The South Dorset Radio Society 2020 DX-Pedition to Lundy

25-29^th September

In recent years the club has undertaken a Dx-Pedition to UK island destinations in late summer, usually late September or early October. The dates have ensured reasonable prices for accommodation but have increased the danger of running into equinoctial gales on the sea crossings and inclement weather when on the islands.

Destinations have included Flatholm in the Bristol Channel, Herm in the Channel Islands and then Sark also in the Channel Islands off Guernsey. This year the decision was taken in January to go to Lundy, in the Bristol Channel about 10 miles off the North Devon coast.

The team size has varied from year to year, and this year only four intrepid SDRS members were able to take part, Ray M0XDL (Chairman), Stuart M0SGV, Pete G4UIX, and Chris M0XFL, with limitations on the team size being imposed by various medical issues including the COVID pandemic.

The sea crossing to Lundy can begin from either Bideford or Ilfracombe depending on the tides and is undertaken by the island supply ship the MS Oldenburg. In our case we embarked and returned via Ilfracombe with an early Saturday departure being made easier by an overnight stay at Mullacott Farm B&B.

On the outward journey strong winds were expected and since Ray, Stuart and Chris are not good sailors, some advanced preparation had been made through the purchasing of the latest high-tech anti-sea-sickness remedy, namely the ingenious “Seetroen” glasses which embody orthogonal liquid “artificial horizons”.

Well, it was a rough crossing and yet nobody was physically sick, although it has to be said that some distinct mal-de-mer sensations were experienced!

On the island there was a steep trek up to the tiny village followed by a visit to the Island pub, the Marisco Tavern, where we awaited the completion of housekeeping at our accommodation, “The Quarters”.

Our QTH resembled a wooden military hut from the outside, but inside it was comfortable, well equipped and nicely decorated. Outside there was plenty of room to erect antennas, and we had a group of free-ranging Lundy chickens to greet us whenever we returned from treks or visits to the pub!

By 5PM on Saturday we were in, and there followed a frantic effort to get our antennas erected: three SOTA dipoles on guyed 7m GRP poles, and a guyed 10m vertical. As darkness fell the dipoles were up but the 10m vertical was rigged but still on its side. Rather than struggle on in the dark the 10m vertical was left lying horizontally with a 10m wire counterpoise left lying in the wet grass so that it formed a ground level dipole: good enough to connect up the iCom 7300 and make sure all was ready to go on Sunday!

By the time darkness fell we had four GB0LUN stations tuned up and on the air, two SSB One PSK and the FT8 station connected to the 10m+10m ground level dipole. Stations were being worked on SSB and PSK and since the horizontal “vertical” was tuning up and receiving plenty of FT8 stations it was also soon on the air and working well to our surprise (later in the evening it was even able to work a station in West Virginia USA!).

We had decided in advance that we would cater ourselves for a full-English breakfast, but that we would eat dinner in the Marisco Tavern where we had pre-booked a table (In line with Covid requirements), for the early sitting. Unfortunately our verdicts on the chef’s efforts on day one were at the low end of the scale, but on our next two evenings, where we pre-booked the later sitting, there was an improvement!

On Sunday the sun shone, the “Full English” was masterfully prepared by our head chef Stuart M0SGV, our logbooks were soon starting to look like the Eurovision Song Contest tally board, and even the “horizontal vertical” was soon standing proud as nature intended.

Unfortunately, a few problems emerged. The Island is powered by a diesel generator and we gained the distinct impression that there might be a very noisy inverter in the loop, because there was a high level of very intrusive QRM on the 80m and 40m bands and the nearby generator became the prime suspect. There were also complaints of QRM to the SSB stations caused by the data-mode stations. Not surprising perhaps, in view of the proximity of the various antennas, despite the low TX power.

In keeping with the leisurely SDRS approach, we weren’t there to break any QSO records, and so it was soon time to explore the Island, and what an island it is! Consisting mainly of granite and steeped in history dating back to the Bronze Age, the island has been the refuge of Vikings, pirates, smugglers and even slave traders. It sports three lighthouses, a small castle, a church and a variety of cottages and farms built from the rugged local stone. The flat top of the island is divided by three walls which are descriptively named the Quarter, Halfway, and Threequarter walls, with feral goats and sheep, Sika Deer and a host of seabird colonies including the hard working Puffins who were mainly at sea fishing during our visit.

The puffin has long been a symbol of Lundy Island, used on stamps, coinage and most recently in the form of “Sparky the Puffin” emblazoned on the SDRS GB0LUN team-shirt!

One of the features of the West coast of the Island is a large area called “Earthquake” which apparently slumped into the sea to everyone’s astonishment at the same time that a major earthquake occurred in Lisbon in 1775. Although given the speed of communication in 1775 no doubt they worked that out much later!

Pete G4UIX experimented with his Buddipole antenna on the higher bands, and Ray experimented with powering his 7300 using a 7.5AH Lithium Iron Phosphate battery for several hours at a time, but the most dramatic use of new technology was the 3G Wi-Fi hotspot implemented by Chris M0XFL.

There is no easily accessible internet on the island and mobile phone connections are intermittent at best, but Chris’s hotspot which featured dual diversity 3G antennas rigged in a North Devon-facing window provided internet access for the team to upload logs and query QRZ.com. A real bonus.

All too soon it was time for the teardown so that we could vacate “The Quarters” by 10.00 am on Tuesday for the island cleaning team to prepare it for the next visitors. The MS Oldenburg sailed at 4pm and we enjoyed a smooth trip back to Ilfracombe with great views of the North Devon coast and escorted part of the way by a pod of Dolphins.

We had 124 QSOs in the log and we had enjoyed a unique experience with good weather for the time of year.

We experienced a few problems and we learned a few lessons but I think we all agree that Lundy is a beautiful and mysterious island with a very good take-off for Amateur Radio DX working.