DX-Venture to The Bahamas III – November 2005

Preparation may not be everything, but it sure helps. My previous two trips to The Bahamas had ended with mixed results and I was determined that this trip be a success.

The objective was to mount a DX-Venture to operate the CQ WW DX contest from a non-US location, and because of the excellent opportunities for chasing the elusive and worthy bonefish, The Bahamas had become the destination of choice. Grand Bahama Island is 75 miles from the Florida coast so it is easy to reach from the US , their currency is pegged to the US dollar, and the electricity is 100 VAC and is on all the time. Propagation to Europe is excellent and, of course, as part of North America , contacts with other NA stations would be worth 2 points.

Our hosts were North Point Riding Club, owned by some wealthy individuals as a private bonefishing retreat. Because of low usage and the need to cover expenses, when not reserved by the owners, the club’s 7 units are available to outsiders, much as any lodge or hotel would be. In addition, because of the lengthy drive to Freeport , excellent meals are prepared and served by the club’s staff. Bottom line, it’s an excellent location for the XYL too.

Preparations revolved chiefly around assuring redundancy. On the last trip, my IC-706MKIIG’s audio amp had blown and I was out of business only a few hours into the contest. Last Spring I built an Elecraft K2 complete with 100 watt amp and antenna tuner. With the original rig too, I was covered. I also took along an extra manual tuner just to be safe.

Finally, after spending too much time erecting antennas on a previous trip, I decided to operate 20 meters only. With the band not open for 24 hours, I was assured some sleep time. Propagation planning with the various programs showed excellent openings to most of the globe with the exception of Southeast Asia .

That meant that the antenna issues were simplified. I am a fan of Moxon antennas and so I built and tested one at home. On our previous trip I had shipped a 32 foot Aluminum mast and had carried 4-20 foot fiberglass fishing poles that were the framework that supported the antenna. These had been left at the club, so all I needed to take was the wire. I also took along a 32 foot extendable mast to be used as support for a dipole. We aren’t forgetting redundancy, are we? I also wanted to do a little casual operating on 30 and 40 meters so I took dipoles for those bands.

The Moxon worked great with a lot of S9 reports from all over the world.  It also LOOKED good, as this picture of sunrise shows.

We arrived a few days before the event which left time to get antennas sorted out and try my station. Operating with the dipoles, I made over 500 QSOs including 3 to VK6 on 30 meters. On Friday, the wind subsided and the mast and Moxon were erected. A few casual contacts demonstrated that it was effective with true S8 and S9 signal reports coming in from Europe .

At 0000, 7PM local time, the contest began and I had done OK nailing down a frequency. I managed 120 contacts the first hour which was fine given the pandemonium. Things quickly settled down and after another hour of contesting, I hit the sack. I arose about 6:30AM and the band wasn’t open all that strongly to Europe but it wasn’t long that the signals came up and we were off to the races again. I was able to maintain good run rates, not possible as a little pistol from W6. I was not attempting to set any records and took time off for walking on the beach with my wife and to show up at mealtime.

We did get a 2200 projected opening to Japan but only managed 13 contacts plus VK and ZL and not a peep was heard from any of the HS stations. At that point, it seemed as if European 3 point contacts were just as valuable as JA’s, and a lot easier. When I shut down in the evening, I had achieved more than 1,000 Qs, more than I anticipated.

On Sunday morning at 6:30AM the band was open with strong signals and I realized that I should have arisen sooner. At some point in time, every contest reaches the point where you have already contacted everyone in sight and you need fresh targets. This is especially true when you are operating on only one band. So I was wondering how long the run would last.

It turned out that there was a strong if sporadic flow of new stations, or those who remembered 20 meters and I ended up with 1,438 Qs. I had no particular expectations, so was pleased with that. I did have a goal to work 100 entities, which I thought I did but the scorekeepers said 99.  I managed 29zones, all but the ones in Central Asia .

What was amazing was to look at the 3830 reflector and see how many M/M DXpedition stations had over 5,000 Q’s that I should have heard or should have heard me, but we didn’t connect. The disappointment was totally missing anything happening in the Asian zones although I did make an effort to turn the beam that way, obviously not at the right time.

I seriously commend single band operation to anyone who is not up to the rigor of a total commitment to a 40 hour contest. I only operated about 23 hours, and certainly could have racked up more Qs had I just gotten up earlier and gone to bed a little later. But 1,438 was enough and I am pleased with the effort, and certainly the fun of earning DXCC in less than 24 hours of operating. It is also fun to be a sought after commodity operating from a desirable QTH. After all, I’m sure I was the only C6 contact with a number of those I contacted.

Even more fun was the fact that this was a Field Day type operation with most of the hardware going through airport security in my carry-on luggage. I did have the Moxon’s mast there already but other than that, it all went with me. I think that this demonstrates that anyone can do this. You don’t need to rent a big contest station to have fun and there are a number of locations, particularly in the Caribbean that can host such an operation. There certainly a number of entities that were not represented in this contest.

Finally, the fishing was excellent. The north side of Grand Bahama Island is one of the best places in the world for catching trophy bonefish. I caught a dozen fish, four of them over 5 pounds and the largest, a 10 pounder, is held in this photo by my guide Stanley.

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