JT5DX January 2020 – The Full Story de K1LZ and K1ZM/VY2ZM
Krassy Petkov (K1LZ) and I recently completed a lowband Dx-pedition to Zone 23 from Jan 21- Jan 30. We made the trip to visit JT1CO/JT5DX and our singular aim was to try to work NA stations who needed the zone on 80m and 160m for WAZ 40. We also participated in the CQ 160M contest as a Multi-operator team including JT1CO/K1LZ/K1ZM/UA0SC and RN5M. In the contest we worked around 1600 stations overall and made a good score. We worked K3LR near our sunrise on 160m and he was LOUD.
We did well overall outside the contest working 315 NA stations on 160m (including quite a few YCCC members like K1QX, W1JR and others) and also 215 qso’s into NA on 80m. K1DG was a happy camper for his completion with zone 23 on 80m. Looking back, for those who do not know much about Mongolia and Chak, JT1CO, here are a few observations that I can recall. I hope they might be of interest to our club members.
First – Chak is a most interesting fellow: After WWII, Mongolia was occupied by Russians and many of the BLDGS in Ulan Bator have Russian signs. As a result Chak speaks fluent Russian and also MONGOL and also fair English. At the age of 21 a JA friend sent him some RTTY gear and the authorities thought it was spy stuff, so Chak spent 18 months in JAIL as a result.
Today his principal home is on the outskirts of Ulan Bator – and is a gorgeous wood and glass bldg – overlooking a small valley – NICE! JT5DX is about 375Km to the NW and he calls it his “farm” which is not far from Irkutsk UA0. UA0SC joined us for the CQ 160m CW contest during our stay – He said it was a 3.5 hour drive to come to the FARM. Chak can remote the farm station from JT1CO and often does so on 160m.
The “farm” out in the Gobi is just amazing. He farms a special kind of wheat and feeds 95% of the total population of 4MM or so in Mongolia. His land is enormous – 10,000 hectares – which is about 24,700 acres – (It runs 24km one way and about 40km the other way) so it is roughly 1/4 the size of the state of RHODE ISLAND.
The station at the farm has something like 11 towers – three are rotatable ones – with HUGE stacks. The 3el 80m yagi is about 175 feet up, other stuff includes 8/8 for 10m, 7/7 for 15m, 6/6/6 for 20M and 3 full sized 40m yagis – two are stacked and one on a second tower. He has several other towers with stacked yagis on them (monobanders, tribanders and a 6M long John – which we used to work 6M EME into the USA the last time I was there.)
Inside the station is just unreal and was designed for him by my friend K1LZ . There are some 5 operating positions and the station is HIGHLY automated – it makes my station at VY2ZM look like a toy. The automation I do not understand well – but it is based on a hardware platform that K1LZ uses for his military and industrial robotics (down in Medway Mass) Krassy was also known as MR ACOM for awhile which you may know. LZ1JK was his partner marketing the amplifier we like to use back in PLOVDIV, BG.
Sitting atop the hardware platform – there are literally thousands of lines of software code interlaced with DX LOGGER logging software written by Kres 9A5K in 2017/2018 before he died of cancer shortly after WRTC 2018. Then there is a custom made box about 3 x 6 feet in size with 50 inputs and outputs and 100 relays inside.
Again, I do not understand all of this – BUT I can tell you what it does in terms of operating capability:
1) Every position can access ANY antenna (TX and RX).
2) Every station is totally interlocked – you can put 4 stations on a single band at the same time and this was done in 2017 during the CQ WPX contest.
3) This allows 2 cascaded RUN stations – say on 20m – each with a 200w radio – driving its own ACOM. One set of stacks looks to EU and one set of stacks looks toward JA and USA.
4) One operator calls CQ into the system and you are spraying 1.5KW into two desirable directions at the same time. Each operator is listening to the same PILE UP and whichever guy picks out a station FIRST grabs the control to work someone (eg: either EU or USA). Then they CQ again – so both are listening on the SAME frequency but to separate PILEUPS on the same QRG. This allows HUGE rates of 250 per hour and again this is totally interlocked.
5) Then there is the INBAND station – this guy has his own radio and ACOM – and he has at least 4 OTHER 20m antennas to choose from – to try to work other stations on the SAME band as the run. It is tough to GRAB control from the inband station as the RUN guys are xmitting almost all the time – but this can add around 60 more stations in an hour on the RUN band to the run operators total.
6) Lastly there is the MULTIPLIER station – again with its own radio and ACOM – and usually several antennas including a tribander. This guy watches spots and works only MULTS on other bands – again fighting for control of the station when he finds something – because the 3 other ops are also fighting for control of the interlock at the same time.All of this in fully interlocked using the K1LZ hardware, relays and software.
(This platform is essentially what CN2AA/P33W and EF8R are doing when they go Multi-Single. We did the same thing at ED8X in 2016/2017 from Krassy’s mountaintop qth in Tenerife.)
Now comes the really cool part. The station function parameters are all controlled by POINT and SHOOT screens on two side by side monitors. The DX logger part has additional windows off to the side – and these indicate GREEN meaning available for xmit and RED which means lockout. More windows indicate the AVAILABLE antennas for that station – RED ones mean these are used by other operating positions – GREEN ones mean you can select them for YOUR station. You just point and click on what you want at will.
In addition, on 80M and on 160M – another window comes up and lists the 8 directions of the 4sq (set up to go 8 ways – not just 4) – You just select your direction on the screen – eg: N/NE/E/SE/S/SW/W/NW. On 80m and 160m there is yet another window with your available RX antennas – eg: beverages or an 8 circle array – again – you just point and shoot on the screen to select your RX antennas.
So there are no typical COMTEK box controllers or RCS4 beverage control switches or any other manual antenna switches – all of that stuff is programmed into the system and can be accessed by each of the 5 stations – eg; 80m can be at one operating position one minute and 5 mins later over in another room if one wants to do that – so this is really SLICK to say the least.
It is hard to believe all of this exists in the middle of NOWHERE with nothing around it for miles – due to the size of Chak’s land and its remoteness. Compared to my simple station – this is STAR WARS. BTW Chak’s big yagis are so large that the top antennas on the taller towers must be worked on with a CRANE. Chak told me that he got tired of the ENORMOUS Rental cost for the cranes – so he bought his OWN 200 ft crane. WOW!
Like I said – he is an unique individual with a very unique station. HI HI. His main bldg at the farm is about 400 feet long and is divided into 4 principal sections – at one end is the HOTEL – which has three BR’s each with its own bath and a kitchen/dining room for the ops to eat their meals in. The next section over is the STATION complex which has 4 rooms and a workroom to fix and build stuff.
The next section over is the OFFICE complex where his accountants and managers work during the growing season. Finally at the OTHER FAR end of the BLDG – there is the RESIDENCE complex – with 3 BR, a LR. DR, kitchen and baths.
On the property nearby there are several aircraft type hangers which house his tractors and harvesting equipment. It is so large a parcel that to get from one side on the antennas and towers to the other is more than a short walk. All antennas are fed with 2″ hardline – sitting above ground laid in what looked like norse watering troughs to me – there are MILES of this stuff running in all directions from the station.
As I said – this is STAR WARS compared to my simple station at VY2ZM HI HI
It was a privilege to operate from this place and to go with CHAK so far to 7O6T/9M0W/V84SAA/LZ5R and who knows what is next?
73 JEFF VY2ZM