Update August 24, 2025: Since the amplifier died yesterday afternoon, the schedule today was to start dismantling the station. I wanted to start by rolling up all the coaxial cable and bringing all the antenna parts and mast down under the porch before it got too hot today and rainy this afternoon. With the weight of all my pieces of luggage right at the limit, I have to be sure everything is dry - I can't be carrying any extra water weight if the guy lines are wet!  Fortunately, everything was brought down under my covered porch in time today.  Tomorrow I will pack up all the antenna parts, leaving Wednesday for a leisurely packing of all the equipment and weighing all the bags with my portable scale. 

Solomon Airlines is on schedule with their Dash 8 plane for Thursday afternoon, departing at low tide here. Even leaving a few hours in advance, the tide will still be low enough that we will be unable to take the boat directly to the Lomlom airstrip. As when I arrived, we will take a small outboard to the main island, then transfer to a truck.  After driving around through a couple small villages, we will then have to transfer all the gear again to a boat to cross an inlet, and then carry everything up to the airstrip.  It is quite a production and takes about an hour altogether.  Then after just one overnight in Honiara, I will take off on Friday to Brisbane and on to Los Angeles, then another overnight flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth and on to Missoula on Saturday August 30.  WHEW! It will be a relief to finally get home to Frenchtown!

If I get a chance, I will start working on the H40GJ QSL card layout in the coming days, or  begin looking up QRZ.com mailing addresses for everyone.  VY 73, Lance

Update August 15, 2025:  Operation delayed due to flight cancellations, but Lance has finally reached his destination. He says: "Sorry for the delay! I am here and safe 😉 Wow - it was quite an adventure getting here but i have no time at present to tell about it. I am on Pigeon Island and am busy hustling to set up. I think it is overly optimistic to think I will be QRV for Friday night moonrise, but it is quite reasonable to be QRV by Saturday.  I have the mast together and have the placing figured out. As always, it is a challenge to try to set up in constricted areas. I will have all the guy lines in and the prop set up by noon. Then on to the antenna assembly. I am able to sync the computer with a GPS puck even though I have no internet at the station.  I hope to have more time to forward photos and more information in a day or two. "

Update July 24, 2025: The Es season is winding down and but please don't put away your 6m equipment yet! I leave a week from this coming Sunday to operate 6m EME as H40GJ from little Pigeon Island in far flung Temotu Province in the eastern Solomon Islands. Nobody from North America has ever contacted this entity before on the 6m ham band, so it will be great to be able to give some lucky operators a contact with a new country 😉 Please watch for me during your moonset (or your moonrise, if you are in Europe)!

This will be my 20th 6m EME DXpedition, and I expect it to be one of the most challengin. I sprayed my mosquito netting and re-treated my old insect-resistant clothes today with Permithrin. Everything else is already packed for the trip. I still have to get another Covid booster next week - too bad the new flu shots are not available yet. Fingers crossed I can stay healthy...

I hope to be able to post some photos on Facebook as well as updates and a log of stations worked on the website as the trip progresses. My travel schedule, tentative operating schedule, equipment, procedures,as well as additional details,are all included on the H40GJ website:

Good luck and I hope to be able to put many of you in the log! VY 73, Lance 

Update May 30, 2025: After 4 months, I just received my license to operate 6m with a kw from Pigeon Island! So I am starting to test all the equipment and repack it in waterproof ZipLock bags! And of course, get all my shots and medical checkups! August will be here before we know it! All the details of my DXpedition are here: https://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/

This is going to be a very challenging operation. Aside from the fact that it takes 4 days to get there, I know it will be difficult and slow work in all the heat and humidity. Plus, I hear the mosquitoes are very hungry and carry malaria 🙁 There also will be lots of trees and jungle to try to work around and beam through. Of course, I will do my best to position the antenna as well as I can, but there may be some azimuths and or elevations that will not be possible...I will provide an update as soon as I get there and some of these contraints become clearer.

I expect to be able to get access to the internet during daylight hours, and will do my best to update my website with status reports. I also hope to be able to send out regular updates via the Magic Band EME email group, and perhaps post some photos on my FACEBOOK (Lance Collister) page. When I was at ZD9, it really helped to be able to post my log in a CSV text format on my website, and I will also try to do keep that updated.

I will be using Q65-60A in Q65 PILEUP mode for all EME contacts. Because there will not be any internet during my initial EME windows, I will not have any way to know what stations might be copying me at a given time 🙁 So all I can do is ask that you follow the procedures on my website and keep calling me. I will hopefully be able to add you to the Active Stations List so I can easily decode you if you do reply to me when I call you. I will keep calling all the different stations I have decoded and hopefully at some point things will line up for us so we can complete 🙂 I realize there probably will be days where geomagnetic disturbances will greatly hinder the EME efforts. But that is why I am planning to hang out there for so many days. Hopefully, we will be able to connect at some point! And I sure hope to be able to elevate and match the moonsets of all the North America horizon-only stations 😉

When I am not operating EME (or squeezing in a chance to eat or sleep), I will be looking for ionospheric propagation. I don't expect to be able to run a generator 24 hours a day, though. So it would help a lot if you could do some calling my way from time to time. I am taking a battery to power my preamplifier and receiver, so I plan to be able to monitor FT8 even if the transmitter and generator are not powered up. I am not planning taking a microphone or key, so please look for me on FT8 or Q65-60A!

I have also received a number of requests to activate H44 while I am down there. I know that H44 is quite rare (I need it too) but I am hoping that the team of JE3GRQ and JR3DVL will be able to obtain their license soon. They also have been trying for many months to secure their license. If they can obtain it by the end of June, their plan is to activate H44 on EME and ionospheric propagation in October. Fingers crossed for them - they have found what appears to be a quiet rural QTH in H44 😉

I expect this is going to be one of the toughest DXpeditions for me. However, this will be an ATNO for most stations in Region 1 and 2 (and certainly for everyone in North America), which makes it all worthwhile 🙂 I hope I can make many of you happy!

Good luck and VY 73, Lance 

Update March 2, 2025: You may have already heard the news, but I wanted to officially announce my plans now that I have purchased all the airline tickets. I realize this is going to be a very difficult and expensive DXpedition. But, like ZD9 last fall, this is a DXCC that is very rare and has never been worked on 6m by anybody in North America! It is also quite rare outside Region 3. I expect to be spending the month of August activating H40 on 6m while battling mosquitoes, heat and humidity! Details regarding the DXpedition are here: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/H40%202025.htm

Some of the details and links are still being developed, but I wanted to provide as much advance notification as possible for those interested in working a new DXCC on 6m. I submitted my application for the license H40GJ several weeks ago and hope to receive it soon. If there are any problems or changes, I will announce it here and on the web page above.

As usual, I will be uploading contacts to LoTW when I return home. I will also be sending out QSL cards direct to all the stations who completed EME contacts with me. Others can receive QSL cards as explained on my web page.

GL and I hope to see you in the log! VY 73, Lance 

Lance, W7GJ, is planning another 6m EME DXpedition. Look for him to be active as H40GJ from Pigeon Island, Reef Islands, Temotu Province, in the Solomon Islands on August 8-27, 2025.

Lance states, "Temotu Province is the most eastern part of the Solomon Islands. It has never been activated on EME (Earth-Moon-Earth, or "Moonbounce") on any band, and remains quite rare around the world on the 6m Amateur Band."

Watch for updates at https://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/H40%202025.htm