Category: DX

Juin 01 2011

CE9/VE3LYC et CE9/PA3EXX

photo 1s

Expédition aux îles Wollaston & Hermite (SA-031) et aux îles Diego Ramirez (SA-097)

par Cezar Trifu (VE3LYC)

L’île Herschel fait partie du groupe Hermite, situé à quelque 120 km au sud de Puerto Williams, près du Cap Horn. On a jeté l’ancre à Caleta Martial et on a mis le camp sur la plage longue et étroite. La tente pour l’opération radio mesurait 5 pieds sur 6 pieds et 5 pieds de hauteur. Pour nous reposer, nous avons installé une tente plus petite à une vingtaine de mètres en haut d’une colline afin d’éviter les vagues qui auraient pu balayer la plage. Comme antennes, on a installé une antenne verticale Force 12 pour les bandes de 17 et 20 m, et un fil vertical pour les bandes de 20, 30 et 40 m. Pour pouvoir consigner le maximum de stations on a utilisé un seul indicatif par bande et mode. Durant la journée, chacun de nous deux faisait son tour, mais Johan (PA3EXX) faisait le gros, tandis que moi, je travaillais toute la nuit et la matinée. Nous avons dormi à bord du bateau et on se relayait pour le diner qui était toujours délicieux.

Mai 30 2011

VP8ORK The DXpedition to The South Orkney Islands

Icebergs_1

Activating the far-away islands of the Antarctic is one of the toughest challenges in amateur radio.  Only a handful of entities outside this region can come close to their logistical, environmental and financial hurdle.

 

The South Orkney Islands, VP8/o, easily fall into this category, which is why they were a perfect target for the “Microlite Penguins DXpedition Team”.

 

Our small group came up with the idea for a DXpedition to these islands back in early 2007 after discussing the possibility with the owner of the ship “Braveheart”.  Safe and reliable transportation with 24 hour off-shore life support is absolutely crucial in places like Antarctica, and without an experienced vessel like Braveheart we would not have even considered the idea.  Eventually the team grew to 13 people: 9V1YC, K0IR, W3WL, W7EW, VE3EJ, WB9Z, K9ZO, ND2T, N1DG, N6MZ, N4GRN, EY8MM and K6AW.  This highly experienced team had travelled to 6 different DXCC entities in the Antarctic region as well as numerous other top-ten destinations.

 

Avr 22 2011

Dxpedition to Sable Island: March 2011

Arrived_on beach

“Sable Island – FINALLY”

By Randy Rowe, N0TG

 

 

“Sable Island -FINALLY”, seems to be an appropriate title for this Dxpedition.  For those that may not have followed the operation since the first announcement, this was the team’s third try.  The initial discussion of going on a dxpedition began in late 2008 between long time friends AA4VK, WA4DAN, and me – N0TG.  The three of us, with others, experienced dxpeditions together to Navassa Island and Desecheo during 1992 and a few non-rare places as well, and have stayed in touch ever since.

 

DELAYS

We began planning in 2008 and early 2009 we announced our intension to put on an operation in late September.  However, soon after that announcement, there was a serious health matter in my immediate family and the team decided to hold off and consider rescheduling later.  After a few months the health matter was successfully resolved and we announced the operation was rescheduled for October 2009.