OV P08 DXpedition To The Isle Of Man 2009 - Day 1

DARC OV P08 DXpedition to the Isle of Man in 2009

With the weather being on the bleak side, a group of operators from Germany descended on the Isle of Man and booked themselves into Eary Cushlin.

They brought with them a monster vertical in the form of a GAP Voyager DX (below) and a Spiderbeam, and home made Dual Delta Loop to cover all bands available for the upcoming contest.

The poor guy from OV P08 with the neck brace is Gunter Hering (DK1SG), obviously trying to get out of any heavy lifting, next is Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) and the always funny Peter Herring (DL1SPH) and finally good old Erwin Kleiner (DL6SBN).

This time we get Bernd Bross (DH1SBB), and again Markus Wagner (DO5MZ), in the middle of the picture is Guenther Haug (DG1SBU) standing next to Gunter Hering (DK1SG), Erwin Kleiner (DL6SBN) and finally Peter Herring (DL1SPH).

These photos do not really show just how big this antenna actually is, it will certainly take the entire team to get it standing upright.

All in All, a successful start to the DARC OV P08 DXpedition to the Isle of Man.

Eary Cushlin, Early morning, covered in Mannin's Cloak

A Misty Morning at Eary Cushlin on the Isle of Man

The Team start to arrive ready for a days hard work.

Even the early morning view was a little unwelcoming.

I managed to the the Beam and the Tower sorted ready for when the team arrived.

More members of German OV P08 DXpedition arrive on a cold Manx day to start work.

Another view of the tower in the mist.

The GAP Voyager Antenna assembled and ready to be raised into position.

Bernd Bross (DH1SBB) laying out the feeder

A close-up of the capacitive hat at the top of the GAP Voyager vertical antenna

Bernd Bross (DH1SBB) laying out the feeder, they told him to go far, but didn't tell him how far!

Peter Herring (DL1SPH) chatting with Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) about setting up the shack.

Starting to brighten up at Eary Cushlin for the OV P08 DXpedition to the Isle of Man

The guys making final adjustments

A small yacht braving the Irish sea in the force 3-4 weather of the coast of the Isle of Man

Another view of Eary Cushlin on the west coast of the Isle of Man.

Markus (DO5MZ) attaching the mounting for the guy wires whilst Peter (DL1SPH) is looking very bored.

Bernd (DH1SBB) making sure that the antenna is ready to raise.

Markus (DO5MZ) looking fondly at the antenna whilst poor old Peter (DL1SPH) has to keep his hand warm in the still cold air.

Bernd Bross (DH1SBB) and Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) chatting about guys ropes whilst Peter Herring (DL1SPH) takes the strain.

With the aid of a big sledge hammer Bernd (DH1SBB) managed to get the base for the GAP antenna into the nice soft soil of Eary Cushlin.

The ground was not too level where we placed the IOMARS Tower, and this was as good as we could get it, it remained very stable throughout the teams visit.

It was bound to happen! Who gets to have the sea view!

Not exactly a bad place to feel alone in.

Eary Cushlin is a quite remote place, totally back to basics, Electricity is provided by a generator, no mains water so it need to be brought in, and certainly no mobile phone signals.

Bernd Bross (DH1SBB) looking very happy as they get near to raising the GAP Voyager vertical antenna, I think Peter Herring (DL1SPH) and Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) are just playing cards with each other.

Peter Herring (DL1SPH) and Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) finishing off the guys wires for the GAP Voyager antenna

Bernd, Peter and Markus have been working on this antenna for a while now, nearly done.

Well it's certainly straight up

The last of the guy wires getting attached

GAP Voyager DX Monster Vertical Antenna

Final checked being made

Bernd Bross (DH1SBB) going off to lunch and leaving Peter Herring (DL1SPH) holding the antenna

Eary Cushlin 2009 DXpedition

Remote and loads of space for antennas

Finally up and guyed with Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) checking the VSWR

The team tightening up the guys and making sure the the GAP Voyager won't fall down if the wind picks up

Who says a tall metal stick isn't beautiful.

Final checks of feeder, VSWR, and the guy ropes to make sure its as good as it needs to be

Bernd (DL1SBB) just confirming that it's one hell of a tall beast!

Peter Herring (DL1SPH) taking the relaxed approach to tightening up the guy lines

Eary Cushlin in the Manx sun

These lightweight masts made short work of setting up the loop antennas

Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) putting the finishing touches to the Satellite TV dish.

The view of the loop antenna

Eary Cushlin, Isle of Man

Peter (DL1SPH) is adjusting the guy wires while Bernd (DH1SBB) watches the antenna

It did not take long to get the GAP Voyager pretty square and straight

Pretty straight for what turned out to be a relatively quick job by just three operators.

There is always one joker that comes out after all the work is done and states that its bending over, Good old Erwin (DL6SBN) and Gunter (DK1SG)

Bother Erwin Kleiner (DL6SBN) and Gunter Herring (DK1SG) admiring the GAP Voyager Antenna at Eary Cushlin

Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) was told to stand to attention and guard the antenna until they were due to leave in about 6 days time.

Gunter (DK1SG) admiring the guys work

I had it a minute ago! Bernd (DH1SBB) looking as though he dropped something.

Peter (DL1SPH) spent the next few hours disappearing and reappearing as he ran out as many radials as they could, his impersonation as a rabbit was flawless.

Peter (DL1SPH) was honestly a lot taller when he started this.

As each radial was connected to the base of the antenna the MFJ meter was displaying the affects of more and more radials

The Antenna connections look a little crude but they worked and worked well.

Have you noticed that it seemed to be Bernd (DH1SBB) that was doing all the work and a load of legs just watching.

Just for scale, Peter was about 50ft away from the antenna when I took this photo, certainly a big antenna.

Trying not to feel left out, Erwin (DL6SBN) started taking photos as well.

A Nice set of antennas for a week on the radio.

This is Eary Cushlin – She stands alone and empty for a great deal of her life in a very remote place on the top of some high cliffs on the west coast of the Isle of Man, now she has a few antennas for company.

Guenther Haug (DG1SBU) and Markus Wagner (DO5MZ) playing with bits of tape, I am pretty sure they will not find a USB socket for that keyboard on the trailer for the tower.

Guenther (DG1SBU) and Markus (DO5MZ) seeing if they can get access to any DX Clusters across the water in Ireland to help them whilst they were her.

Peter Herring (DL1SPH) and Erwin Kleiner (DL6SBN) having a relaxing break.

Still fighting with small antenna, you would have thought Markus (DO5MZ) would have been faster after helping put up the GAP Voyager.

GAP Voyager Vertical Antenna flying high over Eary Cushlin on the Isle of Man

Even Erwin (DL6SBN) was staying well out of the hassles that Guenther (DG1SBU) and Markus (DO5MZ) seemed to be having with this really large Yagi.

Small Yagi finally mounted onto the fiberglass pole ready to be fixed – somewhere! Either that or just keep Markus (DO5MZ) holding it for the duration of the visit.