[50mhz] DN34gx 6m grid DXpedition

[Lance Collister, W7GJ]

Hello!

As many of you know, K7SGP and I activated DN34 over Field Day weekend, since that is 
the best weekend of the summer for 6m Es.  The largest opening took place Sunday 
night local time after Field Day was over and most of the East Coast stations were 
asleep.   Still, between the two of us,  over 200 stations now have DN34 in their log 
on 6m.   The site used was a 7550' knoll in Idaho just south of Lemhi Pass, 
overlooking the Continental Divide and the border with Montana.

The equipment used was the same as I will use during my upcoming 6m EME 
DXpeditions.   This was the first time I used my little KX3 in the field and it 
proved stable enough to copy EME signals from SM7FJE (-23 dB inJT65A mode ) during 
moonrise, but the high Degradation and non-reciprocal polarity were not conducive to 
completing a contact.  The amplifier was an M2 6M-1000, the power supply was a 
Meanwell RSP-2000, the feedline was 25' of LMR600 coupled to 50' of LMR600 Ultra Flex 
(the part going up the mast and around the guy ring), and the antenna was a 6M5XHG 
yagi on a 24' homebrew mast.

Here are a few of the photos from the weekend:

W7GJ loading up with fuel in Salmon, Idaho on our way to the operating site: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Susanna_Girolamo_Photo_39946_2015.jpg
W7GJ just after raising the 6M5XHG yagi: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Susanna_Girolamo_Photo_39958_2015.jpg
M2 6M5XHG antenna installed: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DSCF4787.JPG
Operating site viewed from the north: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DSCF4795.JPG
M2 6M5XHG during sunset: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DSCF4796.JPG
Closeup of operating site viewed from the north: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DSCF4824.JPG
Bitterroot flowers surrounding the rocky knoll at the operating site: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DN34%20010.JPG
Beautiful flowers on the Continental Divide: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/DN34%20006.JPG
W7GJ straddling the headwaters of the Missouri River at the "westernmost spring" on 
the Montana side of Lemhi Pass: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Spanning%20the%20Wide%20Missouri.JPG
W7GJ's tent at sunset: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Susanna_Girolamo_Photo_40085_2015.jpg
K7SGP working 6m: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/K7SGP%20working%20a%206m%20pileup.JPG
W7GJ operating 6m: 
http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/W7GJ%20operating%206m%20from%20DN34.jpg

Thanks to the camera work of K7SGP, the following YouTube film clips documenting last 
weekend's operation are available to give you a good feeling for the operation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0JmDr4Kag0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuoY8PIw9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agSnyu9WFC0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHWCOS7niIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVx1GKHZxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZWZUOAMQY

This coming weekend, I will be taking the same setup to activate DN24so on 6m.  
Please look for me on 50.190.   I will monitor 50.125 without the generator or 
amplifier turned on (thanks to the battery powered KX3) when the band is not open.   
I do not expect to have any cell phone or internet connection from DN24so.

The only difference between this setup and the upcoming V6M operation is that I will 
not be using my own generator in V6, and I will use my usual 6M8GJ yagi and 21' M2 
Portable Mast as usual.  The method of raising and lowering the antenna is the same 
when I am on an overseas DXpedition. More information on the upcoming V6M 6M EME 
DXpedition can be found here:

http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/Micronesia2015.htm

GL and VY 73, Lance

-- 
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M, TX5K, KH8/W7GJ, V6M)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT   59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815

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