KH8 American Samoa Activation Coming Up

Hi SOTA Folks:

Just a heads up that Joyce K0JJW and I will be visiting American Samoa KH8 from May 27 to June 9. This started out as a trip to visit the US National Park there. Of course, I noticed there were summits on the islands but no SOTA Association. So now I am the Association Manager, go figure. The SOTA Management Team did a great job of setting up this Association. In particular, Simon Melhuish did the data wrangling, and I filled in with some text for the ARM.

Many of you know we generally limit our SOTA activity to frequencies above 50 MHz (Height Above Average Terrain, and all that.) However, we will make an exception for KH8 and break out the HF gear. We will operate as KH8/K0NR and KH8/K0JJW using 20m thru 10m on SSB, FT8 & FT4, using an IC-705 with 10 watts to wire antennas.

We should have basic internet connectivity, so we will post Alerts and Spots on SOTAwatch.

We are also looking for skeds with local operators on 6m and 2m (any mode). Email: kh8@k0nr.com

Off the summits, we will likely activate American Samoa National Park (AS-0001) for POTA with a bit more power. We may also activate KH8, outside the park, time permitting. I refer to this as a Slacker DXpedition.

QSL via LoTW only (and SOTA database, of course).

We hope to work you from the only US territory south of the equator.

73 Bob KH8/K0NR

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any CW during this SOTA activation ?

With 10 watts, CW probably be necessary. Also, American Samoa, Tutuila island is an IOTA island. So you may attract even more callers.
73,
John, K6YK

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Sorry, no CW.
20m thru 10m on SSB, FT8 & FT4

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KH8 is the most Southerly association in the US, with reverse seasons, so SSB with ten watts is going to be interesting. Which peaks are you focusing on, Bob? I’d like to add info about car rental, hotels and restaurants on a few resource pages, since we left that out of the ARM.

Elliott, K6EL

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At this point, these summits look most promising:

Matafao Peak – KH8/TI-001
Mount Alava – KH8/TI-003
Olotele Mountain KH8/TI-004
Tumu Mountain – KH8/MI-003

I plan to populate the SOTAdata website with links and notes, probably during or after the trip, when I have personal experience with it.

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Hi Bob,
will you consider sotamat for posting spots (it’s a given since you plan to use FT8) as a backup in case internet connectivity is absent?

Wei AG6AQ

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Yes. Good idea.