Now 3Y0J is QRT, a simple poll for readers to click YES or NO. Will we ever see 3Y/B activated again within the next 10-15 years? There can be no “MAYBE” on this one. Comments are open.
Will Bouvet be activated again within next 10-15 years?
- NO (32%, 380 Votes)
- YES (68%, 797 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,177
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Dennis W0JX: I think most people would be only too happy to thank someone for risking life & limb for assisting in a natural disaster or saving someone’s life. But C’mon, thanking someone for taking stupid risks to operate a ham radio station in the middle of nowhere? Get real! All you’re doing is stoking the egos of a bunch of guys whose egos are too big enough already and just encouraging similar reckless behaviour in the future. These guys are not rugged Antarctic heroes – they’re suburban rich-kids with a very high opinion of their own limited abilities and survival skills in a very unforgiving environment. That’s not something to applaud, it’s something to be very concerned about.
I don’t see much evidence of sub-Antarctic DXpedition competency here – in fact quite the opposite. All I see is a group of rich and privileged self-aggrandizing polar novices who have wasted a lot of their own and others’ money in a vain, foolhardy and even reckless attempt at some kinds of ‘DX Glory’ hero status and bragging rights. 3Y0J was naive and over-optimistic from the outset (12 x 1kW stations? 200,000 QSO? C’mon guys, get real!). Unsuitable vessel for efficient cargo handling at anchor, zodiacs etc. not fit for purpose and can’t even configure a basic FT8 F/H station to run properly 24/7 for a few days. Four guys marooned for 3 nights on the Island without sufficient food or shelter – ever heard of death by hypothermia? Items lost and Zodiac punctured in the surf? (read: ‘Zodiac flip’). VERY lucky indeed there were no serious injuries or even worse. Ignore basic Polar Safety and stand near edge of crevassed glacier without roping up or pose for selfies beneath dangerous serac & rotting ice-cliff – you guys are nuts, stupid or what? Stop lionizing these guys and treating as if they’re some kinds of celebrity ‘DX Rock Stars’; they’re nothing of the kind. 3Y0J was disaster waiting to happen from the very early planning stages – so let’s all give big sigh of relief and thanks that it did not actually turn out that way. Because believe me, from what can easily be ‘read between the lines’ of 3Y0J Facebook page, it so very nearly did. Must be very difficult conditions on board Marama at moment, so let’s all hope and pray 3Y0J Team can all arrive safely in Cape Town soon.
Dominic Grzyb 3Z9DX might well give 3Y0I another go in the next year or so, but after the latest million dollar 3Y0J fiasco, who in their right mind would want to join him?
How about Peter 1 ? haven’t seen that one for quite a while…
First, a big thank you to the 3Y0J team for risking life and limb to activate Bouvet. You succeeded in doing that and racked up a respectable number of QSO’s despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. You also made ham radio history with the first FT8 operations from the island but also proved that CW gets through many times when other modes cannot.
There definitely will be another expedition to Bouvet in the next ten years or less. Several expeditions have proven that some kind of helicopter airlift is required. Drone technology has improved to the point that today’s agricultural drones can lift payloads approaching 150 lbs. This can only improve in the future. Also the remote “station in a box” concept developed by AA7JV might find application in this type of adventure.
Special thanks for CW operators for making every effort to finish a QSO. Really big deal on the other end while trying to hear you covered with all sort of jammers. Thanks for ATNO and have a safe trip back.
Matt – AF2F
Being 80 yrs of age, probably my last chance at Bouvet for an ANTO.
With poor propagation to my QTH, I may still not have worked 3Y0J,
but DQRM made sure.
Thanks guys for the effort and being there. Sorry for the harsh conditions.
We’ll be lucky if this doesn’t turn out to be not only the last Bouvet dx-pedition ever, but the last major top 20 most wanted dx-pedition ever. The demographics work against the amateur radio population – we’re dying off and the fewer of us means less money to finance costly dx-peds (last three 3Y combined cost roughly $2 million or $100/QSO), while the aging hams are hardly in physical shape for the efforts inaccessible places demand. There are also fewer people in position of influence on governmental and quasi-governmental organizations and thus less lobby power for ham radio in all respects, including dx-ped permits. OTOH, the political situation in the world is getting worse by the day, which means even less access to politically or military sensitive areas. Conservation efforts, meanwhile, further restrict visits to ecologically sensitive areas, and that too is not getting better any time soon, considering the rapid climate change and species extinction.
Throw in some other factors like exponential rise in QRN, anonymous consequence-free DQRM of a small but increasing number of sociopaths, bad sunspot numbers, and it looks like we lived through the golden age of amateur radio during the 2010’s and never realized it.
Ive been on the air since 1983.I missed twice Bouvet in my Ham live.Ive been very dissapointed from this operation.Most of the operators a GREAT and dont have idea why operation was a big fiasko.I remember many other activities from VP8s and i made qsos with 100w and wires antennas almost on all band.I think this is last time in my HAM live to catch this DXCC.73!
Follow up to my previous post: I do NOT own an amplifier and never ever owned one. And NO, I did not QSO 3Y0J because I worked Bouvet way back in the 70s , 3Y1VC and others.
73 Dave WA2HZR
BRAVO guys. You did the best that could be expected with what you encountered. Sure there will be more Bouvet operations, maybe quite abit less ambitious as 3Y0J.
But here is the shocker to come for alot of Hams when they find they are NOT in the log. Why? because 3Y0J heard you FB, but you could not hear their reply because of all the DQRM on top of 3Y0j. If you could not hear them, DO NOT call them! It happened time and time again.
The other glaring screw up was here in the USA on 30M. The 200 watt limit was repeatedly violated. Just because So and So is running a KW, does not make it right for you to do the same! You guys know who you are OR know some one who did. Those QSOs are invalid and not allowed for credits
Again my hat is off to the whole 3Y0J operation.
never forget that radio is a passion and dxcc a game, congratulations again to 3Y0J CU Bruno
I certainly hope there will be another expedition to 3Y, but as others have stated, I am doubtful there will be as much enthusiasm to contribute funding to the effort after this. These guys worked hard, traveled hard and tried to get this speck of dirt on the air in spite of how doggone hard it is to just get there, much less “live” there for a couple of weeks. And once operation began, the back bench criticism was constant and built to ridiculous levels, via anonymous cluster comments. Thank goodness they couldn’t see any of that, and I certainly hope the pilots didn’t pass any of that on to them! I can’t imagine the stress of living like that and trying, under miserable conditions, to operate enthusiastically just to give somebody else the opportunity to work that tiny, inhospitable speck of land. Knowing that so many were complaining already before you even started would be devastating!
And what a miserable bunch of rude, boorish ingrates we are! The deliberate QRM was disgraceful and a black spot on our community. I almost never discuss ham radio activity with my wife, mostly because she’s completely not interested, but this time I was so deeply saddened and shaken by the shocking behavior on the air I had to unburden my soul to her, and she was indeed sympathetic,even if not completely understanding. Repeated tuning on the DX frequency, not listening on freq to understand the system before making transmissions, the limitless supply of “freq police” QRMing the DX with endless “UP UP UP” calls, and then the most shameful of all, the deliberate QRM and jamming. This is truly unacceptable and sad, and illustrates how not just our ham radio niche, but our society in general has become so crass, coarse and selfish. In 30 years of ham radio activity, I can’t recall anything so miserably shameful. It gets worse every time. How do we stop it?
After this, who will want to mount a DXpedition to anywhere, knowing that whatever is done will be both condemned by “those at home who know better” and ruined by those who don’t care? And who will want to kick in a few greenstamps to help fund the effort? I know this was a letdown for many, and the team may indeed have been overmatched by conditions, but 2 weeks ago, there wasn’t any radio activity from Bouvet. Then for 8 days, there was. That doesn’t just happen – it takes money, guts and time, and few of us have more than two of those available at any one time.
Thank you 3Y0J Team. May you have a safe and comfortable return. Although I didn’t get you in my log, I had a chance, and I appreciate all it took to do that. I hope someone else will give me another chance before my travels around the sun end.
I wish to extend my thanks to the Bouvet team. I sat here in my warm home, in Nova Scotia, at my radio just hoping to make that once in a lifetime QSO, for me, with a rare DXCC. And I did make that QSO on 30-mtrs CW. Thank you all so much.
I have experienced the high arctic (North of 80 degrees) in very harsh conditions, fierce winds, blowing snow, minus 50 plus wind chills, but not having to live in a tent with truly little heat and a few creature comforts. My hat is off to the team for enduring the harsh conditions they had to withstand. Bravo Zulu Bouvet Team!
As for the amateur radio world, this was a disappointment, to say the least. Not the DXepedition, but the operators out there who disrespected the amateur radio code of ethics. The D-QRM was out of this world. And this happens too much in this hobby. My friends and I talked about this DXpedition for a long time, and we all noted that should this team make it to the Island and get on the airwave, that the DQRM would be out of this world, and of course it was. I can only ask WHY!
I expect those who were the cause of this D-QRM did not even try to make a QSO with Bouvet, but just wanted to make it even more difficult on those of us who really wanted this rare DXCC QSO. If the only thing you are in this great hobby for is to cause D-QRM with rare DXCCs then I would say, get rid of your gear and retire you radio certificate and let those of us who genuinely enjoy this hobby, have fun doing it and meet the challenge of the rare DXCC QSO.
I operate a very modest station, 100W with a loop and vertical antennas and enjoy the challenge of DXCC hunting.
Again, thank you to the Bouvet team. For me this DXpedition was a success as I made that rare DXCC QSO, but for some of my friends, they did not make that QSO and are disappointed and blame this on those causing the D-QRM and not the team. And one of my friends said he may not do any more DXCC chasing because of the actions of some so-called amateurs during this DXpedition.
Once more, BRAVO ZULU – Team Bouvet.
Bob/VE1RSM
Thanks for taking us all along on this great adventure. We all learned so much. To all those who operated from Bouvet in the past, to you guys who journeyed and operated there again, and to those who are looking to go again someday, my hat is off to you all. A definite standing ovation from me!
Have a safe journey home.
Jeff
WB8REI
Future expeditions and budgets need to be driven by which customers they intend to service – the DXCC Challenge crowd or those aiming to get on HR. 3Y0Z and 3Y0J have collectively cost nearly $1.5Mn and yet here we are with unsatiated demand being possibly a reason for this poll?
What is clear is funding a ‘carpet bombing’ approach from 160m SSB to 10m FM is unsustainable for dangerous places like this. Would be interesting to see how the foundations viewed this operation, if ever those observations are made public.
73,
Deepak VU2CDP
God willing. This was an embarrassment from the expedition. Totally unprepared for Bouvet.
There will for sure be another expedition, utilizing all relevant experiences and learnings from this and other expeditions.
We might all have our thoughts and ideas what “went wrong”. No need to publically speculate. I am sure the Team will come with a relevant description, as they are the only ones who experienced “hell on Bouvet”. The time in that tent and the journey back and fourth via the beach, can not at all have been enjoyable.
What I think the Team should take back home for analysis, is the communication bit. No matter how hard this and other “news channels” tried, the limitations are on the 3Y0J side. I have a feeling the information funnel from them (on shore or on the vessel) was part of the reason for frustration people were experiencing.
However, no frustration in the world can motivate the language on DXsummit. I really criticize the responsible for that and other clusters, with no requirements for login with genuine callsigns, as the root to much evil in terms of bad-mouthing. DXsummit should have been shut down realizing the grave abuse taking place on their domain.
Thank you all 3Y0J Team for struggling hard, and for making whatever QSOs you did!
Safe return to your vessel, and to your beloved ones at home.
BOUVET — THE SHOW MUST GO ON !!!!
The amateur radio community is unlikely to know the reasons for the complete fiasco of the expedition. Most likely the reason lies in the team itself. To fail a expedition with a budget of $ 800K – you still have to work hard ..! They succeeded!
What concerns me most is not the fact that it will become more and more difficult to activate some rare or rarer DXCC entities for several reasons, nor the lack of interest in such cost-intensive DXpeditions, but the increasing number of so-called “hams” who willfully abuse such DXpeditions to demonstrate their destructive behaviour by jamming their transmissions. The weaker the signal, the louder the rabble. Today, the late John Snuggerud (LA1VC, 3Y1YC) would not have been able to make his 25 first QSOs from Bouvet as he did in 1977. His signal would be covered very quickly by the rabble, and in the end he would have raised a lot of laughter as completely unable operator. I really doubt whether it is worthwhile to spend so much money and spare time, risk life and limb, only to become a target of such spitting contempt by too many. I have never seen such an accumulation of shameful comments on the “DX Summits” as towards the operators of 3Y0J. This bad behaviour is all but a recommendation of Amateur Radio. Perhaps a 2 years moratorium of the whole DXCC programme would be helpful for many people to calm down a bit. I am sure that their life would become very boring then.
Sure I’ll wait for the next 3y, but I think that next pedition ‘ll consider a minus equipment and a reduced project. During the past I always tried like to work all bands with nice number of success, but nowdays we must consider the opportunity of a full band 3y (or similar) activity. 4 bands, 3 modes ‘ll be enought, this should be the next trip project. Less radio, amps, antennas etc etc more signals 24/7. 3y0j gave me the #336 on CW, so I’m very happy, but I can’t appreciate the faraonic project and the final results. ATNO or Challenge? this is the question 🙂
Maybe the Rebel DX Group will be re-focussing their attention on the 3Y0I operation.
There will be less and less big expeditions because ham radio is not very interesting for young people. For them there is no difference between skype or computer contact on hamradio. II dont thing anyone who will start now with our hobby will reach more than 320 dxcc. because many dxcc will never be activated again.
Of course there will be another DX-pedition to Bouvet in the next years. It is much too much fun for radio amateurs participating and working them. The 2023 Expedition has shown how difficult it is, but being difficult has never detracted humans from trying, hasn’t it?
Thanks to 3Y0J for the huge effort, you did well, even if you did not achieve all goals. No reason to be disappointed, only to be excited about the next plans.
Cheers