VK9NT are operating a DX-pedition to Norfolk Island at the moment, from the 3rd to the 12th of this month. They are intending on Saturday to try to activate the highest point on the island, which is a SOTA summit, VK9/NO-001. Hopefully this will happen, and they will put an alert up when they are able to confirm when they will be able to head up.
I understand that they’ll operate on 20 and 40m. Don’t know about modes at the moment, but they do have a number of CW guys with them.
Sounds interesting. Worth keeping half an eye on the DXpedition’s news page at http://vk9nt.odxg.org/news/default.html I guess. The entry for May 2nd talks about a KX3 for SOTA activations, so CW seems likely…
There have now been 2 activations of VK9/NO-001 with Wayne VK3WAM having an S2S contact with the VK9 guys from VK3/VC-025. According to info from SOTA-VK, the VK9 guys were running a KX3 @ 10 W. Antenna was a dipole up high in trees.
Seems I should have tried staying awake a little longer. I might have been able to hear them once they moved away from the 14.275 howling zone, though I expect contact from my QTH would still have been tricky.
I forsee a little callsign suffix confusion creeping in, with some spots saying /VK9 and others just /9.
Their signal into Spain was good but I heard no G’s responding so it might have been a skip too far. At least you got your beauty sleep!
For CW the local regulatory authority recommends “VK3AFW/9” as the preferred format and on voice “VK3AFW portable Norfolk Island”. “VK3AFW portable VK9” would be OK except that there are three different geological areas involved. Given we know that VK9/NO-001 is on Norfolk Is and that’s where the Dxpedition is I doubt that the use of /VK9 is much of an issue, especially when it comes to spotting where brevity is essential.
I think they enjoyed their QRP outing so maybe they will be back before they pack up. I hope so. I’m not sure if they tried 15 m but it wasn’t much chop here. After working them on 20 m and seeing them working away steadily I went out for a walk so whether they tried 40 I also don’t know.
In reply to AX3AFW:
I think one outcome of today is that it might be best for SOTA DX-peditions to avoid advertising in the DX community. I know that this is a DX-pedition with a SOTA activation on the side, so it is a bit different.
If I’m activating, I want to work s2s and then SOTA chasers. The rest, especially people wanting to work the location but are not interested in SOTA are down the priority list.
For DX-peditions, s2s and many SOTA chasers are going to get crowded out by the kilowatt alley big DX guns, as shown today by big stations chasing the contacts, even though they were not using the VK9NT call. I reckon I was quite lucky to get in with my s2s, and it really was only because they changed frequency. I think otherwise, I stood no chance.
of /VK9 is much of an issue, especially when it comes to spotting where brevity is essential.
The problem probably only comes when logs in the database don’t match and folks don’t get their “contact confirmed” asterisks (unless the database checking is now ignoring suffixes?).
I think they enjoyed their QRP outing so maybe they will be back before they pack up. I hope so.
I hope so too.
I’m not sure if they tried 15 m but it wasn’t much chop here.
It was pretty dead here too.
whether they tried 40 I also don’t know.
Given the distances involved, I’d not think 40 metres would have been much use to them unless they stayed up there well after dark. It certainly wasn’t any much use for DX from VK6 when I was there a week or three back; no serious DX propagation during daylight hours, and swamped by the northern neighbours’ broadcast stations after dark. Worked very nicely as a daytime band within VK6 though.
unless the database checking is now ignoring suffixes?
It always has. Well it has always tried to
Whether the algorithm is correct is debatable. Having just looked (hey I’ve fixed a USB3 bug so I’m having a breather) the code may have issues with any call that has more than one ‘/’ in it. It was written to support UK format calls only and I think I need to get the programming Brasso out and give that little bit of code a good polishing!
the code may have issues with any call that has more than one ‘/’ in it.
I vaguely remember having had trouble somewhere along the line. That might have been it. Of course, other log matching sites take alternative approaches, which adds to the confusion.
I’ve had a quick eyeball skim of the activations I’ve chased. Most seem to have a /P suffix. A handful have no suffix. A fair few have a country prefix, usually combined with a /P suffix. Then there are a few oddballs; some using a country suffix, and one or two using a double suffix like /1/P.
As a chaser I’ve used /P and /M as suffixes and a variety of country codes as prefixes. Had I been successful in chasing any summits from VK6 I’d also have had entries with a country suffix.
I’m sure there are other ways to confuse things in use out there that I’ve yet to meet.
get the programming Brasso out and give that little bit of code a good polishing!
In reply to M0LEP:
Great opening yesterday on 20m 0600-0700z. Will be on 14.260 plus. Very windy today so cx will be a little harder. Hiked up to summit this am and ant still in air but need to repair feed line. Fingers crossed its still in air when we get there at 0500z. Will be qrv for EU and NA again. Pls note we will be on summit after sunset so it will be using torches to tear down antenna and hike home - will stay as long as we can but dont want to be on summit if wx changes after dark. Great qso yesterday into EA8 with 2w from the summit. Chris VK3QB/VK9
I hope you had a successful second activation. I heard VK folks working on the spotted frequency, but even they were around the noise floor, and the loud and wide european stations above and below din’t help. However, looking at other spots around the same time it’s possible you had a chance of more summit-to-summit contacts with other VK associations.
It was great to work yourself and VK3CBV Brenton today S2S from VK3/VC-018 to VK9/NO-001
Only running 5W from the FT817 so was very happy when the home stations gave room and we made the contact.
In reply to VK3QB:
Thanks for the contacts today, recalling memories of the VK9NA operation on Mt Pitt in 2011 with cyclonic winds… thanks for fitting in some SOTA contacts into your schedule. 20m sounded pretty hot this afternoon.
73 Andrew VK2UH/VK1DA
