IOTA 2017 once again provides a great opportunity to work some big DX. This year we decided to run two separate stations, and just work as many as we could while having some fun on the bands. The weather forecast on Saturday afternoon was not good, and so we concentrated on getting the operating tent and antenna setup first thing before the rain.
George M1GEO operated his Icom 7700 and Expert 1.3K FA while I operated my Icom 7600 and Expert 1.3K FA. Both stations were capable of operating at full legal power. We setup the following antenna for the weekend.
3e beam 10/15/20m bands
1/4 wave vertical 40m
Dipole for 80m
Here you can see John M0IDA (operating) and Peter G0IAP.
Band conditions have been somewhat variable, but by the evening’s things have usually improved. The tri band beam performed well, providing some good DX on all bands, and it was nice to see some openings on 10m.
We shut the stations down overnight, as this was more of a fun event with an opportunity to work some stations. In the morning the weather improved, the mostly sunny conditions dried out the tents and made the pack down quite pleasurable. We also had a nice visit from Geoff G0DDX and Linda G0TPX who both assisted with the pack down.
In total George worked 500, and I worked 400, with some nice DX.
Most notable being CV7S Uruguay, YB5BOY Indonesia, PW7I Brazil, PJ4DX Bonaire, YW450ARV Venezuela, 8P2K Barbados and KH7XS Hawaii.
You can view the KML file for my QSO here.
Thanks to everyone we worked, the preferred method of QSL is via LoTW but via the RSGB bureau is also available if required.