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Apr 811 min read

FT4GL - Glorioso isl.


FT4GL Update (Jul 25)



Our QSL manager F4FTV, received all the FT4GL QSLs from our printer this morning, next week with F5TVL he will begin labeling OQRS requests and individual donations for direct sending initially, which represents already more than 10,000 QSOs. 




FT4GL Update (Jun 18)



The FT4GL operation led by Marek FH4VVK ended yesterday evening, its last evening of traffic having had to be interrupted due to internal technical problems on the island. The adventure was difficult for Marek, the support team and all the pilots led by F8FKI. However, the majority of our objectives have been achieved: more than 60,000 QSOs, the last of which is IW4EGP, an overall unique contact rate of 25%, Asia represents 21% of the log, NA 20% of the log, all bands/modes announced were used, only the 160m was not satisfactory. We will return later to the more complete assessment of the FT4GL operation, while awaiting continued work, with the repatriation of equipment from Glorieuse to Mayotte then to France, QSO verification requests by F8CRS, QSL management by F4FTV of which we will soon present the model to you which will be sent to the printer. Finally, the entire team warmly thanks all the sponsors (clubs, associations, professionals, individuals) without whom nothing would have been possible. 73 to all Team FT4GL



FT4GL Update (Jun 16)



We announce the upcoming end of FT4GL on June 18, 2024 at 3 a.m. UTC. Marek has already started to dismantle some antennas (the two Hexbeams and the 6m beam), he will be active again this evening, June 16, on 80m FT8. He spent two nights on 160m without result unfortunately, but it had to be tried despite an unfavorable period for this band and a 1/4 wave layout in an inverted L with a maximum height of 8m imposed by the French authorities.


This day is also the last day in SSB, because from June 17, he will have to complete the dismantling and storage of the equipment. It will leave a transceiver and the 40>10m vertical antenna in place until it is time to take the plane on the morning of June 18.


The ATNO days, which were not unanimous, nevertheless bore fruit with many modest stations in the log, the objective was therefore fulfilled. 


It was an intense and sometimes difficult experience for both Marek and the support team. We regret, as is often the case during radio activities in rare countries, to note a negative spirit broadcast by some, such as unfounded comments under cover of anonymity, pirates and other music broadcasters on radio frequencies. broadcast… all these acts in no way reflect the OM spirit.


We warmly and from the bottom of our hearts thank all the people who have shown their gratitude and trust in us throughout this adventure. Numerous messages and emails of encouragement helped Marek and the whole team to continue so that this activity went as smoothly as possible, and the pilots who were very responsive in informing the community of the correct news.


We still have very important work to do, particularly with regard to the QSLs and QSO requests that we receive, please be patient on this subject, F8CRS and F4FTV are processing the requests.  


To conclude today's information, let's salute Marek, who was alone in parallel with his job to maintain traffic for a little over three weeks, he will have the merit of having done a radio activity from 160 to 6m on the DXCC number 7 , the Great Glorious. Thank you all for contributing to this success and we look forward to seeing you for new adventures….73 - FT4GL Team 2024



FT4GL Update (Jun 13)



Marek was last night on 80m FT8 as planned, unfortunately shortly after a pirate appeared, and many of you noticed it. The 10m FT8 also seems to be open today and he is taking the opportunity to make numerous contacts, particularly with Asia. Marek continues to monitor the 6m every day, our pilots continue to be harassed to find out if he is really listening to this tape, we can assure you that yes and we ask you again, to stop harassing drivers for the 6m bands. Some NA regions are still having difficulty contacting FT4GL, we will make an effort in this direction on 17 and 30m at the most favorable times. This evening there will be a new attempt on 80m, sorry if there are still pirates this is beyond our control. The team would like to remind and apologize for the delay in uploading the logs, thank you for your patience. We remind you tomorrow June 14, the first ATNO day... please respect the instructions that have been sent previously. 



FT4GL Update (Jun 12)



As you know, Marek is active in his free time, which means during the day but also in the evening and has been for two nights in particular. There is no hotel with on-site home service, the rooms are not numerous and you have to share them with other occupants. Marek installed an outdoor station so as not to disturb his colleague in his sleep who occupies the usual room. In order to give the chance to the NA who have an opening at night in the direction of Glorieuse, he takes his sleep capital for YOUR PLEASURE, before starting a day of work. Marek also made good contacts in SSB over 10m despite the disruptions, and was able to make people happy in Asia and Oceania, even though the spread was not at its best. He has already been present two nights on 80m in FT8 and will try to concentrate traffic on the 80m for 2 or 3 additional nights. The conditions are not the best in this season and we also have to deal with TAAF restrictions, the antennas must not exceed 8m high, the installation required an inverted L arrangement, and these rules with the authorities French are non-negotiable. Thank you for your understanding. Good luck to everyone and hope to see you in the FT4GL log.



FT4GL Update (Jun 11)



Marek has just communicated the two days he wishes to dedicate to ATNO... It is active for people who HAVE NEVER CONTACTED FT4GL on Friday June 14 and Sunday June 16 from 11 a.m. UTC... Thanks to the stations who already made the QSO to play the game and give the LITTLE PISTOLs a chance. If this turns into a nightmare, blame the troublemakers and not Marek who wants to give everyone a chance. Team FT4GL


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We receive far too many requests for the 6m, this situation is no longer tenable for pilots to respond privately. As a result, Marek will be listening 18 hours a day on 50.313 and when he hears signals, he will switch to 50.323 in order to start calls. Thank you for your understanding, as well as for spreading the information. FT4GL Team



FT4GL Update (Jun 07)



After consultation and given the number of requests from ATNO, the team and Marek decided to give the chance to LITTLE PISTOL and more modestly equipped stations, so that they could have the chance to contact the Glorieuses at least once. Two days of activity will be planned which will be communicated later. The operation will be carried out in SSB, we ask the international community to play the game and leave this unique opportunity to those who are not yet in the log. We are counting on you to share as much information as possible so that the community is informed and the operation can be a success. 



FT4GL Update (Jun 03)



After a little over a week of traffic, here is an update on the situation. As of today, more than 34,000 QSOs in the log with 32% unique and there is a little more than two weeks of traffic remaining. As a reminder to a certain number of DXers, Marek is at Glorieuses for his job, and it is his priority before any radio activity, which requires QRX. This is his first experience and he is doing his best, because let's not forget that he could have simply not activated Glorieuses for the community...


Concerning the FT8, its traffic is done only with WSJT, following feedback indicating a problem with validating contacts with the RR73, despite resets of PCs, software, settings... and numerous regular power outages also at origin of some of the problems. Still on the subject of FT8, unfortunately there are pirates who install themselves on the same Marek frequencies and send frames in the wrong period, and we cannot do anything about this behavior.


The 80m antenna is installed, the tests have yielded nothing so far. For the 6m despite the five elements this is identical, the ACOM 1000 amplifier planned in particular for the 6m suffered damage during a power outage, however Marek will continue his efforts on these two bands for which there is a strong demand. 


Marek will strive to do more SSBs with windows for the "Little Pistol's" which we ask you to respect in order to give everyone the chance to do at least one QSO with FT4GL, note that the SSB is not possible at night because the radio station is where other people sleep.


Communications with the island are difficult and we do not always have information in real time. 


Thank you DXer's for stopping sending emails to pilots to know when Marek is going to be on what frequency or mode and at what time.


For query requests on QSOs, please send them to f8crs@protonmail.com or f4ftv@orange.fr and wait for the day's log of the QSO concerned to be downloaded before sending an email.



 

FT4GL Update (May 27)



















It's been four days since Marek started his trafficking. Upon his arrival, the location planned for the station had to be changed due to a problem with the building's air conditioning making it impossible to operate there. Another more cramped air-conditioned room was found, modifying the initial antenna installation plan with difficulties in optimizing the choice of locations in view of the structures present...


Today Marek was able to complete the installation of the second Hexbeam SP6CYN, so for the moment there are two Hexbeams, a vertical from 40 to 10m, a vertical 30m, and the 5 element beam 6m, remaining the verticals 160 /80m to be assembled soon.


Two stations are active as planned, some electrical problems have been reported with the inverters, resulting in some temporary outages, as well as interference linked to equipment external to our installations, which is being resolved and a problem with an amplifier. 


For the logs, they are posted online every day, either the morning or evening following the previous day's traffic. For all requests, contact f8crs@protonmail.com who is responsible for checking and possibly validating the requests. As of May 26, more than 16,000 QSOs, the dupe rate is decreasing.


You can consult the log at the following link https://clublog.org/charts/?c=FT4GL


His activity is intensive, which he carries out in Spartan conditions at the station, which is also his workplace and place to sleep with very little sleep.


We receive various requests for low bands, 6m, RTTY.... We ask the community to be patient, the operation has just started, it will last three weeks, as a reminder Marek is alone and cannot respond to all requests, the priority is immediately to ATNO, the time to resolve our last technical problems. 


Our pilots are starting to give us feedback in order to direct traffic more precisely to satisfy the greatest number of OMs. 



FT4GL Update (May 23)


F5RQQ and F5TVL returned from FH on May 18 after an intense week, today everything is ready for the adventure that Marek FH4VVK will lead alone. Takeoff tomorrow for Glorieuses, on May 24 installation of the stations as well as part of the antennas, with a forecast of the start of traffic from Friday afternoon. We will keep you informed with more details tomorrow, via our blog and the Facebook page , do not hesitate to subscribe in order to be informed quickly.  




FT4GL Update (May 17)


The final preparations are completed, today the support team made up of F5RQQ and F5TVL helped Marek FH4VVK prepare the packing for air transport to Glorieuses, which will take place Friday May 24, barring last minute events. 




FT4GL Update (May 16)


Since their arrival in Mayotte on Tuesday morning, F5RQQ and F5TVL have wasted no time in carrying out the final technical preparations with Marek FH4VVK, who far from France could not learn about the particularities of antenna mounting for example. The first day was devoted to finalizing the software, RTTY / FT8 macros...the complete implementation of a station and testing all the equipment received (filters, amplifiers, etc.) by plane in order to detect a possible breakdown...



You can see more pictures in the link of the source.



FT4GL Update (May 14)


F5RQQ and F5TVL arrived this morning in Dzaoudzi (FH) where Marek was waiting for them for a week of final preparations.




FT4GL Update (Apr 24)


The two pallets of equipment arrived in Mayotte on Tuesday April 23. We still need to receive the band filters, which will be supplied by F5CYS, DX ENGINEERING and RA6LBS, we will have them at the end of the month.  


The departure of F5RQQ and F5TVL to Mayotte to help Marek has been brought forward, in fact the initial date of May 14 was canceled for the 15th by Air Austral, which would have caused us to lose a day there, luckily there were still places left on May 13 and they will return from Mayotte on May 18 to Paris.


At the QSL level, there will be OQRS which had not yet been announced, this will be clarified shortly. 



FT4GL Update (Apr 18)


All the material deposited and grouped at PROSIC by F5RQQ and F4FTV on Saturday April 13 was taken care of by our carrier DHL yesterday. The two packages will be sent by plane in a few days to Mayotte, which Marek FH4VVK will receive.



You can see more pictures in the link of the source.



FT4GL Update (Apr 17)



Jacky ZL3CW (F2CW) offered to be our VK / ZL pilot, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome him, his role like the other pilots, will be to transmit to Marek information concerning the propagation, band openings, pile-up conditions... of its geographical area.



FT4GL Update (Apr 16)



The initial setup has evolved, notably for the 6m which was not planned, but also a complete emergency station and the choice of Hexbeam.



FT4GL Update (Apr 14)



On March 15, 2024 we officially announced the FT4GL operation after receiving the license from the TAAF, despite a first refusal in 2023. In less than a month, the team in charge of supporting Marek FH4VVK, succeeded in its objective of mobilizing international aid, by individual, associative and professional sponsors, in order to acquire the equipment, test it, organize the logistics..., a lot of work in addition to our jobs, stress, questions, joy. .. but we have arrived at this new stage. Yesterday Jean-Marc F5RQQ and Fabrice F4FTV went to our main sponsor PROSIC - F5HPE , who supports this operation with dedication comparable to the OM spirit "If all the guys in the world" ... spirit which is becoming rare, we are more confronted today there is criticism and jealousy...



Their trip consisted of bringing the rest of the equipment, part of which was already at PROSIC, in order to crate 90% of all the stations. The material will be sent tomorrow by plane to Mayotte, which Marek FH4VVK will receive in the coming days.


F5RQQ and F5TVL, will go to FH in a month, to help Marek finalize certain technical points and give the last organizational instructions before his flight to Glorieuse. 


Thanks to everyone who trusted us and helped us so far, the work is not finished. 


F5RQQ - F5HPE - F4FTV


You can see more pictures in the link of the source.



FT4GL Update (Apr 11)


This week F5TVL and F5RQQ created and tested the 160 and 80m low band vertical antennas, a great day of work to cut the many radians of the two antennas which will be installed in an inverted L.



You can see more pictures in the link of the source.



FT4GL Update (Apr 08)


This weekend F5RQQ, F4FTV, F5TVL as well as other members of F4KLW ; F4FHV and F4IPL came together to prepare and adjust the vertical antenna planned from 40 to 10m. This week the 160 and 80m vertical antennas will also be tested and at the end of the week the majority of the equipment will be sent to our carrier. 




FT4GL (Apr 08)


Op: FH4VVK


Bands: 6M - 160M


Modes: SSB, RTTY , FT4 & FT8


Qsl Info: Qsl via F4FTV


Start Date - End Date: May. 24 - Jun. 19




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