TopBand: 3DA6Z Swaziland

[Chris R. Burger]

3DA6Z:  Swaziland 26 December 1998 to 3 January 1999

A team of five is leaving for Swaziland this weekend, to relax under
the thorn trees and listen to bird song.  The team consists of Chris
R. Burger (ZS6EZ), Vidi and Hester la Grange (ZS6AL and ZS6ESU), and
Rudi and Katrin Venter (V51VE and V51KV).

If we feel like it, we may erect some antennas that we'll have in our
luggage.  Then, if we feel like it, we may occasionally turn on the
radio.   What radio activity (sic) there might be, will be aimed
primarily at learning the ropes for future contesting and DXpeditioning
activity.

There will be a distinct leaning towards CW, but some SSB and
RTTY activity may also happen.

As Swaziland has been readily available in contests and also through
regular resident activity, we will be selective in our operating.  CW
should happen on:  1827.5, 3504, 7024, 10104, 18074, 24894, 50110.
RTTY might be on:  14084, 21084, 28084.  SSB should be on:  7044, 18144,
24944, 50110.  Please be patient on the low bands; we are in the middle
of an unusually active thunderstorm season, and the static level is
seldom below S9.

We are trying some innovations that have not recently been seen on
major DXpeditions:

*  There will be no on-line log checking.
*  There will be no round-the-clock operations.
*  There will be no pilot stations for North America, Europe, Japan and
   the rest of the world.
*  There will be no vanilla-band (10/15/20) operations, apart from RTTY.

We are hoping that these innovations will help us to enjoy the sunshine
more, and to make it possible for real DXers to find us and work us.

QSL arrangements:  If you want a direct card, you can request it from
the
address below.  Include one Green Stamp or two IRCs if you want a direct
reply.  One unit of postage covers three QSL cards.  If you want more
than
three confirmations, please remember that the postage is correspondingly
higher.  Requests that include inadequate postage or none at all will be
replied to via the bureau.

Please do not use SASEs; replies will be bulk-shipped through a courier
service.  This service is significantly faster and more reliable than
the post office.  Also, way over half of all SASEs we receive are
under-franked.  Obviously, the DX stamp services have trouble keeping
up with our regular postal increases!

Good luck in the chase; this will be the first 3DA6 callsign ever, and
I can only imagine that prefix-hunters must be extatic. 

Chris R. Burger
ZS6EZ

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