Topband: VK9MA - Mellish Reef - TopBand

[Brian Moran]

Hi Everyone:
All of the members of VK9MA Mellish Reef DXpedition have arrived in Cairns. Some of us have already been here for nearly a week in preparation.  The four-day boat journey starts on Tuesday. Current plans say we land on the reef November 3, which is November 4 for us. We will strive to be on 160 meters by day 2 -- we have a number of directional receive antennas receive antennas to erect, and a couple of choices of verticals, depending on the conditions when we get there.  We'll be trying hard to get people into the logs, which will be uploaded at periodic intervals to Club Log. You can check out the VK9MA website http://vk9ma.com for more details. A number of our operators our experienced with the unique characteristics of 160M, and we have pilots that will help inform our operating choices. Mellish is very much 'needed' on digital, so we'll also be trying some of that, yes, even on 160m. If 160m really 'opens' however, we'll strive to use the modes offering the highest rates.
73, hope to hear some familiar calls over the noise of the wind and the birds!-Brian N9ADG