May 12,
2023
VP6A will
be on the air from Ducie Island (OC-182) from June 10 to June 24, 2023
(actual dates
will be subject to WX). There will be five stations on the air on all
bands
from 160 to 6 meters, working CW, SSB and FT8.
Following
the successful test of remote operations at FO/AA7JV, where over 11,000
remotely operated QSOs were made by five remote operators, VP6A will
apply this
concept to a full rare island DXPedition.
A total of 14 operators based in North American, Europe and Asia
will
operate land based remote controlled stations around the clock. There
will only
be three local operators at Ducie: W6IZT, KN4EEI and AA7JV. This small
team
will set up and maintain the stations and operate locally from the
nearby boat.
They will visit the island once a day to refuel the generators and do
any
necessary maintenance. In line with the
minimum foot-print concept, there will be no camping on the island.
This will
be the first full DXpedition utilizing the RIB concept that features a
large
number of remote operators with a small footprint on a remote island. Four RIBs (Radio In a Box) will provide a
total of 5 stations capable of 24/7 operation on 10 bands.
The RIBs
feature complete stations capable of up to 1 kW in a weather-tight
housing that
allow remote operation. These RIBs were
developed with support from Northern California DX Foundation. The goal
is to
enable a new, minimum impact operating mode for environmentally
sensitive
areas. RIBs also speed up the installation of stations. This will
enable our
small three-person team to build the five stations, including antennas,
in a
relatively short time.
All
donations should be made to the Northern California DX Foundation. (www.ncdxf.org)
Ducie
island is No 56 on ClubLog’s most wanted list.
On the 6 meter band it is No. 26, therefore given we will be
active
during the E season, a special focus will be placed on 6 meter
operation with
gain antennas and a power amplifier.
Additional
details and the list of operators, as well as regular updates will be
posted on
the VP6A QRZ.com page.
AA7JV