reports 2003

We had a great day last Saturday. We made lots of contacts on 20m. Here are a couple of pictures for you. We had an unexpected visit from "Coxy" (of the "Postcards" program fame) and his wife. They joined us for a glass of Red and a yarn about what we were doing - all good publicity for the event and the hobby in general.

GB2SCA - SCARBOROUGH LIGHTHOUSE ENG - 121

Dear Mike,

This was our sixth operation during International Lighthouse Weekend and the event increases in popularity every year. It is ideal for the newcomer who has the opportunity to collect Lighthouse stations without the need for high power.

This year, a dramatic improvement in recent HF conditions saw 40 metres wide open to stations in the UK and Europe with a constant pile up of stations 20+ deep. We called CQ at 0715z and never stopped until close down.

700 stations worked on HF SSB
100 on HF CW
100 on VHF

Yet another successful event, much enjoyed by all. If only the local lighthouse would install a lift, it would make things much easier !

Photo shows members of the Scarborough Special Events Group operating GB2SCA from Scarborough Lighthouse.

Roy Clayton G4SSH
Chairman

The Peconic ARC experienced quite good band condx for ILLW 2003 from the
Horton Point Lighthouse (USA-387) in Southold, NY. We worked 20 meters most
of Saturday and 40 meters most of Sunday. We logged a total of 374
contacts, including 37 lighthouses. The lighthouse contacts were almost all
in the USA, but we were thrilled to contact VK2JUB at AUS-175 on 20 meters.
We used an Icom IC-706MKIIG with AT-180 auto tuner, and the antenna was a
trapped dipole at 80 feet strung between a flagpole and the lantern house.
Attached are a few photos.

73 de Warren
WM2Z, ARLHS #133

Hi Mike,

Pleased to have worked you at GB3LT.
We have had a great weekend here at The Bill.
It;s been great to be able to offer the 3 LH numbers from here.
As GB2PBL is a permanent special event station, I will try to
be more active on HF. I am only active on V/UHF between
visitors at the moment.

Thanks to you and The Team for all your efforts which was for
us a very active weekend with about 200 stations worked with
a few lighthouses thrown in for good measure.
Oh yes, on Sunday morning(s) our Diaphone foghorn is sounded
for about 30 minutes, after that we open to visitors.
It was great to hear the responses from the stations we worked
that heard the foghorn during our contacts.

Hope to 2 photos may be of some use for the website.
If you would like one of PBL and the other 2 let me know.

Cheers form Portland A.R.C.
Regards,
Dave.

Was the sole operator this year and found conditions fair to good. Best
part was the opening on 15M. The unfortunate part was the inability to
operate as many hours as would have liked. And due to the fact that the LH
was just finishing an 11 month restoration, I had to shut down an hour and a
half early during some peak 20M activity. Also had to entertain visitors
between the local hours of 10 AM and 3:30 PM on both days between short
stints on the radio.

Some statistics from K7L (USA-107) operating from Cape Blanco LH on the
south coast of the State of Oregon.

Total contacts - 432 on 3 bands (15, 20 and 40)
15M - 148 contacts
20M - 237 contacts
40M - 47 contacts

Lighthouse/Lightship contacts - 24
US - 14
Australia - 3
Canada - 4
Brazil - 1
New Zealand - 1
Denmark - 1
Finland - 1
Lithuania - 1
Puerto Rico - 1
Panama - 1
Scotland - 1

States worked - 43
DXCC countries worked -39
ARLHS members worked - 50 (had to pry the numbers from some of the
folks)

Spent a lot of time explaining the ILLW and LH/LS operation to a lot of the
amateurs worked. Everyone wanted to chat and ask questions which was the
best part. GLAD this was not a contest; would have destroyed the good time
we had.

Equipment used: Yaesu FT-990 to Alpha 91b amp at half power (500 W) into
160M version of G5RV (new antenna) suspended between the rail on the widow's
walk and an old US Coast Guard pole on the 200 foot high bluff above the
Pacific. USA-107 is fortunate to have the Pacific on almost 4 sides, the
site being connected to the mainland by a narrow neck of land. Signals were
all muted (low in strength), but the band noise was practically nil so was
able to hear signals that were relatively weak.

Dear Kevin,
We have had good time in LIT-007 1st activation. There were 700 QSOs with the LY2UF call, aproximately 600 QSO of LY1DF and 400 QSO of LY2FY. 6 bands were activated: 160, 80, 40, 30, 20 and 15 metres.
We used IC775 (for first 5 hours) and TS850S/AT (all the time). In Saturday evening we have had 300 W PA. The antennas were W3DZZ, dipoles of 160, 80, 30, 20 metres.

Is it possible to find out about other expeditions in lighthouses (their setups, QSOs and so on?).

Do you know something about award of Lithuanian Lighthouses. The coordinator of this award is LY1CM - Bronius. He has operated from LIT-008 this year as usual.

As I know, another Lighthouse in Klaipeda was activated, but I don't remember it's number. LY1CM knows. And Juodkrante lighthouse LIT-001 was not activated. Instead of it there were quite good activation from LIT-004 - Nida lighthouse. LY2FN, LY2DX, LY1FW, LY1NTW was working there.

G'day Mike
I hope that you had a good weekend. Thanks for organising the event. I'll keep it short as I am sure you have plenty of mail. I just thought that I would let you know that the Whitehaven ARC activated the Whitehaven Harbour Light, GB0WHL, and St Bees Lighthouse, GB0SBL. It is the first time St Bees has been activated for this event and only the second time anyone can remember it being activated at all. It proved very popular with us working almost 500 stations. As we were operating from the lawn outside the lighthouse and our tent did not arrive we could only open the station during daylight. Fortunately the weather was glorious. The Whitehaven light operated for most of the weekend with only a short break in the early hours of Sunday.
Once again a big thank you from all at Whitehaven.
Norman, M0CRM, Secretary

STATION: WA8REI/2, Ken, ARLHS #364
Hereford Inlet Lighthouse ARLHS USA-370
QTH: North Wildwood, southern New Jersey; Hereford Inlet at the Atlantic
Ocean.
FACILITIES: outdoor gazebo about 30 ft. square with electricity (used my
power supply); portapotties nearby.
WX: 93 F & very humid Friday; 91 F & very humid Saturday; low 80's F Sunday
and pleasant
TOTAL QSO's: 71 (less than two per hour for the event)!!
CW QSO's: 4
LIGHTHOUSES WORKED: 12
ARLHS MEMBERS WORKED: 32
FARTHEST LIGHTHOUSE: PUR-021, El Faro Lighthouse, Puerto Rico
BEST DX: Denmark & Romania

PLUSES:
Very acommodating staff (Betty Mugnier and Steve Murray)
Food vendor for the crafts show shared the gazebo with me! Pork, beef
sandwiches, soda, cold water.
N2TEW, Mike, of the East Coast Long Wire Association paid visits, brought
coffee and donuts Sun. morning,.
(I bought him lunch)!! Great eyeball QSO's. Their group has received
permission to activate this LH
next year for ILLW.
Hung the new ARLHS "table drape" from the railing of the gazebo. Beautiful
flowers in the foreground!
Learned a lot about the history of the area and the lighthouse from Betty,
Steve and Mike.
Met Donna Elias, considered to be the world's best lighthouse artist,
selling her artwork at the foot of the gazebo.
Award winning gardens on the grounds.
Watching guys do restoration work on Friday: million-dollar restoration to
restore lighthouse to its original
specifications, down to the type of wood used for each board!
Great crab cakes and sea scallops at the Cape May Court House Diner!
Enjoyable QSO's (even rag chews) with many ARLHS friends!
Worked the Cape May Lighthouse, about 4 miles away, on 20 M CW.

DELTAS: (minuses):
Had to hide my vertical in pine trees to not detract from the botanical
gardens and manicured lawns. This
proved to be a very poor location....I think the tropical-rain-forest-humid
trees sent a lot of RF straight to ground!
Unable to use wire antennas because they caused interference with the PA
system at the lighthouse/gazebo
(which had to be on at all times in order to communicate in the event of a
fire or bad weather).
Band conditions poor. I heard K8E S-5 and called dozens of times with no
reply.
Had to vacate the grounds at 5 PM each day, so no operating from 5 PM until
sunrise the next day.
Unable to make my skeds with Peter (MM0PSL) due to time restrictions.
Heard several Scotish lighthouses (not Peter's), but could not raise them!
Found out on Sunday that the mike gain of FT-100D had been inadvertently
turned down, but even after turning it
up, I didn't make many contacts due to band condx!
Physically drained from the hot, humid weather; sweat and smelled like a
flying pig. Hi Hi.

Ken, WA8REI "portable two"

The Farallon islands are located 26 miles west of the Golden Gate in an area of typically powerful weather conditions with no shelter from the systems that prowl the Bearing sea and North East Pacific this time of the year. They are a rocky outcropping whose chief inhabitants wear thick blubber for protection or a deep coat of feathers coated against the persistent low clouds and drizzle that cling to this tiny island.

The SE Farallon is protected and people are not allowed on the island without permission. Normally this is reserved for scientists studying the bird, seal, and great white populations.

The intrepid crew of Redsky, with a goal to place these islands on the air, were expecting a better than normal set of conditions for this amateur radio expedition. Redsky set sail at 1700 pdt in clear skies from Richmond, Ca. and crossed SF Bay in light to moderate conditions with a favorable tide pushing out to sea. Winds built in typical fashion near the Golden Gate and then ebbed once outside. The waves on the ocean, at 7 feet, were a bit steep as they were amplified by the tide fighting the wind.

The wind and waves worked in tandem to both chill the participants and agitate the sensitive stomach linings that were recently filled with taco salads and burgers from the mainland. Some consumed medications in an effort to prevent the onset of la mal de mer. The motion of the NW swell crossed with the light SW swell and then coupled to a heeling sail boat took its toll as participants began to disappear below even prior to sunset. All however would make occasional forays to the topsides to place personal contributions on the 55 degree Neptunian surface. After several hours the light of the Farallons appeared in the haze and darkness. Only the pilot remained on deck in the last few hours of approach at an angle of 240 degrees with 15 knots wind from the NW. Within a mile of the island one other came on deck and assisted with locating the mooring buoy and handling the boat while the pilot crawled to the foredeck to make the connection. At last, 1:20 am and Redsky were on station. E

By 3:30 am the winds were briskly closing on the anchorage and the occasional swell would bend from the north hooking into the cove. The rigging and buoy were checked periodically to make sure the loud noises aloft were just rigging slapping the deck or mast and that the 30 knot gusts had not separated Redsky from the buoy. At sunrise the crew began to stir. The radio was checked and all seemed in order.

A discussion ensued regarding the willingness of one and all to sit below deck and operate under the influence of the stomach wrenching swell. It was decided that no significant amount of time should be spent in these conditions and a run for home in the 20 knot breeze was in order. One very lucky station, K2VOA was contacted from the Farallons light. Mission accomplished ! and a big advantage to this operation is the reduced number of QSL cards that will have to be managed ! Congrats to the survivors, some of whom requested burial at sea.

Another great ILLWE at GB2ELH Eshaness Lighthouse, on a 200ft cliff top facing the Atlantic.
Band conditions varied from wide open to not so good.
The same 'open house' setup as last year. Radio station in the lighthouse workshop (formerly the generator room) use of the bathroom, spare bedroom, kitchen etc. with meals laid on by son David. (it was touch and go !) Salmon, crab, prawns and oysters with all the trimmings. Dean, Sharma's husband came over from Michigan for the event as did Hans from Germany.

Operators: Hans, DJ6AU/MM0XAU. Paul, GM4ENK and myself MM5PSL
Contacts: We beat last years total of 900 with 1125 in 46 countries.CW and phone, 6m to 80m bands
Lots of lighthouses from all over Europe (none ? from USA)
Some ARLHS members in Europe & USA
LONG string of JA contacts on CW
Heard a VK lighthouse 5/4 but could not raise him.
Some 6 meter contacts with Europe toward the end.
Best DX/unsual contact, Tristan da Cuna, South Atlantic. (Only one operator lives there)
Most distant visitors, two musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pictures of ILLWE 2003 are on this web site
plus a lot of other pictures from Eshaness.

Ken WA8REI. Didn't make the sked either Ken, I did the night shift and sleeping odd hours. Maybe 2003 with a handheld ?

Now the hard work starts and a lot to do. Statistics, get cards printed, write articles etc.

Thanks to the organisers and everyone for being there and making it another success.

Hi! Just a short scribble from Naven lighthouse, 8S6NAV, in Lake
Vanern, Sweden. We had a fantastic time this weekend. The weather was
superb, sunny and >20C. And with three rigs and nine aerials who could
want for more?

The complete stats are not assembled yet, as we run a mix of computer
and paper logs. I'd like to report some of the effort anyway and thank
you for organizing this ILLW-event. Great fun! We had several visitors
both active and "dormant" hams as well as normal tourists. As the time
passed more and more needles marked our progress on the large world map
we had set up.

During the two days I did some 117 QSO:s 52 by CW and 65 by SSB. And we
managed to get to such exotic places as China, Japan, Singapore Island
Lighthouse, Zambia, Ivory Coast, US Virgin Island, Brazil and Iceland.
One other rig made 120 QSO:s on SSB mainly on 160 and 80 covering up
SM, OH and OZ. The pileup on 80 was apparently tremendous as every ham
i Sweden seemed to be awake late at night and wanting a QSO:)

Bereft of sleep we ended the activity on Sunday afternoon and began
dismantling rigs and aerials. We all agree that we just have to do this
again next year.

A big thanks to all of you out there on the bands for making our
weekend such a memorable time!

8SNAV was run by Lennart/Len (SM6DQA), organizing most of it, thanks!,
Berndt (SM6GZ), Kalle (SM6CXR), both helping hands to Len, Lasse
(SM6HRI), managing boat transport for the equipment and visitors and
myself Micke/Mike (SM5JAB), initiator this year and living so far away
from Naven that all I could do was give cheers of encouragement until
the weekend came!

From: "Hajo Fritze", INTERNET:HajoF@web.de
To: "MikeDalrymple", GM4SUC

Date: 21/08/2003 11:47 PM

RE: Re: International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend 2004

Hi dear Mike,
really it was a super weekend on Greifswalder Oie Lighthouse.
We were there with 10 OMs, 3 stns on shortwave and 1 stn on 2 mtrs-
without our wifes (because there are toilettes only for men) among the wild
shettland horses.

So we planed the EXPEDITION 2004 to the same lighthouse (WLH 0114) as DF0WLG-LH.

Thanks for motivation and organisation.
73 de Hajo

Hi Mike -

we have activated at least 9 lighthouses at the ILLW 2003. I`ve just
updated our
website at http://e09.de with pictures of all lighthouses and the
trouble around.

The site is in German but enjoy the pictures.

c u next year

Stefan, DJ7AO

Dear Mike,

for the first time we activated the southernmost lighthouse FED-145
and the oldest lighthouse FED-146 from Germany on the island of Lindau
/ Lake Constance. Two days we "lived" in the lighthouse FED-145 and we
enjoyed the weekend. A lot of interesting and nice QSOs with 170
stations. The DX conditions were not so good, but anyhow we had a lot
of fun.

I send you some pictures from our lighthouses. More pictures you will
find at our homepage www.darc-o33.de .

73s de Tom, DK5DF
DF0WAT/LH-Crew

Hello Mike,

Since 1997 you contact the Dieppe Radio Club, F6KUM/P (or TM6OC in 2002) is present for ILLW from Ailly lighthouse. It is a very pleasant weekend, and there are more lighthouse or lightship on the air. This year we contact 54 lighthouse or lightship. It is the first time I have a pile up during 5 hours. We open the log Saturday at 12.30 and closed Sunday at 14.30. During this time we had more than 500 QSO, HF and VHF. 41 DXCC worked. The most interesting DX is VK2JUB lighthouse, I was surprise because I was in EU pile up.

See you next year
73 Eric F5IDB

Hello Mike

We had a good weekend. We had to cut down on our operation
this year. We ran a single station and operated when the
Fire Island Lite has normal visiting hours.

We all had a good time and gave out FI lite to about 375
contacts..

Looking forward to next year. Keep up the good work.

Tom Carrubba KA2D
Special Events
Great South Bay ARC
W2GSB/Lighthouse
Fire Island Lighthouse
Fire Island National Seashore, NY

Dear Sirs,
Please find enclosed pictures
BUGIO ISLAND 2003
IOTA :EU040
ARLH .POR005
73sfrom Marq/CT1BWW and Jim/CT1ECT

Manuel Marques
F.Duarte,SA
mailto:mmarques@fduarte.pt
Tel.219158820 Fax.219150827