3Y0Z - DX Pedition - News

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Some great ham friends seeing Jim Mornar and Jerry Rosalius off on their way to the airport towards Bouvet Island. — with Jerry Rosalius, Jerry Rosalius, Bob Jaconson, John Holmes, Mark May, Mike Kelly and Jim Mornar.
From Valerie Hotzfeld NV9L.

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Jan 9, 2018: The 3Y0Z team will be using a Garmin (formerly DeLorme)
In Reach SE satellite tracking device that will enable you to follow along with us and see our travel route on a near-real time map as we journey to the "Most Remote Place on Earth."

Hal, W8HC will activate an InReach SE when he leaves his WV QTH January 9th and will leave it "on" during the trip (while moving) until the team is on Bouvet Island.

This device uses Iridium satellite technology and is set to send a "way point" along the route every 30 minutes. These points will show up on our Bouvet "MapShare" website, as we travel to Chile and eastward on our vessel, the Betanzos on the 10-12 day journey across the South Atlantic, and onto our ultimate destination - Bouvet Island.

If all is working properly, and the device has good visibility with the satellites, our MapShare viewers will be able to see our current position, including GPS coordinates and speed. You will be able to enjoy the full resolution capabilities with Topo and Aerial view options provided and can toggle-in and toggle-out of the website's detailed Google map.

In addition to the MapShare, we will be using the InReach device to send messages along the way to provide updates and important information. These messages will show up on the MapShare route as small blue rectangular boxes, which viewers can click to read.

We will also have the option to post messages to our social media outlets- Facebook and Twitter.

Please bookmark our Bouvet MapShare website:
https://share.garmin.com/bouvet

We cordially invite you to "journey" with the 3Y0Z Team... follow along with us on this incredible DXpedition to Bouvet Island!

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Nodir, CE8/EY8MM Magdalena Island, Magallanes Region, Chile.

Penguins, Magdalena Island, Magallanes Region, Chile. Author - Nodir Tursun-Zade.





CE8/EY8MM. Magdalena Island, Magellanes Region, Chile. Author - Nodir Tursun Zade.

Magdalena Island, Chile. Author - Nodir Tursun Zade.

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3Y0Z DX Pedition Team hotel in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Hotel Punta Arenas, Chile. Author - Nodir Tursun Zade EY8MM.

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3Y0Z Bouvet 2018 on Ham Radio Now.
Hal Tourley W8HC is our tour guide for this preview of the 3Y0Z Bouvet Island DXpedition, where 20 top DXpeditioners will travel to the most remote spot of land on Earth to warm up from the brutal winter we're having in North America.

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The Bouvet Island DXpedition – 3YØZ

Press Release # 10

We recently reached yet another milestone in our quest to activate Bouvet Island. DAP, the Chilean company that owns and operates the M/V Betanzos and the helicopters has satisfied the last contractual requirements, prior to departure. We submitted to them a “fit for purpose” checklist with 120 items as part of our contract. They have satisfied all the checklist items, and we will be transferring almost ½ million US dollars to them in the next few days.

So, we are happy to report that we are on schedule for a January 13, 2018 departure to Bouvet Island, the World’s most isolated island and the number two most wanted DX entity. All team members will meet in Punta Arenas, Chile no later than January 10, 2018. We will attend a one and one-half day marine safety course, purchase last minute supplies and then fly across the Drake Passage to King George Island in the South Shetlands. There, we will board the newly refurbished Chilean vessel M/V Betanzos, and begin our 9 to 11-day voyage to Bouvet. The team feels confident knowing that the ship’s captain and many of the crew have been with the vessel for eight years, and have extensive Southern Ocean experience. The Captain reports he has previously been to Bouvet.

Sea ice has been reported along a direct route to Bouvet, and that may dictate we take a more northerly course, before turning East to approach Bouvet. That may add day or two to our transit time.

Our two helicopters have completed their 100-hour inspections, and are ready for service. There has been a thorough review of landing procedures and shelter and antenna layouts. We have three alternative anchoring systems to secure the shelters and antennas to the ice on the surface of Bouvet.

So, the plan remains unchanged. We will have two stations on every open band whenever humanly possible, gain and directional antennas where possible, high power stations and a propagation-driven operation. The primary modes will be CW, SSB and RTTY. FT8 will be utilized if it is the only productive mode. Anyone preparing to utilize FT8 must read the 3YØZ FT8 protocol on the Band Plan page of the DXpedition website.

Complete information on band plans and frequencies, propagation predictions and QSL procedures are available on the DXpedition website: www.bouvetdx.org. You will find strategically placed “donate” buttons if you want to help with our substantial costs. I hope you share in the excitement of this great undertaking. We anxious to get underway!

73,
Bob-K4UEE
Ralph-KØIR
Erling-LA6VM

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Video Bouvet Island
Team SubICE starting out a day drilling the first ever ice core on Bouvet Island, as part of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) Leg 3, 2017. The ice core will provide new information about past climate in the under-studied sub-Antarctic region.

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Pilots of 3Y0Z Bouvet Island DX Pedition:
Val, NV9L - Chief Pilot <3Y0Zpilot@gmail.com>.
Joe, JJ3PRT - Japan and Asia. <joeaoki@hi-ho.ne.jp>.
Bryant, KG5HVO - Youth Pilot and also pilot for Zones 16, 17, 18, 19. <3Y0Zyouthpilot@gmail.com>.
Tony, K2SG - North America. <3Y0ZPILOT@comcast.net>.
Siso, HK3W - South America. <hk3w.inf@gmail.com>.
Johan, ZS2I - Africa. <zs2i.johan@gmail.com>.
Steve, VK6VZ - VK, ZL, Oceania. <vk6vz.bouvet@gmail.com>.
Bjorn, ON9CFG - Europe. <ON9CFG@telenet.be>.

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The Bouvet Island DXpedition 3Y0Z team has been very busy. In the last week, we’ve had Skype conference calls with the CEO of our transportation company and with the captain of our ship. We can report that everything we can control is under control.

Our sea container is in Punta Arenas, and should be moving out of customs bond or may have already done so. We are gathering some additional last minute supplies to take as extra baggage, including ice screws, should we find ourselves camping on re-frozen melt areas on the glacier. We have finalized our shelter layouts, fuel calculations, maritime mobile antenna plans, and have assigned some duties relating to flight and cargo staging. The team members will all be taking a formal marine safety course before embarking.

Neither our transportation company nor the ship’s captain expressed any worries or concerns over the recent seismic activity near Bouvet.

And, yes, we are still struggling with he helicopter flying hours issue.

3Y0Z DX Pedition Team

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3Y0Z BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS.
Our DXpeditions Biggest Unknown:
How much will our helicopter flights cost us?
Helicopters are at once our wings and our Achilles' heel; a godsend for safety and access to the best operating site on Bouvet, but devilishly expensive to operate. They are essential to our success, safety, and making lots of QSO's from Bouvet. The more gear they can bring ashore, the more contacts we can make. Therefore, helicopters directly impact the number of all time new contacts we will deliver to you, the number of new band modes we can give you, and the overall number of contacts we make.
Our team members will underwrite the cost of getting all the basic and essential equipment ashore to enable us to do a good job on this DX- pedition. Whatever this costs us, we will do it. However, to do a great job and get ashore two antennas for every band, adequate fuel and gen- erators for full power 24/7, an amp on every radio, and a second shelter for operating, we must dig a little deeper to pay for those extra flying hours.
If you can help us buy a few more hours of flying time, you will put doing the best job possible firmly within our grasp. Please go to our
website: <www.bouvetdx.org> click on the News and Updates tab and help us if you can.
The 3Y0Z DXpedition Team