All material in these pages, including text, layout, presentation, logos, icons, photos, and all other artwork is the property of Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society, unless otherwise stated, and subject to be published and use by Callsign holders and Event Organizer ILLW.net. No commercial use of any material is authorised without the express permission of Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society or ILLW.net. Information contained in, or derived from these pages must not be used for production, marketing or any other act, which infringes copyright by any other organisation unless obtained a written permission from Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society or ILLW.net.. This document is for informational purposes only and not an official report of the programs hosted in Malaysia. This report is prepared by member of MARTS as Technical Visit Report by Jayakanthan M. Lachmanan 9W2BUG | KI7FBB as a guidance of how to produce a valuable report upon completion of an event without any pecuniary interest. Internal Use or for Reference Only TECHNICAL VISIT REPORT INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE AND LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND 2017 OF 9M4LHN TANJUNG TUAN LIGHTHOUSE (CAPE RACHARDO) PORT DICKSON ILLW # MY0001 WLOL # WMA003 LIGHT HOUSE CAPE RACHARDO TANJUNG TUAN, PORT DICKSON PORT DICKSON, NS 02.24.43N, 101.51.13E, NS 71050 WEST MALAYSIA
Transcript
All material in these pages, including text, layout, presentation, logos, icons, photos, and all other artwork is the property of Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society, unless otherwise stated, and subject to be published and use by Callsign holders and Event Organizer ILLW.net. No commercial use of any material is authorised without the express permission of
Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society or ILLW.net. Information contained in, or derived from these pages must not be used for production, marketing or any other act, which infringes copyright by any other organisation unless obtained a written
permission from Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society or ILLW.net.. This document is for informational purposes only and not an official report of the programs hosted in Malaysia. This report is prepared by member of MARTS as Technical Visit
Report by Jayakanthan M. Lachmanan 9W2BUG | KI7FBB as a guidance of how to produce a valuable report upon completion of an event without any pecuniary interest.
Internal Use or for Reference Only
TECHNICAL VISIT REPORT INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE AND LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND 2017 OF 9M4LHN TANJUNG TUAN LIGHTHOUSE (CAPE RACHARDO) PORT DICKSON ILLW # MY0001 WLOL # WMA003
LIGHT HOUSE CAPE RACHARDO TANJUNG TUAN, PORT DICKSON PORT DICKSON, NS
2 CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... 6 2.1 About ILLW Event.......................................................................................... 6 2.2 Teams which are involved in this event ......................................................... 6
2.3 Participating LIGHTHOUSE Station in Malaysia ........................................... 6 3 OPERATING LOCATION .................................................................................... 7
3.1 Location of The Lighthouse ........................................................................... 7
3.2 View of the Lighthouse .................................................................................. 7 4 DETAILS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE ....................................................................... 8
4.1 Light Character of Cape Rachado ................................................................. 9 4.2 Image of the flashing light .............................................................................. 9
6 POINTING & ELECTROMAGNETIC DIRECTION ............................................ 11 6.1 Antenna Pointing Direction .......................................................................... 11 6.2 Direction Path During Communication ......................................................... 11
6.3 Coverage Area ............................................................................................ 12
6.4 Contacted Countries .................................................................................... 12 7 CONTACT STATISTIC ...................................................................................... 13
7.2 Results Overview......................................................................................... 13 8 CONTACTED LIGHTHOUSE LIST ................................................................... 14
8.1 9m4LHN Contact List Of ILLW Station ........................................................ 14 8.2 QRZ info of the Contacted Stations ............................................................. 14
9.3 NCDXF/IARU International Beacon monitoring ........................................... 16 9.4 Omnidirectional Antenna in use G5RV ........................................................ 16 9.5 Directional Antenna in Use A3S .................................................................. 17
1 INTRODUCTION This is a Technical Report of the International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend in Port Dickson which took place on 18th – 20th August 2017 at Cape Racado Tanjung Tuan Light House with event callsign 9M4LHN. (9M = Malaysia Prefix , 4=CallArea, LH = LightHouse, N= Negeri Sembilan State Name)
1.1 PURPOSE To cover the technical aspect of the HF communications and setup with results that was noted by 9W2BUG Jayakanthan as visiting station who came to the location on 2nd day onwards to spend the Weekend with the Operating Team Members. This report is not an official report for the event as the author may have missed some details and aspect for the whole event, but it can be used solely for guidance towards the setup and preparation of Lighthouse Activity for MARTS future reference with the guidance of the referred tools.
1.2 ABREVIATION Below are the abbreviations that related to the documents inside this report contents.
Word Meanings
MARTS Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society
ILLW International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
MCMC Malaysian Communication And Multimedia Commission
NESRAC Negeri Sembilan Radio Amateur Club
JABATAN LAUT
Marine Department of Malaysia
POLIS Royal Police of Malaysia
BOM Bureau Of Metrology, Government of Australia
DX Distance Extraordinaire
POLIPD Polytechnic of Port Dickson with Electronics Communication Faculty Student
SKMM Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (Malay name of MCMC)
Kumpulan Melaka Berhad Park Entry towards Light house. Area ownership
1.3 REFERENCES Documents below are in the caretaker of the following:
Material Reference Document Location
ASAA 9M4LHN SKMM & MARTS
Approval letter from Marine Department Lighthouse MARTS & Organizing Committee
Acceptance as Station Master 9M2QQ Station Master
Event Participation as Learning Module PoliPD Polytechnic Participation
Permission Entrance of the Park Lighthouse Area Khairul - Asst NESRAC Secretary
Communication Equipment & Logs List & Softcopy Station Coordinator Rus Rizal
2 CONTENTS This Technical report covers the Station 9M4LHN at Cape Rachado Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse in Port Dickson that was operated in 2017 for the remembrance and awareness of Navigational Safety along Straits of Melaka that was in operation during Portuguese time since 1511 until to date after the multiple rebuild and restoration since 19th Century.
2.1 ABOUT ILLW EVENT 20th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE / LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND Every 3rd Weekend of August Yearly 0001 UTC 19th AUGUST 2017 TO 2400 UTC 20th AUGUST 2017 (48 hours or part thereof). Official List of Entrants fot the Year 2017 Total= 453
2.2 TEAMS WHICH ARE INVOLVED IN THIS EVENT Below are the teams listed for the success of this event who are responsible in making it successful from planning, deployment to the successful end.
Involvement Function
MCMC Commission of Government Organization Licence Issuer of 9M4LHN
MARTS National Amateur Radio Organisation to Liaised with MCMC for License
MARINE Caretaker of Lighthouses in Malaysia for permission
POLIS Safety of Participants in and out from the high security area.
NESRAC State Amateur Radio where the land road to lighthouse are located
POLIPD Local Polytechnic with participating students for their studies and field work.
9M2QQ HANS-HEINRICH EHLERS, Station Master – CLASS A Licence Holder
9W2KNZ RUS RIZAL ABD GHANI Station Coordinator and Eqpt Responsibility
9W2PD RABINDRA HARICHANDRA– Equipment & Facilitator for the Event
9W2VVY KHAIRUL AZLAN BIN UMAR – NESRAC Asst Secretary for Official Letters
9W2KVE MOHD FARID (Along) – Operating Station
9W2PQS MOHAMAD AMIRUL – Operating Station
9W2WEY AZRUL MUHAIRI – Participation Arrangements
9W2BUG JAYAKANTHAN – Visiting Station for Technical and Programs
2.3 PARTICIPATING LIGHTHOUSE STATION IN MALAYSIA Total are 8 participating lighthouse stations in Malaysia for 2017. Taken from http:// illw.net
COUNTRY CALLSIGN LOCATION ILLW# QSL INFO @
Malaysia 9M4CJS Bukit Segenting MY0008 9M2ESM Web
Malaysia 9M4LHA Pulau Angsa Lighthouse, Kuala Selangor
MY0021 Via 9M2SDX or MARTS buro
Malaysia 9M4LHB Altingsburgh Lighthouse MY0005 QRZ.com to 9M4CHS, 9M4LHB Web
Malaysia 9M4LHC Tg Gelang Lighthouse MY0002 Via 9M4CHP or MARTS buro Web
Malaysia 9M4LHM Tg Lobang Lighthouse Miri MY0014 Direct to 9W8KIF or via QRZ.com
Malaysia 9M4LHN Cape Rachardo MY0001 Via MARTS buro 9W2PD
Malaysia 9M4LMH Muka Head. Cancelled MY0019 Direct to 9M2RUL
Malaysia 8 9M6SDX Tinagat Lighthouse (New) MY0020 See web Web
3 OPERATING LOCATION The entire operation activity is inside the lighthouse fenced ground with access permission to the light tower for mounting the antennas by the Authorities.
3.1 LOCATION OF THE LIGHTHOUSE Google Map view of the Cape Rachado Lighthouse and the surrounding area.
3.2 VIEW OF THE LIGHTHOUSE Lighthouse of Cape Rachado from the parking lot leading to the tower.
4 DETAILS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE The Cape Rachado Lighthouse (Malay: Rumah Api Tanjung Tuan) is a lighthouse located in Tanjung Tuan, also known as Cape Rachado, in the territorial District of Alor Gajah, Malacca, Malaysia. But the road leading to this secluded area was in the State territory of Negeri Sembilan under Si Rusa District. The lighthouse is believed to be the oldest in the country, its history allegedly dating back to Portuguese rule of Malacca during the 16th century. Year first lit 1863 (current) Construction masonry tower Tower shape cylindrical tower with balcony& lantern Markings/pattern white tower and lantern Height 24 meters (79 ft) Focal height 118 meters (387 ft) (focal plane) Current lens first order Fresnel lens Range 23 nautical miles (43 km; 26 mi) Characteristic Fl (3) W 15s Admiralty number F1626 NGA number 21748 ARLHS number WMA-003 Lighthouse Details taken from Wikipedia The early history of the lighthouse remains largely unverified, with unofficial accounts by locals tracing the lighthouse's history back to a period following the conquest of Malacca by Portugal in 1511.The Portuguese government in Malacca vested interest in the construction of a lighthouse to guide its ships through the narrow Straits of Malacca, completing the first iteration of the structure on Cape Rachado (a name given by the Portuguese, meaning "Broken Cape") in the 16th century. Possession of the lighthouse was handed over to the Dutch VOC, alongside Malacca in entirety in 1641, and a second version of the building was claimed to have been built in 1817, during temporary rule by the British under William Farquhar, seven years before Malacca's total changeover to the British in 1824. The present lighthouse was constructed in 1863, during Malacca's status as a British-ruled Straits Settlement, and remains active, as of this report. In 1990, a second concrete tower was built next to the original lighthouse to house EASAT radar for Maritime Enforcement.
4.1 LIGHT CHARACTER OF CAPE RACHADO Light Characteristic for Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse (Cape Rachado) is = Fl (3) W 15s.
Fl = Flashing Light (3) = 3 lights beams W = White Beams 15s = in the interval of 15seconds Flashing light A flashing light is a rhythmic light in which the total duration of the light in each period is clearly shorter than the total duration of the darkness and in which the flashes of light are all of equal duration. It is most commonly used for a single-flashing light which exhibits only single flashes which are repeated at regular intervals, in which case it is abbreviated simply as "Fl".
4.2 IMAGE OF THE FLASHING LIGHT The pictures below was taken to show the light beams and its visual during darkness for navigational safety which been used by those seafarers without navigational aids.
Image taken during the night beaming of the lighthouse
The Beam of The Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse
Image during sunset of the light at the lighthouse when start of its operation.
6 POINTING & ELECTROMAGNETIC DIRECTION The radiated lobes from antenna are best in used if can bring to the unity to create a beaming direction, omnidirectional antenna might not be suitable for DX’ing Frequency like 14Mhz because of coverage and wasted radiation toward poor propagation area, therefore prediction, beacon monitoring and directivity are an important geographical factor to be understood before the total combinations becomes favorable to us as explained in Section 9.
6.1 ANTENNA POINTING DIRECTION Directional Antenna pointing 310 degree from True North facing Europe at 111meter height from sea level with structural height of 8meters from fiber pole from ground in total 120m.
Image shows the GPS Stat Apps from Android and the Antenna Cushcraft A3S.
6.2 DIRECTION PATH DURING COMMUNICATION Log analysis of the Contacts which was used to generates the 3D Visualization of short path for contacts visualize by author with log analysis and Google 3D Map Pro.
7 CONTACT STATISTIC As summary of the contacts given below:
Total Contacts: 518 QSO (with
successful RST on different band and frequency)
Total Stations Worked : 495 Total Continent Covered : 6 CQ Zone Reached : 18 ITU Zone Reached : 22 Total DXCC : 59 Max QRB : 19096km
7.1 CONTACTED STATIONS
10 Highest contacted stations are from: Italy, Germany, Russia, Poland, France, Ukraine, Japan, Spain, England & West Malaysia 16 single entry Contacts are: Alaska, Belarus, Cambodia, Greenland, Iraq, Isle Of Man, Israel, Lebanon, Moldova, Philippines, South Korea, Saint Martin, Saidinia & Wales
7.2 RESULTS OVERVIEW
No Category Total Contacted Uncontacted % Achieved
8 CONTACTED LIGHTHOUSE LIST These are the contacted lighthouse list of the participants in ILLW 2017.
Initial Registered Lighthouse: 453 Cancelled due to some reason: 8 Total Valid Entry: 445
8.1 9M4LHN CONTACT LIST OF ILLW STATION Among the 445 entry list, only 9 Lighthouse Stations was contacted.
No Callsign Lighthouse Country ILLW#
1 9M4LHA Pulau Angsa Lighthouse, Kuala Selangor Malaysia MY0021
2 9M4LHB Altingsburgh Lighthouse Malaysia MY0005
3 9M4LHC Tg Gelang Lighthouse Malaysia MY0002
4 AU2LH Betul Lighthouse, Goa India IN0021
5 OZ5GRE Fornaes Denmark 9 DK0010
6 OZ5ESB Saeddingstrand FYR Denmark DK0014
7 SK7L Segerstad Sweden SE0020
8 HB9ILLW Romanshorn Switzerland 2 CH0004
9 EI1OHL Old Head Lighthouse, Kinsale. Ireland IE0007
8.2 QRZ INFO OF THE CONTACTED STATIONS The contact and QSL information are taken from QRZ.com from the Lighhouse contact logs of the contacts from Section 8.1.
This Technical Report will be mailed to the following 9 Lighthouse Station together with one copy for the organizer.
9 PROPAGATION PREDICTION TOOLS Here are some of the guidance and reference in use for HF Propagation prediction in
Peninsular Malaysia. Which can be used by Amateur Radio who are active Dx’ers in HF
9.1 AZIMUTH MAP (WORLD SPHERICAL MAP) World round map gives the near accurate antenna pointing direction from the view of spherical world from center point of Operating Station location. It was prepared by Jayakanthan 9W2BUG in 2009 from Free Software and shared by many active ham’s in Malaysia as reference for antenna pointing reference from magnetic earth.
Azimuth maps are good reference
location both on shortpath and longpath communication pointing direction.
9.2 HOURLY AREA PREDICTION Hourly Area Prediction or HAP Chart of Solar Flux was developed in 2009 by request of Jayakanthan 9W2BUG to Australian Government Agency Bureau Of Meteorology.
Graphic Link for the Hourly Area Prediction located at: http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Images/HF%20Systems/Global%20HF/HAP%20Charts/Johore.gif It was also shared by the team members who are an active DX’ers in the bottom of their blogspot:
1. Zaki Din 9M2ZAK = http://9m2zak.blogspot.com 2. Daniel Lee 9W2DAL = http://9w2dal.blogspot.com
9.3 NCDXF/IARU INTERNATIONAL BEACON MONITORING The NCDXF, in cooperation with the IARU, constructed and operates a worldwide network of high-frequency radio beacons on 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930, and 28.200 Mega Hertz. These beacons help amateur radio operating in HF for the propagation advantage if no other source of monitoring simply by tuning it to the frequency listed by omnidirectional antenna like G5RV as Inverted Vertical Since the preferred band was 20m (14Mhz), therefore 14.100Mhz been monitored to see the location and direction of pointing the directional antenna.
Link for the beacon: http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/ for more information.
9.4 OMNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA IN USE G5RV The G5RV Junior is the antenna of choice for its flexibility and performance in consideration of limited space compared to the full-size classic G5RV for omnidirectional Rx and monitoring.
9.5 DIRECTIONAL ANTENNA IN USE A3S General Description of this Cushcraft A3S Tri-Band Beam Antennas are real powerhouses that fit in a small space and let you work the pile-ups with confidence. They're proven performers in DX Expeditions and contests.
9.5.1 SPECIFICATIONS Model A3S Frequency Ranges 28, 21, 14 Forward Gain, dBd 8 Front to Back Ratio, dB 25 2:1 Bandwidth KHz >500 Power Rating, Watts PEP 2000 3 dB Beam Width, Deg. E Plane 60 Boom Length 14 (4.27) Boom Diameter, In (cm) 1.5 (3.81) Longest Element, ft (m) 27.75 (8.45) Element Center Dia, In (cm) 1.25 (3.18) Turning Radius, ft (m) 15.5 (4.72) Mast Size Range, In (cm) 1.25-2 (3.18-5.08) Wind Load, ft2 (m2) 4.36 (0.47) Weight, lb (kg) 27 (12.9)
9M2QQ & 9W2BUG operating the station while A3S Antenna at the background.
10 CONTACT LOGS Total of 518 Contacts was established during the entire operations based on the record that was recorded by 9W2KNZ Rus Rizal Bin Abd Ghani using N1MM Logger +. Upon analyzing with Ham Radio Deluxe, below are logs as the summary given in Section 6.
11 WORKING ENVIRONMENT Marine Department (Jabatan Laut) have provided all the facilities and shared the utilities and resources for this event at no cost as a support for the awareness of Navigational Safety.
11.1 FULL TIME COORDINATION The Organizing Team prepared the working schedule arrangements in a neatly order.
Station Coordinator Rizal 9W2KNZ with a number of students at the night of Saturday 19/08/2017 working with Europe.
Station Operator 9W2KVE with participants ensuring all the logs and HF spots and band are in favor.
SWL Aina (FCC Technician License N2ANA) handling a group of participants for them to be familiar with CQ calls before the band opens
Knowledge sharing session after dinner with Station Master 9M2QQ Hans who came for his vacation from Germany.
11.3 BRIEFING AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING SESSION A short session with the participating student was held by Jayakanthan 9W2BUG
Knowledge Sharing Session covers the topic: - Navigational safety - Speed of light and
electromagnetic waves - Directional antenna - Curvature of earth - Line of sights and
frequencies - Azimuth map of world - Natural navigational aid
of stars pattern and magnetic compass
- Operational Safety
With the participating Team Member whom all had a contacts with DX stations using 100W transmission from this lighthouse via 9M4LHN Callsign
11.4 GUARD OF HONOURS These 2 cats are obedient followers and fulltime caretakers for this Lighthouse where they keep clean the environment and the pest from entering the fenced ground. They welcome us and accompany everyone during the entire stay as full time duty.
12 NOTICED IMPROVEMENTS IN THIS EVENT Below are the suggestions that we feel needed to be improving from time to time to make this event a bit more successful and comfortable to
12.1 EQUIPMENT & SETUP Equipment’s were setup in best condition
13 SUGGESTIVE IMPROVEMENTS Below are the suggestions that we feel should be improved from time to time to make this event a bit more successful and comfortable to operate Amateur Radio from the Lighthouse.
13.1 COLABORATION WITH MARINE & POLYTECHNIQUE To make it as yearly event with MOU signed with MARTS, MARINE and
POLYTECHNIC in assisting students participation and awareness of amateur radio
communication for the study course Electronics Communication Engineering at the
same time have working experience with point to point communication apparatus.
13.2 FOOD AND PREPARATION It should be simple in manner and easy for management in this 3days & 2nights event
since the surroundings are nature preserve forest to avoid any animal or crawling
creatures interested with our cooking and temporary storage location
13.3 COMMUNICATION SCRIPTS Polite short scripts to be prepare at each operating station for newcomers before they get
use to it fluently and comfortable.
To prevent command words like “Stand By”, “Stand Down” or grammatically incorrect
sentences like “Standing By” form the communication. In Radio Communication it
should be kept Short and Simple with K.I.S.S. format (Keep it Short And Simple).
In Malaysia we used to add the verbs in our grammar which we feel sounds better to the
ears but in real world it causes allot of confusion like “More Better” (lebih baik) “Better
Still”( bagus lagi) etc. And all the new words are commonly copied by newbies in
assuming this is the protocol words in communications and it been followed by the rest.
Whenever been corrected, argument arise from who they referred with challenges of
who is better than the rest. The best way to overcome this is to read and understand
rather than following others.
13.4 CLEANLINESS AND NATURE Constant cleanup and tidy neat surrounding are expected to prevent any debris or food
waste from flying and disturb the radio operation during heavy wind conditions.
13.5 REPORT SHARING WITH ALL To share the report and achievements to all approvers and facility providers a written
report to show the commitments and appreciate the help of all parties in a week time.
13.6 APPRECIATION MESSAGE Thank you note to all should be submitted as written letter or an email upon end of
events to recognize everyone effort with summary of the logs.
14 THANK YOU NOTE The author of this report would like to thank everyone who was involved in this event directly or indirectly for making this Lighthouse operation successful for another year since ILLW 1998.
14.1 VISITING STATIONS We would like to thank Station Coordinator 9W2KNZ Rizal & Station Master
9M2QQ Hans for allowing us to visit and be together for this event during the 2nd
day
onwards.
14.2 THE ENTIRE PARTICIPANTS The whole participants of ILLW 2017 of 9M4LHN at Cape Racado Tg Tuan Lighthouse. Hope all have a valuable experience and shall meet again next year for more fruitful condition and capabilities.
---------------------------- END OF VISIT REPORT, 73 ….. Jayakanthan 9W2BUG -------------------------
