3B7M Team will be active from Saint Brandon Islands, IOTA AF - 015, 24 February - 5 March 2023.
Team - OM5ZW, OK6DJ, OM3PC, OM4MW, OK2ZA, OM3KAP (YL), OM4MM.
They will operate on 160 - 6m, CW, SSB, Digital Modes.
QSL via OK6DJ, LOTW, ClubLog OQRS.
DXCC Country - Agalega and Saint Brandon Islands, 3B6, 3B7.
3B7M Saint Brand Islands News 5 September 2023
3B7M Upload QSOs to LOTW.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 9 March 2023
The 3B7M team arrived safely from St. Brandon this morning to Port Louis. They are now staying at the hotel. Picture with the local support staff. 3B7M OK1FCJ.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 7 March 2023 Part 2
120000 QSOs in the Log.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 7 March 2023
We are heading to the end. Only 2 x VDA and 2 x verticals 40,30 antennas will be in the air. We will finish the operation at 00UTC and start packing antennas. We have to be on the ship in the morning at 05UTC.
The weather has improved today, and we are all ok, but the fatigue is getting to everybody.
3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 6 March 2023
Yesterday we were hit by a strong storm which damaged our antennas. There was mighty wind and heavy rain disaster. 1x spider broken, vertical on 80m, and 1 x VDA fell. Besides that, there was a lot of water everywhere in the ham shack, we had to shut down everything, and at night we went in limited operation only on 30 and 40m. In addition to that, there were also problems with other antennas.
We are starting to pack slowly, and tomorrow morning everything will go down gradually except 30,40m, and at night we will be only 30,40 cw. We must be on the boat Wednesday morning, so Wednesday 02.00 UTC QRT. We have to board, and the journey to 3b8 starts.
The pile-ups are strong, and we really can't satisfy everyone. 20m is not a priority because there are always 10m coming in till night. Today we are activating 20m a little bit, but everything is impossible. In addition, we should work on 160, 80m tonight. We will see. I am sending photos after the thunderstorm to see what it was like here. Disaster at night, we almost didn't sleep. It was a matter of life rather than transmitting.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 5 March 2023 Part 2
News 1430 utc 5.3.2023
We reached 100,000 qso a while ago.
Today it is very windy, and it got cold. A big storm is coming, and maybe we will QRT for a long time all night, perhaps even tomorrow.
3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 5 March 2023 Images
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 4 March 2023
In log 80k QSOs. Yesterday we went fishing with locals and OK6DJ, OM5ZW, OM4AYL. David caught a giant fish. We had a 2m shark near the QTH.
Problems with low bands. After a strong storm, the 80m vertical fallen. We didn't operate CW due to high SWR but only FT8. It's fixed now. 160m is still a big disaster. Strong interferences from the aggregates. Again only a few QSOs FT8. The low bands are a problem here. Neither Beverage nor EWE is listening. There's a mess from the generators. But the priority is the upper bands. 10m is open till 02.00 local times. Incredible pile-ups on 10,12m.
Over the weekend is ARRL SSB. We will be only 17,12 SSB and 10,15 CW.
QRT info
we start packing antennas on Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning, we will be on with only 2xvertical 30,40m and 2xVDA. Wednesday morning QRT.
Still very warm, and the wind starts to blow quite strongly.
The team is in a good mood and has had no significant health problems.
3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 3 March 2023
Dear friends!
It is useless to make any notes on the DX summit where the expedition should go, what they should do, where they should listen, and with whom it should contact. 3B7M team is in quick contact about once per day, concise and brief. I can pass them basic information, observations from bands, and other recommendations received here or through 3b7m WWW. Writing a message to the DX summit expedition is entirely unnecessary.
73 Petr OK1FCJ Pilot
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 2 March 2023
We started lower bands 160m and 80m. The problem is that every night there are storms and big QRN, which prevents us from receiving on low bands. On RX we have EWE and Beverge 260m.
We have solved the electrical problems, which seem stable now.
Food portions are now regulated. We are not sure if we will last with food so that the guys will have better photos toward the end of the expedition..:-)
Yesterday lovely openings on 10m and 12m, and 15m. In the USA it is the 32nd most wanted. Therefore we will prefer USA and not EU for the opening of the band!!!
Today we made another spiderbeam. In total we have 2x VDA 12,10m, 2xSpiderbeam, 1xvertical 40m, 1`xvertical 30m, 1x vertical 80m, 1xdxcommander
A vast storm flooded our ham shack at night, and we had to sweep the water out of the ham shack. These are combat conditions as we have little space and the only functional building on the island.
So far, everybody is healthy, except for the standard sunburns we have no severe health problems. We have massive pileups on 10,12m. It would be good to have more discipline because the stations are undisciplined and on 28mhz ssb up to 50khz pileup.
3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 1 March 2023
3B7M team update 01/03/23 10:15 utc
Logs are updated. We have about 35K QSOs in the log. Yesterday we finally built all antennas, so we should be QRV. 3xSpider, 2xvertical 40,30, DXcommander, Vertical 80m, vertical 160m beverage, EWE We have big electrical problems. Generators are overheating. At lunchtime, it's almost 40C in the sun and 32 in the shade. The power supply cable from the generator room to the ham shack has burnt out. We had to fix the replacement cable, but we're fine. There are terrible rain and storms here. There are storms every day. That's why there are so many operation outages. From today, we will focus more on low bands. ft8 on 80m will operate on 3567 kHz. Yl Sisa is doing a lot qso on 10m SSB with Ruda OK2ZA The team is in good health shape.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 27 February 2023
3B7M DX Pedition Team Saint Brandon Islands QRV. 3B7M informs that they will be not active on 6 and 60m Bands Sorry.
Some pictures received from them.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 26 February 2023 Part 2
Important information: - FT8 is via MSHV software. Identical or similar way as from TN8K. GPS clock synchronization will be on a regular base (JA window & EU radar QRM on 80m reported) - the log is to be uploaded gradually to the clublog as the 3B7M team will provide it - Log correction ONLY after the expedition. Request send directly to the expedition QSL manager OK6DJ. During the expedition, no log modifications. Please check your band slot after the log update. - operation on QO100 is planned earliest for the second half of the expedition - There is a satellite connection to the team via inmarsat - bgan. It is possible to transmit to the 3B7M team your Facebook and the 3B7M web form significantly abbreviated information.
73s OK1FCJ 3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 26 February 2023
26/02 09:10 utc
Delay in departure due to obtaining additional permits. The cruise and crew pick-up from the North Island took about 34 hours. The original house, where the previous French expedition was, is destroyed (not during the latest cyclone). They are in a smaller place, which is not so comfortable. During the trip, some got seasick even though they took pills. In the evening, they started at 30m, and in the morning, they continued at 15 and 12m. With extreme sunshine during the day, they can't build anything. They want to build 1 x VDA and 1 x Spiderbeam later today.
The whole team is in good health
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 25 February 2023
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands DX Pedition start activity.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 24 February 2023
3B7M Team on the way to Saint Brandon Islands.
All clearances received. The ship has been refueled and is underway.
The journey will lead first to Raphael Island (also known as the North Island). There they pick up the island crew, evacuated earlier before the cyclone, and sail to Saint Brandon Island (also known as the South Island). The total length of the cruise is approx 26-28 hours.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 23 February 2023 Part 2
The delay on departure is 24 hours because the minister of the blue economy did not permit us to go to sea due to the ongoing cyclone in the area so we will sail a day later; we rebooked departure flights by 48 hours; which cost us a lot of money, the radio operation will be extended by 2 days until 8.3., greetings from the team OK1FCJ, 3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 23 February 2023
The boat will be delayed in departure by 12 to 24 hours due to the change in weather and cyclone in the area. Permission to sail has not yet been received.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 22 February 2023
3B7M the team arrived in Mauritius.
Tomorrow they plan to start sailing to the Saint Brandon islands.
3B7M expedition has a FB group. It is called 3B7M Saint Brandon 2023 and you can locate it by facebook.com/groups/651229506355125/
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 21 February 2023
3B7M Team. Boarding and departure.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 15 January 2023
After a long decision finally Miro OM5RW finally join us on our DX pedition. Miro is very experienced operator and will focus on 160m.
3B7M.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands News 27 November 2022
After long discussion with team members we will be active on QO 100 sat. Hardware is ready, the only problem is dish, but i hope we agree with the local 3B8 hams and will activate QO 100 from 3B7.
Stay tuned!
Cargados-Carajos Islands
Cargados-Carajos is a fabulous archipelago of 40 islands of various sizes located amid the Indian Ocean. It is the official component of the Outer Islands of Mauritius. French explorers once "dubbed" the islands the Rocks of St. Brandon - by that name they are still known today. Some of the islands are quite tiny - they are inhabited only by birds, whose nests are perfectly placed on the rocky land.
We cannot say that the archipelago is particularly popular among fans of comfortable recreation. But at the same time, it is of particular interest to eco-tourists and travelers who want to plunge into the untouched world of wildlife. Local coral reefs, unusual landscapes and coastlines are striking. In the crystal-clear waters of the ocean you can see swarms of colorful fish, which form the basis of the local diet. But what few people know is that the cliffs of St. Brandon also boast an ancient history and fascinating culture.
Part of an ancient continent
According to recent research by geophysical scientists, millions of years ago the Cargados-Carajos Islands were part of an ancient microcontinent. Together with Mauritius, Madagascar and the southern part of the Indian Peninsula, they formed a huge land area called Mauritius. As a result of a major earthquake, the continent was completely submerged, and until recently nothing was known about it. But soil samples from the rocks of St. Brandon have clarified the situation. It turned out that the islands were formed as a result of underwater volcanic eruptions, which were on the surface of the sunken Mauritius. Thus, about 9 million years ago, the ancient continent rose again above the water in the form of archipelagos, among which was Cargados-Carajos.
3B7M Saint Brandon Islands DX Pedition Logo.
Islands of birds, fish, and fishes
The waters of the Indian Ocean are home to several thousand species of fish, mollusks, and single-celled organisms. They are all part of a pristine ecosystem that feeds the locals in the truest sense of the word. Adult men who live in the archipelago go fishing almost every day. The seafood they catch goes on sale or goes straight to the dinner table. There is a private fishing station on Rafael Island that exports the precious cargo to various countries around the world. Anyone can go fishing in Cargados Carajos by renting a boat, a boat or a comfortable yacht.
The diverse marine life attracts a huge number of birds that nest right on the rocks in the ocean. This place can be confidently called a paradise for ornithologists, because you can observe rare species of birds almost everywhere. All you need is a pair of binoculars. However, local birds are not afraid of people, letting them come very close. The concentrated birds that hunt for fish are a truly fascinating sight.
Sea Turtles
The majestic sea turtles have long been an unspoken symbol of the St. Brandon Cliffs. The local deserted beaches, covered with a thick layer of white sand, have become a favorite place for these royal reptiles. As you walk along the waterfront, you can easily spot turtle nests with dozens of eggs in the sand. And tourists who are the luckiest get to admire the real march of baby turtles that have just hatched from their eggs. Their first journey into the water is an unforgettable and very cute sight!