Visit to CYP 005

During our holiday we visited a archeological site in Pafos on Cyprus. On the archeological site was a lighthouse. We don't visited the lighthouse, but I only took some pictures. The lighthouse is CYP 005.

YO DX HF contest 2011

I participated in the YO DX HF contest.
The nice thing about a DX contest is that everyone can work with everyone, generating a lot of activity, so many QSO's can be made.
I used the Lowest Possible Power in each QSO. I adjust the power before I answer a CQ. The higher the S-meter reading, the lower the power can be.
I used a power of 80 mW to 2.7 W into an Inverted Vee.

Results
Nearly all QSO's are made within Europe.
Outside of Europe I made a QSO's with Bud AA3B.
I was suprised that it could be made with just 360 mW.
Bud's station has Excellent Ears.
The second QSO outside Europa was Mongolia (JT), with 1,8 W.

This tabel shows the DXCC countries and the used power.

1000 MPW QSO's
All QSO's with 360 mW or less and the 3 QSO's with 800 mW with YO, are more than 1000 MPW QSO's, Considering the distance from my QTH to each of the DXCC countries. But that is not all. The QSO with JT over a distance of 4128 miles with a power of 1.8 W is good for 2293 Miles per Watt. Wow.

Over the years I developed a strong "more than 1000 Miles per Watt" awareness. I have made a list of DXCC countries, with the distance to their nearest border, from my QTH. Whit the list at hand, I can look up the distance to that DXCC country, to adjust the power accordingly. For exaple, the distance from here to to Romania is 800 miles.
So every QSO with 800 mW (or less) to Romania will be a QSO with more than 1000 Miles per Watt.

Award
When we were on holiday in Portugal in 2007, I participated in the YO DX HF contest. I made 80 QSO's from the balcony of the hotelroom.
Later I received this (top of the page) beautiful Award, for the 1^st place in Portugal SOSB 20m. hi

IOTA contest

We have been on holiday to the Azores. My wife and I were on the island Terceira. We were in a hotel with a beautifull swimming pool.
The FT-817 went with me in the suitcase and did a great job.
During the IOTA contest I used an end fed wire of 20 meters, fed via a 300 ohm ribbon like a Zepp. The ribbon ran from the balcony 3 meters up and from there the 20 mtr wire ran in to the garden. Only in the IOTA the antenne was out during day ligth hours. The antenna is matched by a homebrew light weight tuner. Further I used a homebrew light weight paddle.
I used the FT-817 with a power of 2.7 W, 1,8 W, 800 mW and 360 mW.
At 17.00 UTC I started in the IOTA contest.

After 5 QSO's I we went to see the bulls in a street near the hotel. We were standing on the back of an open truck. It was spectaculair to see. When the bull hitted the truck, I had heart rate over 180.
After diner I continued in the IOTA contest at 22:15 utc and continued until 02:00 utc. This was later then planned, but I did not want to mis the fun. In the days before I had noticed that the best propagation was in the evening. The next morning it was more difficult to make QSO's. So after 3 QSO's in one houre I stopped. The total of QSO's is 50. Not bad for a maximum power of 2.7 wats.

Before the holiday I was wondering wether my power would be enough.
On holiday I work on a 12V 4Ah battery. The maximum power, when fully charged, is about 2 watts and drops fast to 1 watt.
During the holiday we met Antonio CU3AC, who showed us the island and invided us at home for an excellent prepared Alcatre.
Antonio offered me to use a power supply. So I could unleash a maximum power of 2.7 watts. Thank you Antinio.

As a milliwatts enthusiast I have used QRPp when the S-meter indicated a very strong signal.
By doing so, I even made about 8 QSO's with more than "1000 Miles per Watt".

I even worked more islands then I expected and that is good for the multiplier. hi

I had great fun in the IOTA contest, during an unforgettable holiday.