Marion Island update

Still nothing from Petrus, ZS8T on Marion Island yet.

That's to be expected when you consider he's gone down there to work and amateur radio is his hobby. Add to that the fact that he's only one man, it's not a huge multi-op DXpedition like the recent one to Clipperton Island. In fact, it's not even what I'd call a DXpedition as such. It's a guy working hard in a remote area who, if he manages to get some time to himself and the weather conditions are right, might just be able to get on the radio.

Of course, that doesn't stop people criticising him for not letting us know when he's going QRV. I kid you not, someone moaned on the forum that they were wasting time listening for him on the radio and searching on the internet for news. Like Petrus has an obligation to the world's hams. There's always a chance that the person complaining was joking. If that's the case they didn't do it too well.

Lets not forget, he's down there for a year, there'll be plenty of time for a QSO with him. The only obligations he has are to himself, his team (he's the team leader) and his employer.

My only complaint is, I wish I could get a job like his.

73 de VK4VSP

ZS8T - update 1

Oops!

I'm not sure where I got the 5th May from (a bit of QRN between the eyes and the brain perhaps), but it's actually the 9th that Petrus is hoping to be QRV.

I've loosened the bolts and used the Armstrong method to rotate my antenna slightly. Whether it will make any difference or not remains to be seen.



There's a curious thing I've noticed when there's a DXpedition like this in progress. The DX clusters are supposed to be a way to let other hams know when a particular DX station is on air and where they're readable. So why do so many lids spot the stations with comments like "nothing heard". There's so much rubbish ends up on your screen it's hardly worth reading it.

And don't get me started on the guys that spot their mate down the street with comments like "59+ here", or "loud". Of course it is you idiot. It doesn't mean anyone else can hear him.

73 de VK4VSP

ZS8T - Marion Island

Here's one to keep an ear out for. As I've mentioned before, I haven't been very active since getting licenced, so if I can get ZS8T into the log that'll be my first QSO with Antarctica. Then all I'll need is Africa to get worked-all-continents. Okay, that may not be much to some of you more experienced hams, but it's a stepping stone. Actually, come to think of it, my logging software will think it's Africa anyway.

The DXpedition to Marion Island is being done by one man, Petrus ZS6GCM and he should be on air sometime early next week, possibly May 5th. It just happens to be our labour day holiday here in Queensland, what luck.

Although Petrus will be operating alone, he has plenty of support back home and I can't finish this blog without mentioning three of them. Christian DL6KAC, Col MM0NDX and Stan SQ8X have created one of the best looking DXpedition websites I've ever seen.

I might have to turn the Comet H-422 around this weekend. It's facing toward Japan at the moment and I'm yet to put it on a rotator. It does seem to have a bit of directivity on 20m, but I managed to work Calgary, Canada on 40m last week with it facing the way it is. We'll see.

73 de VK4VSP

Edit: I've just looked at the rules for the WAC and Antarctica doesn't count as a continent apparently. That kind of takes some of the challenge out of it.

Christmas Island

I haven't been a ham for long, a little over two years, and I haven't been particularly active in that time. All of my operating therefore, has been from home. I like the idea of operating in the field with a portable setup, but I just haven't got around to it yet. Okay, you can by them in the shops these days (a round tuit that is), but procrastination is one of my hobbies. I was going to write a book about procrastination once but... well you get the picture.

Anyway, I've enjoyed watching most of James Brooks' (9V1YC) DXpedition videos recently (and was even lucky enough to contact him in the CQ WPX SSB contest late last month). I love the idea of heading off to some remote island for a week or two and playing radios. Actually, I love the idea of heading off to a remote island somewhere, period. It just seems to encapsulate so many of the things I enjoy, radio, travelling, seeing the native wildlife, problem solving and working as a tight-knit team to get a job done.

There's a couple of DXpeditions coming up in VK land soon, one of those is to Christmas Island (OC-002), sometime in July. Okay, Christmas Island is actually closer to Indonesia than Australia, but it's still ours. It's not a huge DXpedition like the ones 9V1YC films, but it's still one I'll be looking forward too for two reasons. Firstly, since I haven't been all that active so far, there's are heaps of new ones for me still to get and Christmas Island is definitely one of them. Secondly, until I get a rotator for my Comet H-422, that's pretty much the way my antenna is facing, so it shouldn't be too hard to contact them, I hope.

As I mentioned, it's not a big DXpedition, there's only four operators. They are Marq CT1BWW (VK9XWW), John EA3GHZ (VK9XHZ), Henry EA5EOR (VK9XOR) and Claudina EC5BME (VK9XME). Yes, a woman on a DXpedition, should be more of it. The team are also offering an award if you manage to contact all four of the operators.

I'm just glad for their sakes they aren't going later in the year. November, December is when the Christmas Island red crabs migrate.