upcoming VP8 information

[Michael Bill]

From one of the Arizona guys going on the upcoming VP8 dxpeditions, Ned AA7A

I thought I would publish some info on the upcoming South Sandwich and South Georgia operations. As you all likely know, I will be a member of the team that puts these two Top Ten countries on the air over the next few months. We will be on the air 10 days at South Sandwich and 7 days for South Georgia. Here is the latest schedule:

January 9th, Late Evening depart Stanley for KEP South Georgia.
January 14th, 2016 arrive KEP. Obtain customs inspection and clearance.
January 14th, 2016 depart KEP for Southern Thule Island (South Sandwich)
January 17th, 2016 arrive Southern Thule Island. Begin off loading and camp set up.
January 18th, 2016 complete camp set up. Begin radio operations.
January 28th, conclude radio operations, tear down camp, load Braveheart.
January 28th, depart Southern Thule for Husvik Bay,  South Georgia Island.
February 1st, arrive Husvik Bay South Georgia. Set up camp near Manager’s Hut, begin radio operations.
February 8th, 2016, conclude radio operations, load Braveheart. Begin voyage to Stanley.
February 14th, Braveheart arrives in Stanley. Team off loads personal equipment.
February 15th. Team activates Falkland Islands on all bands
February 21st, Team members start travel home.

As one of my assignments on this team, I have conducted a propagation study from these remote islands to all major population (and financial contributor) centers. Here is my assessment of the best times to look for us in Phoenix at these two exotic DXCC sites:

VP8STI, South Sandwich - 18 to 28 January
160, 80, 40 and 30 during common darkness period from 0040 to 0537Z
20 m 2300Z to 0900Z
17 m 2200Z to 0400Z
15 m 1400Z to 1600Z and then 2100Z to 0200Z
12 m 1400Z to 0100Z
10 m 1500Z to 2300Z
Best bands/times is 15 meters at 0030Z and 17 meters at 0145Z.

VP8SGI, South Georgia - 1 to 8 February
160, 80, 40 and 30 during common darkness period from 0045 to 0825Z
20 m 2300Z to 1000Z
17 m 2200Z to 0400Z and 1300Z to 1800Z
15 m 1400Z to 0300Z
12 m 1400Z to 0100Z
10 m 1500Z to 2200Z
Best band/time is 15 meters at 0000Z.

Clearly, these locations are within the polar cap and propagation will be degraded during periods of disturbed conditions. When the A-index is low (less than 10, we should be loud on the HF bands (20 to 10). LF conditions are very hard to predict, so check often.

I will be shoving off in a few days. I took a similar journey to Kingman Reef back in the 2000. I say it was similar because I was on a boat out of sight of land for a long time and away from my family even longer. After my return from that trip I swore I would not take another long boat ride again. Obviously, something has gone wrong and here I am again heading out on another, even longer boat ride. 

I was at REI a few months ago selecting an Arctic-grade sleeping bag for this trip. The salesman was some ultra-fit dude who looked like he just finished his commute to work on his mountain bike from Flagstaff, or something. He asked what I was going to do with this cold-weather bag. I then proceeded to tell him my story. He pondered my missive for a moment and then said: "Why are YOU going?". My wife, Jan, who was with me at the store stopped what she was doing and moved in closer to the salesman and me in order to hear my answer.

73 and see you all from the other side.
Ned
AA7A

p.s. My answer to the REI dude was "It is a fantastic opportunity to go to several of the most exotic places on the planet to do the things you that make you the happiest".