Steve, et al:
I also found this blurb on K3EL's blog:
http://k3el.wordpress.com/
"One of the conditions of our landing permit is that we are off-island
during the hours of darkness – we will return to the boat at night. So,
don’t expect to hear us on the air between approx. 1000-1500 UTC.
Exceptions may be made if, for example, bad weather makes a safe return
to the boat impossible – so if you do hear ZL9HR on at night, don’t
assume it’s a pirate, we’re probably just stranded due to wx and happily
taking advantage of the low band propagation."
By chance I have a copy of the 9V1YC produced ZL9CI video which I had
never bothered to watch (I was saving it in case I ever needed it for a
radio club meeting program). I just watched the video and they mention
that they were restricted from being on the island from local midnight
to 5:30 AM local which is roughly consistent with the 1000-1500 UTC
restriction mentioned above (ZL9CI took place in January which may
explain some of the difference). For the ZL9CI expedition, the zodiak
trip from the boat to the docking site took just a few minutes and the
meteorological station buildings were only a short walk from the zodiac
docking site. These restrictions should allow for ~ 80 minutes of
operating time from local sunset until mandatory departure. On the ZL9
sunrise side folks in central California will have a brief shot during
mutual "twilight" (wouldn't you know that Los Angeles misses mutual
darkness by a few minutes :-( ).
73, Mike W4EF......................
On 11/25/2012 5:16 PM, wb6rse1@mac.com wrote:
On Nov 25, 2012, at 4:43 PM, Michael Tope wrote:
http://k3el.wordpress.com/dx/zl9hr/propagation/
"2. Operating times -- It is a condition of our operating permit that we leave
the island during the hours of darkness.
_______
All: Thanks for the comments on and off list. Mike, W4EF, found the definitive
caveats as noted above. It's been so long since ZL9 has been QRV that I didn't
recall the restrictions. As far as 160/80 are concerned, we can only hope they
can stay QRV for some time after their sunset before having to leave for the
night. And/or that the wx is just enough to keep them overnight but otherwise
not severe.
Past operations I know of:
ZL4LR/A 1978
ZL9AMO et al 1988
ZL9DX & K8VIR/ZL9 1997
ZL9CI 1999
Good hunting all.
Steve WB6RSE
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Topband reflector - topband@contesting.com
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Topband reflector - topband@contesting.com
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