GB2BLE Lundy Island DXpedition 2010
Location
This years operation was based at Government House on Lundy Island, although additional accommodation and antenna support was provided at or by Old House North. The following information will be of interest to Radio Hams:
- Lat/Long: 51.165213°,-4.664307°
- IARU IO71qd
- IOTA EU-120 (English Coastal Islands)
- WAB (Worked All Britain) SS14 England
- North Light: NATS (Navigational Aid to Shipping)/ALLRN (Admiralty List of Lights Reference Number) A5616
- Old Light: NATS (Navigational Aid to Shipping)/ALLRN (Admiralty List of Lights Reference Number) A5617 (Not Operational)
- South Light: NATS (Navigational Aid to Shipping)/ALLRN (Admiralty List of Lights Reference Number) A5618
- Jetty Head: NATS (Navigational Aid to Shipping)/ALLRN (Admiralty List of Lights Reference Number) A5619
- WWFF (The World Wide Flora and Fauna Programme) GFF-103
The Team
This years DXpedition took place between 11 September – 18 September. The team comprised:
- Peter G0DRX;
- Matt G0ECM;
- Julia SWL;
- Mike G0MEM;
- Steve G0UQT;
- Norman G4NFS; and
- Andy G7KNA
We based our operations at Government House as described above, although Matt and Julja were billeted in Old House North which also served as support to the end of the long wire antenna.
This setup provided a total length of about 75 metres (250 feet).
Departure time from Bideford meant a very early start from Bristol, and many of the team didn't actually get any sleep on Friday night except for whatever nap they got in the mini bus on the way down. Consequently there was limited enthusiasm for putting stations together on the Saturday afternoon.
Station construction took place in earnest on Sunday morning. The main station comprised our tried and trusted equipment:
- Yaesu FT-847
- SGC Auto Tuner
- Watson 25A Switch Mode Power Supply
- Yaesu Desk Mic
New to this years set up was the addition of a data station. This comprised:
- Watson Power Mite 22A Switch Mode Power Supply
- Yaesu FT-857D
- LDG Z-11 Pro Auto ATU
- Diamond SX-600 Power/SWR Meter
- Tigertronics SignaLink USB
- Acer Aspire One running Ubuntu operating via FLDigi
The choice of antenna for the data station was something of an experiment, starting out with a Buddipole derivative, this was replaced by a half wave 30m wire dipole suspended off 3 roach poles and fed with coax via the ATU. Frankly the wire dipole seemed the better antenna although in fairness it had the advantage of height.
Our video footage shows some of the highlights of the week, more is available on our YouTube Channel.
Due to sailing times on the Saturday of departure and the requirement to be packed ready for luggage transfer we had to dismantle the station on Friday evening.