VK8BI operating schedule......not long to go now!

I’ve spoken to the boat operators and I should arrive on Bremer Island on Wednesday April 18 around 0300 UTC or 12:30pm local time. I’ll spend the afternoon setting up the 12m vertical dipole, 10m-15m-17m-20m Spiderbeam yagi, generator and radio equipment in the hut and familiarising myself with the island.

I’m aiming for the operation to be in full swing at 1000 UTC where I’ll be beaming short path North America on 14260 kHz (+/- QRM).

As I’ll be using a 12m vertical dipole for the first time you may find me calling CQ before 1000 UTC on 12m 24960 kHz using the vertical to see what propagation is like to Asia, Europe and Africa. I know what to expect on 10m, 15m and 20m from previous IOTA DXpeditions. This is the first time I’ll be using the 12m vertical dipole so I’m keen to see how it performs.

So don’t worry I’m not ‘starting’ the DXpedition on a WARC band which would be odd because not all people have access to 12m and everyone’s best antennas are usually for 10m/15m/20m. I’m just looking there first to test band conditions to Europe and Asia so that I can plan my choice of operating bands for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday afternoons.

I’ll probably do a similar thing and check out 12m and 17m short path to the America’s on my first morning at 2200 UTC to see what conditions are like. I’d say over the five mornings in the period 2200-0300 UTC that I’ll be spending 75% of my time on 15m, but I’ll try 12m and 17m on the first morning just in case they prove productive.

Remember I DO NOT have internet access at my operating position so please don’t send requests on the DX cluster when I’m operating. I’ve had to adjust my operating frequencies a little to ensure I keep away from the Spratly 9M0L DXpedition announced frequencies on their site.

A fellow IOTA chaser Mike VE3VHB has let me know that 14260 is a bad frequency for North America due to net activity in their mornings. So in the 1200-1400 UTC period look for me between 14220 to 14260 in case there is bad QRM on 14260.

Operating schedule Wednesday April 18 (frequencies are +/- QRM):

0300 to 0600 UTC – Arrive on Bremer Island and set up station.

0600 to 1000 UTC – sometime during this period there will be operation on 24960 on the vertical antenna to test conditions to Asia, Europe and Africa. Sometime during this period I’ll have a short break for an evening meal and do final checks on the generator. It may take longer to set up the antennas depending on the weather, people available to assist me, etc. But I do hope to be calling CQ on 24960 +/- QRM by 0600 UTC or 0700 UTC at the latest before things get into full swing at 1000 UTC.

1000 to 1400 UTC    – 14220 to 14260 (short path North America)

1400 to 1700 UTC    – 14260 (short path Europe/Asia)

1700 to 2200 UTC    – break for sleep, breakfast, generator check, etc

2200 to 0000 UTC    – 18150, 21260 (or 21290*), 24960 or 28460 (short path North America)

    * to take into consideration US Generals

Operating schedule Thu April 18 to Mon April 23 (frequencies are +/- QRM):

0000 to 0300 UTC    – 18150, 21260 (or 21290*), 24960 or 28460 (short path North America)

    * to take into consideration US Generals

0300 to 0500 UTC    – break for lunch, generator check, etc

0500 to 0900 UTC    – 14260 or 18150 (long path Europe) or

                                    – 18150, 21260, 24960 or 28460 (short path Europe/Asia)

0900 to 1200 UTC    – 18150, 21260, 24960 or 28460 (short path Europe/Asia)

1200 to 1400 UTC    – 14220 to 14260 (short path North America) or

                                        14260 or 18150 (short path Europe/Asia)

                                         (only if there is no propagation to North America)

1400 to 1700 UTC    – 14260 (short path Europe/Asia)

1700 to 2200 UTC    – break for sleep, breakfast, generator check, etc

2200 to 0000 UTC    – 18150, 21260 (or 21290*), 24960 or 28460 (short path North America)

    * to take into consideration US Generals