This report is largely as my own aide-memoir (especially the lessons learned) but I hope will help others doing and considering holiday style DX-petitions and /P trips, especially those on QRP CW. de Peter G4HSO

I did three styles of operation, firstly in a contest, QRO (100W) with wire antennas that I put up at our rented self catering accommodation, secondly casual operation with the same set-up and, surprisingly pleasurable on this trip, QRP portable from beaches. On this latter point, we found plenty of ideal and attractive tree lined remote beaches on Martinique; surprisingly difficult to find on other islands, necessitating poles and more creative schemes.
I normally only operate for around an hour at a go – we had other holiday things to do.

Martinique is part of the CEPT group, so there is no local licence admin which can be a pain in many non CEPT locations.

Why CW? I enjoy the challenge, it does not need a PC / device, very effective vs SSB, quiet to operate in a peaceful location, gives more of a human feel than a data modes do (I have tried VarAC on a previous trip but it I didn’t have much traction and meant another load of cables, program and interfaces to carry and sort out.

Nearly all operation was on 10m. This was: A) To make use of Solar Cycle 25 which, peaking at the moment, is good for 10m and won’t be in a few years time. B) efficient antennas are easy on 10m. C) It is currently a popular daylight band and I mainly operate in daylight. Anyway, again on the solar cycle, I might not be around for Cycle 26!

Why Martinique? This was our first visit to the island however I used to work in the Caribbean and feel very relaxed there. There is guaranteed lovely sunlight and warmth with the steady trade wind from the ENE. There is a good supply of self-catered rental accommodation. The people are very friendly and there is good local food (we largely self-cater) plus some amazing ‘street food’. Our best dinner on the island was in a very casual bar/restaurant which also provided a pizza take-away. The French influence on culinary standards is very evident.

We rented three apartments on the island, firstly on the west coast, then mid-east, then south. The north is very mountainous with an active (resting) volcano. There was a massive eruption there last century and still limited infrastructure and rougher terrain. A small hire car enabled us to explore much of the island and would have provide a backup radio operating facility if necessary.

Style 1 Operation: Contest (REF, French DX contest):

100W CW, 10m only. From rented self catering unit, off grid, on a remote peninsular, good take-off to E and NE for EU.

Ran (called CQ) only. Best way to use limited time and, as I had assumed, I was much sought after. Once spotted, lots of calls, unfortunately mainly exactly on my frequency (see below).

I hadn’t really taken fully into account that the band would close to EU so early in the evening and propagation to North America was poor, perhaps due to the mountains in the north?

Lessons regarding contest especially:

Lesson 1 – If calling a DX station, call slightly off the exact dx frequency. (Use TX shift or RIT.) I had pile-ups on my exact frequency, resulting in nothing readable at my end.

Lesson 2 – I had not used this radio for a while, should have practiced with RIT first to help with the above and avoid accidental QSY!

Lesson 3 – Arrive several days early to work out how the power works (power failure due to using microwave at wrong time!) and optimise operating position, antenna, propagation etc.

Lesson 4 – I had known problem with CAT obtaining frequency from the radio. I decided to work round this by just running – there was plenty of action just running even with relatively low power.

Style 2 Operation: 100W, same contest set-up or same elsewhere.

I had several QSOs this way but never as much as I envisage when planning the trip. There are other things to do on holiday.

Style 3 Operation: QRP (5W) /P

From a shoreline with 5/8 vertical for 10m (though does 12m easily as well) to a line thrown over a tree within a few m of the sea, preferably with take off towards a well populated area:

KX2, internal battery. Single lever paddle key. No PC. No need for internal AMU.

I mainly call good signal non QRP stations, even those asking for DX. They are usually delighted to get a call from a ‘rare’ location and often result in a meaningful short rag chew about my set up, conditions etc.

If calling CQ – I call just off the QRP centre of activity (e.g 28.061) as .060 is often used for calling and some can not hear me, so QRM. Though not a sure way of getting a QSO, a QRP call can have surprising results. One memorable one was a run of 10QSOs, mainly from QRO stations calling me but also from a 3W Italian station (perhaps my most memorable QSO of the trip).

The 5/8 vertical is based on a CB Siro Gainmaster design described well here. There is a lot of talk about the choke coil which I built air wound held together with tape. The tape deformed into a sticky mess on this trip. The resulting tightly wound coil of 16 turns held together with a couple of cable ties seemed to work just as well, was more compact and robust. (I don’t tape my Westflex 103 to the antenna as I don’t like flexing it as this breaks the copper foil outer).

A big advantage of this antenna is that it does not have any radials which, in a rental or public location, inevitably get wrapped around wondering animals, children, gardeners, or, my legs!

I use cotton(?) (biodegradable) string to hold the end of the antenna. If it gets stuck in a tree then a strong pull will break the string and the remaining piece will biodegrade. I have used fishing line in the past, which works well, but too strong, a potential environmental hazard and a bit of a safety hazard if the location is not ideal.

I took along two telescopic poles, a 4.8m very lightweight cheap fishing pole (normally surprisingly useful and versatile) and a 10m telescopic Spiderbeam Mini inside which I can put a flowerpot antenna (vertical without radials) or use as a support for my link dipole. As it turned out, trees etc were in ideal places on this trip, and provided operating shade, provided they didn’t have coconuts on them (for obvious reasons!).

Paper logging: Use a column list but a column for QSO completed (tick) i.e. to go in to electronic log later. Use codes such as CNHM (Could Not Hear Me), HisCQ, LIN (Lost in Noise). Make notes such as ‘No luck with my CQs’.

I find paper logging convenient for short sessions but a pain to type up later. Important to add date, place, time(L or UTC), my power & antenna, his power & antenna. etc.

Other Operating

Lesson 5 – Have paper (or phone app) list of IARU beacons showing order of transmission. I found it very useful to listen to these first, especially when /P. and record on paper the signal strengths at 100/10/1/0.1 Watts. These were amazing (on 28.2MHz) from this latitude

Power extension cord on reel worked well.

Lesson 6 – Operating QRP, had little response calling CQ but seemed okay sometimes especially when spotted (by RBN?).

Lesson 7 – Operating QRP it was noticeable that some EU stations could not hear me even though we were both using same power. I.e. they call CQ with a good signal, but they couldn’t hear me. Even in the early evening EU time when the QRM from other directions should have been minimal. I suspect local QRM at their end.

Lesson 8 – In the past, most of my traffic has been with North America. This time EU. A fair amount with South America but I think the language barrier with South America means that there are very few other than rubber stamp QSOs. Plan accordingly.

Lesson 9 – Outside of a contest I try to exchange RST, Name, their power and antenna after which one has gained a view on the radio path, ability of the other station (language, CW skills) and their wish to engage in more of a discussion. Push to keep them talking.
Some were very hesitant regarding their having my callsign correctly (it is rather a difficult one) but once confirmed that they have it right (and maybe they look it up on QRZ.com or QRZCQ.com (I pre-populate both) they often noticeably relax.

Lesson 10 – I always set up LOTW for my temporary call and confirm once back home after loading LOG4OM which is, my normal non contest logging program. I don’t use EQSL or physical cards. I use N1MM for contest and fixed station QSOs, paper logging for beach/P. The small PC I take on holiday is not fast enough to run LOG4OM reliably.

Miscellaneous Problems

A) Mosquitos at one location, after rain. B) Unexpected rain & wind; needed to quickly protect equipment (and me!). C) Noise from my own PC and PC charger unit especially the latter. Antenna within a couple of metres of the PC and station made this VERY noticeable.

Final Notes

So long as I gave her notice of operation my wife was quite happy with my doing radio. She knows what pleasure it gives me and I always enthuse about it when I go QRT.
She takes advantage of her quiet time to read and stroll around.

My radio gear (including 5m and 10m telescopic pole) can easily take up 14kg of our flight baggage. My XYL takes part of my equipment such as the PSU.

Best DX QSO 5W: Croatia.
Most memorable: – 2 way x QRP, 3W from Italy, 5W my end from the internal battery of my KX2.

Future projects and Ideas

I would like to reduce the size and weight of my gear.

RX TX – ideally a decent SDR receiver with band scope and maybe 200W or more. I am playing with the idea of a scrap mobile transmitter modified to more efficient class C.

I have built 50W Class C amplifiers from kits (QRPlabs) for 20, 30 and 40m but this does not give a lot of flexibility and I have to take care with VSWR as they have no protection.
More clandestine operation if necessary. Pretend to be fishing with a fishing pole and listening with visible earbuds to avoid conversations.

I have made a CW paddle which links via Infra-Red to a keyer. This, plus a low-latency Bluetooth audio link, has enabled me to operate wirelessly a small distance away from my radio. This may be useful for someone doing bicycle or rucksack operation without wanting to be attached to the equipment.

I welcome ideas and experience gained by others. Do discuss.

73 Peter G4HSO