FO/AA7JV

[IK0ZCW]

On 10 April Northern California DX Foundation Directors successfully concluded their 11-day ground-breaking experiment from Tikehau Atoll in the Tuamutu Islands, French Polynesia, with a remotely operated DXpedition. While FO is not rare for DXCC, Tikehau (OC-066) was needed by 72% of the active IOTA chasers.
George, AA7JV and Mike, KN4EEI Mike, arrived at Tikehau on the morning of 28 March and deployed two RIBs (Radio In a Box) in a matter of hours. In addition to their CW and SSB QSOs done locally (from the ship), a total of over 11,000 FT8 QSOs were completed remotely. The remote operators were N1DG, AA7A, K6MM, K6GFJ and ND2T. The station was accessible 24/7 using home computers and desktop sharing software. No specialized hardware or software was required. The operators were working from their homes in shifts, just like on a regular DXpedition, without the cost and hassle of traveling.
This operation did not use any unattended operation (as required by ARRL DXCC rules). All callsigns were selected by the operators for a QSO.
The remotely operated stations were connected to the Internet via a Starlink satellite connection. Operating mode was FT8 and FT8 F/H. The radios were Flex 6700 radios housed in the NCDXF sponsored RIB stations that were put ashore by AA7JV and KN4EEI. Operating power was 100 watts and each station had its own vertical antenna. AC power was provided by Honda EU2100 generators running in the ECO mode. The stations were on the island unattended, with remote supervision and control from the catamaran "Magnet", which was anchored a mile off-shore.
The NCDXF RIB is a complete, fully wired station in a weather-tight box.
The RIB integrated a Flex 6700 SDR radio, an amplifier, power supplies and a comprehensive Raspberry Pi based control system developed by KD4Z. The RIBs were designed to eliminate the need for camping and to make DXpedition setup faster (hours, instead of days). For more information on the RIBs see the
NCDXF Winter newsletter at https://www.ncdxf.org/pages/newsletter.html.
In this Remote DXpedition experiment a dual-radio version of the RIB was used, which contains two complete 100 W stations in a single box.
A RIB will be shown at the NCDXF booth at the International DX Convention in Visalia (22 April), and plans are also being made to allow convention goers to operate the RIB Friday evening.
In development and testing since early 2022, the NCDXF Remote RIB technology is aimed at future DXpeditions. It is intended to enable remote operators to participate in DXpeditions without the expense and lengthy travel usually involved. Kevin Rowett, K6TD, President of NCDXF commented: "remote DX operation will bring the opportunity to participate in DXpeditions and share the excitement of handling the pile-ups to a wide range of radio amateurs. It will also allow future DXpeditions to have a smaller number of on-site operators, reducing the expenses and footprint of future DXpeditions". Ken, WZ0L wrote us: "Now that's the way to activate an island".
The NCDXF mission is to make DX happen. The NCDXF has been aware for some time that financing is not the only obstacle faced by would be DXpeditioners. The NCDXF has sponsored the development of the RIB technology to lower the threshold of obtaining landing permits to ecologically sensitive areas.
Later in 2023 the "Magnet" hopes to visit other DX locations, including an entity or two in the top 20 most wanted. We trust this just concluded operation is one of the final steps in demonstrating to the permitting services that limited intrusion to the island is possible and Amateur Radio can be made eco friendly.
73 de AA7JV, KN4EEI, and the remote team.