Tonight is my final evening in Eleuthera. The station is already down and packed, with an early departure tomorrow morning, making this a good moment to capture a short recap while everything is still fresh.
Operations began on March 24, with the first QSO logged at 1930 UTC. Early operation focused on digital modes, and 15 meters came alive after 2330 UTC with strong JA activity. The band remained productive into the next day, and operations wrapped up around 0200 UTC.
March 25 started early, with strong JA pileups on 40 meters FT8 around 0800 UTC. Later in the morning, RF issues showed up as interference with the microwave and laptop, making 20 meters unusable. The antenna was eventually moved from roughly 40 feet to about 90 feet from the cottage, which resolved most of the issues and improved overall performance. Power line noise was a challenge on SSB throughout the day. Despite that, approximately 200 SSB contacts were worked on 15 meters, with intense European pileups.
March 26 was one of the strongest operating days of the trip. Pileups were excellent on 40, 20, and 15 meters, with multiple FT8 and FT4 streams running simultaneously. SSB operation started with about 200 contacts on 15 meters. For the first time I used split as the DX and I can tell you, it makes a huge improvement! Another roughly 200 SSB contacts followed on 20 meters running simplex later in the day, which worked well for North American contacts.
Conditions changed on March 27. Early 40 meter FT8 operation was challenging, with frequent incompletes and generally limited to a single stream. At times stations could hear me but I could not hear them, and at other times the reverse, making propagation feel unsettled. I stepped away for sightseeing and resumed operations later, working strong European pileups on 15 meter FT4 for a couple of hours. Digital operations ended about 1.5 hours before the CQ WPX SSB contest began.
March 28 opened with an M class solar flare having occurred earlier, and conditions reflected it. Checks around 0330 UTC showed extremely high noise levels across the bands. After resuming around 1130 UTC, 40, 20, and 15 meters were worked until roughly 1400 UTC before switching back to digital. Noise levels remained high throughout the day, likely due to solar conditions. During CQ WPX SSB, I made an unintentional self‑spot and realized it about 15 minutes later. The log was submitted as a checklog on Saturday afternoon, and I stayed out of the contest for the remainder of the weekend.
March 29 produced one of the highlights of the trip. Overnight, I received an email from JR7HAN asking to try 20 meter JA operation around 1200 UTC. I started a bit early at 1100 UTC and worked a large number of Japanese stations, ultimately QSYing to 14086 to give everyone the best opportunity for a QSO. At peak, three FT8 streams were running simultaneously. Operations ended abruptly around 1800 UTC when commercial power was lost for the rest of the day.
March 30 concluded the trip with a POTA activation of BS‑0044 at the Queen’s Baths. It is a spectacular location, and the Atlantic was putting on a dramatic show. The activation was physically demanding, with rain on and off throughout the day, but the required 13 contacts were completed. Teardown happened completely soaked. Back at the QTH, FT8 and FT4 operation resumed briefly around 1900 UTC before final station teardown. The last QSO was logged at 2054 UTC.
This was my first DXpedition, and it exceeded every expectation. Over the course of the trip I made close to 6000 QSOs. The IC‑705, JUMA PA‑1000+, and the multiband vertical performed flawlessly throughout the trip. The combination proved to be reliable, flexible, and extremely effective in a real‑world DX environment.
Overall, this was an amazing success. I can’t wait until the next one.