.We wish to express our sincere appreciation to amateurs around the world who have taken the time to make contact with us. We have had a lot of fun doing so, including opening some unusual slots such as RTTY and PSK yesterday. The feedback received has been amazing to our little expedition so thank you very much indeed for your support.

A reminder too that we are going to be looking for All Time New Ones (ATNOs) today and tomorrow. We want to give the little stations a chance to get Tonga into their logs for the very first time.

Thanks to our Sponsors

We must again say a huge thank you to our sponsors and supporters. SpiderBeam, RF Solutions, Messi & Paoloni, HF Radio Solutions, European DX Foundation (EUDXF), Swiss DX Foundation (SDXF), Clipperton DX Foundation (CDXC-F), Clipperton UK DX Foundation, German DX Foundation (GDXF) and RSGB. A huge thank you to our individual donors as well. We will acknowledge all donations once we get to New Zealand and have 5 minute spare 🙂

With less than 48 hours to go before we close, pack up and return to Australia our thoughts have turned to what remaining bands and modes we have operators, equipment and antenna combinations for.

Remaining Operating Plans

30m: We know we have requests for more 30m and plan to fill those with station 2 during the Oceania DX SSB contest running FT8 or CW.

160m: We will also make an attempt either tonight (Friday) or Saturday around 1000-1100z for 160m either CW or FT8 seeking eastern North America

80m: We will try and find one more window for 80m FT8 as well (and who knows perhaps even 80m RTTY). Look out after 1130z tonight.

40m: SSB to VK tonight starting sometime after 0900z

Opportunities during the Oceania DX Contest

A35JT will operate this year during the Oceania DX contest on SSB. This will be your last opportunity to work us. Look out in particular for:

20m: We also have requests for more 20m SSB to Europe which again we will look for during Saturday and Sunday evenings here on Tonga (06-12z + 18zboth days).

40m: Europe Sunset greyline

80m: We will be operating 75m SSB one more time also during the OCDX SSB Contest particularly for North America.

It has been a busy 3 days here in Tonga and we now have over 3000 contacts in the log. The station build has taken longer than anticipated. However we finally have the three stations operational since Wednesday night local time. We will be stepping up our efforts to target Europe and USA east coast from Thursday, particularly after the team gets some rest following the build.

Progress Report

So far we have seen success to Europe on 160m greyline FT8 and CW as well as to North America on their Sunrise. We are also seeing Europe at 1800z short path 20m and on 17m in the Tongan evening hours. We will look for North America on 15m during the day today as well. We have added an 80m inverted V as well in the coconut trees to see if we can get both 80 and 160m running concurrently. We will announce more openings we see over the next 24hrs.

Conditions were very good on Wednesday from 17m and below. We have yet to look at the higher bands but will start those today.

We have two remaining station bugs we will have to work around. One is that the HF is knocking out the internet (we are on a DSL line here). So we are seeing frequent dropouts (particularly on 30m where the phone line and antennas are very close together). The other is that we had a power supply failure on one of the laptops, so we are having to hot swap the power supply back and forth between station 2 and 3 when they are both running. If we vanish suddenly it could be we didnt swap it fast enough 🙂

6m Moonbounce Success

We have also been experimenting with 6m EME. The station here is small compared to the big stations in NA and EU but we are very pleased to have worked 21 stations so far with a couple more days to run. Based on what we are seeing on the lowwer bands, today might be hard for EME if the Sporadic E that was around last week manifests itself again. Will have to wait and see… A more detailed report on EME will be prepared in a day or two’s time. A huge thank you to our individual donors towards the 6m EME part of the activity too. Many of you have been successful in making contact with Tonga and claiming a 6m ATNO in the process. While we are still relative newcomers to EME, it has been great to see the support we have received. The feedback we have had has kept us going even when we were ready to give up so thank you for the positive comments,

Conclusion

The team is in good spirits and is raring to get on the air and call CQ! We hooe to get you in the log! We are indebted to our sponsors, SpiderBeam who supported us with the mast hardware we use on the 6m beam, the Hex Beam and the multi-band vertical. Also to RF Solutions (Brisbane)  and Messi and Paoloni (Italy)  who helped with the coaxial cables plus HF Radio Solutions (Renmark) for our Codan 3020 power supplies,

We must also again thank our donors EUDXF, German DX Foundation, Swiss DX Foundation , CDXC-France, CDXC-UK and RSGB. Without your support the 4-square antennas would not have made it to the island due to the transport costs.

Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has given us an individual donation. Every amount helps and your support of our endeavours to bring Tonga to the airwaves for you is greatly appreciated.