ZL9HR Campbell Island Dxpedition OC-037

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Message from John Chalkiarakis, VK3YP

The Hellenic Amateur Radio of Association of Australia ( HARAOA ) is organising a DXpedition to ZL9 Campbell Island ( OC-037 ) New Zealand between November 17th and November 30th 2012. ZL9 Campbell Island NZ is number 15 on the current DXCC most wanted list.

The ZL9HR DXpedition team will consist of a total of nine (9) team members including Tommy VK2IR (Team Leader) and John VK3YP (Team Co-Leader).

We are inviting any experienced operators who would like to attend the ZL9HR DXpedition to email Tommy vk2ir@vk2ir.com for more information.

ZL9HR website: http://www.zl9hr.com

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UPDATE from John Chalkiarakis VK3YP

Our permit application is progressing and hope to announce our official landing / operating permit and callsign shortly on the official ZL9HR.com website.

For the operators who have already emailed us with their expressions of interest to join the DXpedition team, we will shortly provide them with the individual contribution fee amount required.

We have all of the required equipment from our previous VK9HR DXpedition including Kenwood TS590S radios, Spiderbeam masts, beam & vertical antennas, bandpass filters, four SPE linear amplifiers and Honda generators.

We will also have Inmarsat BGAN satellite terminal for Internet and voice comms. This will allow us to upload our logs daily and provide photos and other updates to our website.

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The ZL9HR Campbell Island NZ DXpedition operator team is as follows: Tommy VK2IR , John VK3YP , Les W2LK , Gene K5GS , Dave K3EL , Glenn KE4KY , Jacques ZL3CW , Pista HA5AO and Don VE7DS

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Our ZL9HR callsign was only issued today; LINK - Enter "digit 9" after "followed by" and press search button.

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We have received tentative/verbal ok for landing permit on Campbell Island. Working on finalising when the official permit will be issued.

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John, 9M6XRO has joined the Australian Hellenic group plnning to go to Campbell Island in November.

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Tommy VK2IR and John VK3YP of the Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia are pleased to announce that the landing permit has been approved by NZ Dept. of Conservation for ZL9HR Campbell Island DXpedition in November 2012.

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Revised dates: November 28th to December 9th 2012 plus new design ZL9HR website.

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The HARAOA ZL9HR DX’Pedition to Campbell Island in the Great Southern Ocean ( IOTA OC-037 ) is delighted to have been granted an award from the prestigious ARRL Colvin foundation.

The Colvin Award is conferred in the form of grants in support of Amateur Radio projects that promote international goodwill in the field of DX and the HARAOA are honoured to have received this award.

Preparations for this major DX’Pedition are on schedule for the activation dates of November 28th. to December 9th, 2012.

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At this writing we are on schedule and the project planning is well underway. The team is busily working on all aspects of the DX-pedition. As you may know, we have the landing permit in-hand and also the radio license / call sign.

Some examples of what’s happening behind the curtain at the moment include:

- Station location (as defined by the permit)
- Antenna placement planning (as defined by the permit)
- Discussions on propagation behavior and how we will adjust for conditions
- Operator mode preference
- Equipment testing and preparation for sea shipment
- Contract finalization with the boat that will take us to Campbell Island

[read more http://www.campbell2012.com/]

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The ZL9HR DXpedition to Campbell island is coming together with all equipment due to be packed into four containers and ready for shipping to New Zealand by the end of this month. ZL9HR is also assembling an off island team which includes following pilots: VK2NN (VK/ZL), KY6R (NA), KH6CG (Pacific), V51B (Africa) MM0NDX (Europe) and VK2ARE Australian Publicity officer.

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The HARAOA president and DX’Pedition leader Tommy VK2IR has just finished construction of a 40metre, 2 element Moxon antenna – yes that’s right a two element 40 metre beam is gong on the ZL9HR DX’Pedition to Campbell Island (IOTA OC-037) for the activation between November 28th. and December 9th. The element length is 15 ½ metres long! To see the construction of this monster simply search for ZL9HR on Youtube.

The fitting out of the four shipping containers to take all the equipment has also been finished and they are being packed. All of this is on schedule to be ready to be shipped out of Sydney in just a few days around the 15th. of September.

The team are also delighted to have received several more sponsors, both commercial, associations and clubs and individuals – all of which are listed on the web site at ZL9HR.com. Again a great vote of thanks to all of the sponsors without whom this DX’Pedition could not take place.

So where will ZL9HR operate? On which bands and which modes? While the aim is to operate on as many bands as possible and try to give as many amateurs as possible the chance to work this rare DX location, your vote on the website will affect some of the plans – so if you haven’t already done so, please go and vote for your preferred mode and band by going to ZL9HR.com and clicking on the survey button at the top of the home page. Presently 10m is by far the most requested band followed by 160m, as for modes CW leads Digital followed by Sideband.

Please refer to the web site ZL9HR.COM for the full, up to date, information about this major DX’Pedition to the Great Southern Ocean.

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The ZL9HR "Logistics team" are very pleased to announce that the packed equipment crates have left the DX’Pedition’s Sydney base heading south to New Zealand, on schedule and in plenty of time to progress through the required quarantine formalities with the authorities on the ZL mainland before the final leg of the trip by sea with the operations team down to Campbell Island in the great southern ocean for the activation between November 28th and December 9th.

Please refer to the web site ZL9HR.COM for the full, up to date, information about this major DX’Pedition to the Great Southern Ocean.

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Update by Ed Durrant ZL9HR Publicity Officer

Fifteenth most wanted DXCC location entity – Campbell Island will soon drop down the charts as many, many Radio Hams work ZL9HR between November 28th and December 9th.

Campbell Island is at IOTA OC-037, 600Km south of New Zealand in the the Great Southern Ocean.

While the equipment makes its way down to New Zealand, I wanted to highlight some essential parts of the DXpedition organisation that are not always obvious.

DXpedition "Pilots".

The "pilots" are assigned – for Europe it’s Col MM0NDX, for Australia & New Zealand it’s Peter VK2NN, for Africa it’s Andre V51B, for the Pacific region Stan KH6CG is doing the honours and last but not least we have Richard KY6R in Western USA.

For those who haven’t come across Pilots before they act as a conduit between amateurs trying to contact the DXpedition and the DXpedition leaders. The Pilot doesn’t play God – but is a faithful "technical support agent" whose boss is the leader of the DXpedition. The pilot may tell the DXpedition that he is receiving a lot of requests for a particular mode or band from a certain area of the world and if justified, the DXpedition may look at changing planned operations to fit this need as much as they can. Pilots often have to put up with abuse from idiots. It’s not an easy job! Pilots are volunteers and form another part of the DXpedition that is crucial to its success. All amateurs owe a vote of thanks to the pilots of this and all other DXpeditions for the work they kindly perform. So if you communicate with a DXpedition pilot, show them some respect – remember they don’t have to do this work!

Please refer to the web site ZL9HR.COM for the full, up to date, information about the major ZL9HR DXpedition to Campbell Island.

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We’re making great progress during the planning and preparation phases. The Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia members and the local ham community have pitched in to make this DX-pedition a reality.

Our current status:
6 Meters:

We received approval for use of 50 – 51 MHZ. Some areas in New Zealand use 50 MHZ for television transmission; therefore it is not an Amateur allocation. Since Campbell Island is uninhabited we received a waiver from the NZ authorities to use those frequencies.

Additional Corporate Sponsors signed on since last update:

- Elecraft
- Rojone Pty Ltd
- Amateur Radio Supplies
- OptiBeam

DX Foundation, Club and Individual Sponsors:

The list continues to grow. Please see the web page for the most current list of supporters
http://www.campbell2012.com/index.php/sponsors

Equipment:

Our equipment is on the way to New Zealand. The gear was packed in crates and prepared for sea shipment from Sydney, Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand. Once through NZ Customs they will be trucked to Invercargill, New Zealand and placed in a storage facility, arrival at the storage facility is scheduled for Oct. 11th. A bond was posted to get the equipment into New Zealand. In order to reclaim the bond we must remove the equipment from New Zealand upon completion of the DX-pedition.

Quarantine Inspection:

Before any person or equipment lands on Campbell Island an inspection of all personal items and equipment will be conducted by the NZ Department of Conservation. Our gear will be unpacked at the inspection station in Bluff, NZ on Nov. 24, 2012. Special attention is placed on items which may contain soil, rocks, stones, insects or other organic material. Boots and shoes must be scrubbed to remove any accumulated soil. Since the boat is used by the DoC for their expeditions were comfortable the boat is prepared for its inspection.

Island Logistics

1. As you may have seen with other DX-peditions to remote / uninhabited locations once on the island accommodations must be made for meals and sanitary considerations. Fortunately, the New Zealand Department of Conservation has allowed us to use several buildings and the toilet facilities in one of their buildings. These buildings were part of the weather station that once operated at Beeman Cove; they have been kept in good repair over the years since. Again, we appreciate the DoCs cooperation and assistance to the ZL9HR team. Sleeping accommodations will be on the boat, the team will shuttle back and forth from the island.

2. Since the weather will be cold and wet we’ll wear layers and waterproof foul weather clothing.

3. We’ll bring food, snacks, a medical kit, and other emergency supplies in the event we can’t get back to the boat due to weather conditions.

4. No trash is permitted to remain on the island; we’ll be carting all refuse back to the boat for proper disposal. The boat is not permitted to empty its sanitary storage tanks while anchored in Perseverance Harbor so the skipper will occasionally take the boat out to sea to empty the tanks.

5. There’s been recent Internet chatter about our antennas and their placement. Under the conditions of the landing permit antennas are permitted only in DoC designated spaces, all antennas must be inland. No antennas are allowed in or near the water, nor are we allowed to walk along the shoreline. While there are some optimum antenna locations on the island they are off limits to the team. Well use vertical antennas for the Low Bands, and weather permitting, a 40 meter beam will be placed on a hill with a drop off towards the sea.

6. We’ve been advised there may be 2 scientific expeditions on the island while we are operating. The DoC does not anticipate any interaction between the DX-pedition team and the participants of these expeditions.

7. ZL9HR team member Dave Lloyd, K3EL, prepared some information about our antenna placement and propagation. You may read his articles at:

http://k3el.wordpress.com/dx/zl9hr/azimuthal_map/

http://k3el.wordpress.com/dx/zl9hr/antenna-choice-and-location/

8. As previously mentioned, we are governed by the conditions of the DoC issued landing permit, some of those conditions are:

a. Specified number of DX-pedition operating days
b. Antenna field designated by the DoC
c. Other than use of the wharf, no access to the shoreline
d. Team members restricted to island locations indicated on the permit
e. No overnight stays unless the weather prevents return to the boat
f. Second to personal safety is wildlife awareness and safety are highest priorities
g. Antennas must be marked to avoid bird strikes and ground borne wildlife may not be disturbed
h. Digging, trenching or other defacement / scaring of the land is prohibited.
i. We are permitted to install guy stakes for the antenna support structures

Team members have made their bookings to and from New Zealand, several will meet in Auckland before the DX-pedition, others will meet in Dunedin and eventually we’ll first meet as a team in Invercargill, NZ on Nov. 23rd.

In closing we want to thank our corporate sponsors, clubs, foundations and individuals who have provided products and funding to make the activation of Campbell Island a reality after a long radio silence.

Next update in late October.

73,
Gene K5GS and the ZL9HR team

http://www.campbell2012.com

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UPDATE:
Campbell Island DX’Pedition activation is just a month away and all is on schedule. All the equipment has arrived at the storage facility in Invercargill, New Zealand. Some of the team are already in New Zealand, others will arrive over the next few weeks. There will be a quarantine inspection of all the gear and then it will be loaded onto the boat that will take the equipment and team down to Campbell Island.
It’s not too late to vote for which bands and modes you would like to work ZL9HR on – go to http://www.zl9hr.com to vote and find out all the details of this major DX’Pedition.

DX’Pedition data:
Location – Campbell Island – IOTA OC-037 – 450 miles south of New Zealand in the Great Southern Ocean.
15th most sought after DXCC location in the world (and an amazingly beautiful nature reserve).
Dates – 28th. November to 9th. December.
Group – Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia with a team of experienced international operators.
Call Sign – ZL9HR
Website – http://www.zl9hr.com

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UPDATE

Tuesday Nov 06, 2012tags: Campbell Island , ZL9HR Everything is on schedule; the team is excited and ready to begin their journey to New Zealand. Team members will begin arriving in Invercargill, NZ on November 22.

The majority of our equipment arrived at a storage facility in Invercargill on Oct 18.

Current Schedule:

November 23 – the equipment will be taken to the NZ Department of Conservation (DoC) Quarantine Inspection station.

November 24 – everything will be unpacked and inspected; including personal items, once inspected everything will remain at the station until departure.

November 25 – the team returns to the inspection station for DoC briefings on: safety, landing permit conditions and working around the islands wildlife.

November 26 – the team again returns to the DoC inspection station for inspection of personal items not processed on Nov. 24.

- Equipment will be trucked to Bluff, NZ and loaded aboard the boat for departure, currently scheduled at approximately 12:00 (local).
- Several local hams have offered to assist with loading the boat.

With good weather we estimate the voyage will take 40 hours, arriving at Perseverance Harbor sometime between midnight and 06:00 (local) on November 28.

During the DX-pedition daily traffic with the team will be handled by the designated Pilot stations. We ask the DX community to direct their compliments / suggestions / concerns to the Pilots who will summarize and forward to us via e-mail. We plan to upload photos and logs on a daily basis. The Pilots are listed on the Team page of our website http://www.campbell2012.com/.

Team member Dave, K3EL, updated his ZL9HR blog http://k3el.wordpress.com/ on Oct. 21

Initially we had a band / mode survey page on the web site; due to some Internet pranksters the survey was removed. However, we did collect enough data to get a view of needed bands / modes.

In closing we want to again thank the corporate sponsors, clubs, foundations and individuals who have provided products and funding to make the activation of Campbell Island a reality after a long radio silence.

That’s it for now; safe travels to the ZL9HR team as they begin their journey.

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UPDATE

Everything is on schedule; the team is excited and ready to begin their journey to New Zealand. Team members will begin arriving in Invercargill, NZ on November 22.

The majority of our equipment arrived at a storage facility in Invercargill on Oct 18.

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UPDATE

Nine of the ten team members are in Invercargill, NZ with the tenth member flying in early Sunday morning.

The NZ Department of Conservation inspected all our DX-pedition equipment on Saturday and found everything to be in acceptable condition to be brought to the island, no exceptions were noted. The team knew what had to be done to achieve this rating and all was handled prior to shipping.

All the equipment was unpacked, inspected and many items were wrapped in plastic sheeting, in bins, or removed from their cardboard boxes. The equipment was placed in quarantine until Monday morning. A final inspection of personal items will be conducted on Monday morning at which time everything will be transported to the boat. A subset of the team then went to purchase 1,100 liters of fuel for the generators.

On Sunday afternoon we return to the DoC station for a briefing on working around the island’s wildlife, safety and a review of the permit conditions. Today we met the DoC officer who will accompany us during the expedition.

The boat just arrived from Auckland Island where she took a DoC team to inventory penguins. We will meet the boat on Monday morning to begin the loading process. We are told the seas have calmed down after a storm recently passed through the region.

We are scheduled to sail shortly after noon on Monday. Once underway we will not be checking e-mail or any of the Internet blogs, all communications will be through the designated pilots.

Thanks for your continued support of ZL9HR.

73,
The ZL9HR Team

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By K3EL — One of the conditions of our landing permit is that we are off-island during the hours of darkness – we will return to the boat at night. So, don’t expect to hear us on the air between approx 1000-1500 UTC. Exceptions may be made if, for example, bad weather makes a safe return to the boat impossible – so if you do hear ZL9HR on at night, don’t assume it’s a pirate, we’re probably just stranded due to wx and happily taking advantage of the low band propagation.

- There’s a variety of propagation info on this site and Rich KY6R, the North America pilot for ZL9HR, has extensive info on propagation to NA here.
- Advertised operating frequencies are here. Split will usually be up but listen for instructions!
- Every attempt will be made to upload logs on a regular basis so please check the log before making an "insurance" contact.

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Gene, K5GS / ZL9HR says: It is 6AM in Invercargill, the team is rolling out of bed preparing for a 6:45 pick-up for the last DoC meeting before driving to Bluff to meet the boat.

The wind has been blowing all night but just started to settle down some. We expect the passage through the Foveaux Strait to be "exciting" as that area is known for its continually windy conditions.

We had a team dinner last night attended by several local ZLs and the DoC representatives.

Good luck in the pile-ups.

The ZL9HR team.

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Co-leader John, VK3YP updates to say the team departed Bluff, NZ and were sailing for the south of Stewart island where they will stay overnight waiting for weather to improve for the run to Campbell island. Therefore, ZL9HR will be delayed by 1 or 2 days.

For general interest, here is more detail on the S/Y Evohe which will take the ZL9HR team to Campbell Island http://www.charter-sailing-vessel.com/

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LATEST FROM THE TEAM

The ZL9HR team are still at Stewart Island since the weather is bad. Waves are 11 meters high, however they will be leaving tomorrow morning (29th of November) for Campbell Island and hope to be there Saturday morning and start operating late that day. Unfortunately, they cannot extend their stay on the island.

http://www.campbell2012.com/

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FLASH NEWS

After a “bumpy” ride to Campbell Island, the S/Y Evohe is making into Perseverance Bay. Landing will take place in half an hour or so. It is now Saturday the 1st of December 7:00 am (Friday 30th November 18:00 utc). Weather is not too good, very misty but no rain. Talk to you all soon when camp will be set up.

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ZL9HR started operations shortly before 05:00UTC on 20 & 40 SSB.

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BREAKING NEWS

The whole team have been given permission to stay overnight on the island. So far unknown if this will be a regular occurence. Furthermore, it’s come to light that four of the team were slightly injured during the voyage to the island and a Spiderbeam antenna has been lost/broken.
Online Logbook also updated http://www.campbell2012.com/index.php/log

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UPDATE: ZL9HR co-leader VK2IR informs the team will again be staying overnight on the island.

Online Logbook http://www.campbell2012.com/index.php/log

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UPDATE: ZL9HR co-leader John VK3YP informs the team plan to be QRT on Sunday morning at 8:00AM local NZ Campbell Island time.

This is based on the weather forecast made by the captain, so they need to leave at that time to get favourable conditions for the ocean voyage back to NZ.