Back at the turn of the century, I had the opportunity to travel to Grenada as part of a contest DXpedition organized by the Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC). The club targeted the CQ Worldwide CW contest in November to participate, one of the “grand slam” of DX contesting. Don, K2KQ who was president of YCCC at the time, coordinated with another club to use their resources at the station site located in the Emergency Operations Center in Grenada. I had the privilege to operate three years running as part of the J3A team. Being the only station in the country allowed us to continuously run stations. The highlight of our multi-multi DX operation was placing third in the WORLD in 2001. What a rush!
Fast forward to 2019. There are several of us aging contesters here in The Villages that still yearn to be on the business end of a DX Operation. George, K2DM has been making pilgrimages to Montserrat for a number of years, each time adding to his station at a guest house on the island. Not long after his last sojourn for the ARRL DX contests, I asked about joining him for the CQ CW event in the fall. He agreed it would be a good idea if we could round up a couple more operators. It did not take long before George convinced Pete, K2PS, and Wayne, N4FP to join in. George and Pete are veteran contesters from the Frankfort Radio Club, the perennial rival to YCCC for the top spot in the unlimited club contest category. Wayne is a former fighter pilot who loves CW; he prefers to stick with a keyer paddle in lieu of pushing a keyboard. He can hum along at 30+ WPM.
I soon discovered that getting to Montserrat to do a DX Operation would not be as easy as my trips to Grenada. The country was nearly destroyed in 1995 when the Soufriere Hills volcano came to life after 500 years. By 1997, after multiple eruptions and pyroclastic flows, the capital of Plymouth was no more. The volcano is on the southern part of the pear-shaped island while the northern end was largely a rain forest. In the aftermath of the destruction, the population went from 12,000 down to 5000 people, as many left to find jobs elsewhere in the Caribbean. Prior to the eruption, Montserrat had been a typical tourist spot with its claim to fame being recording studios for the biggest rock stars of the 60s and 70s. The performers welcomed the anonymity of the island without hoards of autograph seekers. The island is making a comeback now that the ash clouds have stopped and the rains have washed the landscape.
I packed my bags for an EARLY pickup for the Orlando airport. I greeted the transport driver with my beautiful mug at 3:00 AM. The other members of our team in various stages of wakefulness greeted me at the airport for our flight to Miami. We had time for a quick lunch at the airport before boarding our flight to Anguilla. Our gear included two Elecraft K3 transceivers, two laptops, and an Expert 1.3 amplifier all courtesy of K2DM. George had another Expert amplifier already at the Montserrat station that he was going to bring back home since it was MUCH lighter than the analog power supply built into the 1.3 model. (The hefty weight meant a hefty $130 overweight fee in baggage.)
We arrived in Montserrat in the late afternoon after a 20-minute flight from Anguilla and were greeted by Dave, owner of the Gingerbread Hill guest house where we would be staying (Figure 1). Dave and
his family has lived in Montserrat for 40 years and has welcomed many hams since he discovered an outlet for his guest house. The crank-up tower is courtesy of George. Our operating positions were on the third floor with access to the roof so we could install our antennas.
The tower cranks up to fifty feet which is more than adequate from our perch on the hillside. Figure 2 shows the view toward Europe from the roof and Figure 3 shows the view toward the west and the US.
The first order of business the next day was to visit the telecommunications office to get our licenses. I was hoping for VP2MTE but it was already taken so I settled for VP2MED to use outside the contest. George managed to change his license to VP2MDM after years of being VP2MDG. We would be using VP2MDM throughout the contest. (Well, it is his station.)
We spent the rest of the day hauling the antennas down from Dave’s home further up the driveway and getting them assembled. Our antenna farm consisted of a 40-2CD 40-meter beam, TH6DXX, and CL33 triband beams, and inverted Vees for 80 and 160 meters. The 40-meter and TH6DXX beams were mounted on the tower while the CL33 was installed on a mast dropped into a convenient hole in one of the railing posts off the roof deck. Completing the layout were the inverted V antennas strung just below the beams. Figure 4 shows the completed antennas ready to roll.
We set up the K3s to operate as a multi-2 category, each with an amplifier to make sure we would be heard through the pileups. George and Pete operated as a team while Wayne and I worked the next shift. Hours were staggered to allow for some sleep and give each team a chance to operate all bands. Each operator was assured 24 hours of on-the-air time.
So, how did we do during our DX Operation? Our raw score tallied up to 11,015,275 points, good for 10th place worldwide at this time, and 3rd in North America. Not bad for the aging Fab Four. The only downside was 10 meters where we managed just 11 QSOs. Perhaps we were too close to the US to rake in stations.
Would I do it again? I’m still on the fence. I got spoiled in Grenada with restaurants and established accommodations. Montserrat does not have many restaurants and grocery stores are limited as to what is available for stocking up. Furthermore, CQ CW typically falls on Thanksgiving weekend. This year was an exception so I was able to ensure domestic tranquility by being home for the holiday. However, the itch never goes away…
Ed, K2TE
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