G4CIB and G4RHK on Lundy
September 2010

Unlike last year, the start of our week on Lundy started with a short spell of fine weather. Leta and I travelled down to Ilfracombe on Friday 3rd September in glorious weather, stopping at Burnham-on-Sea for a breakfast meet on the seafront with an old work colleague. Having satisfied the inner man (and woman), we made our way towards Bridgwater where we took the A39 for the scenic route via Porlock and Lynmouth for Ilfracombe. Settling into our regular pub accommodation a few miles out of Ilfracombe at West Down, we duly checked the Lundy "answerphone" to check the sailing was still scheduled for 10.00 am on the Saturday morning. All seemed in order and the following morning we duly arrived on Ilfracombe pier.

We decided this year to consign all the radio equipment including antenna mast etc to the hold, ensuring that all the more delicate parts were well wrapped in bubble-wrap before packing them away in suitable transit cases. This has the advantage that it is all delivered to your door on Lundy by an island worker driving a quad bike & trailer - probably the roughest part of the journey for the equipment! The crossing was described as "moderate" - I put it more like "smooth to moderate" with just a gentle swell. All too soon we were tying up at the Lundy Jetty and disembarking - first stop - the Marisco Tavern! After suitable refreshment, off to Stoneycroft, the small bungalow adjacent to the Old Light, our luggage arriving soon after.

As the weather was kind, we quickly unwrapped all the gear, assembled and erected the 2m SOTA beam and 80m dipole, and got cracking on the 2m band where the Trophy contest was taking place. Just with 3 watts from my old IC202 into the 3 ele SOTA beam at about 10 feet AGL, I had M0VRL (IO70PO - 64 km) and M9T (IO80AQ - 75 km) under my belt. A little while later I'd managed to contact G4RFR (IO90AS - 196 km) and GW3Z (IO81GX - 122 km), but the highlight was GM3HAM/P (IO74WV - 415km). This distance was exceeded when I contacted M6T (JO02RF - 439 km). Other stations were worked in JO01 & JO02 square, but M6T turned out to be my furthest DX - not bad for 3 watts QRP into a small antenna! When enthusiasm waned, I drifted on to 80m where SSB Field Day was in full swing and had plenty of UK and European contest QSOs.

The weather on the Sunday was decidedly wet so it was an "indoors" day, but with both the 2m contest and SSB Field Day still going strong, the day wasn't wasted! The day was rounded off with a contact with G0VHF/P (JO01PU - 419 km) and also Ian G3TDT, the worthy recipient this year of the Morgan Key. Monday too turned out to be a shocker weather-wise so it was a mixture of reading and amateur radio. On 20m I managed to grab 9H5QB and 9H3YM, and also an interesting QSO with ZG2FX - a special call sign for Gibraltar's National Day on 10th September.

The things we do for Amateur radio
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The highlight of Monday evening was a CW qso with the club station G4AYM, ably manned by Tony, G4HBV. Tuesday 7th dawned dull and wet, so I checked into the 80m AM net on 3.615 MHz. The IC703 only produces 4 watts of AM but I was able to get good 5-8/9 reports from as far afield as Guernsey and West Sussex. By lunchtime the weather had brightened considerably so we set off for a walk around the south part of the island. Returning for afternoon tea who should appear on the band was Anne 2E1GKY who was thrilled to finally have a QSO with me from Lundy. My plan to operate on the Tuesday evening 2m activity contest were thwarted when we received an invitation to dinner at the Old School which, as the invitees had recently become engaged, it would have been churlish to have declined. We somehow managed to return to Stoneycroft across the fields very late that night without falling over. The island generator is switched off at midnight, so a torch is de rigeur when dining out late. By Wednesday a weak ridge of high pressure drifted over Lundy and we had two glorious days, so only a few early morning and late evening QSOs appear in the log, having said that, conditions on 80m late on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning were very good for inter-G working. In the early evening of Thursday I had a super 5-9 both ways contact with club member Les G0ULH. On the Friday morning I checked in to an early morning 80m SSB net and soon filled a page of the log book as new call signs joined in. However, the weather deteriorated rapidly after lunch and as the wind increased, we took the decision to dismantle the antennas before they were blown down.

Sadly our week was drawing to a close. But a bonus was about to happen. One of our last 80m QSOs before the station was dismantled was with Norman G4NFS in Bristol who said "A gang of us from the South Bristol club are coming to Lundy tomorrow to operate GB2BLE for the week". As they were due to arrive on the island on the Saturday morning at about 11.00 am and we weren't due to leave until 5.00 pm, we arranged to meet up, which we duly did in their appointed accommodation for the week - Government House. After a pot of tea was demolished we all made our way down to the jetty where the crew of the MS "Oldenburg" had decided that as it was a late departure back to Bideford and the weather was stunning, they would do "trips around the Island" for the modest sum of £5. We all piled on board and were treated to a round trip - not often done as the sea can be quite rough on the west, Atlantic facing side of Lundy. As it was, the tidal race at both the North and South of the Island was producing a fair old swell and the "Oldenburg" pitched and rolled for a while as it rounded both extremities. All too soon we were back at the Jetty and saying farewell to the Bristol gang who were about to take up the challenge of operating on Lundy. I did manage to extract a QSL from them for an 80m QSO I had with them when they were on Lundy in 2009!

All in all, one of the most enjoyable weeks we have ever spent on Lundy with our radio equipment. Back in 2011? You bet - look out for us during the last week of September - more details next year!

Brian (G4CIB) and Leta (G4RHK)

PS - yes - Leta did activate her call sign - she spoke to Anne 2E1GKY!

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or read about Brian and Leta’s preparations for their next visit