ARRLWeb: DXpedition to Calf Island

Anyone can get on the air and make a contact, just as anyone can get behind a camera and snap a picture; to do both well, however, you need to have some technical and artistic knowledge. When three hams, one of them a photographer, get together to go on a DXpedition, the results not only garner some QSL cards and memories of a fun time, but beautiful pictures.

This is the QSL card we designed and sent out to all with whom we made contact.

There is no motor vehicle traffic allowed on the island, which is just over a half a mile off the shore of Greenwich, directly south of Byram Harbor. At 29 acres, it is highly visible from the shore between Greenwich Point and the New York border. [All photos courtesy of the author.]

This is the sign posted where we docked our boat -- it lists all the activities that are allowed (and disallowed) on the island.

If Art, Tom and I had anything to say about it, the sign would look like this.

Tom Tumino, N2YTF, preps his homebrew vertical for HF DX.

On Sunday, December 5, 2004, Art Breen, WA2YQV, Tom Tumino, N2YTF, and I decided to venture out to Calf Island (US Island #CT027)to see what we could do with a little homebrew equipment. The island is located between the Long Island Sound and Greenwich, Connecticut, not too far from my home in Jamaica, New York.

Most would think it is crazy to go boating at that time of year, but we were three adventure-seeking guys. But when set up shop at the island, we operated under the warm sun and had the island to ourselves. We operated a little over two hours so we could hit the 25 mark and make it an official island activation. All in all, we had 26 contacts, with most of them from the US and even a few from Canada.

Tom built an antenna based on a design from Phil Salas, AD5X, which was featured in the July 2002 issue of QST ("A Simple and Portable HF Vertical Travel Antenna," pp 28-31). It was modified with aluminum tubing and a 12 foot telescoping whip at the top. The ground plane was a set of wires draped along the ground, with screws soldered on its ends as tiny spikes to hold the wires on the ground. Tom has since used this antenna in such places as Sweden, Finland and the UK. He was able to make contact from Central Park in New York City all the way to the UK on SSB 10 meters using only half a watt with this antenna.

Looking back and considering the marginal elevation of the Calf Island, Tom wondered if he would have been better off with the antenna just at the water's edge, with the ground wires running into the ocean. We would have lost the height but instead would have gained a massive ground plane, making a nice shot to Europe. Maybe next time.

Calf Island offers diverse feeding and nesting habitat to a wide range of birds. The island consists of two sections of wooded upland separated by a sandy crescent beach and a healthy salt marsh. Nearby Great Captain's Island houses the largest heron rookery in Long Island Sound. Calf Island provides an important feeding habitat for this declining species. There is a conspicuous natural osprey's nest on the island's west coast. Calf Island is now a unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge that consists of nine separate units located along the Connecticut coast from Greenwich to Westbrook. Refuge lands include six islands, barrier beaches, tidal salt marshes, shrublands and upland habitats.

Sidney Ko, K0SID (formerly KC2GEC), has been an Amateur Radio operator since 2000. Sidney is a big supporter of experiments involving emergency communications and APRS. He is a Board Member with the Hall of Science Amateur Radio Club and serves on its repeater committee. Sidney also enjoys photography, and has been able to combine both his hobbies. He works for the American Red Cross in Greater New York as the Field Communication Coordinator in the Disaster Services Department, currently overseeing day-to-day communication system involving two way radio systems, cellular and satellite communications. He lives in Jamaica, New York.

N2YTF and the vertical.	Another shot of N2YTF as he was installing the vertical.	Art Breen, WA2YQV, strings up his homebrew dipole for HF DX.
WA2YQV installing the dipole.	We put the dipole in a tree.	Art, WA2YQV, and Tom, N2YTF, prepare the radios, battery power supplies, antenna tuner and antenna connectors before doing some HF DX.
CQ CQ CQ -- Tom, N2YTF, calls CQ on 20 meters while Art, WA2YQV, prepares to listen and copy the station that replies.	WA2YQV	N2YTF

N2YTF decides to go low power with his Yaesu FT-817.