Providing the first ever 6m contacts to the United States from VK9C and VK9X in 2017 and from C2 last fall is a tough act to follow!  This year, I am activating two rare DXCC that have never been on 6m EME before. Nobody in the USA has contacted S7 on 6m for many years, and I understand it also is still quite rare in Europe, Africa, Asia and other countries. Since it is the bottom of a very poor solar cycle, there is little chance of making any long distance contacts on 50 MHz via the ionosphere. However, I believe I have located a good site to operate EME (moonbounce), and will be active there during optimum days of the month and at a time of the year to take advantage of the superb EME conditions afforded at this point in the low solar cycle!  Since this country is VERY rare, I am looking forward to providing a new DXCC with practically every half million mile contact. In order to provide sufficient advance planning for stations wishing to contact me while I am in S7, I am providing plenty of advance notice of this DXpedition. I urge you to gain experience with JT65A and follow my Step-By-Step JT65A Setup Checklist to make sure you are using it properly for EME!  And especially review the QSO PROCEDURE that I use most effectively on these DXpeditions.  Remember also to use the SHORTHAND messages (the two tone RO, RRR and 73) in JT65A!  I look forward to contacting you on 6m!

As you know, a good location can mean everything to the success of one of these DXpeditions.  The above photos show you some of the key reasons that make this a highly desirable location.  Most of the time I will be elevated, and everything southwest of 330 degrees azimuth is out over the ocean; all the moonsets are between 265 and 295 degrees azimuth.  I will be 100' east of the beach, and expect to have good ground gain on my moonset, although there probably will not be very low lobes, since I will only be 44' above the ocean and there are islands only a few miles offshore.  There is a rise to the east, but it may be possible to have a ground gain lobe between 7 and 13 degrees elevation on my moonrise; all my moonrises are between 65 and 90 degrees azimuth. This site does afford reliable AC power, a source of food, a secure and safe location for the equipment, and an open spot to be able to set up and operate the antenna immediately to the north of the station.  And, in the event there IS some ionospheric propagation, I have a clear shot over the water toward Europe.  And the power lines are to the east, which is a direction I will rarely be pointing.

My tentative operating schedule as an Excel spreadsheet is here, in pdf is here. The local time is 4 hours ahead of UTC. The maps show where in the world this remote place is located   I hope you will make the effort to look for me!

The moonrise horizon appears to be 8.5 degrees elevation.  If my ground gain lobe is from 7 to 15 degrees, I may still be able to operate with some ground gain during my moonrise.

The moonset horizon appears to be around 2 degrees.  It may not be possible to have any ground gain lobes below that elevation.  The biggest problem during moonset may be trees immediately in front of the antenna.

LOGISTICS

OPERATING SCHEDULE

QSL INFORMATION

FREQUENCY AND SEQUENCE

CONTRIBUTIONS

It is extremely expensive to haul a 6m EME station halfway around the world.  Too many times, we hear DXpedition stations say they can't take a 6m beam and/or amp because "they are already overweight and cannot afford the excess baggage fees".  If you want to do a good job and are committed to going halfway around the world to succeed, this unfortunately is a large part of the necessary expense. Although I always keep my costs as low as possible, my travel, excess baggage and lodging costs alone to activate this rare one will be over $8000.  Therefore, any contributions toward the DXpedition are greatly appreciated!  If you would like to contribute, please send your contribution by check or cash to my QRZ.com mailing address, or directly via PayPal to my email address, which is my current PayPal account.  I am only able to do these long distance 6m EME DXpeditions every year because of the continued support from the 6m community and I am extremely indebted to you for your continued support.  I have the time and equipment to go more often than once a year to new rare DXCC, but I just don't have the finances available.  Many thanks to the following hams who  recognize that a large percentage of the costs are incurred before leaving, and have already very generously contributed to this DXpedition:

K2ZD, N7IP, KJ9I, SP4MPB, JA7QVI, K5QE, SM7FJE, G8VR, ZL3NW, JG1TSG, K7CW, ON4IQ, ON4GG, OH7KM, GM3POI, N3XX, K6EME  VE1JF, OH2BC, N8GTI, W8PAT, I4EAT, I4YRW, N4II, W3UUM, UR0MC, SP3RNZ, S57RR, YU7EF, LY2IJ, W8OI, KL7HBK, JO1PSX, G8BCG, N6JV, W6UC, S51DI, F6BKI, N1DG, SP7VC, K4PI, K4RX, KB7Q, W6XU, K6QXY, K5NA, K5DU, N8RR, YL2AO, ZS4TX, K7KX, S59Z, G4BWP, K2ZJ, IW5DHN  WB9Z, NV9L, W5NZS, OZ4VV, W5ADD, K7RWT, K8CX.W9GA, W9JN, G3WOS, DK8NE, PC5C, VK4MA, N4WW, HA0DU, KX4R, VK5PJ, MM0AMW, PA5Y, G5WQ, W8HC, PA7MM, K1SIX, UW7LL, OA4TT, KG7H, W7JW, OH7KM, W3UUM, JE3GRQ, N7NW                 
                         

     MNI MNI TNX for your continued support!!

                               

PHOTOS AND UPDATES

6m EME this week is like a feeding frenzy, with 3 rare DXCC (S79GJ, HB0/S59A and A35JT)  all being activated at the same time! ;-)   I haven't had a visual sighting on the moon for several days now, because of the continued overcast and rain...and now it is of course getting closer to the sun, so during the daytime it will be very difficult anyway.  But the Degradation was below 0.2 dB all day, and I was able to complete 11 more contacts.  This brings the total contacts so far to 87 - thanks to everyone for making the effort to get up early for a contact!  The entire log is shown at the bottom of my web page:

http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Seychelles%202019.htm

As my moonset moves into the late afternoon hours, I am concerned that the high TEC region in the ionosphere may interfere with the EME signals when I lower the antenna to the western horizon.  This is especially becomes a problem for North American stations, since our only common moon window is when my moon is near moonset.  If you have a choice, please try to contact me when my moon is higher and my antenna is elevated.  

Good luck to all, and see you tomorrow on moonrise!

The good news is that during the power outage,  I tied down the antenna toward moonrise tomorrow morning, and see that the moon should come up just to the south of the big granite outcrop :-)  So, I am planning to get moon around 5 degrees elevation in the morning instead of 10 degrees!

The day ended with 8 more contacts and a number of additional stations copied but not worked.  The total now stands at 95, with the complete log shown on the website.  I will be active for two more moon passes only.  Hopefully moonsets will be late enough in the afternoon for the next two days that people won't be on the beach in front of the antenna during my final hour each day.  I will announce the situation on the ON4KST EME CHAT page.