TX5C DXPEDITION

Satellite Internet Systems made possible by the generous sponsorship of Outfitter Satellite

TX5C DXPEDITION HOT NEWS:

DATE:

ITEM:

6/12/2008

The TX5C log has been uploaded into LOTW.

April 2nd

Personal videos from the Dxpedition and info on the scientific study also available.

Videos
Scientific Study

Sachs Lab
School of Oceanography
Clipperton Atoll 2008 Study Website

March 15th

TX5C went QRT 1400z March 15th 2008, two days earlier than originally planned. Due to both weather and sea conditions, the Captain of the Shogun determined that an earlier departure was required to ensure the safety of his crew and our team. We began moving equipment offshore two days prior in challenging conditions. By the time the last team members were extracted from the atoll late in the day, all but one of the zodiac spare propellers had been broken on the reef. The Shogun pulled anchor at 0130z March 16th and as the sun set, the team watched Clipperton Atoll slowly fade from view.

TX5C made 71,794 qso's in 156 hours (6.5 days) of operating.

Band	EU	NA	SA	AF	AS	OC
-----	--------	------	-------	-------	------	------
160	4.80%	87.60%	1.10%	0.30%	5.20%	0.90%
80	13.90%	67.40%	1.40%	0.60%	14.60%	2.10%
40	25.70%	50.30%	1.70%	0.80%	20.00%	1.50%
30	16.70%	60.10%	1.10%	0.30%	20.50%	1.30%
20	14.40%	72.50%	2.10%	0.50%	8.70%	1.80%
17	13.10%	72.00%	2.10%	0.60%	11.30%	0.90%
15	5.30%	75.70%	3.80%	1.00%	13.30%	0.90%
12	0.10%	86.10%	3.50%	0.40%	9.20%	0.70%
10	0.30%	87.80%	6.60%	0.00%	4.50%	0.70%

March 14th

Q's now total 59,875.

Band	EU	NA	SA	AF	AS	OC
-----	-------	-------	-------	------	-------	-----
160	5.10%	87.60%	0.70%		5.70%	0.90%
80	12.20%	71.00%	1.00%	0.50%	13.30%	2.10%
40	26.50%	48.80%	1.70%	0.90%	20.90%	1.40%
30	16.20%	61.70%	1.00%	0.30%	19.40%	1.40%
20	14.50%	75.40%	1.80%	0.50%	5.90%	2.00%
17	12.30%	74.60%	2.10%	0.60%	9.60%	0.90%
15	5.70%	78.70%	3.90%	1.10%	9.90%	0.70%
12	0.10%	89.20%	3.40%	0.40%	6.10%	0.70%
10	0.30%	89.50%	6.60%	0.00%	2.90%	0.60%

March 13th

Q's now total 51,143. We will be stopping operation at dawn Clipperton time on Saturday March 15th.

Band	EU	NA	SA	AF	AS	OC
160	0.40%	97.80%	0.50%		0.40%	0.90%
80	11.00%	71.50%	0.80%	0.40%	14.20%	2.00%
40	24.00%	49.30%	1.60%	0.80%	23.00%	1.40%
30	13.50%	65.90%	0.70%	0.30%	19.20%	0.40%
20	12.00%	76.00%	1.80%	0.20%	7.20%	2.70%
17	7.00%	78.90%	2.00%	0.50%	10.40%	1.20%
15	2.50%	79.10%	4.50%	0.90%	12.20%	0.80%
12	0.10%	91.60%	3.70%	0.30%	3.40%	0.80%
10	0.20%	89.50%	7.20%	0.10%	2.20%	0.90%

March 12

Q's now total 41,564. Yesterday we had three major thunderstorms that tore up the camp. Generators in both the SSB and CW camps went down and took repairs to get back up. Winds toppled antennas and they had to be repaired. We lost our 15 meter SVDA in the SSB camp which was destroyed by the winds. We will attempt to straight out or replace the broken aluminum today. Two of our CW keyers went down and we cannot repair them. So our operators are sending cw the good old fashioned way but it's reducing our q rate. Morale is high and despite the weather we are all working as hard as we can. The thunderstorms are also causing our noise levels in the night to be extremely high. These thunderstorms have been increasing in size and frequency for the past several days. Although they blow through in about 15 minutes, they dump on average about an inch of rain or more and are accompanied by very strong gusting winds.

TX5C - Continents

By band - All modes

QSOs (with dupes)

Band	EU	NA	SA	AF	AS	OC

160	0.40%	97.80%	0.50%		0.40%	0.90%
80	11.00%	71.50%	0.80%	0.40%	14.20%	2.00%
40	24.00%	49.30%	1.60%	0.80%	23.00%	1.40%
30	13.50%	65.90%	0.70%	0.30%	19.20%	0.40%
20	12.00%	76.00%	1.80%	0.20%	7.20%	2.70%
17	7.00%	78.90%	2.00%	0.50%	10.40%	1.20%
15	2.50%	79.10%	4.50%	0.90%	12.20%	0.80%
12	0.10%	91.60%	3.70%	0.30%	3.40%	0.80%
10	0.20%	89.50%	7.20%	0.10%	2.20%	0.90%
50

March 11

On our 2nd day of operation, qso's now total 30,225. Operations on March 10th continued without any significant interruptions from mother nature (finally!). Good pile-ups were seen on all operating frequencies. Yesterday we focused on European openings per our operating plan where Clipperton is high on the most wanted list. Paths to the USA are open almost all the time on a variety of bands so we really want to focus on Europe and other hard to reach areas when propagation is possible. This is why we landed on the north side of the island in the first place. So we know the USA operators will understand why at certain times we are operating only Europe or outside the USA.

When the paths are open to EU, we're hearing all of Europe extremely well, very strong signals. We're finding that our Q rates rise significantly when stations call only once or twice and use complete calls. Signals are so strong, with no qsb or noise on our end, that we can often quickly pick out several complete calls and work more stations. If we all work together, we can get more people in our logs.

TX5C - Continents

By band - All modes

QSOs (with dupes)

Band	EU	NA	SA	AF	AS	OC

160	0.10%	98.00%	0.50%		0.40%	0.90%
80	8.10%	73.60%	0.70%	0.50%	15.40%	1.70%
40	20.30%	52.50%	2.00%	0.90%	22.90%	1.40%
30	13.90%	65.40%	0.70%	0.30%	19.20%	0.40%
20	9.10%	76.80%	2.10%	0.20%	8.40%	3.40%
17	5.20%	86.70%	1.90%	0.30%	5.10%	0.80%
15	1.00%	83.30%	5.30%	0.70%	9.00%	0.80%
12	0.20%	94.30%	4.10%	0.20%	0.70%	0.50%
10	0.40%	86.80%	11.70%	0.10%	0.50%	0.60%
50

The charts below are from our weather stations which is operated by F5AHO. The weather here is quite extreme. If it's not blazingly hot, it's drenchingly wet. But the rain and wind does provide relief from the mid day sun.

Temperature at base camp

Wind

Humidity

March 10

0530z: The logseach pages are updated with the logs from the first full day of operations. Total qsos are 17,263. The break downs are shown as follows:

We are now focusing on Europe.

March 9th

1900z: Just as we were about to begin operating yesterday at noon Clipperton Time, the sky opened up and for the next two and a half hours both the CW and SSB tents had their hands full plugging leaks in the tents, protecting the station equipment, rescuing antennas that had been toppled by the nearly 50 mph gusts that accompanied the rains and hoping that the lightning wouldn't hit our verticals. After three grueling days, we were set back yet again by mother nature. But the good news is that we're operating and filling our logbooks with q's. We're planning on beginning uploading the logs very shortly. As soon as we do, we'll make the announcement on this page.

March 8th

Turns out it was very much yesterday today than it was the day before. The clouds that were present at dawn disappeared by 7am allowing for the full force of the south pacific sun to express itself. By 10:30am, it was 110 degrees at our base camp and hotter at the CW station. The heat has compounded our work load and Arnie, N6HC had his hands full dealing with sunburns and mandatory work and water breaks every 30 minutes to ensure each team member's safety. By 1pm the heat was so intense our work pace drew to a crawl. With safety being our main concern, we cut back our work loads until it was bearable later in the day to resume. By mid afternoon, some cloud appeared and we were able to continue erecting our antennas and complete our operating stations. Both the cw and ssb camp are very near completion. the few antennas remaining to be erected at daybreak.

We are approximately 24 hours behind our intended schedule, but believe now that the majority of the work is behind us with the remaining antenna erection to be completed at daybreak while temperatures are bearable. We anticipate being on the air with both CW and SSB stations by midday.

At 1800z, we're very close to coming on the air.

March 7th

As dawn broke over Clipperton Atoll, our team is already beginning to put the final touches on our camps. It is a bit hotter this morning than yesterday but the breeze seems to be building. Our main challenge continues to be the heat and humidity as with most south pacific dxpeditions. We are committed to having our CW and SSB stations operational sometime today and will be on the air most likely starting this evening.

March 6th Continued

Today has been very busy under challenging conditions. It is extremely hot and we are quite aware of the dangers extreme heat can bring. Hence, our number one concern is the health and safety of our team members. Yet, we have completely unpacked all our equipment from Shogun and moved all the gear off the beach and into the two operating camps. We have spent the day constructing our two operating camps, CW and SSB. The CW camp is nearly finished, the SSB camp should be finished tomorrow.

..stay tuned.

March 6, 2008

We are on Clipperton Atoll! It's 0133z as we write this. We had a successful landing and have loaded quite a bit of our camp gear to the island. Our base camp is set up and we're all tired but full of enthusiasm! In the morning we will begin the construction of our operating stations on the north side of the island exactly where we had hoped to be able to land. We are excited about this as this location will provide the best paths for us to work the world. We will update this page in the morning in more detail but we wanted you all to know we are safe and are on the island.

TX5C BASE CAMP

March 5th 2008

The TX5C Dxpedition dropped anchor at 0645z. After 6 days and 4 hours at sea, we have arrived at Clipperton Atoll! Our position is 10� 18.67'N 109� 12.42'W in 240 feet of water.

March 4th

At 2330z, our position was 11� 26 N 109� 38 W, 69.4 nm from our destination. We are expecting to arrive around midnight tonight. We will circle the island as described in our March 3rd update looking for landing sites. The seas are not as calm as they were over the past several days with large swells rocking the Shogun. Norm, the Shogun's captain believes that the north part of the island will provide the greatest shelter from large surf. We were delighted to hear this because we really want to get all our antennas on the north side of the island to provide a clear shot over salt water for our vertical arrays. Norm told us that the traditional landing area of past dxpeditions in the south western portion of the island is actually more difficult area, and antennas positioned there lack the benefit of a salt water take off angle as the fresh water lagoon is positioned between that spot and Europe. But most important for the team is that making a northern landing will not require moving equipment a long distance.

The team is focused and ready to begin moving equipment to the island early in the morning on March 5th. We expect it to take a day and a half to two days to set up our camp and most of our stations and begin operating on March 7th.

March 4th

At 1400z our position was 12� 51' N 110� 08' W, approximately 160 nm from our destination. The seas continue to be calm with smallish swells, no whitecaps visible. We expect to arrive at Clipperton in 15 hours. N60X is continuing to prepare for our arrival and is anxiously anticipating our landing. He and N7CQQ continue to develop landing and site setup scenarios to implement depending on the conditions we encounter upon arrival.

We continue to operate as F05A/mm and have made 5700 qso's. Last evening was quite active on 40 meters considering it was a Monday after a contest. We appreciate the good wishes we are getting from all our contacts and want everyone to know that the team is very appreciative of your support.

We're almost there so we will be updating this page with new news as it becomes available.

March 3rd

This morning at sunrise, our position was 16� 24' N 111� 20' W, approximately 380 nautical miles from Clipperton Atoll. We are expecting to be at the island early in the morning on March 5th. When we arrive at Clipperton, we will circle the island and look for any possible indication that there might be human activity there. If there is, we will need to determine what type of activity is going on. Over the years there have been a variety of reports of the island being used for illicit purposes. But mostly the island is visited from time to time by fisherman and boaters that happen to land.

Most importantly is the level of the surf at the several possible landing spots that we have in mind. We are anxious to attempt a landing near the north part of the island. We want to set up our primary dx antennas on the north shore so we can be in a position to most effectively cover Europe where Clipperton is high on the most wanted list. North America, Oceania and Asia will be easy paths from most spots on the island, so positioning is not as critical. From the usual landing spot, it is a 2 kilometer trek to the north shore under the blazing sun and we want to limit the distance we have to carry our equipment and the time it will take to set up the north shore operating camp. We are planning on making our base camp at Bougaimville where all previous dxpeditions have set up. It is the only place on the island with trees that will provide shade from the hot tropical sun.

Our journey thus far has been pleasant. We've spent the last several days working on our operating schedules, preparing our equipment for loading on the zodiacs, considering the best spots on the island to position our antennas, working on various projects on our computers and sometimes just laying around in the warm south pacific sun. The seas have been very calm and the weather has been ideal. We have been operating as FO5A/mm and have made 4,577 contacts thus far. We've been operating primarily on 20 meters during the day, and 40 meters at night. Our operating position has been active from 5am to 11pm so please try to work us.

Also, be sure to view the personal operator journals available from the Operators page.

March 1st

On our third day of our journey, at 1400 UTC on March 1st we were at 23 25.681 N and 113 59.58 W making approximately 10 kts in smooth seas placing us approximately 890 Nm from Clipperton. We are active as FO5A/MM, while underway. Join the excitement; stop by and say hello, we're active on 20 and 40 meters. Plans are to arrive early on March 5th It will take 2 days to set up. Expect activity from TX5C on March 7th.

This joint French, US and Canadian team and we are in great spirits. As you can imagine, minor glitches are being defused and last minute plans are being developed while underway. Since we are hams, our primary interest is amateur radio; however, four members of the 24 member team will be involved in scientific endeavors, collecting water and sediment cores from the lagoon to reconstruct the climate of the last 1,000 years. Check out our dxpedition sections on this site for pictures and personal journal entries from team members. We also expect to begin to upload some video soon to our site.

2/29

We've been at sea now for two days. The weather is perfect and the seas are quite calm. On our first day out we were visited by a coast guard cutter (see photo section) who came along side but did not board the Shogun. The team is in great spirits and we're all well and having a lot of fun.

We put up a vertical antenna mounted on the upper deck with elevated radials yesterday. Within an hour or so we got our Icom ProIII setup and operational in the galley. Bill, N2WB made our first contact on 20 meters as FO5A/MM to VE6AO at 2206utc 2/28/08. By the time we all turned in yesterday evening, we made a total of 1000 contacts on 20ssb and 40cw.

As of 6:00am pst this morning, our position was 27 19 north, 115 20 west, traveling at 9.5 knots.

This morning, we were successful in making our first satellite internet connection and uploaded some initial photos to our photo section and sent and received a few emails. In true ham spirit, we did what they said could not be done...connect to the satellite while in motion. We had an excellent connection and now expect to be able to update our website daily before we get to Clipperton...so keep watching THIS PAGE!!

Many of our team are keeping personal journals which can be accessed via the OPERATORS page...just click on any operator's picture to view their journal.

At 2200z, the Shogun and the team were 1000 nautical miles from Clipperton Atoll at 26 04n 114 56w.

2/27/2008

The entire TX5C dxpedition team is now assembled and has spent the morning loading the Shogun with the equipment for the dxpedition. We're in high spirits and are looking forward to leaving THIS EVENING, Feb. 27th a day ahead of schedule. Next stop...Clipperton!

We wish to thank all the contributors and supporters of TX5C for providing the support to make this dxpedition possible.

2/20/2008

First part of French team leaves for San Diego (see photo section)