QSO - VP6T DXpedition - Pitcairn Islands

The mutiny on the Bounty, aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, was led by Fletcher Christian against the commanding officer, William Bligh. The mutineers subsequently settled on Pitcairn Island. The Bounty was later burned off Pitcairn Island to avoid detection and to prevent desertion. The descendants of some of the mutineers and Tahitians still live on Pitcairn island.

VP6T DX-PEDITION 2012
DATES = 20 JAN to 04 FEB 2012
DXCC ENTITY = Pitcairn Island
OPERATIONS = all 9 HF bands, 160-10 m.
WEBSITE = http://www.vp6t.org/

SOME DX-PEDITION INFORMATION FROM THE VP6T WEBSITE

PITCAIRN ISLAND:

The Pitcairn Islands group form the southeastern most extension of the geological archipelago of the Tuamotus of French Polynesia. It comprises the islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno.

Pitcairn, the only inhabited island, is a small volcanic outcrop of 5km² situated in the South Pacific. It is roughly 2170km (1350 miles) east south-east of Tahiti and just over 6600km (4100 miles) from Panama. The Islands' administrative headquarters are situated in Auckland New Zealand, 5310km (3300 miles) away. They belong to the United Kingdom by which it is administrated as an overseas territory.

DATES & OBJECTIVES:

20th January to 04th February 2012, DXCC entity = Pitcairn Island, all 9 HF bands, 160-10 m.

After their successful operation from French Polynesia in February 2010 as TX4T, three of the four operators, joined by two new operators, are pleased to announce a new major DXpedition to CQ Zone 32 and to the famous and mythical Pitcairn Island in the heart of the Pacific Ocean

This DX operation from Pitcairn has a target of more than 30,000 QSOs. With good propagation forecast for early 2012, efforts will be made to give this extremely rare entity to deserving DXers on as many bands as possible, but especially on the low bands. The rarity of VP6 ensures that all operators will be kept fully occupied during our nine full days on the island. We will be travelling there by boat. We are planning to have three stations active round-the-clock.

Travelling to Pitcairn is not easy. There are only limited travel opportunities to get there. January has been chosen as the optimum time for HF propagation to the major centres of amateur radio activity, at the heart of winter in the Northern hemisphere.

The principal objective is to offer DXers worldwide the chance to make at least one contact with this remote DXCC entity that hasn't seen any large-scale amateur DX-pedition operation for the past decade.

All nine HF bands will be activated to offer new band slots to the DXCC Challenge chasers. The team will make a particular effort to focus on contacts with Europe and the US East Coast. Openings to Europe will be short. We will pay special attention to sunrise and sunset times. We count on the discipline and fair play of US West Coast operators to give a chance to the propagation-challenged continents.


VP6T OPERATORS:

F6BEE -- Jacques - Prefers CW but also operates SSB and some RTTY. Prefered bands: all but 20 m.

G3TXF -- Nigel - Operating on DX-trips has primarily been on CW. As ever G3TXF is a keen supporter of LoTW (as well as a keen collector of QSLs!) and hopes that the full log for VP6T can be up-loaded either during the operation or immediately afterwards.

VE2TZT -- Gilles - prefers CW and low bands, especially the 160m band. His ham radio center of activity is around DX, contesting, fieldays and since TX4T: Dxpeditions.

FM5CD -- Michel - is proud and excited to be member of this new adventure ... he is sure that VP6T will be a rich and fun experience.

F4BKV -- Vincent - favorite mode is SSB, but also PSK31 and RTTY. VP6T will be the first part of a "Round the World" trip planned for five weeks in January/February 2012.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• VP6T
• Pitcairn Islands
• KF7ETX
• USNERDOC
• DX-pedition

[dmine45]

Thanks for sharing. I'm just now getting into HF and trying to decide what kind of antenna I want to get. This looks like a good one to research. Dave KK4GBC

[USNERDOC]

@dmine45 - I don't think you will regret checking out a Buddipole . . . lots of great resources are available for this great antenna.

[m0bob]

Pitcairn Islands is one of my best contacts, I worked it about 12 years ago on 40m. To my surprise I called out CQ and my call was answered by Betty Christian. I even have the QSL card :-)

[USNERDOC]

@m0bob - That is too cool!

[hinckleypoland]

Congrats on the QSO!

[USNERDOC]

@hinckleypoland - Thanks ;-)

[USNERDOC]

@111frak111 - It was absolutely cool to talk with the VP6T DX-pedition. I did add the HMS Bounty info above. Thanks!

[111frak111]

Pitcairn is one of the most remote places on Earth & home to the descendants of the HMS Bounty mutiny. Less than 70 people live there. Very cool to reach Pitcairn on your radio.

[scooter17568]

@USNERDOC Cool. Thought that was right. I need to dig in again and refresh my recollection.

[USNERDOC]

Thanks Rich for the input! Well, I have much to learn, including antenna details. Nine feet is max for this mast, although Buddipole has one that extends to 16 feet. My set-up was driven for portability and weight for travel / backpacking operations. It seems to be working well, however, I do need to learn more on antenna theory so I can optimize my operations. Bottom line, I am not sure about the radiation pattern but would welcome input!