VP6A Team will be active from Ducie Island, IOTA OC - 182, 10 - 24 June 2023.
Team - W6IZT, KN4EEI, AA7JV and they will use also RIB.
Recent DX Spots VP6A
VP6A Log search Remote operators - 9V1YC, AA1V, AA7A, CT1EEB, KY7M, KO8SCA, K1DG, K6GFJ, K6TD, K6MM, ND2T, N1DG, PY5EG, W1RM, W8HC.
They will operate on 160 - 6m, CW, SSB, FT8.
QSL via HA7RY.
DXCC Country - Ducie Island, VP6/D.
VP6A Ducie Island News 26 June 2023
Ducie Island Wrapup Report:
In 2018, on Baker Island in scorching heat, exhausted operators spent a day dismantling 11 tents, 12 antennas, 5 generators, radios, computers, Ethernet stretching hundreds of feet, desks, chairs and trash and hauled it all back to the boat.
On the voyage back to Fiji we wondered if there wasn’t a better way.
With funding from the Northern California DX Foundation George Wallner, AA7JV, put together a team to create that new way. Welcome to the RIB (Radio in a Box). VP6A was the first full deployment of the RIB on a rare location.
On 24 July at 16:00 UTC, VP6A went QRT after making just under 62,000 QSOs of which 24%, 15,000 were unique calls. DXCC was obtained on 6 bands.
There were 4 stations on the island. One used by AA7JV, W6IZT and KN4EEI on the boat and 3 others operatated by 34 remote operators from 11 countries. Those operators were: 9V1YC, AA1V, AA7A, CT1BOH, CT1EEB, CT1ILT, DJ4MX, F6EXV, JN1THL, KC1KUG, KY7M, KD4Z, KL7YL, KO8SCA, K1DG, K4NHW, K6GFJ, K6TD, K6UFO, KL2A, K6MM, ND2T, N1DG, N2IC, OH2BH, PB8DX, PY5EG, VE4EA, VE5MX, VK3GK, W0GJ, W1RM, W1VE, and W8HC.
Some stats:
Set Up Time: Radios 1, 2 and RIB2 4 hours. Radio 3 on the third day.
Tear Down: 1 hr 50 min to off the island.
Total Op Time: 13 1/2 days.
Total Fuel Used: 80 gallons = 0.0013 gallons / QSO (5 ml/QSO)
Attached are two pictures. The first with our fully deployed station. The second 2 hours later.
Mother Nature and satellite latency threw us curve balls but we are extremely happy with the final result.
We hope our audience is too.
See you from our next location.
The VP6A Team
VP6A Ducie Island News 23 June 2023 Part 2
For immediate release,
Ducie Island, June 23, 2023
After 60,000+ QSOs, the VP6A Ducie Radio RIB experiment will come to a close at 16:00 UTC 24 June 2023.
More operational details to follow.
73,
George,
AA7JV and the VP6A team.
VP6A Ducie Island News 23 June 2023
I was calling CQ from 0200 to 0230, but only had one caller.
At the same time I heard OK1CF calling CQ. There seems to be a path to EU from VP6 around that time.
I will be on 1827.5 again at 0200 to 0230 (Jun 23) and then for NA at 1000 Z .
GL and 73,
George
VP6A
VP6A Ducie Island News 17 June 2023
VP6A will be on TB for the for some of the time of the SP contest. Local SS is around 0230 Z and SR is around 1500 Z. Common darkness with EU will be very short, just after my SS. I will be listening for EU callers from .
There will be plenty of common darkness with EU and JA.
CU in the contest,
George,
VP6A
VP6A Ducie Island News 16 June 2023
Ducie Island, June 16, 2023
VP6A is on the air with four stations. We have started with two remotely operated FT8 stations and one locally operated CW/SSB station. The remote FT8 operation is going well with over 20,000 QSO-s in the log. The local CW and SSB operation has been serious curtailed by the difficult conditions we are operating under.
When we arrived at Ducie, the entrance to the lagoon, where it is easy and safe to land -- and where past DXpeditions were operating from -- was completely blocked by huge crashing waves. We have established a very precarious hold for the boat on the exposed north shore and landed the RIB boat across the rocky bars and surf.
The three of us -- KN4EEI, W6IZT and AA7JV -- have been working hard to keep the boat safe and to keep the stations operating. We have only a limited time to operate the local SSB/CW station. We understand that demand for CW and SSB is high. We have just brought on the air the fourth station, which is a remotely operated CW station. We hope this will be able to satisfy the demand for more CW operations.
We continue hanging on under difficult conditions. Forecasts indicate favorable weather for the next two days, followed by some very strong NW winds and the passage of a cold front. This will require us to relocate for one or two days. Once the front has passed, we will be able to return to the north shore, hopefully for the rest of the operation.
This is an entirely self-funded DXpedition, mainly to prove that remote operation is possible with a small support team and a minimal footprint. As environmental restrictions increase, this may be the only future way to activate many much wanted entities. We appreciate the support of the Amateur Radio community in our efforts.
George,
AA7JV VP6A Team.
VP6A Ducie Island News 14 June 2023
VP6A now has over 17,000 QSOs, and still have to build 1 more station.
80 and 160 are not productive yet, noisy and CW CQs draw no responses to date. But we will keep at it. Hope to have 6 and 60 running by the weekend.
VP6A.
VP6A Ducie Island News 13 June 2023
VP6A Ducie Island suggested TX freqs:
CW 1827.5, 3527, 7027, 10103, 14027, 18079, 21027, 24897, 28027 and 50105 KHz
SSB 3760, 7082, 14210, 18130, 21285, 24932 and 28485 KHz.
FT8 1840, 3567, 5357, 7056, 10131, 14088, 18095, 21091, 24911, 28091 and 50313 KHz
VP6A Ducie Island News 12 June 2023 Part 2
VP6A DX Pedition to Ducie Island start activity.
VP6A Ducie Island News 12 June 2023
VP6A Team hoping to be QRV by 2300Z today, 12 June 2023.
VP6A Ducie Island News 8 June 2023
The VP6A operation is delayed due to bad weather on the island.
Expected arrival is now June 11 with setup starting that day.
VP6A Team.
VP6A Ducie Island News 11 May 2023
Announcement
Ducie Island – Ground Breaking Remote Operation DXpedition to a Rare Entity
May 12, 2023
VP6A will be on the air from Ducie Island (OC-182) from June 10 to June 24, 2023 (actual dates will be subject to WX). There will be five stations on the air on all bands from 160 to 6 meters, working CW, SSB and FT8.
Following the successful test of remote operations at FO/AA7JV, where over 11,000 remotely operated QSOs were made by five remote operators, VP6A will apply this concept to a full rare island DXPedition. A total of 14 operators based in North American, Europe and Asia will operate land based remote controlled stations around the clock. There will only be three local operators at Ducie: W6IZT, KN4EEI and AA7JV. This small team will set up and maintain the stations and operate locally from the nearby boat. They will visit the island once a day to refuel the generators and do any necessary maintenance. In line with the minimum foot-print concept, there will be no camping on the island.
This will be the first full DXpedition utilizing the RIB concept that features a large number of remote operators with a small footprint on a remote island. Four RIBs (Radio In a Box) will provide a total of 5 stations capable of 24/7 operation on 10 bands.
The RIBs feature complete stations capable of up to 1 kW in a weather-tight housing that allow remote operation. These RIBs were developed with support from Northern California DX Foundation. The goal is to enable a new, minimum impact operating mode for environmentally sensitive areas. RIBs also speed up the installation of stations. This will enable our small three-person team to build the five stations, including antennas, in a relatively short time.
VP6A Team.
Ducie Island
The island lies within a huge marine reserve with some of the most pristine coral reefs on earth. The reef there is a corner of unique nature, preserved unchanged to this day as it was thousands of years ago. In addition, Ducie is known as a nesting place for a number of interesting bird species. In particular, more than 90% of the world population of Murphy's petrel lives here.
From this tiny island all the way to Antarctica stretches an empty part of the ocean, in the middle of which is an oceanic pole of inaccessibility - the so-called Point Nemo. This area is used as a space debris dump
Ducie Island. Author - Marion McM.
Ducie Island. Author - Les Pearce.
