DL7DF
Sigi Presch - DL7DF and Crew DXpeditions
DXpeditioning since 1993
DXpedition
Diary
January
2002
The QSLs have arrived from the printer and they are rolling out now! These
are some 1,400 letters with a weight of appr. 20 kg:
January
2002
This is the preview of our QSL card. They are going to be printed in mid
January.
Tuesday
16, 2001
The team arrived very well and safe back home. The final QSO statistics
are:
Bands and Modes CW SSB RTTY PSK31 Total
---------------------------------------------------------
160m 1 0 0 0 1
80m 382 18 0 0 400
40m 638 20 0 0 658
30m 1520 0 0 0 1520
20m 1273 1025 54 0 2352
17m 2215 980 0 0 3195
15m 1560 715 400 10 2685
12m 1702 1194 0 0 2898
10m 2249 1159 149 3 3560
6m 284 50 0 0 334
---------------------------------------------------------
Total 11824 5161 603 13 17601
Continents CW SSB RTTY PSK31 Total
---------------------------------------------------------
North America 15.1% 7.0% 6.8% 7.7% 9.2%
South America 2.5% 3.0% 0.8% 0.0% 1.6%
Europe 61.6% 66.1% 55.4% 92.3% 68.9%
Asia 19.7% 20.9% 36.0% 0.0% 19.1%
Africa 0.5% 1.4% 0.2% 0.0% 0.5%
Oceania 0.6% 1.6% 0.8% 0.0% 0.7%
---------------------------------------------------------
1-Band QSOs: 5512
2-Band QSOs: 531
3-Band QSOs: 738
4-Band QSOs: 420
5-Band QSOs: 250
6-Band QSOs: 131
7-Band QSOs: 58
8-Band QSOs: 17
9-Band QSOs: 1
Please send your QSL's for 3DAØDF and 3DAØFR via DL7DF.
Saturday
13, 2001
The DXpedition is over and the team is on the way back home. Unfortunately,
the low band conditions were totally dissatisfying but we hope that we
could provide you new country or mode or band country. We would be glad
that you sign our guestbook!
Thursday,
Oct 11, 2001
The lowband conditions are simply terrible! Not one QSO on 80m in the
past nights!!! Only 4 QSOs with South America on 40m... Can you imagine
this? We have 14,000 QSOs in the log now and try to reach the 20k before
we leave.
Tuesday,
Oct 9, 2001
We try to solve the problems with the deaf 6m receiver. Further pictures
added to the 3DAØ Pictures Page!
Monday,
Oct 8, 2001
Conditions are still very, very poor for us. We can hardly hear any signals
on 80m and 160m. We call and call and call CQ - only 2 QSOs on 80 in one
night... Very good and long 6m opening on Saturday. We are having serious
receiving problems - the receiver seems to be deaf. We are working on
it.
Friday,
Oct 5, 2001
Conditions are still very, very poor. We call CQ all nights long n´but
nothing is happening. The bands seem to open at 14 local time. 120 QSOs
could be made on 6m on Wednesday.
We had a
meeting with the locals Willy, 3DAØBD and Andy, 3DA1BD and learned
a lot about ham radio in Swaziland. There is actually only a handful of
hams here, some 20 OM's and
YL's. All 3DAØ callsigns are class 1 licenses. All 3DA1 callsigns
are class 2 and may be used only on VHF and up. No CW is needed for the
class 1 license. The club has its problems with arriving QSLs from DXpeditions.
They can't answer these cards and it's very expensive to forward them
to the DXpedition managers. But they would nevertheless do it for us.
So, send your QSLs for 3DAØDF and 3DAØFR only (repeat: only!) via DL7DF and not via the 3DA radio club!
Another important
item is we see when we look at the cluster spots:
Do not mix up the call signs 3DAØDF and 3DAØFR!
- We use 3DAØDF on CW and RTTY and
- We use 3DAØFR on SSB
Surprisingly, 10m and 12m opened already at 10.00 local kitchen time yesterday. Sigi is currentlly on 10m/SSB, Rainer on 12m/CW. The R7 has found a new location yesterday. We talked to the hotel manager and could "abuse" a mast pole. We have additional coax and wire to further improve the antenna situation.
One problem with the power supply occured this morning. We had suddenly 264 V. The equipment survived.
Further pictures added to the 3DAØ Pictures Page.
Thursday,
Oct 4, 2001
Conditions were totally down during the first days - only 3000 QSOs. Hardly
anything between 6.00 and 12.00 UTC. The first night on 80m brought some
100 stations into the log, including a few U.S. but no JA yet. But there
are also good news: the food is fantastic and this is probably our first
DXpedition where we will return home with over-weight... There were good
conditions into Europe on 6m yesterday. Let's hope it continues.
Dan, 3DAØAA, visited us yesterday. A meeting with the local hams is planned.
We have put
another set of photos on the 3DAØ Pictures
Page. And we would also be glad that you sign
our guestbook!
Sunday,
Sep 30, 2001
The team has arrived very well and without any major problems in the Mountain
Inn Hotel. The baggage and equipment has previously been checked in Berlin
before departure. The equipment has then been transferred from Johannisburg
to Manzini. Nothing got lost this time!
We used the day to build the antennas. The manager of the Mountain Inn Hotel was really helpful and courteous. We have got another room for the 6m station, it is located at the highest place of the hotel. The food is excellent, the beer is first-rate. We now wait till 0 local time. The power voltage is OK - 243 V - which let's the amplifiers run at 800 Watt with 20 Watt drive power. The climate is well, cold at night-time, no air condition needed. The team is happy!
First spots of 3DAØDF at 2218 UTC on 30m. We will use 3DAØDF on CW and the digital modes, 3DAØFR on SSB. Pictures will be available on the 3DAØ Pictures Page during the Expedition.
Friday,
Sep 28, 2001
The team left Germany today and is supposed to arrive in Swaziland tomorrow
at 17 UTC. They are staying at the Mountain Inn. Look at: www.mountaininn.sz.
(News updated by DF3CB)
Log Search
We would
like to express our thanks to the following sponsors for supporting
our DXpedition:
- NCDXF - Northern California DX Foundation
- GDXF - German DX Foundation
- EUDXF - European DX Foundation
- CDXC - Chiltern DX Club
- UKSMG - UK Six Metre Group
- QSL-Shop (www.qsl-shop.com)
- B & B Westafrika Spezialist
- The Mountain Inn Hotel, Swaziland
Information
Sigi Preschor via the German QSL bureau DARC to DL7DF.
DL7DF
Wilhelmsmuehlenweg 123
D-12621 Berlin
Germany
DF3CB
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