Press Release #8 from 3Y0J team – 08/02/2022 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island , January 2023
Since we signed the contract with Marama we have been working on fine tuning the dates and port of departure. Today we can confirm that the departure date for the 3Y0J DXpedition will be January 6th 2023. It is complex to plan the logistics of such a huge project like the 3Y0J Bouvet DXpedition which involves many parties. The new dates are mainly related to the Marama vessel logistics, but as well the new dates enable us to return to Cape Town in late February 2023. We can confirm the scheduled duration of the DXpedition is 44 days and that we have reserved a week additional contingency at the end giving us more flexibility. We have contracted 22 days at Bouvet Island, and it means we will spend more than 3 weeks at Bouvet. As we have the flexibility to still decide the port of departure Ushuaia or Port Stanley this will be done at a later stage.
It is with great pleasure we inform that we have completed all equipment selection for this trip.
For the station setup we will lineup 12 stations, that will include 8 human mode CW/SSB stations and 4 FT8 stations so to achieve our new goal of 200,000 QSOs. We will be using the Elecraft K3S, a well proven in the field DXpedition radio as the CW/SSB radio and SunSDR2 DX as the FT8 radio.
During peak time we will run up to 12 radios simultaneously by using 4O3A triplexers and InnovAntenna/Wimo tribanders together with Messi&Paoloni coax. We plan for minimum downtime on the radios, and to achieve this we will setup the 4 FT8 stations to run 24/7 so that these can either be run by one operator separately or be run by any other operator in a simplified SO2R setup. This will be done so that each operator can log into the FT8 machine from his operator position and run CW/SSB and FT8 simultaneously. Running several radios by a single operator this way has shown to be very efficient.
At Bouvet we are pleased to announce that we will use the well-known S.P.E. EXPERT amplifier. We will bring with us various models where the 1.5K-FA will be the main model, but for 160m we will be using a 2.0 kW amplifier and a vertical running a K3S with diversity RX. We will also have several spare amplifiers.
We are also pleased to inform that as the RX antenna system we will be using a ground independent RX loop system developed by LZ1AQ. This RX antenna will be located 300 meters away from the camp and will provide us with a RX antenna for 160-30m with 8xRX output signals. It also includes possibility to switch from loop to dipole mode.
We have procured 5 rugged YANMAR diesel generators to provide the station supply that will also include 1 spare generator.
Going to Bouvet is a huge undertaking financially and it would simply not be possible without the support from the vendors and our sponsors Expert Electronics, S.P.E., 4O3A, Messi&Paoloni and LZ1AQ. If you want to have the opportunity to work the rare #2 DXCC Bouvet island, please consider supporting us by donating upfront.
You can follow our plans from our website and the 3Y0J Facebook pages:
http://www.3y0j.no
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3093983840726129
Thank you, Oslo February 7th 2022
Ken Opskar LA7GIA, Co-Leader
Rune Oye LA7THA, Co-Leader
Erwann Merrien LB1QI, Co-Leader
Over the weekend of January 28th several TX5N team members met in Northern California to consolidate, test and pack the TX5N equipment for shipment to Raivavae, Austral Islands. After reviewing several transportation alternatives, we located a firm in Tahiti that will accept our shipment and transport it to the island via cargo ship.