Reports from entrants in the 2020 ILLW event.
Please send photos as attachments rather than embed them in the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thanks once again to all the entrants for joining in the fun of the Lighthouse Weekend and for making it another wonderful year despite the intervention of an unwanted bug.
Web Links, Youtube etc. These are just some of the Youtube videos that I did a search on. Enjoy:-
GB2ISL at Shoreham Lighthouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mahanf4hVys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i4o713Pn5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8oJF_ftLD4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UGFqoZWTvw
TM2LW at Kerprigent Lighthouse, France: https://vimeo.com/490348799
Melbourne is the capital city of the Australian State of Victoria. It is currently locked down with level 4 restrictions thanks to Covid-19. Glen Alford, VK3CAM has participated in most ILLW events and this year intended to travel by boat to Deal Island which is in Bass Strait and at no small cost to himself and some friends. Bass Strait is one of the most dangerous passages of water in the world so caution has o be observed. The long range weather reports put this trip out of reach so Glen had to find a lighthouses closer to home. The level 4 restrictions put an end to that as they included an 8pm cufrew and travel limited to 5km from home and then only for medical appointments, provisions or exercise.
Not to be daunted Glen made himself a lighthouse and operted from his home QTH using his special event callsign VK3ILH (Island Light House).
From Finland:
This report from Marjaniemi, Hailuoto, FI0025, IOTA EU-184
We got two stations on the air. First one located in the hotel just few meters from
the light and second in a fish factory 200m away.
The hotel is a former station for pilots and other personnel. Due to the automatization
there is no need as large station so pilots moved into a smaller cottage nearby.
You can find the hotel Web pages from {modal url="https://wildnordic.fi/lighthouse/"}here{/modal}
The call OG8L is official call for Hailuoto municipality and used only from
Hailuoto island EU-184
73, Juha OH8CW and Marko OH8LIW (local fisherman)
From the USA:-
Four intrepid souls cast off and set sail for Angles Gate light early Saturday morning (22 Aug 2020). The crew consisted of AB6UI Bill, AG6ST Ron, K6UU Norm and the boat owner Patrick.
We anchored near the mouth of the port of Los Angeles just a few hundred yards from Angeles Gate Light US 0144. We strung a 20m Dipole in the rigging of “Bad Cat”, a 41 foot Lagoon Catamaran and went on the air by about 17:15 UTC . Our ICOM IC-7300, running 100W did a great job on 20M SSB and we started making QSOs right away. We were using the callsign K6HYC since the entire crew are all members of the King Harbor Yacht Club.
This area of the harbor is nicknamed “Hurricane Gulch” by the locals so by about 20:30 UTC we had to raise anchor, due to high winds, and head back to the dock. But even in this short time we were able to work 28 stations in the USA and Canada. The high point of the event was a Lighthouse to Lighthouse QSO with W7L US 0022 in Oregon.
It was great to finally put this Lighthouse on the air and we hope to do it again next year!
73 DE AB6UI
King Harbor Yacht Club Radio Fleet Captain
From KM1R:-
Thanks for a great Light House weekend. I operated from Faulkner Island Light (in the middle of Long Island Sound Connecticut. [US 0243] Was tied up to the dock since actual entry on the island is severely limited. Used the 40m sloper left there from a past Field Day. Running 100 watts 40m SSB. IT WAS GREAT !
QRN was terrible, but hey, it was fun! Had to leave the site early, due to the darkness and being in an active shipping lane
KM1R Log:
22 Aug
0031 40m ssb CU8AI PT-0038 Azores
0038 40m ssb VE9SLH CA-0018 New Brunswick Canada
0044 40m ssb CR2W PT-0001 Azores
0137 40m ssb DA0DFF DE-0023 Germany
0248 40m ssb VY2IDX CA-0049 PEI Canada
2151 40m cw VO2MPR CA-0070 Labrador Canada
2200 40m cw DK0RA DE-0050 Germany
2210 40m cw 4X6ZM/LH IL-0003 Israel
2224 40m cw CR5CSV PT-0011 Portugal
2232 40m ssb VO2MPR CA-0070 Labrador Canada
23 Aug
0020 40m ssb PJ4NX BQ-0002 Bonaire
0355 40m ssb OA4DTU PE-0002 Peru
73!
Mike
KM1R
From England:-
Hello Kevin
It's Ed M0MNG here with a report from Shoreham Lighthouse, ref UK0023, callsign for this year GB2ISL.
I have attached the report and a photo from the weekend. Please let me know if you have any trouble opening them.
The report is very long and I do not expect you to print it in full (if indeed you want to use any of it at all!), so I am more than happy for you to edit it to size.
I hope this helps. Keep up the great work with the ILLW and hopefully Shoreham Lighthouse will be back next year using the traditional GB8SL callsign, which it had used every single year since 1999.
73 to you and yours,
Ed M0MNG.
{modal content="modal-content-270"}Report click here{/modal}
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I have written this very long Kevin, so please feel free to edit to size.
This is a report from Shoreham Lighthouse in West Sussex, southern England. The callsign this year was GB2ISL (ILLW Shoreham Lighthouse) and the reference is UK0023. The sole operator and author of this report is Ed M0MNG.
The Worthing & District Amateur Radio Club (WADARC) has taken part in the ILLW using the callsign GB8SL every year since 1999. The club wisely decided not to take part in 2020 due to concerns about Coronavirus.
So I decided to “go it alone” and try to put Shoreham lighthouse on the air. The ILLW is my favourite amateur radio event of all, and I felt that even one VHF contact across Shoreham would be preferable to doing nothing at all.
The best I was ever going to manage was lower power than GB8SL, more modest radios, and a smaller antenna lower to the ground. Licensing considerations aside, it would not have felt right using GB8SL for my relatively “QRP” solo effort.
So I applied for GB2ISL instead, partly because the figure “2” and the letter “I” (India) look a bit like the number ‘21’. This year should have been WADARC’s 21st activation of GB8SL.
WADARC has access to mains electricity, typically runs several hundred Watts, uses top of the range rigs, and puts a very long horizontal multi-band antenna high in the air. I used a 40 meter inverted V dipole on a short pole, and ran 50 Watts SSB from my Yaesu FT-991. Power came from a 75Ah leisure battery and I operated from inside my car.
Amazingly I experienced no obvious QRM from the nearby Medium Wave (AM) broadcast mast. This stands just 200 meters away from Shoreham Lighthouse and is reputed to radiate up to 2.1kW e.m.r.p. GB8SL suffers QRM most years.
This could be a case where having a smaller antenna actually worked in my favour; I was able to position the inverted V sideways on to the mast, it was resonant on the one band I used (40 meters), and it was closer to the ground that the GB8SL antenna would have been.
I was active from about 1330 to 2030 GMT on the Saturday only. I worked 55 stations altogether, of which 49 were on 40 meters SSB and the remainder were local contacts on 2 meters FM. Most QSOs were proper ragchews; “59” rubber stamp exchanges were conspicuous by their absence. Where they did happen, I am sure that they were down to the language barrier rather than the other station being in ‘contest mode’.
I worked five lighthouses – two in Scotland, two in Germany, and one in Italy. Frustratingly, the one lighthouse that escaped me on 40 meters was GB0NL at Newhaven. This was my nearest neighbour located just 14 miles to the east! We have worked on 70cms in previous years, but sadly no contact was made on any band this time despite them being a strong signal on 40 meters.
Most of my contacts were with German stations, which meant I tried to speak German repeatedly even though I never actually studied it at school!
The best DX was Ukraine at just over 1,300 miles away. The most memorable contact was into Norway with a gentleman who is a member of WADARC. It is amazing how small the world can be sometimes.
The activation surpassed even my wildest expectations, not least because 40 meters was in the best shape I have heard for a very long time. There was virtually no propagation into England, but the overseas stations that I could hear were mostly 59+ with no QSB at all. I enjoyed working mini pile-ups on several occasions.
I went QRT primarily because my laptop battery went flat and I needed my laptop for logging. There was still plenty of charge left in my leisure battery!
Despite a very successful day, I really hope that GB8SL will return next year and that GB2ISL will never have to go on air again.
If Coronavirus is still disrupting the ILLW in 2021, I hope that this report will encourage readers to have a go at activating a lighthouse – even if they believe that the odds of success are stacked against them. For example I had worried that I would not be able to park somewhere that would allow me to put up the HF dipole, that the broadcast transmitter would make HF unusable, that the HF bands would be dead anyway, and so forth.
Try it anyway and you might be pleasantly surprised!
I made a video: of GB2ISL in action.
73 to all fellow ILLW fans everywhere.
Ed M0MNG.
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Good afternoon
CR5L, operated by CT1DSV (Jose) and CT1ENV (Claro) was on the air at Boa Nova Lighthouse (PT0025) near Oporto, in NW Portugal.
With a TS590S, a FD4 Fritzel dipole and a TH2 triband we had lots of fun as always. Poor propagation but good ham spirit.
Until next year :-)
73s
CT1DSV
Good Morning Dear OM Kevin,
This year we joined for the 5th time the ILLW in spite of Corona pandemic, of course considering the hygiene rules. Again it was a great event and we had a lot of fun. Here is our report:
The crew of DF0VK:
- Herbert, DF7DJ
- Martin, DF1DN
- Stephan, DG1HXJ
- Matthias, Sailor & SWL
- Andreas, Sailor & SWL
- Michael, DL5YAD
The sailing crew Matthias - DF1DN, Andreas, Martin and myself started already on Thursday with my sailing vessel ‘Seefaehrt’ in the marina of Neustadt with course south east. First DX-QSOs were logged under DF0VK/mm while sailing on the Baltic Sea. A highlight was sighting three porpoises. These wales similar to dolphins are in danger of extinction. On Friday afternoon we arrived at our destination harbour Timmendorf on the Island of Poel. Herbert – DF7DJ with his YL and our guest Stephan – DG1HXJ with his YL came with their cars and joined the crew nearly at the same time on Friday.
Fortunately the harbour master arranged for us again our own mooring which has some distance from the other boats. 
The power inverters and power supplies of the other boats are creating a horrible noise on short wave. Distance makes it easier.
In the same way like the other years we installed a chicken ladder dipole according to ZS6BKW. The ship’s mast top is 16 m above water but the chicken ladder only a length of 12.2 m. Therefore we had to install the matchbox 2 m above the deck of the ship which had some consequences later on. On Saturday we made a lot of SSB and CW QSOs and met some old HAMs on the bands. Our young guest from Bavaria Stephan, DG1HXJ made a really good job. He was a strong part of our team.
On Saturday evening we barbequed about 150 m far away from the boat. Wind was coming up with direction south west and increasing more and more. All of a sudden a sailing vessel was drifted in the shallow water zone close to the beach just in the area of the port entrance. A SAR boat came a couple of minutes later and pulled the sailing vessel back in deep water. Fortunately nobody was injured and no big damages on the boat. Exciting to watch this scenario!
Back to the barbecue we got an alarm from our boat! Due to the strong wind the matchbox sprung away and was hanging 20 cm over the water. We are lucky guys! The chicken ladder was flagging in the wind. Fortunately high enough that there was no risk for people walking on the landing stage. The whole team was supporting to rescue the antenna.
After a stormy and restless night we decided next morning to leave the Island of Poel. We had to sail against westerly winds of 6 bft and 2 m high waves. A lot of fun for sailors but a horror trip for landlubbers. Making CW-QSOs on a sailing vessel is a challenge. Knowing this I was really happy to work in a pile-up OX3XR on 20 m in CW.
In the afternoon we arrived tired but happy the marina in Neustadt. The ILLW was again a very good, adventurous event. We have about 200 QSOs in our logbook. This is not very much but we had some very good conversation with interested people on the landing stage. All in one a very good marketing for amateur radio und a perfect combination of two exiting hobbies – radio and sailing! Needless to say that we are already registered for ILLW 2021.
Best regards
Michael
Michael Knippschild, DL5YAD
From GM0AYR, the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, Scotland, the club of which the two ILLW founders were members. Their usual lighthouse, Turnberry is now owned by Donald Trump so an alternative was 
sought at Toward Point Lighthouse:-
Dear Kevin,
I thought that you might like to know that the Ayr ARG managed to record 541 contacts during the lighthouse weekend. We could probably have talked to more, but our small team was a bit frazzled by the time we got to Sunday morning.
A very enjoyable event for us all at Toward Light and thank you very much for all of your efforts in keeping the 'show on the road' !
Regards
Austen
From the Great South Bay ARC who were unable to go participate for the first time in 23 years.
FIRE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE: ILLW 2020 FIRE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE: ILLW 2020By Walter, KA2S, with KA2D and K2TV
August 22 and 23 would have been the GSBARC’s annual Fire Island Lighthouse activation for the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend event. Sadly, I sit listening to all the lighthouse activity from my home QTH. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus stopped the club’s participation this year. For the safety of the club members and the fact that the National Park Service would not grant the club a permit, NO LIGHTHOUSE! This is the first time since 1997 that we have not had a presence at the lighthouse!
The first year of operation was on Aug. 16 and 17 of 1997 and organized by Rich AC2P (SK), Tom KA2D, Bob W2IK and Len W2FX. At that time it was a joint effort by GSBARC and the Islip ARES group. Three stations were set up on the west patio area using an OCF dipole from the flagpole, an R-5 vertical and a tri-band beam mounted on the telephone pole that was at the south end of the parking lot. There was no Lens building there and we were able to park at the lighthouse. We were also permitted to stay overnight!!! Thanks to our dear friend “Larry the Lighthouse Keeper” and of course all of the staff and volunteers at the lighthouse.
Yes, the National Park Service too. Without their help and support none of this could have happened. Over the years we BBQ’d dinner and cooked breakfast, too. Times did change over these 23 years with more and more restrictions put upon GSBARC by the NPS. Still, it remains a fabulous event. In 2008, the club also operated a special event for the 150th anniversary of the lighthouse.Through the years many different configurations of radios and antennas were used -- all with varying results. The ocean to the south, the bay to the north, salt water and an unobstructed horizon all worked to our advantage.
The weather almost always cooperated as well.A special thank you to all members through all the years for helping set up and break down at the lighthouse event.I hope that 2021 will be a much better year for the club to be able to operate as we normally have. The next ILLW is scheduled for August 21 and 22 of 2021. Hope to see you there.
GREAT SOUTH BAY AMATEUR RADIOCLUB
From Dan KB6NU:-
This year, I activated the Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse (US0105) near Port Austin, Michigan, USA, which is in the “thumb” of Michigan. I was only able to operate on Sunday this year. I used a battery-powered Elecraft KX-3 at 12 W, into a 66-ft. doublet strung up between two trees. As you can see from the attached photo, the weather was just perfect, and my operating position looked out over Lake Huron. (I moved around to the other side of the table for this photo; while operating, I actually faced the lake.)
I operated for a little over four hours and made ten CW contacts. I made the majority of my contacts on 40 meters, and even more specifically, 7030 kHz. 20 meters was open, and I heard many Europeans. Unfortunately, only YL3CW was able to hear me sufficiently well enough to copy my call and give me a signal report. I also heard KH6TU working the Hawaii QSO Party. He actually heard my 12 W signal, but not well enough to copy my call sign and the exchange. That would have been quite a haul for 12 W! I did manage to work one other lighthouse: W1QK, who was operating from the Avery Point Lighthouse in Groton, CT.
I think I’d have made more contacts if I hadn’t been chasing DX on 20 meters. Now that I think about it, what I really should have done is tried 15 meters. Perhaps I would have had some success there. Band conditions were so good that I might have even given 40-meter phone a try. Oh, well, next year.73! Dan KB6NU