VP8 South Sandwich Island South Georgia Island

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Press Release #1

By N6PSE, Paul Ewing



The Intrepid-DX Group, led by Paul Ewing-N6PSE and David Collingham-K3LP, is pleased to announce our next Dxpedition. In January 2016, a multi-national team of fourteen operators will converge in Stanley, the Falkland Islands and start a 34 day voyage aboard the R/V Braveheart to the #4 most wanted DXCC, South Sandwich Island and the #9 most wanted DXCC, South Georgia Island.

The team will set up and operate from each island for approximately eight days, weather and sea conditions permitting.

Our primary objective is to activate South Sandwich and South Georgia with a goal of providing as many Dxers as possible a "new one" with these rare DXCC entities and, as a secondary objective; we will focus on low-band contacts.

The team consists of fourteen operators including:

Paul Ewing-N6PSE Co-Leader

David Collingham-K3LP Co-Leader

Bill Beyer-N2WB

Arnie Shatz-N6HC Team Physician

Dmitri Zhikharev-RA9USU

Jun Tanaka-JH4RHF

Krassimir Petkov-K1LZ

David Jorgensen-WD5COV

Al Hernandez-K3VN

Craig Thompson-K9CT

Jay Slough-K4ZLE

Kevin Rowett-K6TD

Stephen Wright-VE7CT

Mark Stennett-NA6M





The group plans to have six stations on the air from 10 through 160 meters with SSB, CW and RTTY. The radios will be the venerable Elecraft K3 while the amplifiers will be the Elecraft KPA500, 600 watt amplifiers. We will also use an Acom 1500 on the low bands. There will be low band receive antennas and every effort will be made to utilize the propagation on all bands to all population areas.

Our QSL Managers will be Bob Schenck N2OO and Steve Wheatley KU9C working with the QSL team from the South Jersey DX Association. We will have OQRS, we will accept direct and bureau QSL cards. We plan to upload our logs to Club Log on a daily basis where conditions permit. The Club Log Leaderboard feature will not be activated for this Dxpedition.

You can find out more about our plans at our website: http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8

Thank you,

Paul N6PSE

David K3LP



Video: https://plus.google.com/+Intrepid-dx/posts/5129ke8Gcaj?pid=6093278693406682322&oid=102825300285044861896

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Press Release #2

The Intrepid-DX Group, led by Paul Ewing-N6PSE and David Collingham-K3LP, is pleased to announce that we have received our Landing/Camp Permit for South Sandwich and South Georgia Islands for our January 2016 DXpeditions.

South Sandwich is currently the #4 most wanted entity while South Georgia is currently the #9 most wanted entity.

We will be on each island for ten days and we plan for eight full days of radio.

At this time, we are seeking Foundation, Club and individual support to help us offset our significant costs to activate these two rare islands. Our vessel charter is in excess of $310,000 USD and our total budget is $425,000. Without significant support from the global DX Community we will not be successful in making these very rare activations.

Our primary objective is to activate South Sandwich and South Georgia with a goal of providing as many Dxers as possible a "new one" with these rare DXCC entities and, as a secondary objective; we will focus on low-band contacts. We will use proven techniques to help ensure that everyone has a fair chance to work us. We will not be using the Club Log "Leaderboard". It is our hope that we can perform an upload to LoTW during or just after the DXpedition.

You can find out more about our plans at our website http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8/

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Press Release #3

The Intrepid-DX Group announced our plans to activate South Sandwich and South Georgia in mid-December. With the activation of Navassa, these Islands become the #3 and #8 most wanted entities world-wide. The activation of these two rare islands will be very expensive. The 14 team members are contributing $210,000 towards the $425,000 total cost of the DXpedition.

The team has a critical decision to make. We have a non-refundable deposit of $54,000 due to pay for our vessel charter.

We fully intend to go forward with our plans however we need indications from the global DX Community that you support our plans. While we are pleased with the support of some individuals and a few clubs so far, we are now asking those of you who have not yet done so to please consider donating to our fund, or pledge a donation. We ask that the DX Clubs and Associations of the global DX community lend us their support. We must feel confident that we can successfully raise enough funds for this exciting endeavor before we can commit to the non-refundable charter deposit.

You can see how to make a donation http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8/sponsors.php

If you cannot donate at this time, but wish to make a pledge, please let us know: intrepiddxgroup[at]gmail.com

If you wish your donation to be US tax deductible, consider making a directed donation through the Northern California DX Foundation. Without significant support from the global DX Community, we will not be able to go forward with our plans.

Sincerely,

The Intrepid-DX Group VP8/S and VP8/G Team

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Press Release #4

The Intrepid-DX Group is very pleased to receive a major grant of $50,000 from the Northern California DX Foundation to support our plans to activate South Sandwich and South Georgia Islands in January/February 2016. At the time of these activations, they will be the #3 and #7 most wanted entities.

It is only through the generosity of amateur organizations such as the NCDXF that we can make this Dxpedition possible. This grant by the NCDXF gives us the foundation with which we can solidify our plans and move forward with successful activations of these rare islands.

Our destination is very remote and costly to reach. Our Braveheart charter is $310,000. Our fourteen team members will contribute $210,000 towards our goal of $425,000. We are very appreciative of all of those Clubs, Associations and individuals that have supported us thus far and we welcome and appreciate each and every donation that helps us move forward with our plans.

Our objective is to be on each island for ten days with eight full days QRV. We ask each DX Club or Association to please consider supporting our efforts to make this an effective, enjoyable and safe Dxpedition for everyone!

Thank you,

The Intrepid-DX Group VP8 Team.

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VP8IDX VP8STI VP8SGI Announce 29 March 2015

News from the Intrepid-DX Group VP8 Team

Press Release #5

We are pleased to announce that the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands has issued our Dxpedition call signs. We will use VP8STI from South Thule Island (South Sandwich). We will use VP8SGI from South Georgia Island.

In addition, the team will use VP8IDX (Intrepid DX Group) from Stanley and during our voyage to South Sandwich and South Georgia. We will be passing through rare grid squares on the way to and from these islands. The DXpedition will take place in January/February 2016. We will be on each island for ten days.

We are pleased to announce that Force 12 Antennas will provide complete sponsorship of our Dxpedition antennas including three element Yagi antennas for the high bands including WARC bands as well as a custom set of low band vertical antennas for 30,40,80 & 160 meters.

All of these antennas are being designed to sustain high winds that we anticipate having on South Sandwich and South Georgia.

Our plans are moving forward in all aspects including our team’s first $54,000 installment to the RV Braveheart being paid on April 1, 2015.

To date, we have raised $90,000 towards our goal of raising $215,000. This puts us 40% of our target. We would welcome additional support from the many DX Clubs around the globe, particularly those in Europe and Asia who have not yet supported our efforts.

At the time of our activations, South Sandwich will be the #3 most wanted entity, while South Georgia will be the #7 most wanted DXCC entity.

All information about our plans can be found on our website: http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8

Thank you,

The Intrepid-DX Group VP8 Team

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