[OKDXA] Heard Island rescheduled to January 2015 due to cost

[W5LE]

Sorry to hear this, but makes perfect sense, if the DXpedition costs 
were spiraling out of control.
A DXpedition of longer duration is certainly desirable, as is the cost 
effectiveness of a newly-restructured
DXpedition.  I just hate that I have to wait an additional year for an 
ATNO.  Maybe I'll get lucky and a Bouvet Island DXpedition will 
materialize in the interim!
See you in the pileups.
Gene



On 5/13/2013 12:49 PM, Bert Aaron wrote:
> The following announcement posed on Cordell.org web site:
>
> 15 May 2013 PROJECT RESCHEDULING AND RESTRUCTURING
>
> We wish to announce that the expedition to Heard Island has been rescheduled
> for January, 2015. The primary reason for this decision was the cost of
> using the preferred vessel, the Marion Dufresne to put the team on Heard
> Island for the required time. In spite of extensive negotiations and
> rescheduling of the cruise, it became clear that the cost of using this
> vessel will exceed $1 million, and therefore the total cost for the project
> would be about $1.5 million, as we noted earlier. In spite of our plan to
> increase the team size to 50 (which the M-D can accommodate) to partially
> cover this cost, we reluctantly concluded that sponsorship at this level
> would be impossible. We have therefore decided to delay the expedition to
> January, 2015, to allow more time to restructure the project, locate a more
> suitable vessel, and bring the cost more in line with projected available
> resources.
>
> One benefit of this rescheduling will be to enable the mountain science team
> to carry out the exploration of Big Ben on the 50th anniversary of the first
> ascent (in 1965). The 3000-meter volcano on Mawson Peak is currently
> erupting, and study of the changes brought by this eruption will be safe and
> significant during the 2015 season. A major component of the expedition will
> be to document the effects of the eruption, the state and condition of the
> flanking glaciers, and the changes in evanescent lagoons on the east slopes
> of the mountain.
>
> A second benefit of the restructuring is that we will plan for amateur radio
> operations to be carried out over a longer time, up to 30 or more days.
> Furthermore, the campsite will be located on the east side of Heard Island,
> enabling paths to areas of the world that were not accessible in the last
> operation (in 1997). With the requirement of the longer stay on Heard
> Island, we will be assembling a new radio team with operators who are highly
> experienced and dedicated to the challenge of activating Heard Island with
> the new project requirements.
>
> The third benefit of rescheduling is to have the time to develop
> sophisticated instrumentation and systems for state-of-the-art real-time
> communications with the expedition. We will have satellite links to enable
> real-time reporting of the radio log (using a new version of DXA, which was
> successfully used on previous DXpeditions (K7C and TX5K). In addition, we
> plan to implement real-time interactive communications and reporting from
> the mountaineering team as they explore the volcano, and to enable
> scientific and educational groups to work interactively with the onsite
> team.
>
> The budget for the restructured project will likely be significantly less
> than $500k. We plan for a total team of 12-15 persons, and we will solicit
> team members with experience, motivation, and multiple skills. Except for
> the organizing principals, we are starting anew to build the team for this
> very different mission. We will work to keep the cost to participants below
> $15k, and will expect the team to work together to find support and make the
> appropriate preparations. Safety will be paramount.
>
> We will post an update on 15 June 2013, including an updated Project
> Description (under DOCUMENTS). For more information, please contact Dr.
> Robert Schmieder, KK6EK Organizer and Expedition leader, Schmieder (a)
> cordell.org, or Rich Holoch, KY6R, Co-planner rholoch (a) comcast.com.We
> have posted updates on the expedition website www.heardisland.org
>
>
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