9U4U Burundi

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With the callsign 9U4U pending, an international team from Belgium , Netherlands and Scotland plan activity from Burundi during the second half of February 2013

10 ops in total with four stations on air. Website with full details/plans expected soon

DXpedition organized by the Belgian Rockall Team

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UPDATE: A Belgian – Dutch team will be on air from Bujumbura as 9U4U between February 14-23, 2013.

The QTH will be at Club du Lac de Tanganyika on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

More information here http://www.9u4u.be/ [currently under construction]

QSL via M0URX

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UPDATE from 9U4U team: Planning and preparation has almost come to an end for our February 2013 Burundi DXpedition. We are ready for the challenge. We have been working hard in order to have all the equipment in shape for a 10 day non-stop radio show. For the first time we are implementing some new techniques never used before on an expedition. For example, we can run up to three stations simultaneously to one multi-band antenna. This unique feature gives us the opportunity to work into a specific Continent with three stations at the same time and maximize the number of QSO’s during short periods of propagation openings. Running three high power stations through one coax into one multi-band antenna: How cool is that?

Furthermore we have a few keen Low Band operators in our team. There will be at least one station focusing on 160 and 80 every night. We put considerable time into fine tuning two different low frequency receive systems. We are well aware of the noisy Equatorial conditions, especially on the lower bands, but we are ready to fight back hard.

Visit our website at http://www.9U4U.be for latest information and updates.

And remember, 9U is on the air 4U

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

9U4U

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UPDATE from 9U4U team — All systems are go! Today we packed all gear into suitcases and are ready to leave. The computer network was tested with 4 stations and the equipment was double checked, and properly labelled for transport, so no mistake could be made once we begin with our set-up in Burundi. In total we have 21 suitcases, 23 kg each makes 483 kg, with only radio stuff. We have much more equipment than the last expedition (TN2T). Below you see the happy faces from a great team...

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REMINDER: QRV from February 14 to 23, 2013. 9U4U twitter updates https://twitter.com/9U4U

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Yesterday evening at 21h local time the team passed the airport check in and are at the hotel now. We just had our breakfast and we are looking for options for our “antenna plant”. It’s a great QTH with lots of possibilities. Lot’s of space, so we have to deal with every meter of coax. We are waiting for the manager to arrive so we can discuss our options. Sit back and wait…[ON9CFG pilot station]

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"We are completing last interference test, expect us to be on the air from 30 to 160 within few hours. [16:00z]"

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At 17:30z, 9U4U started operations from Bujumbura , Burundi on 20m SSB.

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February 20 – We understand there was some frustration about the 160m operation last night. We fully understand that Europe was a bit frustrated about the fact that we only called for Japan. The openings towards JA on 160m are much less as they are to Europe. WE WILL BE QRV FOR EUROPE TONIGHT, DON’T WORRY. We can’t be QRV at the moment on 17 and 12 meter at the same time, because we lost an antenna. We will make a dipole for 12 or 17. Theo, ON4ATW will leave today, so one 160m less….but don’t worry we have a replacement hihi.

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February 21 – It began with a good SSB opening on 80m. We continuously changed from continent so everybody had a chance. Japan was worked on 803 and the US on 805. Others were worked 5 to 10 up. Static and QSB slowed down the rate. Later on signals were getting better and better. Static disappeared so signals could be heard with ease. At one time we logged 3 stations a minute on 160! About 50 US stations were logged in that time. We hope to work West Coast and VK/ZL tonight. We gave many guys a new band point on 40 RTTY. Our 4 square array helped us do that. At one time stations from different continents could be worked simultaneously, just by switching directions.

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February 24 – Our last day…reporting that we are heading for 70k QSO’s. The one who enters the 70k QSO has to order a bottle of champagne hihi. Two firsts again on 80m! ZL1IU and FK8CP. The last one was peaking just above the noise level. Trying to beat the static around the equator is a hard job to do, as we were QRV for our last night on the low bands. It was one of those days that you can’t beat nature. The evening began promising but ended in a disaster. We called “CQ” in repeat mode on 160 m but no reply…. Almost all antenna’s are dismantled, except our 2 HEX beams which we can use on 4 different bands simultaneously to run our 4 stations to reach our 70k target. Our new team members did a fantastic job, and we have the feeling we have some new friends forever. If 9U4U is not in your log, turn the antenna towards Africa and call us, it’s your last chance.

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The 9U4U team made 70K QSOs. To celebrate this achievement they had champagne lunch. The team is now QRT and equipment packed. They leave Burundi tomorrow morning @ 09 local.