Crete Island Holiday Sylte DX Expedition 2024
After 2 previous activities on Crete with 2m I decided this time to take only 6m and 4m with me.
Since I wanted to activate 2 different, rare fields KM15/KM35, I hoped for a certain QSO rate.
My Yaesu FT-DX10, 6m:100W/4m:50W and a duoband antenna 6m4m7DX7 from https://antennas-amplifiers.com/ were to be used as the RIG. The coax cable was 20m Hyperflex 10, which was easy to transport together with the tripod in a ski bag. As I am a Eurowings member, the sports baggage is included.
Of course I had set up everything beforehand, measured it (SWR) and optimised it. The accommodation was selected in advance according to radio suitability and field.
KM35: here the location was in the east of Crete directly by the sea. An antenna could easily be erected on the flat roof of the house. The tripod with sliding mast from Spiderbeam once again proved to be ideal. Due to previous DX expeditions, I already had a certain amount of practice in setting up the antenna so that it was completed within 2 hours.
Surprisingly, the 4m was open immediately after switching on. Many radio friends were already waiting for me to log this rare field and a pileup ensued.
I used MSHV as the software and Wavelog as the logger, which proved to be the ideal solution due to the online connection (Internet should be available). With Wavelog, every single connection was immediately available online.
The radio activities mostly took place in the morning and evening, as I was of course also on holiday.
I was in KM35 for 7 days and was able to log a total of 1430 QSOs on 6m and 4m. I think that this field is now X for many radio amateurs.
antenna setup KM35
KM15: here the stay should be 2 weeks but less radio activity and the focus should be more on holidays. This field has been activated in the past by other radio enthusiasts (albeit a long time ago). I therefore expected less pileup.
The accommodation in the mountain village of Xirokampi was familiar to me from previous trips. The village is situated on a hill above Maleme (some Germans may remember this place from the terrible events of the Second World War). The take-off there is amazing and ideal in all directions due to the height.
Once again, a place was chosen for the antenna and an ideal location was found. The RIG found its place in the bedroom, partly because there was air conditioning there. The outside temperature was around 45°C at the time.
Here, too, there was an immediate pileup after switching on the RIG. 4m was no longer open as often as in KM15, but 6m was actually possible at any time of day, even at night.
In KM15 I was able to make a total of 582 QSOs on 6m and 4m.
antenna setup KM15
Conclusion of the Holiday Style DX Expedition: it was great fun to be at the other end of the pileup. It was a great pleasure to contact old and new radio friends and bring them a new field into the log.
I was surprised how DX can be done without QRO. On 6m the highlights were the pileups from Europe as well as many connections to Japan and even a QSO to Australia.
On 4m, the long QSOs to Norway, Scotland, England, Ireland and Denmark were remarkable. From Germany I received repeats with 9+20dB with SporadicE openings.
6M QSO map
4m QSO map