"Lightning operation" for the IOTA Contest 2006

(Low-power, Island DX'pedition, Multi-operator)

After a "back-breaking" year at work we had no plans for the IOTA 2006 Contest, personally my teaching jobs kept me too busy and away from DX. It came as a pleasant surprise to me Brilhante's, CT1APE, phone call proposing Berlenga for the upcoming IOTA Contest. We were in mid-June and to be true we had no time to go to any other island (the time consuming job of getting permits to go to Insua or Pessegueiro excluded this two options being so close to the contest date). A "lightning operation" was put together in a record time, the Navy permit received two days before the contest weekend (Hi!) and a Team of excellent operators / engineers assembled together to achieve the final score of over 4.7 M. points.

I say... to have some success in this activities its not enough to pick-up the microphone and yell "cq contest", a good Team work and above all a good knowledge of some aspects of radio-engineering is necessary, understanding radiowaves propagation being one of them ! 73  José  CT1EEB.

Now have a look at the photos:

SOUVENIRS OF "BERLENGA" (Choose the photo to see it large)

ANACOM License to operate from "Ilha da Berlenga".	ANACOM License to operate 50 Mhz portable from "Ilha da Berlenga".	Portuguese Navy permit to install a HAM Station in the their facilities.
Heading to Berlenga.	Lopes CT1CJJ looks over the equipment in the long way up.	Brilhante CT1APE and Filipe CT2GLO parking the speedboat.
Berlenga town and the long way up to the lighthouse.	The antennas and the lighthouse.	The lowband antennas.
Rotating the single-element Quad antenna.	Our friend the power-generator.	Marco CT1EAV and Lopes CT1CJJ contesting.
José CT1EEB and Filipe CT1ILT contesting.	José CT1EEB looking for multipliers.	Father and son Team together in the Contest.
José CT1EEB/p works 50 and 144 Mhz and probes the e-skip.	Our Skipper, Brilhante CT1APE, resting after the pile-ups.	Its lunch time in Berlenga.
And I can say, "I went to Berlenga to wash the dishes..." arghhh !	Marco CT1EAV is a happy man, it was a good contest with no dish-washing for him, Hi !	José CT1EEB and Lopes CT1CJJ... Its time to go home !

12 years old Graham, M3OBM, makes a QSO with CS7T !

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