[VERY EARLY REMINDER] – VP6A will be on the air from Ducie Island (OC-182) from June 10 to June 24, 2023 (actual dates will be subject to WX). There will be five stations on the air on all bands from 160 to 6 meters, working CW, SSB and FT8.
Following the successful test of remote operations at FO/AA7JV, where over 11,000 remotely operated QSOs were made by five remote operators, VP6A will apply this concept to a full rare island DXpedition.
A total of 14 operators based in North American, Europe and Asia will operate land based remote controlled stations around the clock. There will only be three local operators at Ducie: W6IZT, KN4EEI and AA7JV. This small team will set up and maintain the stations and operate locally from the nearby boat. They will visit the island once a day to refuel the generators and do any necessary maintenance. In line with the minimum foot-print concept, there will be no camping on the island.
This will be the first full DXpedition utilizing the RIB concept that features a large number of remote operators with a small footprint on a remote island. Four RIBs (Radio In a Box) will provide a total of 5 stations capable of 24/7 operation on 10 bands.
The RIBs feature complete stations capable of up to 1 kW in a weather-tight housing that allow remote operation. These RIBs were developed with support from Northern California DX Foundation. The goal is to enable a new, minimum impact operating mode for environmentally sensitive areas. RIBs also speed up the installation of stations. This will enable our small three-person team to build the five stations, including antennas, in a relatively short time.
All donations should be made to the Northern California DX Foundation. Ducie island is No 56 on Club Log’s most wanted list. On the 6 meter band it is No. 26, therefore given we will be active during the E season, a special focus will be placed on 6 meter operation with gain antennas and a power amplifier. Additional details and the list of operators, as well as regular updates will be posted on the VP6A QRZ.com page.
Any Information that this „Operation“ will count for DXCC and/or IOTA?
I wish you all the best on Ducie Island. I will be on Pitcairn from June 22-July 2nd as VP6MC and MM from June 20-22. Hope we can make a few contacts during the overlapping time. I will be running my Icom IC-706 and AH-4 tuner on ship and Pitcairn on 20,40,15 and 17 meters, if time permits, I may try some of the other bands.
73,
Mike WA6SVT – VP6MC
VP6A will be on the air from Ducie Island (OC-182)
Nice information. I hope qso with you on 6m band.
By the way, What use 6m antenna？ I can not see your qrz.com. de JE3GRQ Koji
F4DSK Dimitri:
The difference is that the operator of the DX-pedition is operating the DX-pedition gear located in the rare DXCC remotely from a comfortable shack, not in a tent in harsh environment.
73,
Feco
HA8KW
Norbert,
In your option 1 or 2, Klaus is making the QSO from a comfortable shack, and both stations are doing the same when he worked FT8WW, JG8NJQ/JD1 or me, where’s the difference ???….
73’s Dimitri F4DSK
Dimitri, the difference is simply this, to explain it by an extreme example:
(1) Climb up Mt. Everest with a small gear and antenna and transmit yourself from the summit and make a few QSOs until you are forced to wrap up and descend.
(2) Pay a group of experienced mountaneers to set up and maintain a descent station on the same summit with remote connectivity to allow a large team of operators from their comfortable shacks somewhere in the world to make thousands of QSOs. All these only pretend by the used call-sign to be on the summit, but in fact they aren’t physically there. They only push some electrons half around the world before these reach the TX and HF antenna on the summit.
Option (2) is very tempting, because it guarantees a safe place for everybody in the log, but not what people like Klaus are looking for. I am sure that he is fully aware of what is going on.
Hello Klaus,
What’s the difference between such operation and contesters operating a station remote from another QTH/continent or daily operators who are QRV remote from their job… ?
Did you just wake up after a 10 years nap ?
73, Dimitri F4DSK
Hi Janko,
No need to worry.
fo/aa7jv the Ducie will continue until about September from several places. There will also be OP amplification and qso with you.
Other DXCC/IOTAs are expected later this year
73, Tomi
ha7ry
https://clublog.org/mostwanted.php Ducie is #56
Could you try to go to KH7K, KH3, KH4, KH5 and even KH1 instead ?
What a revolutionary (RIB) for real ham Radio Operators. Time for me to open a new more demanding Hobby, not the very simple………
fo/aa7jv was needed for new IOTA but was impossible to work from europe on cw or ssb despite length of stay and despite many (online) operators. nothing new today, enjoy computer science.