11 Hours to go

We're only 11 hours away from the start of the 2007 IOTA Contest. Earlier tonight I received a text message from Colin's XYL that he has arrived on the Kerrera island late in the evening. Everything will be setup saturday morning.
Colin and his father will use two 65 amp batteries and a generator to be on the air tomorrow during the IOTA Contest. They will setup a full size G5RV and a vertical in the sea and will use the beach as a shack.
Depending on which beach they will setup the WAB locator will be one of the rare NM72, NM82 or NM83.
More details about the activities of MM0NDX/P from Kerrera Island EU-008 will follow during the saturday.

Homemade

Last sunday evening I was tuning down the 20m band when I heard Erik, PD1DX.
A nice callsign for a operator who loves DX-ing! He has some years of experience with building his own antennas. All his antennas are homemade and of impressive size.

So, when you hear him on the bands, give him a call and check his website for more information and pictures.

Kerrera IOTA expedition

The IOTA contest is starting in one and a half week from now. A lot of expedition will travel across the world to the most excotic islands. But there are also very beautifull small islands nearby. One of those islands is Kerrera.
Kerrera is a beautiful unspoilt island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, close to the town of Oban. In 2005, it has a population of about 35 people and is linked to the mainland by passenger ferry on the Gallanach Road. The island is known for the ruined Gylen Castle, built in 1582, and for its wildlife, wonderful views, fascinating geology and peaceful atmosphere (there are no visiting cars on the island). It was also the place where Alexander II of Scotland died in 1249. The highest point on Kerrera is Carn Breugach at 189 metres. Most of the island is owned by the McDougalls of Dunollie, who are descended from the famous Scottish Prince Somerled. The main industry on the island is farming (Sheep and Highland Cattle) and tourism. There is a Tea garden and Bunkhouse at the south end near Gylen Castle, and B&B accommodation at the north end (Ardentrive Farm). A walk around the island is about 10 miles.

Colin MM0NDX and his father GM1RIG will operate from Kerrera (EU-008) during the contest. More information can be found on Colin's website DX World of Ham Radio

On the IOTA website I found a very nice thing for use with Google Earth: The IOTA Directory.

The movie

Here is the movie I created from some stills of my webcam.
The movie shows the starting of some heavy rainfall between 18:30 and 20:15 hours local time.

Click on the small image to see the movie:


More movies can be seen on my other website: Weerstation Brandwijk

Heavy Weather

Last weekend we had some nice weather here in the Netherlands. Today it started nice as well, but early this the morning the first rain and thunderstorm hit the ground.
It stayed dry during the rest of the day, but this evening it really happened.
As you can see on this radar picture, we had some serious rainfall:

After the thunderstorm I put some webcam images together as a little movie.
It will be online tomorrow.

It was not only nice weather last weekend but also the IARU Contest. So I sat in the shack for a few hours and logged a few stations for the SLP contest. I made a score of 7571 (unconfirmed) points.