[VHFcontesting] DM02 San Clemente Island FM

[nosigma at aol.com]

Off the island and back in DC.  So close to pulling this off.  I had only about 15 minutes of air time on Thursday in DM02 late morning.   Our ops schedule changed daily.  I did not clearance to work at 50W but I did at 5W.  Worked day and night ops for the full week.  Work, chow and sleep took priority.

On 8 Aug at 0138 local (early Thursday morning) I posted that I would be on the air "tomorrow" 1630-1730 local which was taken as Friday the 9th, I should have said Thursday since technically tomorrow at 0138 would be Friday.  

Setting up for Thursday ops I had a short break in the late morning and called CQ with the HT on 146.520.  I immediately  got one reply with a 5-9+ report from LA,.  Ducting was awesome.


We FINEXed at 1630 Thursday as planned but rather than get on the air I needed to haul dudes back to the chow hall so they could eat before RTB (I had the only 6pax truck).  By the time I got done with that (1900) the range was closed and I was stuck at 200' in DM03 (a common grid) instead of DM02 at 1,100 ft.

I hope to go back out in November and bring an SSB/FM rig with a tape measure Yagi Uda for 2m and try again.

73
John
KM4KMU 


On Thursday, August 8, 2019 nosigma <nosigma at aol.com> wrote:

Tomorrow. I will be on the air 1630 to 1730 west coast time calling CQ from DM02 FM 146.520.  5W HT.  

Hope to hear someone.  QSL cards will be sent.

73
JOHN
KM4KMU
On Saturday, July 20, 2019 John Young via VHFcontesting <nosigma at aol.com> wrote:
I will be spending a couple weeks working on SCI, July 27-Aug 8.  I plan on bringing my FT-60 (5w) and an extendable whip/tiger tail antenna.  Its between 65 and 80 miles to the California coast in an arc from LA down to San Diego.  About half of the time I will be on the south end of the island (DM02) at 1,000'.
Work comes first (day and night) but I should have time to try some Scheduled simplex Q's if anyone is interested. The heavy lift will be on your end.  If you have a beam on FM this should be an easy shot, I work 5w HT's at longer distances during contests from my Jeep.  With only a 15lb baggage limit packing for a 3 week trip (1 in SD, 2 on SCI) is a challenge so I can only afford the weight of the HT.  I wish I could have taken a beam and the 991A for SSB work, maybe next time.
If anyone wants to try a Q, send a text to me at 703 678 6795 AND an email to nosigma at aol.com.  Its been a few years since I have been out there but I understand the island now has spotty cell coverage around Wilson Cove (a huge improvement) and I can get email at the BOQ computers which I will check every couple of days.  If anyone knows of a good coastal 2m repeater that would be a great place to meet up while we try to make simplex work, so pass the freq & tones.  I will take a couple island pics and make up a custom QSL card to send out.
73JohnKM4KMU 
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