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TX5EU - Austral Isl.

  • Feb 17
  • 5 min read

Updated: Mar 26


TX5EU Update (Mar 25)


Here on Raivavae, it is still March 24, late evening. In the morning, we had started taking down all antennas, except for one which kept one station running till the last minute.


In the evening, around 6p.m. our local time (i.e. March 25 around 5 a.m. GMT), however, we finally went QRT.


Despite all the weather-related limitations with our antennas, we accumuluated a satisfactory 59k QSOs.


Tomorrow morning, we will leave our QTH early and head back to the airport, starting our long travel back home.



TX5EU Update (Mar 22)


Only two days left before our adventure on Austral Islands comes to an end.


Over the past few days, the storm raged with wind force 8, and even stronger gusts. We had to make numerous repairs to the antennas every day, but luckily there was no major damage. It was impossible to set up the 80/60-meter vertical and the 30m VDA. We tried every day - the wind was just too strong. One day, the 30-m VDA was set up again, but an hour later it fell over again in a violent gust of wind.


We decided not to set up the 80/60-m vertical antenna and the 30m VDA anymore.


For the remaining time, we will be active with our DX Commander on 30 m and with the 40m vertical.


We made nearly 50,000 QSOs, evenly distributed across the three main continents, which is better than expected.


On Tuesday morning local time, we will take down the antennas. Early Wednesday morning, we will then leave Raivavae Island.



TX5EU Update (Mar 20)


Last night, we had power failure for several hours, but we are now QRV again.


The storm meanwhile took our 80/60m, 30m and 10m antennas out of service. During the ongoing storm we cannot do repair work. But the WX forecast gives us hope for the weekend. We will repair as soon as possible to be back on all bands.


Please cross fingers!



TX5EU Update (Mar 19)


Our comfortable situation changegd abruptly and not to the good - a storm with strong gusts is raging here. Our 30m VDA was already flattened and we can only start repair after the storm will have calmed down (see movie in gallery).


We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the other antennas will hold up. We'll see...


Forecast is that the winds may possibly calm down on Friday our time (i.e., Saturday UTC).


Will keep you posted.


P.S.: we will do our best to keep up operations the best we can under the circumstances. Please be patient.



TX5EU Update (Mar 18)


We would like to let you know that everything is up and running.


Everyone is in good shape and happy with the results so far.


Most of the time we have 3 stations running with two operators present.


One of the stations will almost always be on FT8.


The condx were improving each day and we had several long runs with EU.


Especially this evening (EU time) we were able to log lots of EU stations on 15m/12m/10m.


Just after our sunrise, the bands open to EU within just a few minutes time.


The 80m antenna is performing well. We had quite some good QSO's with EU and were surprised by the signal strength. Last night we converted the 80m vertical to 60m. Many FT8 QSO's were logged with EU.


Coming night will be on 80m again. We will look for EU just after our sunrise.


We will hope you make it into our log.


Good luck to all and greetings from the team.



TX5EU Update (Mar 17)


INTERNET CONNECTIVITY improved: as of today, ClubLog LiveStream is active!



TX5EU Update (Mar 15)


Unfortunately, internet connection at TX5EU is too poor for a livestream. That’s really too bad.


However, the connection is sufficient for daily uploads to ClubLog, which is what we’ll be doing. Please check back after 24 hours to see if you are in the log. If not, please work us again.



TX5EU Update (Mar 14)


We finally made it to our new TX5EU QTH on Austral Island Raivavae and started setting up antennas and equipment. So far, 5 of 9 antennas are already set up: VDAs 20m, 15m, 12m, the DX Commander, and the 40m vertical. See pictures in Gallery. The rest will follow tomorrow morning after sunrise (and a quick coffee...). Operation will start around 6 a.m. GMT (at our far end of the world, it is still the evening of March 13...). Watch out for our first signals!


73 from TX5EU



TX5EU Update (Mar 13)


We arrived to Papeete (Tahiti) today, and we expect arriving to Austral Island Raivavae today Mar 13 around 9 a.m. local time (= Mar 13, 7 p.m. GMT). We predict to be QRV from around 7 p.m. local time Mar 13 (= 5 a.m. GMT Mar 14)



TX5EU Update (Mar 11)


Our team met at Paris airport today and is about to depart soon (see gallery). We cross fingers that all luggage will make it to Raivavae!



TX5EU Update (Mar 01)


The excitement is mounting – just over a week to go until departure!


The team has a lot of preparatory work behind them. Extensive radio equipment, antennas, spare parts, measuring instruments – everything has been planned in detail, tested, and packed. The German and Dutch participants have been meeting regularly over the past few months, mostly via video conference. Günter praises the tireless efforts of the Dutch team members, who bore the lion's share of the hardware preparation. There is little left to do now – the team feels well prepared for the DXpedition.


On March 11, the six team members from Germany and the Netherlands will meet at Paris airport and fly together via San Francisco and Papeete to Raivavae, Austral Islands. Radio operations will begin on March 13, and we hope for good DX conditions.


The whole team would like to express their sincere thanks to all the sponsors who are helping us to cover the high costs of such a DXpedition!


Watch out for TX5EU!



TX5EU Update (Feb 26)


Everything is as scheduled; we don’t expect any issues. We packed all the equipment. We will also be active on 60m. The 80m antenna will be rebuilt for 60m and vice-versa if needed.



TX5EU


Ops: DL2AWG, DL2AMD, DK2AMM PA2KW, PA3EWP & PG5M  


Bands: 10M - 80M


Modes: CW, SSB, RTTY & FT8


Qsl Info: Qsl via DL2AWG (direct or bureau), ClubLog OQRS or LoTW


Start Date - End Date: Mar. 13 - Mar. 25




 
 
 

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