EP6T DXpedition to Iran Kish Island IOTA AS-166

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A multinational team with members from Belgium, The Netherlands and Greece will conduct a DXpedition to the Islamic Republic of Iran in January 2015.

Nearly three years of negotiations and a reconnaissance trip by Patrick ON4HIL to Tehran finally resulted in obtaining a legal license to operate with a team of ten people for fourteens days.

It has been all but easy but with much perseverance and countless e-mails between Belgium and Iran we eventually got what we were looking for. The good thing is that we not only have a legit license but we are also in the stage of helping to revive amateur radio in the I.R. of Iran. In order to help establish legal ham radio exams we have a 150 page course, that has been written and edited by one of our local club members, translated into Persian language. This course will serve as a guide for both the people at the Iranian telecoms administration and for students who are willing to learn the basics to become a fully licensed radio amateurs. Hopefully many new hams will be on the air in the near future from Iran.

PLANS

10 operators will be operating 4 (possibly 5) stations around the clock for at least 10 days at the end of January 2015. Specific dates will be announced at a later stage but we are aiming for the last two weeks of that month. All HF bands will be covered from 10 through 160 meters in three modes: CW, SSB and RTTY. As with previous expeditions from the Rockall DX Group we will have stations overnight focusing on the low bands with separate receive antennas and quarter wave verticals near the beach. Since we are on an island our location will be not far from the sea, depending on propagation, good signals can be expected on all bands. We will have pilot stations to provide us with feedback from our audience.

The requested call sign is EP6T.

More information and a dedicated website will follow soon. Follow us on twitter or keep an eye on the DX bulletins. If you have any questions related to this expedition contact us via EP6T@rockall.be.

Hope to see all of you in the log.

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PRESS RELEASE II

Since publication many DX groups and individuals offered to support this expedition which we highly appreciate. So far, the preparations are progressing smoothly and according to plan.

Exchange of QSL cards with EP is not always going smoothly and sometimes high costs are involved to cover postal expenses. As in the past with previous Rockall DX Group expeditions we asked Tim M0URX to take care of the QSL chores for the EP6T operation. Together with Max ON5UR, responsible for the QSL card design and printing, they are a great team and without doubt you can count on a fast service. And, yes, the complete log will be uploaded to LoTW right after the expedition has ended.

We would like to thank Dr. Azim Fard, Director General of the Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) and amongst others is responsible for the radio amateur licenses in the I.R of Iran. Together with his team and the people of national security, he has made this expedition possible. This expedition stands for “friendship and cultural tolerance”.

In a country with 80 million inhabitants and only 13 (!) radio amateurs, the user manual written and edited by Tony ON6TM will be a guide for students to learn the basics for their Ham radio ticket. Dr. Fard has confirmed his support towards amateur radio in Iran and is planning assessments at various locations across the nation. Since our last meeting in Tehran, already 300 candidates have announced their participation for these exams!

The Rockall DX group has been granted permission to welcome the radio amateurs from Iran at the expedition location. Some of them will be right next to our side to learn the skills about pile-up handling and get some insight in station managing.

Mohammad EP3MIR will be our guide and will also assist with local negotiations.

Our pilot stations Bjorn ON9CFG and Floyd N5FG will work together with Theo ON4ATW and provide us with the necessary feedback.

In the meantime we have our website up and running ! Feel free to visit us at http://www.Rockall.be to meet our team and view our plans. Be sure not to forget to fill in our poll and leave a message @ the guestbook ! Or follow us on twitter @RockallDX or like us on Facebook Rockall DX Group

The Rockall DX group.

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The website for the January 2015 EP6T DXpedition to Kish Island (AS-166), Iran is up and running at http://www.rockall.be. The operating team (ON4AHF , ON4AMX , ON4BR , ON4HIL , ON4IA , ON6CC , ON6DX , ON7RU ,PA3EWP and SV1DPI) will fly to Teheran on 15 January; plans are to have four or five stations QRV 24/7 on 160-10 metres CW, SSB and RTTY for two weeks. QSL via M0URX (OQRS preferred); the complete log will be uploaded to LoTW immediately after the expedition.

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PRESS RELEASE III

The Rockall DX Group has been very busy the past few weeks and by the looks of it you have been too!

Thanks in advance to all the clubs and especially to the Northern California DX Foundation for your confidence in the EP6T project!

The individual sponsorlist is growing longer each day, that made us decide to send a direct QSL card for contacts made with EP6T to all individual contributors without any cost.

Meanwhile, Dr. Azim Fard, General Director of Radio Frequency Planning and Licensing of the C.R.A in the Islamic Republic of Iran has given this project a real boost.

Sixty students have already passed their hamradio exams with flying colors and will be able to receive an EP call in the near future.

160m and 30m are not allocated to amateur radio service in Iran, but Dr. Fard allowed us to use these bands during the EP6T Dxpedition. Unfortunately 6m shall not be used. This band is allocated to fixed, mobile and broadcasting services.

It’s fantastic to see such a high level of interest towards this project, but on the other hand we are concerned by the small timeframe in which we can work NA.

Propagation predictions made for us by Stu K6TU, tells us that the path from Iran to North America is very difficult. In contrast to other continents, the NA openings are of short duration and the signals on various frequencies are extremely weak.

On low bands it might be possible that signals from W6, 7 are arriving over the long path. Stu’s predictions will be the guiding principle for our beam direction, but this will not be enough to get a fair continental balance.

We will keep this in mind in order to prepare a plan and to share this with the DX community so everyone knows in advance what the appropriate time is to contact us. By doing so, YOU will hopefully give us the opportunity to work with other continents during “their opening”.

We will do our best by all means to revert your feedback to our pilots to fit our plan the best way possible.

QRX, more info available soon on http://www.Rockall.be

The Rockall DX Group.

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DXpedition EP6T Kish Island preparation part 1a


Preparing EP6T part2


preparations EP6T part 3 by Rockall DX Group

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PRESS RELEASE IV – December 29, 2014

With only 16 days to go before the EP6T DXpedition will take place in the I.R of Iran, the Rockall DX Group is in the final process of finalizing their newest set-up:

5 High power stations, more than 6km of radials, new RX systems, filters, combiners, verticals, phased arrays, a 4 SQ and 5 beams should make it possible to get YOU in our log!

Out of almost 4.800 voters who filled out our poll, it’s obvious that “the Low bands” will become the challenge of this expedition. Our Low band (160/80/40) operators will be QRV from local sunset (13.45Z) up until our sunrise (03.00Z) and will hopefully be able to pull out the weaker W6 /W7 signals that will reach us on 160 meters via the long path.(27.000KM!) During the first two days of the expedition, we encourage DX stations from all corners of the world to listen to us on the Low bands and to keep our pilots informed of your best times so we can focus based on the data we receive. During these days we will also be doing our utmost to thin out the EU pile.

Propagation predictions show that almost all continents are within decent signal range, with North America the only exception. The EP to NA path is extremely difficult and of short duration. To give everyone a fair chance and to obtain a levelled continental balance, we will have to use all openings to NA to the fullest! The 10 meter antenna has been replaced by a 5 element OWA Yagi. By doing so, our signal will be significantly stronger, but we also hope to be able to log West Coast stations via LP.

You will be able to find us on the frequencies listed on our website

The website also provides a link to Stu, K6TU, that guarantees your personal propagation prediction towards Kish Island. We have put countless hours and tremendous efforts in trying to meet everyone’s needs and hopes for your cooperation; because besides predictions, the most important message “is the operators instructions”

During our stay it is likely that next to the experts from the C.R.A, some local radio amateurs will come and visit us. Together, we will share all our experiences and help them discover the fun of pile-ups. Please be patient and help them to discover this wonderful hobby.

Your QSL card is guaranteed, all information can be found on our website and note that each individual sponsor in our log receives a QSL card completely free of charge!

The Rockall DX Group wishes you Happy Holidays, and a good EP6T hunt!

*For your convenience we have listed useful information below for you to work us:

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Announced frequencies for the EP6T expedition to Kish Island (AS-166) are:
SSB 3763, 7083, 14183, 18143, 21283, 24953, 28493
CW 1823.5, 3503, 7013, 10123, 14033, 18083, 21013, 24903, 28033
RTTY 7042, 10136, 14082, 18102, 21082, 24922, 28082
QSL via M0URX and LoTW "at the earliest opportunity"; OQRS for direct and bureau cards on http://www.m0urx.com and Logsearch on Club Log.
The website for the DXpedition is at http://www.rockall.be.

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Press Release V

Thursday morning, three years after our first contact in Iran, members of the Rockall Dx Group will be leaving Brussels at 12 o’clock local time. Flying to Teheran (via Moscow) where we have to change airport for the domestic flight to Kish Island AS-166. We have 30 fully packed suitcases filled with radio equipment and antennas. Radios will be carried as hand luggage which leaves about 6 kg of personal stuff for each operator.

We expect arrival on Kish island January 16th early morning. As soon as we have approval from the local police we can start building antennas. Priority will be lowband TX. 40m four-square and Hexbeams setting up the equipment in the shack is planned after sunset. EP6T will probably be going on air early morning of January 17th, but remember that we have not been sleeping for 36 hours at that time! Lowband RX antennas and 10m yagi will go up during the next day. We will be off air for a few hours to finish the station setup.

There will be two groups of 5 people operating in 4 hour shifts, around the clock. Again we want to ask people in Europe and Asia for your cooperation when we have propagation to North America, since this is the most difficult path on all bands. Listen to the operators instructions, and we will all be enjoying the pile ups.

There has been some deliberate QRM on 80 meters during the last months, the EP6T operators are aware of this, so turn your VFO away from the QRM and maybe you will find us calling a little bit below or above our announced frequency.

On Top Band we may be listening 1803 – 1810 for NA if EU/AS signals are causing too much trouble. Again, listen to the operators instructions.

We would like some signal reports from NA on 10 and 160m. Please send these reports via ep6t@rockall.be so we can adjust according to propagation openings. We will have daily updates from our pilots. If you want to know the best time to work us, use the link to K6TU on our website. When we have internet access you will find pictures, updates and the online log as well. Don’t forget the donate button which gives you a free QSL card for your QSO with EP.

Social media is covered by Bjorn, ON9CFG, twitter #EP6T and on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rockall-DX-Group/290232851176580

We would like to say a big “THANK YOU” to Dr Fard, Mrs. Mortazavi and our assistants in Iran helping us getting EP6T on air, without them this expedition would not be possible.

The Rockall Dx Group

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EP6T Team - Departure Brussels airport



Flight from Brussels airport to Moscow. From Moscow a second flight to Teheran (Iran) and the last flight from Teheran to Kish Island.

We just got news from the team, they are save in Teheran Airport in this moment.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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We arrived in Teheran!!

We have good news! Everything is going as planned, we passed customs in Tehran with ALL our equipment, and are now waiting for our domestic flight to Kish Island! The help of Dr Fard was very much appreciated again and we were very happy to be welcomed by so many people of the local amateur radio society in the middle of the night. The 50 km trip between airports which was arranged by Mohammed (EP3MIR) and his assistant Ali went perfectly.


The Rockall team in Tehran


EP3MIR, ON4AHF and ON4BR

All official departments on Kish island have been notified about our radio expedition. There should be no restrictions. In a few hours after arrival on the island we will start building the antennas, and setting up the stations. Expecting to be on air by midnight January 16th.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Two stations are on air so far, tomorrow the beam build up the other stations. Soon 5 stations will be active.

EP6T late afternoon on 14195kc
https://audioboom.com/boos/2804417-ep6t-late-afternoon-on-14195kc

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EP6T on air...



EP6T became QRV yesterday evening local time. For the time being they still only have a limited setup as they are waiting for approval from local Iranian security people to make use of a nearby terrain which will be used for the big low band antennas. All antennas are assembled but are still lying on the ground waiting to be erected. They hope to get approval before local sunset in order to put up the 160M, 80M verticals and the 40M four square array. Last night they went QRT after a few hours on the air because the bands for which they had antennas all went out and the low band antennas were not up. They needed some sleep after being awake for more than 36 hours. Internet is not available in the shack but they are trying to get this fixed as well.

More news will follow in due course.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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1st logupdate has been done



About 2400 QSO's have been uploaded in clublog.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Very good news to report

We have very good news. We have permission to use the land next to us to set up all the antenna's! Internet is also up and running.

Will just receive more good news: More antennes are installed now. So soon more stations will be in the air. Only the 10 mtr antenne is left now. That will be for tomorrow (dark now).

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Some bad news...


One of the Expert 1K-FA amplifiers is busted in transit. Henk is working very hard to solve the problem. Lets hope he can fix it.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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The latest news....

Today we spent time to put up all our main antenna's. We installed the 160m vertical, a vertical for 80m, the 4 square for 40m, 2 other HEX beams (a total of 3 now), 2 verticals for 30m, A beverage for 160 and 80m, and a small RX loop. We still have to install a 2nd vertical for 80m and the 5 element yagi for 10m.

There are also some photo's uploaded. You can see them here

There has been another logupdate. About 4000 Q's are logged now

The noise level is fairly high at the moment, even with our beverage RX antenna....we are searching for a solution.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Guestbook is working again...



Thanks for the info that our guestbook was not longer running. Also behind the DX-pedition we do our best to inform you so good as possible. The problem is solved now and the guestbook is running again. So please feel free to sign our guestbook.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Powercut for 3 hours...



Last night, was a long night... we had a powercut for more than 3 hours. Normally we are on air 24 hours per day, so stay tuned.

It was also fine to put the first NA station on 160 mtr in our logbook.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Log up-date n°3: more than 18400 QSO's online.



Another logbook up-date is online. Up-date N° 3: More than 18400 QSO's are online now. We receive every day a lot of e-mails with several requests.

The team read this info carefully and we hope to get you soon in our logbook. Remember always that we have a very high QRM level at our side.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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Log up-date n°4: more than 20.000 QSO's online



Another logbook up-date is online. Up-date N° 4: More than 20.000 QSO's are online now. We receive every day a lot of e-mails with several requests.

The team read this info carefully and we hope to get you soon in our logbook. Remember always that we have a very high QRM level at our side.

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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New: EP6T Merchandise now available



Looking for some EP6T gadgets... We have some EP6T merchandise ready. You can order easy via e-mail. We did design also tables to see the sizes of the t-shirts http://www.rockall.be/index.php/19-articles/138-t-shirts-what-size-do-you-need

The ROCKALL DX GROUP

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News from Iran

We are constant aware of the unbalanced amount of "EU-NA-VK-AS" QSO's. We do our best do bend this fact but 10 days is perhaps to less time to satisfy everybody. We are trying to call for certain area's, but are not always have the control on the hard to find "HAM spirit". Jammers, calling with fake calls and disrespecting the operators, sending disgraceful emails and calling us names is sometimes to much for us. PLEASE A LITTLE MORE RESPECT is needed.

Last night was the first day to enjoy RX with no local QRM. There is a noise level we must concur but this is not local. Many JA's made it through on the low bands, and on 80m some NA stations made it through. Only as far KV4FZ and NP2X was worked on 160m. Even EU was hard to work at sunrise.

We have 4 RX antenna's we can switch but when conditions are bad there's nothing we can do.

Today we had a visit of the Iranian press TV. They made a report and will be transmitted on the air tonight. We seem to be famous people over here, hihi.

We will do a logupdate on a regular base. We can't do any log adjustments at the moment. Our QSL manager will adjust when possible after the operation. Just send a mail with your busted call together with the time, band and mode you worked us.

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Operating from Iran



We know that receiving is our main problem at this time, the noise level on most of the bands is very high.
The first 2 days we had very high QRM level of humm and buzz on all bands.
We bought a portable radio to search for the QRM and found a neighbours faulty aircondition, this is now eliminated.

But there is still a high noise level on all bands, on the phased array for 30m it goes up to S9 !
Even our receiving antennes have S5 noise, manmade noise probably caused by neon lights and battery chargers
all around our QTH, so you can imagine how we are struggling with the weak signals from the USA.

The 4 Square on 40m is useless for receiving in NA and SA direction.(S9 noise, see video)
For us is it also very frustrating to hear the pile-up in the noise with some strong signals peaking sometimes
just above our noise level.

Our receiving antennas (K9AY, Bev. en loops) are vertical polarised.
Today we put up another one for horizontal polarization. Maybe this will do better against the vertical polarised man made
noise, we will see in a few hours.

We brought all kinds of netfilters and common mode filters and installed a proper ground but all this can not help us to
kill the QRM we are having.

On the low bands we have to pull out all callers and this takes time!
On 80 m we have better propagation to NA and SA around our SR and S/N is very good, but than everyone is calling :)
We cant work all of you in this short time but we will keep doing our best.

Please remember that this project is a start for all new radio amateurs in Iran, promoting ham radio is our main
goal, so in the future, contacts with EP will be guaranteed.

73's from the EP6T team

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We receive every day a lot of e-mails...



We are getting a lot of e-mails and we do read each and every one of them and pass on to the team in a digest form that being said, if you have a question about "my call" was busted, or the time or band of "your QSO".

Please send those questions only to Tim M0URX, and he, and only he as QSL manager can answer those.

For those that have a hard drive crashes, we are sorry, but that is not something we can control.

If your hard drive crashes we strongly suggest that you "write time down immediately" so you know the time.

We receive also a lot of nice words and compliments about the DX pedition. Its maybe better to write this direct in the guestbook.

73's from the EP6T team

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Official visit to the EP6T shack

Today 8 officials from the CRA visited our location.
These guy's where the CRA managers of different districts in Iran.
After a short introduction of our equipment and antenna farm the gentlemen wanted to test our radio equipment on different bands.
We stopped our operation so they could do there tests, it tooks approx.30 min.
They made connections with the HQ observer station in Teheran from several radio's using the EP6T callsign !
At the same time Mohammad EP3MIR was making some QSO's on request of the observer's team.
Unfortunately it was all on the NA West-coast opening and we got some comments on that.
Tomorrow another goverment delegation will visit us and probably will request us to stop the operation for a short time.

The Local QRM level is still killing us, we found the source of it but can't do anything about it.
Battery chargers for electric scooters from a nearby rental shop is the cause of our problems and there are many of them!
Our license is strictly given for this location so moving to another QTH is not an option.
Pulling you out of the noise takes a lot of energy and slows down our rate, especialy the weaker signals from North America

Monday morning after sunrise we will start dismanteling the topband antenna.
Monday evening after the higher bands are closed, we will start taking down these antennas.
During our last night including the sunrise opening, we will be active on 30,40 and 80m.

There are also some new pictures uploaded to our picture gallery


One of the observers


Mohamad, EP3MIR

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QTH locator...

It looks many hams look for our QTH locator. For your info: LL76am - Kish Island IOTA ref: AS-166

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Murphy

Damn, another visit by Murphy last night !
You may have noticed that we were not on air after 22U3O . The whole citycentre had a power failure for seven hours!
Sunrise had passed when we could start operating again .

Today we had 2 groups of CRA officials visiting . After having a guided tour of our station and antenna farm they wanted to test our transmitters again, this time they wanted to check if their receivers in Tehran could hear our signals on 15 meter.





Our Visitor counter is now at 30 . The officials are very interested in this project and therefore not all stations could be operated because of all questions that had to be answered .
Nearing the end of our expedition this is very encouraging for the new local radio amateurs who have passed their test .

We still try our best to put as many NA stations in the log as possible but conditions and noise level makes it hard work especially on the long path to west coast. 40 m is still terrible, even the European signals are difficult to copy

Operators are tired but in a good mood and still ready to work the pile ups

The Rockall DX group

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Order now your EP6T souvenir...



Are you looking for a nice EP6T souvenir ? We have some EP6T merchandise ready. You can order easy via e-mail. We did design also tables to check your T-shirt size. If you have still more questions, please write us.

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Game over for EP6T!

The last QSO was logged @03h08 on 40m today. A total of 68098 QSO's are logged. The log has been fully uploaded to clublog. It was a moving 9 days of operation. We all thank you for making a QSO with us, and sharing the excitment. We are now packing all gear.

73's from the EP6T team