Turneffe NA123

Funkbetrieb in Belize, Zentral-Amerika
radio operation from Belize, Central America

Update 05-Jan-2010

Rufzeichen / Call Sign
V31YN
Location: Consejo Shores
near Corozal Town in the
Corozal District
Northern Belize, near Mexican border

QTH Information
Continent: North America
Maidenhead Locator: EK58WF
CQ Zone: 7
ITU Zone: 11
IARU Area: 2
Time Zone: CST Central Standard Time (UTC -6)
No Daylight Saving Time

Phone
Country Code +501 Area Code 621 Number 1200

QSL-Route
Bestätigung von Funkverbindungen

The preferred method of QSL is by Logbook of the World LotW of ARRL. All QSO's are entered into the Logbook of the World (LotW) of ARRL. But your card is welcome too. Please send your request for QSL to DJ4KW. QSL-cards sent via the bureau must be marked via DJ4KW. QSO's will be checked using the computer log and QSL-labels will be printed automatically. Please no e-QSL.

All incoming QSL's will be answered. QSL's received from the bureau will be answered using the QSL-service of the DARC (German Amateur Radio Club). QSL's received by mail will be answered direct, if self-addressed envelope and sufficient return postage are supplied; German stamps, 1 IRC, or US$. Postage within Europe is presently 0.70 EUR (1 US$), overseas 1.70 EUR (3 US$). If insufficient postage or no self-addressed envelope is supplied, your QSL will be answered via the bureau. If you want to receive a QSL-card via the bureau, it is not necessary to send your QSL-card. You can send a QSL-request with your QSO-details by E-mail to: v31yn (ät) t-online.de

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Der Leguan (Wish Willy) ist ein typisches Tier in Belize, ungefähr die Größe einer Katze.
The Ieguan (wish willy) is a typical animal of Belize, about the size of a cat.

Operation in 2010

Gerd (DJ4KW/V31YN) and YL Gisela (DK9GG/V31GW)

14-Jan-2010             Arrival
15-Jan-2010             Setup of station
28-Feb-2010 End of operation
02-Mar-2010 Flight back

29-Jan-10

Friday 2200 - Sunday 2159
CQ 160-Meter Contest CW

05-Feb-10	Friday 1500 - Sunday 2100 FOC Marathon FOC activity weekend (no contest), non-members welcome
13-Feb-10	Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359 CQ World-Wide RTTY WPX Contest

20-Feb-10	Saturday 0000 – Sunday 2400 ARRL International DX Contest CW
27-Feb-10	Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359 CQ 160-Meter Contest SSB

01-FEB-2010 – 07-FEB-2010 Operation V31YN/P from Blue Marlin Lodge IOTA number NA-180

Operation in 2009

Gerd (DJ4KW/V31YN) and YL Gisela (DK9GG/V31GW)

17-Jan-09      Arrival
18-Jan-09      Setup of station
11-Mar-2009 End of operation
12-Mar-2009 Flight back

V31YN Activity

5495 QSO

Bands        Modes    Continents
-----        -----    ----------
1581 160m     4812 CW     1736 EU
1943 80m      678 RY      255 AS
350 40m        5 PH       38 AF
512 30m                 3341 NA
197 20m                  109 SA
13 15m                   15 OC
12 12m
   7 10m

23-Jan-09

Friday 2200 - Sunday 2159
CQ 160-Meter Contest CW

30-Jan-09	Friday 1500 - Sunday 2100 FOC Marathon FOC activity weekend (no contest), non-members welcome
14-Feb-09	Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359 CQ World-Wide RTTY WPX Contest

21-Feb 09

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2400
ARRL International DX Contest CW

Operation V31YN/P from Blue Marlin Lodge IOTA number NA-180:

25-Feb-2009 Arrival
04-Mar-2009 Departure

Operation in 2008

Gerd (DJ4KW/V31YN) and YL Gisela (DK9GG/V31GW)

Schedule

12-Jan-08 Arrival
13-Jan-08 Setup of station and start of operation
01-Mar-2008 Flight back

Activity

26-27 Jan 08

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359
CQ 160-Meter Contest CW
op V31YN
612 (of 613) valid QSOs, 54 states/provinces, 43 DXCC

01-03 Feb 08	Friday 1500 - Sunday 2100 FOC Marathon V31YN, FOC members activity weekend 160m 61/80m 101/40m 87/20m 57/15m 45/10m 0 QSOs 25 DXCC entities, 5 continents, 8 stations on 5 bands
09-10 Feb 08	Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359 CQ World-Wide RTTY WPX Contest call V31GW 424 (of 429) valid QSOs: 80m 158/40m 206/20m 32/15m 30/10m 1

16-17 Feb 08

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2400
ARRL International DX Contest CW
op V31YN 516 QSOs

Pictures V31YN V31GW (c) 2008 DJ4KW DK9GGclick on pictures to enlarge, picture will open in a separate window, close window after viewing
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Antenna-mast	Operator V31YN	V31YN & V31GW	Operator Position	Antennas
Ant-Eater (Ameisenbär)	Fed Guy Wires and Internet Access

Bottom row:
Left picture: Ant-Eater in the bush close to our house
Right picture: Longest guy wire fed from ground as sloping half-wave dipole for 80 m,
next lower guy wire fed as three-quarter-wavelength sloper for 40 m.
Red wire is one of the elevated radials for 160 m.
Satellite dish in background provides internet access.

Operation /P from Blue Marlin Lodge IOTA number NA-180 for one week
19-Feb-2008 Arrival
26-Feb-2008 Departure
566 QSOs

Total 4239 QSOs

August 2007 - Hurricane "Dean"

Photo NOAA GOES-EAST of Tuesday August 21st 2007 at 08:45 UTC (02:45 local time)

Our location is on the lower edge of the red marked hurricane zone near the border between Mexico and Belize.

Picture: Cumulative wind history of Tuesday August 21st 2007

We did not receive any news from Consejo till Thursday August 23rd morning. There were reports from 7newsbelize.com and channel5belize.com, but the news teams did not come further than the district capital Corozal Town, about 10 miles South of our location.

At the location of V31YN many trees were unrooted and the roof of the restaurant was almost completely blown away, and there was damage to the other buildings, but nobody was hurt. The 120 ft antenna mast withstood the 165 mph winds, V31AE had already hurricanes in mind when he designed it for us, well done Robert! We lost all elevated radials.

Cell phones worked again Wednesday Aug. 22nd 4 pm, but still no electricity, no water, no internet. The Prime Minister of Belize declared the Corozal District a disaster area after extensive damage to homes and the mass destruction of crops.

Operation in 2007

Gerd (DJ4KW/V31YN) and YL Gisela (DK9GG/V31GW)

11-Jan-07 Arrival
12-Jan-07 Start of operation

03-Feb-2007 two additional operators joined:
Frank (DL2SWW/V31FG) and YL Gabi (DF9TM/V31DG)

Consejo Shores and Turneffe NA 123

All four operators were active from the Turneffe Reef, IOTA number NA-123 for one week
07-Feb-2007Arrival

     80 40 30 20 17 15 All
V31FG/p
CW 363 901 101 136 141 16 1658
SSB               3   5
V31DG/p
SSB              28   2       30
V31GW/p
RTTY                         270
V31YN/p
CW                           233

14-Feb-2007 Departure

V31YN total 3650 contacts

26-Feb-2007 End of activity
27-Feb-2007 Departure from Consejo Shores. Flight back to Europe

Activity in contests (times in UTC, local time 6 hours earlier)

27-28 Jan 07

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359
CQ 160-Meter Contest CW
op V31YN 639 QSO's, 57 states/provinces

10-11 Feb 07

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359
CQ World-Wide
RTTY WPX Contest
call V31GW/P, 270 QSO's

17-18 Feb 07

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2400
ARRL International DX Contest CW
V31YN 903 QSO's, 58 states/provinces
First place world wide in 160 m single band category

24-25 Feb 07

Saturday 0000 - Sunday 2359
CQ 160-Meter Contest SSB
op V31DG 58 QSO's

Operation in 2006: 13-Jan-2006 ... 20-Feb-2006 from Consejo Shores Link to design of 160 m antenna (Entwurf der 160 m Antenne)

160m Ant. Tuner

36m Mast

v31yn/dj4kw

Station: ICOM-756 PRO II, 100 W output, Antenna 160 m: 36 m vertical with 3 elevated radials 50 m each in 3 m height, preset antenna tuner; follow link to design above. 80 m: 41 m sloped vertical dipole to mast top, end-fed from ground by a preset antenna tuner. Other bands: 10 m vertical with 3 elevated radials in 3 to 4 m height, manual home made antenna tuner. DL4RCK logging software RCKLog for CW DX-pedition and contests, RCKRTTY for RTTY contests.

Total over 3000 QSOs (V31YN 2482 CW QSOs, 52 % on 160 m; V31GW 605 RTTY contacts),

BAND QSOs DXCC
---------------
10   10    2
12   1     1
15   115   25
17   39    15
20   176   38
30   38    10
40   604   62
80   200   38
160 1299 49 (54 top band contacts with JA including duplicates)

13 ... 31-Jan-2006
800 CW-QSOs plus 105 RTTY-QSOs in UK DX RTTY-Contest and 20 RTTY-QSOs in BARTG RTTY-Contest

01-Feb ... 08-Feb from Blue Marlin Lodge, South Water Caye IOTA NA-180
700 CW-QSOs 40, 20, 15, 10 m

09-Feb ... 20-Feb
300 CW QSOs plus 480 RTTY QSOs with V31GW in WPX RTTY Contest and 600 CW-QSOs in ARRL DX CW contest single band 160 m low power category

Operation in 2005: 09-Jan-2005 ... 01-Mar-2005 from Consejo Shores
29-Jan ... 06-Feb with V31GW from Blue Marlin Lodge, South Water Caye IOTA NA-180

Station: ICOM-706 MK II, 100 W output; solid state PA for 160 m, 400 to 600 W output.

V31YN: 3850 CW-QSOs. First contacts into Japan on 160 meters on 21 and 22-Feb-2005
V31GW: 850 RTTY-QSOs in multi-op contest-operation

28-Jan-2005 V31-FOC-members meeting and Central American dinner, in picture below
V31LZ Rumen # 1826 (LZ1MS) and Elena V31RW (LZ3RY)
V31YN Gerd # 1833 / # 737 (DJ4KW) and Gisela V31GW (DK9GG)
V31JP Joe # 1743 (K8JP) and Bev

2005 FOC meeting	South Water Caye	Blue Marlin Lodge	IOTA_NA180

Operation in 2004: 10-Jan-2004 ... 28-Feb-2004 with V31GW, from Consejo Shores

PA,Loader,150Ah Battery

Feeded Guy Wire

01 ... 06-Feb-2004 with V31GW Lighthouse Reef IOTA NA 123

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Station: ICOM-706 MK II G, 100 W output; solid state PA for 160 m, 400 to 600 W output.

V31YN: 4500 QSOs in Telegrafie, davon ein Drittel auf 160 Meter. V31GW: 750 QSOs in Funkfernschreiben im multi-OP Contest-Betrieb
V31YN: 4500 CW-QSO's, one third on 160 meters. V31GW: 750 RTTY-QSO's in multi-op contest-operation

Operation in 2003: 08-Jan ... 05-Feb-2003 with V31GW, 06-Feb ... 27-Feb-2003 with V31DG, V31FG, and V31GW from Consejo Shores and San Pedro Ambergris Caye IOTA NA-073
5000 QSO's in CW as V31YN (25 % on 160 m) and 1000 in RTTY as multi-OP stn V31GW

Operation in 2002: 06-Jan-2002 ... 07-Feb-2002 from Consejo Shores and Corozal Town
12-Jan ... 19-Jan with V31GW from Lighthouse Reef IOTA NA-123

Operation in 2001: 10-Jan-2001 ... 19-Feb-2001 from Consejo Shores and Corozal Town
with Gisela V31GW 01... 09-Feb-2001 from Manta Resort Glovers Reef (check Gisela's homepage) IOTA NA-180

Operation in 2000: 10-Nov ... 16-Nov-2000 from Consejo Shores,
CW/Telegrafie and RTTY/Funkfernschreiben in WAEDC RTTY contest

Station

Antenna Tuner

Station V31YN, nur für digitale Betriebsarten Morsetelegrafie (CW, Aufnahme nach Gehör) und Funkfernschreiben (RTTY, PACTOR, BPSK31). Sende-Empfänger ICOM 706, Netzteil PS85. Es gibt kein Mikrofon und keine Moresetaste. Sendungen für Telegrafie und Fernschreiben werden nur durch den Rechner getastet. Der Computer loggt alle Verbindungen, deshalb ist an der Station auch kein Logbuch zu sehen. 10 Meter Vertikal-Antenne gestattet interkontinentalen Betrieb auf Kurzwellenbändern zwischen 7 und 29 MHz (Wellenlänge 40 ... 10 m). Die Lage am Wasser bietet optimale Ausbreitungsbedinungen Richtung USA/Kanada und Europa. Das Glasfaserrohr für die Antenne ist mit 2 blauen Bändern befestigt. Vom SGC 321 Antennen-Anpassgerät gehen Drähte, je 20 m, als Gegengewicht in über 2 m Höhe ab.

Nachfolgend zwei kurze Ton-Mitschnitte des Funkbetriebs in Morse-Telegrafie

Verbindungen mit Belgien (ON6DP) und zwei US-Stationen (N4IG und K7ZV)

Anruf Slowakischer Station (OM5MF) gleichzeitig mit vielen anderen

Station V31YN, digital modes only: Morse Code (CW, received by ear) and Radio Teletype (RTTY, PACTOR, BPSK31). Transceiver ICOM 706, power supply PS85. There is no microphone and no telegraph key. Transmissions for the Morse code and teletype are only keyed by the computer. The computer also logs all contacts, so there is no logbook to be seen on the station. 10 meters vertical antenna allows intercontinental operation on short wave bands between 7 and 29 MHz (40 ... 10 m wavelength). The location at the sea offers optimum propagation conditions to the US/Canada and Europe. The glass fiber rod is fixed with two blue straps. From the SGC 231 automatic antenna tuner there are wires with 66 feet as elevated radials, over 7 feet above ground.

Listen to two short sound recordings of radio telegraphy operation in Morse code

Contacts with Belgium (ON6DP) and two US-stations (N4IG und K7ZV)

Station calling from Slovakia (OM5MF) together with many others

Rückblick / History
2001/2002: Zweiter Standort für Betrieb auf 160 m
(alternate location for 160 m operation)

Für Weitverkehr im 160 m-Band auf 1,8 MHz sollte die Antenne idealerweise mindestens 40 m hoch sein. Robert Müller, V31AE, ermöglichte uns den Zugang zum benachbarten ehemaligen Mittelwellensender von Corozal. Von der Spitze wurde eine Drahtantenne in das Sendehaus geführt. Als Gegengewicht wurde das ursprüngliche Erdungssystem des Mittelwellensenders buchstäblich ausgegraben und neu angeschlossen.

Im Januar und Februar 2001 wurden auf 1,8 MHz fast 500 Stationen aus Süd- und Mittel-Amerika, Kanada, verschiedenen Ländern in Europa, Hawaii und der Großteil aus 43 Bundesstaaten der USA erreicht. Im Jahr 2005 brach der Mast zusammen, wegen mangelhafter Wartung - nicht durch Hurrikan.

For long distance operation in the 160 m band on 1.8 MHz the antenna should be ideally at least 40 m high. Robert Müller, V31AE, enabled us access to the former AM transmitter of Corozal Town nearby. From the mast top a wire antenna was led to the transmitter cabin. As a counterpoise the former radial ground system of the AM transmitter was literally unearthed and reconnected.

In January and February 2001 almost 500 stations were reached on 1.8 MHz from South and Central America, Canada, different European countries, Hawaii, and the majority from 43 states of the US. In 2005 the mast collapsed, because of insufficient maintenance - not by a hurricane.


Früherer Mittelwellensender (Former AM radio transmitter) 930 kHz in Corozal Town		46 m / 150 ft Mast

Antennendraht an der Mastspitze (antenna wire attached to the mast-top)		Bei den UKW-Sendeantennen (At the VHF antennas)

Neuanschluss der "Radials"/Erddrähte (Reconnection of the radial ground wires)		Betrieb neben dem UKW-Sender (Operation beneath the VHF transmitter)

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Gerd Sapper DJ4KW