PJ5 - Saba & St. Eustatius Isl. on 60m by Rudi, DK7PE

Hi folks,

27Feb24 Rudi left his last QTH at Anguilla and moved to Saba & St. Eustatius Isl. For the first time he built his antennas and appeared on the 30m as usual. Also, I found some spot on the HF bands, so I watched him impatiently on 60m.

Finaly at the midnight Rudi came to 60m band CW and called on 5353kHz up2 as PJ5/DK7PE/P. Sorry to listeners at that time as I forgot to switch ON my XIT at the beginning and my first call was on the same frequency...:) 

His signal was a bit weak here in EU this nite but I used my LoG external RX antenna on the garden with small pre-amp to copy him more comfortable and after few calls I got him as my DXCC #101 on 60m band CW only. Wow Rudi, you made my day!

Post from Rudi's web:

Feb.: 28th.: Meeting Janusz on his wire antenna farm on Sint Eustatius Island. After several trips to PJ5 he knows the best place to operate from. He chooses a very remote location on the east coast, only 200m to the sea and no neighbors at all - lots of space for all kind of antennas, pure HF, no QRM. Janusz is on DX peditions since forty years now and he knows how to build antennas. What he is using here is the result of 40 years experimenting during his journeys. Of course, we compared my 15m J-pole with his quad elements. His Quad element outperformed my J-pole by one to two S-units! 

Janusz, PJ5/SP9FIH antennas (Photo by DK7PE, The DK7PE Homepage)

It proved horizontal antenna has an advantage over a vertical. Tomorrow, we will continue our test when I use a vertical J-Pole right from the salty water... As the house has two spacy apartments and Janusz had no objections, I took the second apartment. I will do CW, while Janusz on SSB and FT8. By the way, I just finished a pileup on 60m with very good signals from EU. At the moment (01:00 UT) the band is quiet, so I wait for the sunrise in EU...

73 - Petr, OK1RP

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VP2E on 60m by Rudi, DK7PE

Latest news from Rudi, DK7PE…

Feb. 22nd.: 

I just received my Anguilla amateur radio license with the call VP2ERK. Tomorrow, I take the ferry to Marigot (Saint Martin) and from there I have to take the boat to Anguilla. I might have to stay one night in FS, depending on the arriving time there. Tonight is my last activity from St. Barth. I will stay away from the classic bands, as they are represented in major contests. So, I concentrate on 30 and maybe 60m. I have the feeling, there is a high 60m demand from Europe. 

Actually, Rudi was active on 30m band as VP2ERK already (24Feb24 06:00Z), so he landed Anguilla Isl. safely and is back on the air from another Caribbean DXCC. 

Expected operation frequency is 5373kHz QSX to 5353kHz for WRC-15 restricted countries and 5373kHz QZF for rest countries like US/UK etc. 

Luckily his radio is in good shape (Rudi found the antenna issue and resolved it) so I hope to find him on 60m soon.

73 - Petr, OK1RP

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St. Barthelemy Isl. by Rudi, DK7PE

Hi folks,

as you know Rudi, DK7PE is again travelling in Caribbean area. After visiting VP9 he moved to C6 and then on 15 February he moved to VP5 where he was again active on 60m band on CW with excellent signals specially in the morning EU time. 

Today morning he called on the 60m band from Saint Barthelemy Island as FJ/DK7PE/P with amazing signals and it was possible to work him at around 06:00Z on 5353 split up2.

So Rudi, DK7PE is currently active as FJ/DK7PE/P from Saint Barthelemy Island, IOTA NA - 146. He is working on HF Bands including 60m band CW!
QSL via home call bureau or direct.

Christopher Columbus added St. Barthelemy, or St. Barts to his collection in 1493, but the French soon stepped in. Today, the chic Caribbean island - officially a department of France - is a popular winter getaway for people from mainland France, the rest of Europe and North America. Keep in shape and walk between attractions or get a rental car to see more of the island. Beachgoers can choose between strands such as Grand Saline, if nude sunbathing appeals, or shady, isolated Colombier Beach.

73 - Petr, OK1RP

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Why you might not get an answer from G-land while CQ on 60m by Enzo, M0KTZ

Hi folks,

Have you ever thought about why no stations from England answer your CQ calls on the 60m band?

Well, everything is hidden in the allocation of the band and allowed frequencies in UK. Read carefully the following post by Enzo, M0KTZ...

From: Enzo M0KTZ
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 05:32:14 PST


In the UK the allocation on 60m is a bit awkward, to say the least.

We do have 11 distinct and discontinuous bandlets, whose widths range between 3.5kHz and 12kHz. Only some of those are overlapping with WRC-15, and those which do are in the "all modes" section of WRC-15, so we oftentimes get French friends in the background talking in SSB(occured last time yesterday in my QSOs with Fabian DJ5CW and Keith GW4OKT around 5354.5 kHz, hi).

The overlap between the UK allocation and WRC-15 is as follows:

- 5354-5358   kHz
- 5362-5366.5 kHz

Only two of the 11 UK 60m bandlets overlap with the channelized 60m band allocation in the US. The 5373kHz is within the lowest one and is also allowed in Bahamas.

It is extremely easy to find yourself in breath of the Ofcom licensing terms in the UK if you are not careful and you do not keep the 60m band plan at hand. The consequences might also be dire, as the Primary User of 5MHz in the UK is the Ministry of Defense... (MoD)

OK sorry, this looks like a rant and most of you already know about that anyway. Only, if you happen to call within WRC-15 on 60m, you know why you might not get an answer from G-land below 5354kHz.

161 de Enzo M0KTZ

So, take a coffee, take the band plans to hands and compare them (WRC-15 / UK/ US) all together in order to learn how it would work for you...

More info here: 60-meter band - Wikipedia

73 - Petr, OK1RP

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