[NEWS UPDATE] – Both flights scheduled for a Thursday departure off Sable Island have been cancelled. Weather in Halifax, Nova Scotia is the issue. Friday’s departure from Sable Island is entirely dependent on the weather and the condition of the beach landing area. The CY0S team continues to operate with a full complement of antennas. Packing for departure had begun but was suspended.

[MARCH 29] – With over 70K Q’s in the log, the team have begun the final day of operations today (Wednesday). The Vision Air Sikorsky will be arriving Sable island at 1200Z on Thursday to take five team members back to Halifax. Sable Aviation will then arrive shortly thereafter for the other three team members. Team will leave a lot of the antennas up until first light on Thursday morning. Some antennas will be taken down by early evening on Wednesday. The weather continues to be very changeable with periods of snow showers during the day. Winds have been very favorable for the last few days which has been a welcome break from the gale force winds earlier in the DXpedition. All team members, equipment and antennas are ready for the final push on the last day of operations.

Credit: N2TU

[MARCH 28] – As of 1200Z the CY0S team had just over 65K QSOs. They had a very productive first night on 60 meters with all areas of the world being worked. 15 and 17 meters were simply incredible on Monday. Japan was still being worked at 10 PM local time (0100Z) on 15 meters. The team has been talking with Parks Canada about the departure which is scheduled for Thursday morning (local). Weather will dictate the departure, so the team needs to be ready on short notice. Some antennas will be taken down later Wednesday afternoon and evening. All four stations remain operational, and all antennas are working very well.

Credit N2TU

[MARCH 27] – With almost 8000 QSOs made during the CQ WPX contest, team CY0S is still very active. Today they’ve been QRV on CW, FT8, RTTY, EME, 6m. Over 60K QSOs in total so far.  

[MARCH 26] – With thanks to team member Craig K9CT, here’s a snowy scene today on Sable Island. Other pictures shown can also be found on the official CY0S website along with more.

[MARCH 25] – The CY0S team has reached the half way point of their Sable Island DXpedition. The large geomagnetic event certainly made it more challenging but the team continues with four stations as much as possible. The anticipated high winds hit the island on Friday making it extremely difficult to do any work outside. The team has two stations dedicated to the WPX SSB contest this weekend. The team will concentrate the two contest stations in the US General band. Team member W2GD reports the pileups on CW rival any DXpedition he has participated in.

[MARCH 24] – With much disappointment, the CY0S team had to abandon the real time logging updates. The internet on Sable is not stable enough and drops out fairly regularly. This caused many issues. We also had an issue with one laptop which has been replaced. All logs will be sent to Bill K5DHY about every six hours. We apologize that we were not able to do what we wanted to do with the logs. Hopefully we won’t have any more interruptions taking down our computers.

We have four HF stations set up as well as a Six meter, Satellite and a 2 meter EME station. We spent all day Tuesday assembling and installing antennas. All were completed by late afternoon. The team settled into their operating schedule at 0000Z on Wednesday.

While the weather has been good the last three days, high winds are forecast for Friday and Friday evening. We have begun to take the necessary precautions to the antennas and antenna masts. All guy lines have been tightened and the 42-inch anchor posts driven deeper into the sand. Another update will be posted on Friday.

[MARCH 22 @ 0700Z] – Team are aware of the FT8 issue regarding time synch. It appears one of the laptops refuses to keep time so they will swap it over soon.  First log is uploaded. Pictures credit CY0S team.

[MARCH @ 1300Z] – CY0S FT8 ops have begun. F/H frequencies may vary due to multiple DXpeditions using the usual F/H and MSHV spectrums. Team know FT8 times are drifting and is working to fix the issue. Antenna work continues.

Credit: K9CT

[MARCH 21 @ 0500Z] – After a late arrival on Sable Island, the CY0S team was welcomed to the island with 40 Knot winds. The wind and blowing sand were so strong, the Britten Norman Islander aircraft could not depart the island until the sand was shoveled away from its tires. The strong winds made it very difficult doing antenna assembly and installation. The team was able to install a 30-meter inverted L and a Cushcraft A3WS for 12/17. On Tuesday, the team hopes to install four or five additional antennas, depending on the wind. Please be patient while we work through the cold and windy conditions.

[MARCH 20 @ 1700Z] – First glimpse of Sable island as the advance team arrive. Pictures credit Lee, WW2DX.

[MARCH 20 @ 1400Z] –  Five members of the CY0S team departed Halifax, Nova Scotia at 1300Z. The Sable Aviation flight with three team members and all gear will be delayed by a few hours due to the condition of the beach landing area. Parks Canada is optimistic that the condition of the landing area will improve in a few hours with a favorable wind direcion. The Sable Aviation flight hopes to depart Halifax by 1700Z.

The delay with the Sable Aviation flight will push back the start of the radio operation by a few hours. The CY0S team hopes to get 2-3 stations on the air by dark. Most of the antenna work will occur tomorrow. Please be patient as there are a lot of antennas to install.

The winds remain around 30 Knots. More later…

Credit: WW2DX

W2GD, N2TU

CY0S WEBSITE