June 2000

June 2000 9M2/GM4YXI DXpeditions to AS-097 Pulau Besar and AS-074 Pulau Ketam

9M2/GM4YXI June 2000 - latest information (updated 21st June 2000)

AS-097 Pulau Besar 9th - 11th June 2000
1200z on 9th June - 0400z 11th June - approx. 1100 QSOs made - very few on 10m and 12m unfortunately. More details later.
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AS-074 Pulau Ketam 17th June 2000 One day only - Saturday 17th June 2000 - 20m and 15m SSB/CW only - QRV from about 0800z until 2300z, if I can stay awake. The island loses power at 2330z and it is not on again for several hours.

This is Keith's report on his AS-074 DXpedition - received by e-mail and uncensored !

Well, that was fun!
Len took me down to Port Klang which is the port which serves KL and the conurbation in the surrounding Klang Valley. About a 40 min drive if you know where you are going. I caught the 1230 pm fast ferry boat which takes about 30 mins to get out to Ketam and arrived in good time at the Sea Lion Hotel which is only a short walk from the Jetty. In fact it is the first building you come to on the right as you walk off the quite long jetty for the main fishing settlement. Just as well it is a short distance 'cos I was well laden with my rucksack bulging on my back, laptop and various bits stuffed in the case over my neck, hanging in front to balance my backpack and the rig and PSU in its special hard plastic case in one hand.......probably about 35-40 kg total, possibly more.....felt like it in the heat!
I have described Pulau Ketam to you before. It is essentially a mangrove swamp and mudflat and is one of 2 inhabited islands in the Selangor group. Most of the other islands are uninhabitable swamp. Ketam has had this Chinese fishing community for decades, all exiles from the mainland, while the other island, with proper dry land, is a big industrial complex with no accomodation and is linked to the mainland by a bridge so will not qualify for IOTA! The Ketam settlement is built entirely on stilts....very old stilts....mostly wood but some, like the hotel, on concrete pillars. Most buildings are one storey, though the hotel and a few others are 2 floors. All are over the water when the tide comes in and over filthy mud, strewn with rubbish and sewage when the tide goes out. ALL waste in Ketam goes 'over the side' or 'through the floor'.
I booked one night on the basis of time available and my reservations about the place. I retrospect I think I could have survived another night and I would have no hesitation in going back!....and no, not to visit any of the night spots!
The hotel has a wide flat concrete roof.....baking hot!.......which Celcom (Ray NOM's old company, hence the link and previous operation from there) have used to install what must be a 60ft tower with a microwave dish for 'phone links. There is a whole lot of control and power gear in cabinets at the base of the tower and runs of LDF 550 and 450 about the place. Tower has steel guys times 4 so I decided to keep away from there for several reasons. The roof near and immediately above my room......No 6, the one that 'Meesta Lay' had....was strewn with TV antennas and a Celcom yagi, fed with 450 on a steel mast bolted on the side of the concrete box which was the access to the stairwell. This mast extended about 2 ft above the level of the flat roof of this small housing which was itself about 8ft above the rest of the roof. Mr Cha came up to see how I was getting on and tried to indicate (no English, just the odd word and pointing), that Ray NOM had used this mast in some way. Barring the tower it was the highest point on the roof though it extended above the stairwell housing by only a short distance. I was having real dilemmas about the antenna, what to use and where to put it. I had plenty of coax so the run was long enough to cover several options. I elected to tie-wrap a broken 10ft piece of 1 1/4 inch plastic conduit which was lying around, to this metal mast and attach a sloping 20/15m wire dipole to the top. It was a hell of a pantomime getting onto the housing roof since it involved clambering over water tanks covered by very brittle asbestos sheeting and the edges of the housing roof were razor sharp cement. Anyway, this lash up put the feed point of the dipoles at the level of the roof balustrade and about 2 ft beyond the edge, supported by another pc of pipe. The 'hot' half of the antenna sloped about 45 deg. The earthy ends were more vertical sloping down the side of the building. I attached some cord and a heavy lead fishing weight to the end of each earthy part and managed to hang the cord over the side of the platform on which the building sat and which was about 10 ft wider than the building itself, with the lead weights in mid-air above the mud, so that their weight kept each earthy quarter wave reasonably taught, even when the tide came in. I judged the antenna sloped north and , although the bottom half of the antenna looked at a building about 30 ft away, the top half was in the clear. Getting the thing set up and so on took a while but the SWR was no worse than 1.5:1 and with the tuner was just fine so I was content but hot and knackered!
At almost exactly 0800z (4pm local) I was sat on this hard little plastic stool at a wee table big enough for the laptop and keyer only with the rig on the case on the bed!! The room had a echo chamber effect even though it was about 7ft by 10 ft MAX, with the bog just off. The Air con was, however very efficient.
These are intesesting loos BTW since the small place has toilet (flush by pulling wire jutting out of cistern), wash hand basin (one tap, cold water) at jaunty angle propped up by piece of wood, and shower (cold) emerging from wall........ie you shower , wash etc in the toilet and have to remember to remove the bogroll before you wash. I am sure you have been in such places?
So, tuning around the band I found JA6CTW who was s9+ on 15m. He gives me a good report and audio is OK...I was worried cos the RF levels must have been vy high with the ant feed point about 8ft above the rig and the earthy sloping bits just outside the window. No problems so far. I tuned down to 21260 and find Stewart VK8NSB berating someone for using this qrg when they were not on an island. So I gave him a call.....s9 both ways and had a brief chat. AS074 was new for him and he put me in cluster (so he says). When I signed, all hell broke loose from JA. They were loud and plentiful. The first 100 went by in 40 mins! Had to qrt to buy some provisions for the night......had had nothing since breakfast. I was hungry and, more significantly, dehydrated after my rooftop exploits. Back in 40' they are still there with some VE7 and W6. I think I did about 300 in just over 2 hours operating, then it just went quiet. QRT about 1120z to get some cooked food at the Chinese accross the road (?) Back about 1200z. Eu had been workable as early as 0930 but most were weak with a few exceptions so I was looking forward to some good Eu and W1-4 later. Eu built quite well by 1400- 1600 with odd lulls but the sigs were often hard going. The QTH had a LOT of electrical noise, those fishing boats flying about all over the place are amazing RF generators and there seemed to be permanent hoards of screaming Chinese kids on the stairs outside my room!! Worked some W6 and 7 but not many, though some were quite strong. No east coasters bar one KD3 and I dunno for sure where he was. I took loads of breaks for NA but often was met by silence...or Eu breakers. The Eu pile up was very dense and unruly at the beginning but some semblance of control was achieved, but at the expense of upsetting one or two errant ops, especially IT9Dxx whom I told to piss off eventually. However, I think the point was made. Although the pile up was deeper than from JA, the sigs were a lot weaker and the chaos really slows you down. Most of the time I struggled to get even one letter and often it took longer than I like, so things are not kept so tight. Eventually went split 'cos I got the impression I wasnt very loud in Europe and the bxxxxxxs just kept calling. The trouble with split is that it seems to encourage some ops to call even longer without rxing! Tried to fill the quiet spells with CW but the AA contest was a complete pain in the ass. 20m was very noisy and not very productive. I tried there from time to time to try and get into W1-4 but without much success. Much to my surprise the bands really collapsed on me at about 1830, much earlier than the prev weekend! I too, was shattered. Couldnt speak and couldnt read CW any more so I crashed just after 1900. I got up at about 0000z and did 2 hrs on CW with a slow rate and packed up at 02z (1000 local) with about 850 q's. Took a while to dismantle the antenna and stuff and get it all packed away again. Left the hotel at about 1200 local and was back in Port Klang by 1245 and back at home-base by 3pm.
One shock was when I wokeon Ketam to find the sun blazing in thru what I had figured was a north facing room. NOT. More like just south of WEST. This and the non vertical antenna explained why I did well into W6 but less into Eu than I hoped, with strong short skip sig from JA. I had the antenna sloping down the wrong side of the building! It may not be too significant but I think it played a part in Eu being weak and closing early. In retrospect, I should have fixed the LIV vertical to the short mast and tagged on a 15m element....easy enough....and this would, I think, have been much better. You live and learn. Next time.........!!
So, not too bad. 'FDM had good signal but didnt work mni other GM's though did get GM3BCL! It is very notable how some weel kent calls are head and shoulders louder than the masses.....G3OZF is one good example!
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As my work schedule evolves, so will my plans and updates will be posted here, as and when they are available. This year I will have a multi wire vertical again for 15/12/10m and probably a separate vertical antenna for 20m. All QTH's will be selected to put me as near the beach/water's edge as possible. I am very grateful to the IOTA committee for the opportunity to borrow the FT-900. Many thanks indeed to G3KMA, G3NUG and G3NOM for their support.
I will operate CW and SSB only, around the usual IOTA and DX frequencies and will operate split listening up, should the pile-up require it. I don't take tailenders, ignore all breakers and HATE 'last two' calls...the rest is up to you! At the time of writing ALL QSL's received have been answered but I am sure the bureau has more to come. Direct cards will be answered first so if you are anxious for confirmation this is the way to QSL. I don't have a lot of spare time for QSLing but will answer all requests.....eventually. QSL via GM4YXI at the 'East Loanhead' address in the usual sources. Any other address you have is no longer any good.
I am hoping that the increase in solar activity will open 10m this year and will again be looking for East coast NA as this is, I know, a tough path.
Any comments on openings to look for would be welcome to k.kerr@abdn.ac.uk , or to keith@imu.edu.my while I am out in 9M2 (no e-mail while on islands).
I return to the UK on 25th June. Hope to work you in the pile up.
Best Wishes
Keith GM4YXI

9M2/GM4YXI....the tale so far.

In May 1997, while out in Kuala Lumpur on a teaching assignment at a local Medical School, I met Ray 9M2OM (now HS0/G3NOM) who suggested that, if I were ever to return to Malaysia, I should try to get a licence and do some IOTA expeditioning. Ray informed me that the IOTA committee had a Yaesu FT-900, which is held by Zainal 9M2ZA, and which may be borrowed on condition that it is used to actived some IOTA reference(s).
I was back in KL the following year and, after some hassle (9M2 licences were reasonably easy to obtain at that time, though there was considerable bureaucracy to negotiate) I secured my licence, borrowed the rig and, at Ray's suggestion headed off to Pulau Besar (AS-097) off the West coast of West Malaysia for a 'long' weekend 15-18 April, 1998. There is a pleasant 'resort' on the island called Pandenusa Island resort which is very comfortable and occupies a large area of beach front and jungle-covered hillside on the north side of this very small island. There is a ferry from Umbai about 20min south of Malacca, which sails regularily and takes about 30min to get to Pulau Besar. I arrived to find I was more or less the only resident in this 150+ bed establishment! I asked to look around before choosing my room (These are mostly semi-detached chalets scattered all over the property) and rather puzzled the management by opting for the room furthest from all the resort facilities. In fact it was beach front at the end of the row, nearest the sea (about 25m) and had a huge tree right outside with a perfect shot to the north. I made up parallel dipoles for 20/40m and suspended the 'hot' end vertical into the tree (with the help of some fine nylon cord and lead fishing weights), trimmed the single 'radial' and was QRV on 40/20/15m. Unbelievably, when I switched on the rig to 15m to check resonance, there was Chris, GM3WOJ, right on the frequency last used on that band, looking for me! I could hardly believe it. A QSO with Cris, G4FAM followed. Local time was about 1700, still light and very hot.
Absorption is very high on the high bands at equatorial latitudes and with solar activity as it was then, 15 and 20m didn't really come to life until well after sunset. My first night saw some good propagation to Europe on 15m. Forty was hopeless (noise and poor signals) so next morning the 40m dipole was cut to a 15m half wave. The 20/15m vertical dipoles were now at a good height with the feedpoint at about 20ft agl. This worked well and the rest of the trip saw reasonable propagation with many JA and Eu QSO's together with a weak opening into the USA on 15 and 20m. Final tally was 1697 QSO's from approximately 24hrs on-air time. I was hooked and determined to try another trip, time allowing.
Pulau Pangkor AS-072 was another possible island which had been visited a few times before with the Pan-Pacific hotel being the favoured QTH (the management are 'friendly' and there is a 'ham' on the staff.). I planned a one-night Saturday trip in early May but my car broke down on the way there so I didn't make it. The following weekend, May 9/10, just days after a massive solar flare and HF fadeout, I managed to get to Pangkor for 2 nights. The Pan Pacific hotel was full but I managed to get a room at a resort type place in the next bay called Teluk Dalam. This bay has a brilliant shot short path to Europe but is slightly screened to the NE for USA. Any other paths would be very hard going since the land is high and steep behind the resort. Pangkor was full of tourists and locals since this was a local holiday weekend and I was very lucky to be able (literally) to sprint round the resort (similar idea to P. Besar....chalets and bungalows scattered in grassy ground but this time, with very few trees of any size) and identify a vacant room near enough the ONLY suitable tree for my coax to stretch. More puzzled looks from the hotel staff but I was quickly installed and had the antenna slung up in no time. Conditions were grim. My first night was slow to get going and was interrupted in the middle of an Eu pile-up on 15m by a medical problem with a guest (I naturally assumed when the 'phone rang in my room that it was a TVI complaint! Instead,.... no doctor on the island that night I was told!!! Surprising what can be deduced from a credit card imprint, I thought). I managed to stay QRV until 4am local after 20m really opened up to Eu. Signals and reports with the vertical dipole and 100W were unbelievable. The antenna was about 100m from the beach on Pangkor. During the next day it was possible only to work a few JA. I was looking forward to a good second night but a huge thunderstorm started just as 15m opened to Eu and continued 'til 4am. I had to sleep in order to survive the driveback to KL later that morning. Only 543 QSO's and very few USA stations in the log.
May 1999 saw me back out in 9M2 again, but without a licence. The old system operated by the JTM (Malaysia Post Office) had been transferred to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and I spent almost one month trying to get my licence renewed. Eventually 10 days before my departure I secured my ticket. There was little time to prepare so I elected to return to Pulau Besar. I booked the same room and this time had a multiwire vertical for 20/15/12/10. Neville G3NUG had suggested that 12m would be in demand from 9M2 and I had hopes of 10m openings after a few QSO's on CW the year before with a non-resonant antenna! Antenna installation was a little fraught (too many wires!) but eventually was completed with the help of Len, a colleague at the Med School in KL, who was on as similar assignment to mine. He had come along to P Besar to do some fishing (quite successful, as it turned out!) while I 'fished' for DX. 20 and 15m had the same problems with absorption in daylight hours, 10m was dead but 12m gave some daytime propagation to JA and even a few Eu QSO's. At night 15 and 20m were in good shape and I tried to make as many NA QSO's as possible, concentrating on 15m CW/SSB then moving to 20m when 15m closed. 1271 more QSO's were made from AS-097 in two nights in mid May 1999.
As this is written (May 2000) I have (eventually) managed to secure licence renewal from the UK, with the help of Zainal 9M2ZA and Thiam 9M2CJ. I will be in 9M2 from 24th May but won't get the rig until 31st May, so will miss the WPX CW contest!!