Recently I received some inquiries about VK9ML 160m operations.
At VK9ML four HF/MF radios will be available to cover nine frequency bands.
(A fifth transceiver will be beaconing on 6m.) We
are weight-constrained and must balance the weight of antennas, coax, radios,
food, water, gasoline, generators, and operators (and
duration of the trip) within the safe carrying capacity of our two boats.
Propagation forecasts suggest that, during six hours (mid-day for us on
Mellish), there will be 4 bands or fewer open to
anywhere. Conversely, during the 3-hour period from 1100-1400z all nine bands
are expected to be open. Our goal is to provide
DXers with a balanced opportunity to work Mellish Reef on each of the bands,
with particular attention paid to the most challenging
areas of western Europe and eastern North America.
Attached is a preliminary operating plan based on propagation forecasts.
The chart identifies which continent(s) are available
on each band during each of 24 hours. Colors indicate which of our 4 stations
will be on which band. These tentative assignments
attempt to balance the number of hours during which VK9ML can be worked on each
band from Europe and from North America: usually
about 5 hours per day per band. Please read the notes carefully.
North American 160m operators will spot a conflict right away: the only time
for Europeans to work Mellish on the highest
frequency bands coincides with the North American sunrise enhancements on 160,
80 and 40m. In order to balance availability on all
of the bands, we may be down to a single station migrating between 160m, 80m
and 40m during 11z-14z.
Obviously this is all tentative. Constructive feedback is welcomed. We
will be watching propagation trends, cumulative QSO
statistics and rates, and feedback from the pilots to juggle times around for
best results at the end of our trip -- and hoping that
a tropical storm does not prematurely truncate the DXpedition!
I'm sharing this chart with you so that each of you knows what we are up
against on the reef. North American 160m operators may
want to focus on working us BEFORE 1100z if propagation permits. And if we
seem to disappear suddenly in the middle of a prime
opening on some band, it's probably because we need to cover another prime
opening on a different band that has been neglected.
Good luck!
-- Eric K3NA
one of the VK9ML gang
--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/mixed
text/plain (text body -- kept)
application/vnd.ms-excel
---
|