[OKDXA] KO8SCA/MM on the Marama

[Tim Duffy]

3Y0J Bouvet Island 2023 Update:
I had a very nice Satellite Radio call with 3Y0J Team Co-Leader Ken at 17:00 UTC today. First and foremost we always discuss the condition of the team members. Ken said they are all doing very well now. Some are no longer using the seasickness medications. Conditions at sea are now 30 knot winds with 2-3 meter waves. Ken said their location at that time was approximately 400 nautical miles from Bouvet Island. Their speed was about 8 knots. Ken estimates Marama should arrive at Bouvet on Monday evening just before sunset. He says he anticipates a good weather window for at least two days then. The team will attempt to move the equipment and supplies onto the island using the zodiac then. They have two zodiacs. They are hoping to accomplish it in those two days. 

For those of you who noticed that our Garmin GPS stopped tracking halfway through Day 9 at 11:57 PM, and also indicated Low Batt, we certainly noticed that too. Adrian charges the Garmin every night so that is not the issue. I downloaded the manual and texted sections that might apply like doing a soft reset, or if there was a low power mode it may have switched to. None of that helped. So it could be an anomaly of being in the most remote place on Earth. Not everything is going to work there. You will see that the Garmin continues to lay down Day marker flags. If you left click them they give you the date, time, latitude and longitude. 

I asked Ken how the team is spending their time as they get closer to Bouvet. They are having meetings and making preparations for the landing operation. They are also enjoying working many if you on the radio. This keeps them from being bored, gives them some practice to keep them sharp, and give you an opportunity to see how the propagation is from that part of the world to your stations. Ken had originally told me they had dipoles for just 17m & 20m they would use for maritime mobile operation, but they are using the Elecraft K3’s internal tuner with 100 watts and doing other bands too. I’ve seen spots for them on 10, 12 15, 17, & 20 meters CW & SSB. Ken said there is very low noise on 10 & 12 meters. They are having excellent receive there. 

Thank you to everyone who re-tweeted my tweet, or sent their own tweet, to @elonmusk requesting his help in getting Starlink internet coverage for Bouvet Island if we don’t get signal there when the terminal is set up. I haven’t heard from “Mr. Tweet” directly, yet but word has made it to Spacex, the parent company of Starlink, that we may need help. It’s still in the beginning stages at this point. Hopefully I will have more to report to you on this soon. 

Thank you all for following the 3Y0J Adventure!
73,
Steve N2AJ
Media Officer & NA East Coast Pilot
3Y0J Bouvet Island 2023 DXpedition

-----Original Message-----
From: okdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:okdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Geiger
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2023 4:35 PM
To: Jeff Martin; Oklahoma DX Association
Subject: Re: [OKDXA] KO8SCA/MM on the Marama

Any idea when they should be QRV from the island?73 John AF5CC Sent via the Samsung Galaxy A10e, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: Jeff Martin <jeffk5we at gmail.com> Date: 1/28/23  3:17 PM  (GMT-06:00) To: Oklahoma DX Association <okdxa at mailman.qth.net> Subject: [OKDXA] KO8SCA/MM on the Marama Now it's Adrian KO8SCA/MM on the Marama in route to Bouvet...Now on 21.021 listening up 1...73,Jeff - K5WE______________________________________________________________OKDXA mailing listHome: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxaHelp: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htmPost: mailto:OKDXA at mailman.qth.netThis list hosted by: http://www.qsl.netPlease help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
______________________________________________________________
OKDXA mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:OKDXA at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html