ad: MLSons-1

Hawaii’s Foremost Contest Station – KH6YY

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KH6OWL, Oct 23, 2019.

Tags:
ad: L-HROutlet
ad: l-rl
ad: L-MFJ
ad: Left-3
ad: abrind-2
ad: Radclub22-2
ad: Left-2
  1. KH6OWL

    KH6OWL XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    One of the premier Amateur Radio contest stations in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is located on Oahu’s North Shore in the hills of Pupukea.

    The station has been owned and operated by Alex Benton, KH6YY, since 2004 and he
    sponsors the Pupukea Contest Station. Its team of dedicated operators, most from Oahu,
    participate in most major contests year-round. The team welcomes operators from neighborislands, the mainland, Japan and many other countries.

    The home has been longed owned by Amateur Radio operators and previous owners have
    continuously improved the station. Previous owners include KH6XX, N6VI, and KH7R. The home is on the grid but has a backup generator for loss of power.

    A bunkhouse is in a separate building connected to the operating area via a 150-foot long
    covered walkway. This ensures a quiet area where hams can dine, sleep and relax when not operating.

    The team is led by the organizer and station manager Kimo Chun, KH7U, who has been an
    Amateur Radio operator since 1973 and holds an Extra class license. He is also the president of the Koolau Amateur Radio Club, KARC and has been on several DX-peditions to Cambodia, Kure, Midway, Palmyra, Rodrigues Island and Kingman Reef.

    The station has six 90-foot towers. The top antenna on each tower can be rotated while the
    lower antennas are fixed towards specific locations from North and South America to Japan and Australia. In my short visit I only learned about the six main towers:

    · Tower 1 has stacked 8-element Telrex 15-meter mono-band Yagis. The top antenna
    rotates; two below it are fixed on the mainland and Japan.

    · Tower 2 has stacked 5-element Opti-beam mono-band 20-meter Yagi over two 5-element
    Optimized Wideband Array (OWA) homebrew 20-meter mono-band Yagi. The top antenna
    rotates, the other 2 are fixed on the USA and Japan

    · Tower 3 has a rotatable log-periodic used for 10-20-meter and the WARC bands. Under it are a fixed 6m Yagi over a 5-element Telrex 15-meter mono-band Yagi fixed on VK/ZL.

    · Tower 4 has a stack of 5-element Hygain 10-meter mono-band Yagis. The top antenna
    rotates; under it are 3 other beams fixed on USA, Japan and South America.

    · Tower 5 has a 4-element full-sized 40-meter OWA mono-band Yagi, designed and built
    by KH6ND over a 2-element JK402T 40-meter mono-band Yagi. Below is a 5 element
    20m yagi fixed S/SW for any Long Path opening. The tower also has a full size 160-
    meter sloping quarter wave vertical wire with elevated radials.

    · Tower 6 has a 2-element JK 80-meter rotatable mono-band Yagi over an 80-meter
    inverted vee.

    Antennas on each tower can be combined using an Array Systems Stack Match to get the best signals depending on propagation during a contest.

    Since large cranes cannot navigate the twisty road up to the station, climbing towers and
    manually moving the antennas up and down on trolleys is how all maintenance is completed. The 80-meter antenna was raised and lowered by helicopter.

    The station consists of six operating positions for 10, 15, 20, 40, 80 and 160 Meters Depending of the contest requirements, each operating position controls the best tower for each position.

    Each station is equipped with the following:
    · Yaesu FT-1000 MP Transceivers
    · MicroHam MicroKeyers II
    · Begali iambic paddles
    · Windows 7 PCs
    · N1MM Logging Program
    · 2 X 19-inch monitor screens
    · Amplifiers (6 Alpha 1.5kW , 1 Henry 1.5kW , 1 Ameritron 1.5kW)

    New computers, displays and radios are planned.

    It was a pleasure just to get to see this station up close. The amount of time and expertise that went into this station and the effort to keep it in the condition it is in, is truly amazing. The grounds themselves are like a botanical garden and the location is quiet with a Japanese garden on the grounds. It is a gem hidden on Oahu!

    More information about the station can be found at http://KH6YY.net
     

    Attached Files:

    MI0GTA, KC5OMC, WH6OHM and 14 others like this.
  2. K1LKP

    K1LKP Ham Member QRZ Page

    HI DARREN,

    THANKS A MILLION FOR SHARING THIS HIDDEN GEM ON OHAU.

    HAVE LOTS OF FUN AND KEEP SAFE WHEN CLIMBING THE TOWERS.

    73 - K1LKP
     
  3. AD4ZU

    AD4ZU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I'll make the trip from Florida to work contests. I'll need some significant - about 6 to 9 months notice - to arrange things with work, etc. - But could be available. Please send any details to my email on QRZ. Appreciate you keeping the tradition alive out there.
     
  4. KE9OL

    KE9OL Ham Member QRZ Page

    A LOVELY HAM SITE AND IN GENERAL.:cool:

    COINCIDENTALLY, ACCORDING TO THEIR QRZ SITE, THE KH7XS CLUB SITE ON THE BIG ISLAND IS FOR SALE. :eek:
     
  5. N2RRA

    N2RRA Ham Member QRZ Page

    The more I read the more I started too imagine I was there before imagining the walk through, lol. Maybe it’s because I imagine having a station just like it one day. Gonna have too plan a trip to stay and see for myself. May even have too stay a month cause my wife’s not gonna like I’m giving operating more time than exploring the island with her, lol. Place sounds like an amazing amateur radio wonder land. After reading this I’m sure some one will be operating from there and I’ll be working them with my QRP station all the while once again imagining myself sitting at the helm of KH6YY.

    Appreciate the article and 73.

    Eric
    N2RRA/QRP
     
  6. KI5KT

    KI5KT Ham Member QRZ Page

    That guy can't be married. I'm impressed.
     
    MI0GTA, W5MIL, G3SEA and 1 other person like this.
  7. W5AMG

    W5AMG Platinum Subscriber Platinum Subscriber QRZ Page


    It's mostly an ego thing. Having lived in Hawaii 12+ years, it's a hell of a lot of money, probably
    $5-8 mil (or more) and for what? Bunch of QSL's and some plaques, really? Pupukea is a great
    location and it's a beautiful property, but the enormous amount of logistics involved is challenging
    and very, very expensive to maintain on a daily basis.

    Don't let that kill your dreams, but just a little reality check, even in paradise.

    Tommy NH7R

    (Now living in and loving central Texas life since 5/19)
     
    MI0GTA, W1TRY, W5MIL and 1 other person like this.
  8. KD8DEY

    KD8DEY Ham Member QRZ Page

    I bet he doesn't have everybody on the Island stirring Coconuts to power it though....
     
    W1TRY likes this.
  9. VU2USA

    VU2USA Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    ALOHA.
    Just returned from Hawaii. Was in Ko Olina.
    Hope to visit Oahu in my next trip.
    Enjoy the contests from paradise.
     
    W5AMG likes this.
  10. G3SEA

    G3SEA Ham Member QRZ Page

    The winter Surf up there exceeds even this Cowabunga station :cool:

    G3SEA/KH6
     
    W5AMG likes this.
  11. K6DWI

    K6DWI Ham Member QRZ Page

    A bit surprised, I have over 60 QSO's logged to Hawaiian stations and never even heard KH6YY.
    Maybe a visit in the future, haven't been there in quite a few years.
    GL
     
  12. W1VT

    W1VT Ham Member QRZ Page

    I think one of the contest calls is KH6J, the Koolau amateur radio club, which I've worked on all six contest bands from 160 through 10 meters.
     
  13. AK5B

    AK5B XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    All good points, Tommy. Bit of a coincidence; you and I both lived and chased dx from Hawaii and later moved to Texas; we lived on the Big Island for 11 years and will have lived in South Texas for 7 years come February. I worked Ken, KH7R a number of times on 6m backscatter but never heard/worked you; perhaps our propagation paths never crossed before---but I was solely active on six meters until I upgraded in 2010 and became active on HF thereafter).

    All that JA/Asia, VK/ZL, SA. EU and even African DX on 6 meters (85 DXCCs wkd mostly 2001-2003!) was the true highlight of my hamming and really jaded me for life :D (unless another hot solar cycle should occur in the next twenty years or so which is rather doubtful).

    Other than the exotic propagation, the delicious mangoes, avocados, apple bananas, lilikoi, guava margaritas---and being able to homebrew a decent little antenna farm in Volcano Village---I really can't say I miss third-world rural Hawaii all that much, either. My xyl feels the same and was glad to leave the mold, damp, rain and utterly "dark side" of "Paradise" behind, too. Hawaii is a great place to visit or dxpedition from, but...

    Of course, Oahu, where KH6YY's world-class station is located, is another story altogether, as each island has it's own attributes and drawbacks that need to be taken into account for valid comparisons. No place is perfect and often every place is a trade-off in some way or another.

    Texas is truly great, though (we love the Hill Country around Fredericksburg!) and we are pretty happy campers now---and we also enjoy a very similar climate here on the Texas Coastal Bend to that of Hilo's---our closest real town 27 miles below the 3800' asl volcanic rain forest we used to call home. We even have a lot of the same plants, and ubiquitous geckos all over the place, and a mile-long beach is only minutes away instead of having to take a long drive around Hawaii's rocky coast to feel the sand under our feet.

    But I must say that I wouldn't mind having at least one of YY's tall stacks, though!

    Aloha from the Tropical Texas Trail and 73,

    Jeff

    (NH7RO/W5)
     
    W5MIL and W5AMG like this.
  14. N5OT

    N5OT Ham Member QRZ Page

    I enjoyed operating there when Marty N6VI had it. That was in the 1990s and even then it was a Legacy Station. It is one of very few big DX locations that has remained on the air while being passed from owner to owner - pretty remarkable if you think of it. It appears to be in better shape than ever. This is excellent for all of ham radio.
     
  15. WP2ASS

    WP2ASS XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Thank goodness. His signal is so wide its utterly rediculous.

    Guy sets up world class contest stations with top quality equipment but has the CBer mentality of imd equates to loudness.

    Twice I've emailed him with screen grabs of his horrendously wide signal. He's responded and / or fixed his station..... Never.

    Wonder where he's moving now.

    --Shane
    KD6VXI
     
    AK5B likes this.

Share This Page

ad: ProAudio-1