Cambridge University Wireless Society in St. Pierre et Miquelon

12/09/2017

Next week the Cambridge University Wireless Society will be active from Ile-aux-Marins in St. Pierre et Miquelon (FP). It’s IOTA NA-032.

Look for FP/DH5FS, FP/DK2AB , FP/G3ZAY, FP/G7VJR, FP/M0BLF, FP/M0WUT, FP/M0ZXA on 160m-10m and maybe also 6m.

We should be QRV from the island by late afternoon local time on Monday 18th and we’ll be QRT on the morning of Friday 22nd. Sorry this is weekdays only, but flights were limited. QSLs will be via homecalls.

We will not have mobile phone coverage (no UK operators have roaming agreements with FP) and it’s unlikely we’ll have internet access so you’ll need to rely on the DX Cluster to find us. We are, however, planning frequent log uploads to LotW and Clublog via an Iridium set (Tnx M0VFC). You can also keep an eye on my Twitter () for updates as I can also tweet via Iridium.

The place where we are staying is a small, uninhabited island off the coast of St. Pierre that’s off-grid: there’s no drinking water, only well water for washing, and just a 1.5kW generator.

We’re planning to run up to 4 stations but only one will have a linear (which will be power-restricted due to the limited generator capacity). We’re using the usual K3 / KX3 mix with mainly vertical antennas on fibreglass poles + G7VJR’s Juma amp. Due to the power restrictions, I’m also expecting operation to be mainly CW but there will be some SSB and possibly also FT8.

While we’re there, and weather-permitting, a group of us are planning a day-trip to activate SOTA FP/FP-002, which will be the first activation of a SOTA in the FP Association.

07/09/2017

Six years on from our first trip, we're going back to FP!
FP/DH5FS, FP/DK2AB, FP/G3ZAY, FP/G7VJR, FP/M0BLF, FP/M0ZXA will be active from 18-22 September on 160m-10m, and maybe some 6m too. Keep watching our page for updates...

02/10/2011

We're on TV! The report that was filmed on Tuesday was broadcast last evening on the St. Pierre et Miquelon news. You can watch it online (in French). Our piece starts 2 mins 51 seconds in.

01/10/2011

M0BLF's photos from the DXpedition

Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world, securely and privately show content to your friends and family, or blog the photos and videos you take with a cameraphone.

01/10/2011

We're back in Britain. Our final QSO total was 17,520 contacts in 124 countries, with 9272 different callsigns logged. If you were one of them, thanks for helping to make the activation so successful.

29/09/2011

Local radio amateur Jean-Pierre FP5CJ visited our hotel for breakfast this morning.
Left to right: M0BLF, M0TOC, G3ZAY, FP5CJ, M0VFC, M1BXF, G4EAG

28/09/2011

A quick run down of the kit list here in FP...

The K3 and FT-450 are connected to linear amplifiers to give them a little more power (typically about 300W), but the IC-7000 and IC-706 are barefoot at around 100W.

28/09/2011

Here's a few clips of how things sound from our end - these are actually some of the smaller pile-ups

27/09/2011

If you’ve worked us already – thank you! It’s been great to hear so many people, many of them working us on several bands, and often several of us as well. You guys make it worth coming here!

If you haven’t worked us yet, here’s a few tips that make both your and our life much easier:

1) The big one: if you’re trying to work us, and we have a pile-up, make sure you know our callsign before calling. We’re all giving our calls either every QSO, or every other one. In any case, it’s not going to be more than a few seconds until you hear it. It’s immensely frustrating to have to break the pile-up for someone who doesn’t even know who they’re calling.

2)Use your full callsign, not just a couple of letters when you’re calling: if you’ve not been on the receiving end of a pile-up, you might not realise just how much better full callsigns are than partials. Trust us when we say it gives you a better chance of getting through, and speeds things up for everyone!

3)If we’re sounding a lonely on the band, we’ll probably appreciate a brief chat to let us know the antennas hasn’t fallen over (again). However, if the pile-up is so big that we’re split over a range of frequencies, we don’t need your QTH, equipment, and life story! A quick signal report is just fine, and it gives everyone else a chance of working us.

4)When we ask for someone with a partial callsign, only call if your callsign matches (or is very close to) the one we ask for. Note that “IZ1ABC” is not similar to “the Kilowatt Nine station again?”

If you’ve not seen it already, have a read of the DX Code of Conduct – amateurs everywhere will appreciate it!

27/09/2011

Before the expedition started, we set our Twitter followers a quiz. Noone has given us the answer yet, so here are the questions again, this time on Facebook:
1) How do radio amateurs wish each other 'best wishes'?
2) You might need Wikipedia today. In kms, how far are Langlade and St. Pierre from Green Island (Newfoundland)?
3) In km2, what is the area of Miquelon-Langlade?
4) In the 2006 census, what was the population of the commune of Miquelon-Langlade?
5) In kms, how far is Miquelon-Langlade from St. Pierre?
6) Which year in the 19th century (last two digits only) saw Napoleon's second abdication, and hence the islands' return to France?
7) How many operators are in our team going to FP?
8) How many people live on Langlade all year?
9) During summer, how many hours is FP behind UTC?
10) What is the IOTA Reference of St Pierre & Miquelon: NA-###?
Add all the answers to get a number, which is relevant to St Pierre and Miquelon. We have a small prize for the first person to tell us the total's relevance during an SSB QSO.

27/09/2011

The amazingly clear night sky at 02:00 local time this morning.

26/09/2011

Video blog for 25th September - See our antennas and station equipment.

25/09/2011

Video blog for 24th September - See us arriving, setting up and making the first contact.

Vlog from the Cambridge University Wireless Society DXpedition on St Pierre et Miquelon, 24th September 2011.

24/09/2011

Timelapse video of us erecting the antennas on the beach in Miquelon this morning.

23/09/2011

The team has made it as far as Saint Pierre, but due to dense fog, the onward flight to Miquelon was cancelled. All being well, we'll take the boat over in the morning.

Tom, M0TOC, has actually beaten us slightly, and is already at the Motel de Miquelon, apparently enjoying a rather nice meal with Patricia!

16/09/2011

From 23rd-30th September 2011, Cambridge University Wireless Society are going to St Pierre et Miquelon. We'll be vlogging here on YouTube while we're there.

12/09/2011

For the last 10 days until we leave, we'll tweet one question per day. Each answer is a number. Add all of the answers together and the total has some relevance to FP or to the trip. If you are the 1st person to tell us that relevance during an SSB QSO with any of us (not CW; the op may not be able to copy the explanation!), you'll win a small prize. There's no need to join Twitter: just keep an eye on the link below as we depart.

27/08/2011

The DXpedition is on Twitter

Sign up for Twitter to follow CUWS in FP (). From 23rd - 30th September 2011, five members of Cambridge University Wireless Society are on a DXpedition to Saint Pierre et Miquelon.

27/08/2011

Less than one month to go...