VP6R - Pitcairn Island - News

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VP6R Pitcairn Island DX Pedition News

More Progress to Report:

Our nine Flex radio stations arrived at K9CT's QTH, all packed in Pelican cases. Each case contains a Flex 6700, power supply, foot switch, headset, and necessary accessories.

Our station laptops have also been updated and loaded. All that is needed is the entry of YOUR call.

The ACOM 1500 amps are scheduled to arrive in three days.

Stay tuned!

Information from Ralph Fedor, K0IR.

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VP6R - Pitcairn Island Update
By K0IR, Ralph Fedor
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Nine of the fourteen VP6R Pitcairn Island DXpedition team members (N4GRN, W8HC, K9NW, K9CT, WB9Z, W0GJ, K0PC, W0VTT, and K0IR) met in Peoria, IL this [past] weekend. They selected the equipment they need, removed it from the ill-fated 40 foot Bouvet [3Y0Z) container, and placed it in their new 20 footer. That container is now ready to be sealed and begin its truck, rail, and sea journey to get the gear to Pitcairn Island in October.

Included in the container are several boxes of supplies and tools for the residents of Pitcairn. The team members also took a collection among themselves to purchase some entertaining and educational gifts for the children who live on Pitcairn Island.

Images from the weekend are available on the News & Updates page of their website, https://pitcairndx.com/news-and-updates/. The team wishes to thank everyone who is helping to make this happen.

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VP6R Pitcairn Island News
May 24, 2019: Yesterday marked another major logistical waypoint in the Pitcairn Island DXpedition. After verifying that we had all our equipment packed, our container was locked and a U.S. Customs seal applied. A crane then lifted the container on a truck for transportation to a Chicago railhead. From Chicago, the container will go by rail to the East Coast and from there by container ship to Tauranga, New Zealand where its contents will go aboard the RV Braveheart in mid August.

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With our packing complete and our sea container on its way to New Zealand, we can now turn our attention to more operational issues of the Pitcairn Island DXpedition.

Propagation, and particularly propagation to Europe, is very important to us. The images below depict predicted propagation between VP6R and several geographical regions in Europe. We can use these as "starting points" for predicting when and on what bands we have the best chances of completing QSO's with Europe.

More propagation information will be forthcoming on our website. We promise to try and be there for you --- no matter when you may be on the planet.

The VP6R Pitcairn Island DXpedition Team
www.pitcairndx.com

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When it rains, it pours. The demands of time and business obligations have claimed one more of our DXpedition team members. Jim, N9TK, has also had to drop out. Jim has contributed an enormous amount of time, energy, and materials to the Pitcairn trip. We will miss him.

In Jim's place we welcome an old friend and fellow traveler, Hawk - SM5AQD. Hawk brings another voice and set of ears tuned to Europe. In addition, Hawk is a great person and terrific operator. Welcome aboard, Hawk.

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VP6R News 22 July 2019
The European DX Foundation is one of the premier DX organizations of Europe. They are meticulous in their vetting of DXpeditions; requiring ethics and appropriateness in QSL'ing, log uploading, DXpedition planning, team members, and equipment to name a few of their standards.

We, the members of the Pitcairn Island DXpedition, are pleased to have their support. Thank you, EUDXF!

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VP6R Pitcairn Island News 24 July 2019.
Say hello to our other new team member -- Allan, EA3HSO. Allan brings the zeal, interest, and energy of a new DXpeditioner along with a background of pileup management and technical skills. Allan will be taking the place of Jerry, WB9Z, who developed some serious knee problems.

It is always a thrill to bring new people into our team. When they come with the background and personality of Allan, well, it doesn't get any better.

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VP6R - Pitcairn Island DXpedition News 15 August 2019.

All of the Pitcairn Island DXpedition's (VP6R) gear is now aboard the Braveheart; antennas, generators, fuel, coax, radios, amplifiers, computers, personal luggage everything!
The vessel will depart New Zealand early next week and not return until late April or early May.

Our gear will be on Pitcairn before we are. The Braveheart will offload our equipment on Pitcairn on September 6th. It will be stored safe, dry, and ready for us when we arrive on approximately October 17. We will depart on approximately October 31. The team is elated that we've cleared this hurdle.

We have some financial challenges ahead of us, and if you'd consider helping us meet them, that would be super. Whatever the case, we will do this thing and let's have some fun.

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The RV Braveheart stopped at Pitcairn Island on September 6. After waiting out a torrential rain, the crew unloaded all of the VP6R DXpedition team's gear. Everything for the upcoming October Dxpedition is now ashore on Pitcairn and safely stored.

When the roads dry out everything will be moved to the team's station sites. This will save the team lots of time and enable us to get on the air faster. All we need to take ashore when we arrive in October will be our personal bags.

The team also has the official VP6R license in hand. In due time we will get photos of the unloading operation on our website and Facebook pages.

73 --
Ralph - K0IR

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VP6R Pitcairn Island DX Pedition News 17 September 2019.
As planned, our gear is now safely stowed at our primary operating site on Pitcairn Island. It's ready for us to unpack and start assembling stations as soon as we arrive. Here are some images of "our stuff."