[ADXA] [Fwd: [425ENG] KURE-OSITY #2 * HURRY TO KURE]

[Earl]

FYI !!
===============================



     The DX spots collection  -  from January 1997 up to July 2005  -  is
     available at  www.425dxn.org/dxspots/, as well the relevant software
____________________________________________________________________________


                          KURE-OSITY #2 * HURRY TO KURE
                             by H. Ward Silver, N0AX
                                (19 August 2005)


The one-month-to-go bell sounded on the  15th of August and  the K7C team  is
scurrying about putting  the final touches  on everything -  the radios,  the
antennas, computers, food.  Of course, the biggest and most important part of
the expedition is the transportation! If  that doesn't pull through,  nothing
else matters as we've seen several times in the past.  The rarer the QTH, the
more difficult the journey, it seems.  Could there be a correlation here?

When one thinks of Kure Atoll at the  far western end of the Hawaiian  island
chain, the image of swaying palms, steel guitars, and various concoctions  of
rum and fruit juice come to mind.   Nothing could be further from the  actual
situation, I assure you! First of  all, Kure is a  lot farther from  Honolulu
than you might think - 1375  miles (2213 km)! Travel  the same distance  east
from Honolulu instead and you'd be more than halfway back to Los Angeles!

On the way to Kure, we'll pass the  islands of Kauai and Niihau, the  western
edge of inhabitation, and  then have a  long open ocean  run past Nihoa,  the
last of the islands with a Hawaiian name.  400 km (250 miles) later, we reach
Necker Island,  393  miles from  Honolulu.   Necker  begins  an  increasingly
austere series of classic desert islands  until Midway is  reached.  A  large
military base until 1993, Midway is being  returned to its native state as  a
national wildlife refuge.  From Midway, it's about 60 miles further on to our
final destination Kure, the northernmost coral atoll in the world.

(Browse to http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/haw_formation.html to find  out
more about the Hawaiian islands and how they formed.  Kure is a Hawaii  State
Wildlife   Refuge    and    more    can    be    learned    about    it    at
http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/about/kure.php.)

In the past, some DXpeditioners to Kure first flew to Midway via military  or
tour aircraft and then took a  boat to Kure.   (There is  a landing strip  at
Kure  from  the  Coast  Guard  LORAN  station  days,  but  it  is  no  longer
maintained.) These  flights  are no  longer  available, unfortunately.    The
expense of chartered aircraft ruled out that option, so it will be a sailor's
life for  us  on board  the  Machias.    This name  should  ring  a  bell  to
aficionados  of  Pacific   DX,  the  Machias   having  carried  the   Kingman
Reef/Palmyra expedition in 2000.  Once  again, Cap'n Bill  Austin will be  in
charge of a cargo of wild-eyed hamsters in hot pursuit of DX!

Our captain estimates that the trip will  take about 9 days from Honolulu  to
Kure, aided by the trade winds.  Weather at this time of year is expected  to
be mild.  You can keep an eye on Kure weather at
www.weatherforyou.com/weather/hawaii/midway+island+naval+air+facility.html

Coming back we'll have to add another day or two; a total of 19 or more  days
at sea.  We'll all be an old salt (or maybe just smell like one) by the  time
we get back to the land of the hula  girls and ukelele.  "Ahoy mateys,  we're
listenin' up five we are and  we takes no prisoners!" Browse  to the K7C  Web
site for photos of the Machias.

During the voyage,  we hope to  be active as  K7C/mm on  the HF  bands.   The
success of this  phase of the  operation depends on  how we can  best rig  an
antenna aboard the Machias.  Operating at sea will be  by-guess-and-by-golly,
but if the 6-watt, battery-powered rig of LI2B aboard the balsa raft Kon-Tiki
(Thor Heyerdahl's pioneering adventure in 1947)  could maintain contact  with
North America as it floated westward from South America, then I suspect  that
we can, too.

This sounds like quite a voyage, doesn't it? We'll set sail on September 15th
and won't be seen again for a month!  Nevertheless, we'll have all of you  to
keep us company through the magic of ham radio.  See you on the bands!

H.  Ward Silver, N0AX                                          19 August 2005
K7C Team Member             K7C Web site: http://www.cordell.org/htdocs/KURE/






         ,-~~-.___.
        / |  '     \
       (  )         0
        \_/-, ,----'
           ====           //
          /  \-'~;    /~~~(O)
         /  __/~|   /       |
       =(  _____| (_________|
______________________________

    Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ
        425 DX News Editor
     e-mail: i1jqj at 425dxn.org
      http://www.425dxn.org


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

                         >>> 425 DX NEWS - NEW SEARCH TOOL <<<

Leonardo Lastrucci, IZ5FSA  has developed a software which allows to query the
425 DX News Archive  maintained on www.ariscandicci.it from the PacketCluster.
The command is SH/425 [text], where [text] should be replaced with a callsign,
a IOTA Reference number, Island name, Antarctica Base, Lighthouse, etc.