VP8DOZ/G South Georgia Island

[IK0ZCW]

Denis ZL4DB is heading to VP8\G South Georgia in a few days. En route, he hopes to collect his license in Stanley, Falkland Islands around 24th January and to get a VP8\G call-sign. He also hopes to meet Bob VP8LP who has been very helpful in providing information on requirements and contacts with the VP8 administration. Once on the South Georgia he needs to obtain permission to operate, which could be late February as there are important tasks to complete for the team he’s working with. A QRZ page and possibly Clublog will be set up when his call is confirmed.

Denis will arrive at King Edward Point, near Grytviken around 27th January and will be tasked with providing comms for a helicopter operation as part of the South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project. The helicopter team will be rat-poisoning, with Denis setting up a global positioning warning system to track the choppers and a repeater system between the main base and forward operating positions. His time for ham radio will be largely dictated by the weather. If its adverse for flying, then he’ll be off to the shack. The operation is scheduled to end late March/early April.

Denis is very inexperienced in using a computer logging program or pile-up handling so may not be calling CQ initially, he may only S&P for a while until his confidence increases. If you hear him, please be very patient. He has been given him some training using N1MM with a simulated steady stream of callers. He knows how to use split but initially may be simplex only.

His rig is a TS-480 barefoot into a 17/20m GP. The TS-480 has auto-tuner so he may appear on other bands. Unfortunately, he is not permitted to operate from the main comms room on the base or use their antennas. He will only be operating SSB.

From Grytviken, there is a tall mountain range to the North which will largely block SP signals towards WEU, NA & SA. Fortunately, these is a large bay right in front of him on the SP to ZL, VK & Asia.

Denis has been on Macquarie before and had hoped to operate from there but this never eventuated. There is a possibility he may not operate from VP8\G either. With a large team planning to activate South Georgia and South Sandwich in 2016, it won’t be long before we get a crack at a large-scale activation from these highly sought-after entities.

Denis will not be reachable by e-mail while at Grytviken. He hopes to gain some internet time to send logs to his QSL manager (Paul ZL4PW). Please do not request skeds, different bands, different modes etc etc. If he isn’t too intimidated by the pile-ups and caller behaviour he will work more of the deserving. QSL information will be posted on qrz.com at a later date. Uploading to LOTW and eQSL is very unlikely.

[IK0ZCW]

UPDATE – Denis has been active most days on 18160 at 2030z. Around 2130z he shows up on 14225 or nearby. He has severe noise to deal with (especially on 20m) so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t hear you. He is looking for a quieter location and may run on battery-power froma n area well away from the buildings.

[IK0ZCW]

Denis VP8DOZ has now left South Georgia and is having a very rough boat trip back to the Falklands where he will meet up with Bob VP8LP and Janet VP8AIB. He made 422 QSOs which is a credible effort given that he had limited access to the King Edward Point HF station, was on a work assignment (pest eradication) and a newbie to HF DXing!

Logs have been uploaded to LOTW and OQRS is available through Clublog or via the qrz.com page. Over 150 QSL cards have already been posted with the first buro cards to be sent off soon. He had intended using his own ham gear from Harpoon Point where his work team was based but they were at the foot of a huge iron ore mountain and the noise-level was horrendous. Denis borrowed a battery and tried running portable closer to the sea near their base but the noise was still major problem. Fortunately the radio op at the main base (Pat Lurcock) arranged for Denis to use their HF station (a Skanti rig with auto-tuner running 500W into a vertical). Even at the base the noise was a real problem and it was quickly found that 17m was the quietest band.

Denis also encountered two prolonged radio black-outs lasting over a week. Next time we complain about solar conditions deadening the bands for a few hours, then just be thankful we’re not close to the South Pole! Interestingly, Denis could not see the magnificent auroras which accompanied the solar disturbances and were easily visible in NZ and other parts of the world.

There is a possibility that Denis could be posted to other pest extermination projects around the Globe and could be QRV from some after sought-after location.