Last update: 10/19/2007 13:15 UTC
Introduction |
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News |
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News (11-12/2006) |
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Q&A |
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Logbook |
| (As of 01/25 - 18:00UTC) |
| Contributors: |
| ON4TX |
| ON4ZD |
| Isis (Eric's YL) |
| Visitors: |
- The shack -
After the fun of the QSOs, its QSL time...
END OF OPERATION
Eric, ON7SAT has been on a business trip in Djibouti, from November 20th till December 16th, 2006 and January 5th till 25th, 2007.
During his stay Eric was qrv on 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters, with an half-size G5RV and a Yaesu FT100, with 100W barefoot.
QSL cards are to be sent via the bureau at Eric's home call: ON7SAT.
If you have no access to the bureau, you can send it his home address (available @ qrz.com) + 1 new IRC + 1 SAE.
Add this page to your favorites and check it regularly for the latest update on Eric's activities.
Hello to all
I just got back from my first business trip to Djibouti and I would like hereby to thank you all for the opportunity I had to be active there, this would not have been possible without all the people who QSO’ed with my station in Djibouti.
This was an extraordinary experience for me that I would not have missed for anything in the world.
I would like to, especially thank Patrick (ON4KNP) and Léon (ON4ZD), who have via this site done an extraordinary job, by providing you with new information daily about me and my contacts, and putting my log on line.
I did not think that this activation would have such a success , so I can not tell you how glad I am to see the enthusiasm that everyone had.
I would like to thank al the OM’s from my radio club, who daily contacted me and were kind enough to give information about my activities to Patrick and Léon.
Now it is time for me to take a rest after the enormous amount of QSO’s, and renew my strength so I will be able to contact you all again during the next year with as much pleasure as in 2006.
Thanks again to all, a joyful Christmas and a happy new year.
Eric, J20SA(12/20/2006)
J20SA News Date Previous news on Eric's first trip to Djibouti (November 20th till December 16th, 2006) are archived and can be retrieved under this link. December 30th, 2006 On January 4th, 2007, Eric should be back in Djibouti and operations will resume as soon as the antenna is re-installed. We'll keep you informed through this web page. As for the first trip, activities will be around 14.180MHz and other bands according to the state of the propagation. The time schedule remains the same:
§ Saturday to Wednesday: 10:00 - 13:40 UTC (+/- lunch time) § Thursday: 10:30 - ..... UTC (weekend) § Friday: All day (unless other activities with his colleagues) Don't forget to send your entire callsign when calling J20SA, stations that fail to do so are discarded ☺☺☺
In the mean time we wish you a Happy New Year 2007, lot of DX's and interesting QSO's !!!
December 30th, 2006 Eric arrived this morning in Djibouti. He already put the antenna back on the hotel's roof and started the qso party! January 4th, 2007 Eric was active pretty early this morning and worked VK, ZL, HZ and lot of European stations on 17 and 20m. He also had the opportunity to improve his antenna by inserting a balun between the twin lead and the coax, making it completely adapted. Tonight we received the latest logbook witch you can query here
January 5th, 2007 Signals on 20m were very weak in Central Europe this morning. Further nothing to report, business as usual. January 6th, 2007 Eric scanned several bands at 6AM local time, but there wasn't to much to work. Later, around 10:30 UTC, signals in Central Europe weren't that great either on 20m, so Eric tried his luck and headed for the 15m band.
January 7th, 2007 For the third day in a row, the propagation was very poor during Eric's operation. QSO were made on 20m, but less activity has been recorded compared to the previous days (fewer stations calling). January 8th, 2007 No news today, we haven't heard Eric at all and nobody reported him on the dx-cluster. Tonight we got an email announcing that business is very demanding, Eric has even to work shifts for the moment. His lunch time today was reduced to some 45 minutes, leaving no time to operate and tonight I must be back at work at 1AM local time. So Eric will not be active tomorrow either.
January 9th, 2007 Nothing to report, we'll probably have to wait a day or two before Eric will be active, at least if the qrl lessens. January 10th, 2007 Against all odds, Eric was qrv yesterday evening and worked some continental and US dependencies stations . Today he is back on the air and will work on 15m. January 11th, 2007 Eric was active on 20m this morning, but although it's week-end for him, he'll have to work in the afternoon until 21:00 UTC. The good news is (for us I mean): we got his logbook!
January 12th, 2007 Eric wasn't qrv today, so we've got no news. January 13th, 2007 Yesterday Eric worked 2 Brazilian stations and a Belgian qrp station using 5W into a vertical. He also spent some time on 40m, where he heard a few European stations but didn't succeed to be heard. Today he takes some rest and won't operate.
January 14th, 2007 Eric's qrl has smoothed and his schedule is back to normal. The activity today was basically on 15 and 17m where he logged some North American stations. Eric expects to have a "normal" week-end from Thursday on, and will focus on operations.
January 15th, 2007 Eric currently (10:30 UTC) is qrv on 20m. In the evening condition were very god towards North and Central America. Eric qso'ed about 70 stations, among others VE, W and YV.
January 16th, 2007 Today the propagation was much better toward Europe and signals improved by more than 20dB compared to the previous days. Traffic was basically European stations, although a VR2 found his way through the pile-up. Eric confirmed is return flight for January 25th, so he will dismantle his antenna on the 24th.
We received the latest logbook update (18:30 UTC).
January 17th, 2007 QSO's were on 40m tonight. Signals are good into Europe, but Eric hasn't too much time and made just a quick appearance. January 18th, 2007 No news so far for today. January 19th, 2007 Eric made a recreational boat trip yesterday and spent some time visiting the country, enjoying his last week-end in Djibouti. Today he's back on business and currently (10:30 UTC) qrv on 20m. January 20th, 2007 Eric caught a nasty sunstroke during his boat trip, which forces him to rest and so to skip radio operation. We wish him well and hope to hear him back on the air soon. He said he will dismantle the antenna on January 25th (not the 24th as stated before) and be back home the next day.
January 21st, 2007 Eric is feeling better already and is qrv on 20m this morning. January 22nd, 2007 Activity is on 20m this morning. Eric's last day of operation is tomorrow during lunch break.
January 23rd, 2007 Today should be Eric's last day as J20SA. Unfortunately the propagation is pretty poor this morning and the upper bands are almost as good as closed for him. If the business allows it, he might operate tomorrow as well, but nothing is sure for the moment.
January 24th, 2007 Eric will be flying back to Paris tonight and reach home by tomorrow morning. In his luggage he carries the latest logbook update, which we will try to publish this week-end, but also a lot a good memories about the more than 3,000 qso's you made with him from Djibouti.
For us, modestly called the support team: Isis (YL), Roger ON4TX, Léon ON4ZD, and myself Patrick ON4KNP, it is time to say good bye and to thank you for reading our page.
What are we going to do now, will this page disappear? The answer is no, nothing like that is planned for the moment. We'll catch up with you later and keep you informed upon the qsl cards being printed and sent to those of you who went direct. Those who went via the bureau, nothing to worry about, you'll get an answer too.
It has been a pleasure writing this daily news, even if my English is far from perfect, we hope to meet you again in the future during Eric's next exotic business trip, or even better ON THE AIR!
Cheers.
73's de Patrick - ON4KNP
January 25th, 2007 Hi everybody, Eric made it home safely and sent us the final logbook. Stay tune for the qsl news in the next weeks.
January 27th, 2007 The QSL card is currently being designed (fine tuning) and will be printed in the next weeks. For those of you who already send a qsl card directly to ON7SAT's address, no worries, just be patient please. The qsl's that have been sent to my address (ON4KNP) are in Eric's possession.
As from last week, no qsl have arrived through the bureau, it's just a matter of time...
We'll get back to you once the qsl is printed.
March 1st, 2007 Good news, the QSL cards are printed, the postage can begin ! Thanks again for your patience.
March 29th, 2007 Eric came back from another business trip and reported that all QSL's received in direct are answered (posted) and the bureau ones are ready to be dropped in the next days. Thanks for your patience. May 2nd, 2007 The first QSL cards (about 1.5kg) hit the Belgian bureau by mid September. Eric who is now back from another business trip, will spend time answering these. October 19th, 2007
Q&A Date Q: BD7KLO posted a request on the DXcluster for J20SA to listen for Asia. A: Unfortunately Eric has no access to the cluster and didn't get the message, however we'll ask him try to listen by regions. Be aware that he uses a fixed wire antenna that can't be rotated, so he will rely on everybody's fair play not to call him if you're not located in the region he listens to. Thanks guys!
November 28th, 2006 Q: DK5MO asks why he can't find his call in the log regarding his qso on November 30th? A: The current log version has been sent in the morning, so all qso's made after November 30th 10:00UTC are not published yet. We hope to receive a new version in the next hours/days.
December 2nd, 2006 A nice comment sent by email: Hello!
I found the website really interesting. Unfortunately it's impossible to run a longer qso with Eric due to pile-ups, but this site provides a sort of blog feeling that gives a great opportunity to learn some more about his activity. Thus I am really grateful for the site and I will be visiting it frequently - I am always very interested in meeting new people and learning some more about their experience while visiting interesting places.
One more time - thanks!
Al the best of Season's an New Year's greetings go to all :-)
-- Vy 73 de Stan SQ8AQD --
Thanks for you feedback Stan, we really appreciate it!
December 12th, 2006 Important remark: Qsl cards are to be sent to Eric either via the bureau @ his home call - ON7SAT - or direct at his home address.
Although cards that are sent to me will be transmitted to Eric, I'm not acting as his qsl manager, so please be patient for the response. Thank you for your understanding
December 14th, 2006 A nice comment sent by email: Hello Eric, I'm looking at your wonderful Homepage very nice. I have had today at 10:40 UTC one QSO with you on 20 meter. Many tnx fer nice QSO. If you want you can look also on my Homepage www.qsl.net/dg3ykw/ and if you want pse write something in my Guestbook.....tnx. And many DX 73 de Klaus.
Thanks Klaus much appreciated. We're sure Eric will sign your guestbook!
December 15th, 2006 Q: Hi! Can I send 2 GS instead of an IRC to Eric for a QSL? My post office does
not have any IRCs. Thanks. Mike K2CBI Mount Kisco, NY USAA: Yes, 2 GS will cover the expenses.
January 15th, 2007 Yet another nice comment sent by email: I just had the privilege of working Eric on 17 meters and I must comment on his professional operating techniques. He does an outstanding job dealing with the pile-ups under the operating circumstances on his end and is to be complimented.
Please pass along our appreciation for his efforts and also for all of the excellent support he’s received from his fellow hams at home in ON land. The website is excellent and the daily updates are a nice feature.
73, Mick, W3ILG
Mick, in Eric's and the support team's names, thanks for your feedback!
January 15th, 2007
Questions, comments or suggestions are welcome at : on4knp@skynet.be answers will be provided via this page.