VQ93JC(Chagos Islands) on 20m CW!!!

VQ93JC(Chagos Islands) on 20m CW!!!

VQ93JC  Chagos Islands  Jim Clary QTH: Fire House Park Diego Garcia Chagos Islands [+] Mailing label
Lookups:   1450
Email: Use mouse to view.. QSL: VIA ND9M

20130705 14033kHz 1519UTC VQ93JC
Date : 05/Jul/2013 1519UTC 
Freq : 14033kHz CW
Rig  : SDR(PI4THT)
ANT  : Mini-Whip(PAØRDT)
PC recording

Lookups 1450 (1944) QRZ Admin ND9M Last Update 2013-06-29 16:19:28 Latitude -7.268700 (7° 16' 7'' S) Longitude 72.375100 (72° 22' 30'' E) Grid Square MI62er Geo Source User supplied Bearing 247.3° WSW (from JJ5IZX) Distance 4910.7 mi (7903.0 km) Long Path 19946.1 mi (32100.2 km) Sunrise 01:23:35 UTC Sunset 13:06:15 UTC ITU Zone 41 CQ Zone 39 IOTA AF-006 Diego Garcia Island QSL Info VIA ND9M QSL by Mail? Yes (e.g. Will this ham QSL by Postal Mail?) Other Callsigns Alias Comment VQ9JC Apply for a new Vanity callsign...

My regular callsign is VQ9JC, and the comms officer that handles licensing at the Brit Rep's office was kind enough to issue VQ93JC for use from 22 June through 07 July 2013. This is my 7th annual special prefix callsign operation. I'm not celebrating anything in particular other than being able to be on the air from Diego Garcia, known as the "Footprint to Freedom". The second number in my call simply indicates the year.

I operate as a portable station at the Fire House Park which has a covered picnic table, 120 VAC, and plenty of trees for me to use for supporting my antennas. The rig is usually a Yaesu FT-857D, but it failed several weeks before this special callsign became active. Fortunately, there was enough time for my XYL, Cori (KK4CGA), to ship my home rig, an FT-897D, to me to use.

I live on a merchant marine ship in the Diego Garcia Lagoon. My job is the Radio Electronics Officer (REO) for the ship. Since contacts made from the ship are not valid for DXCC, I carry all of my equipment (rig, antennas, power supply, coax, laptop, multimeter, tools, etc.) in a backpack with me to the island and set up at the park.

I have two support lines (150-pound test fishing line) that I use for hoisting and supporting my dipoles at about 30 feet / 10 meters. I can have only one antenna up ata time, so when I change bands, I have to lower the current antenna, connect the antenna for the new band, and hoist it up. Sometimes I change band four or five times during an evening, so I get a lot of practice!

Each trip to and from the island plus setting up and breaking down the station takes about two hours. That is a lot of time to spend to be on the air for only three or four hours. But I am the only ham in VQ9 at this time, so I feel that I should do what I can to be QRV.

I operate occasionally from the ship, but when I do, each and every contact is made with my callsign appended with "/MM" so that there is no mistake about where I am operating. I don't want anyone working me from the ship and thinking they got a "new one". All QSLs will clearly indicate whether the contacts were made from the ship or from the island