Ham Talk Live! Episode 100 - Bouvet Island DXpedition LIVE update

Thursday at 9 pm Eastern (0200Z) on Ham Talk Live!, we get an update from some of the 3Y0Z - Bouvet Island DXpedition 2018 team about how the trip is going and when you will have a chance to work them! We will have the lead pilot, Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L and the youth pilot, Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO on the show. And if possible, we will go LIVE for a part of the show with the team. They may still be on the boat, or getting ready to move to the island, or with any luck they will be on the island by then! So tune in and call in with your questions!

Tune into Ham Talk Live! Thursday night at 9 pm Eastern time by going to hamtalklive.com. When the audio player indicates LIVE, just hit the play button! If you miss the show live, you can listen on demand 24/7/365.25 also at hamtalklive.com; or a podcast version is on nearly all podcast sites a few minutes after the live show is over. Some sites include Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, SoundCloud, and iHeart Podcasts; and it's also available on YouTube.

Be sure to CALL in with your questions and comments by calling 812-NET-HAM-1 live during the show, or by Skype. Our username is hamtalklive. You can also tweet your questions before or during the show to @HamTalkLive.

 

I believe the only "update" we're gonna need from this point on Sparky...is DXSUMMIT.FI. Bouvetdx.org pretty much spells it out appropriately for the team and their REAL financial sponsors.

 

Man, crappy seas they are dealing with.....

 

us ham that have to deal with LIMITED ANTENNAS, RESTRICTED ANTENNAS,POWER OUTPUT RESTRICTIONS,LOW POWER, TIME OF OPERATIONS, CAN ONLY USE MOBILE OPERATIONS,will never,never,have a chance to work this once in a life time event. The radio police,jammers, pirates,qrm'ers,it is going to so much qrm, that it will be impossible to even try. And for me with my mobile station, will I try? I doubt it very much.

 

Not true. While it might be more difficult for those with low power, limited antennas, mobile op etc. it is not always impossible. I have heard plenty of QRP stations, on the air, making DX contacts during pile ups. Just remain persistent and try to work smarter. Even those with directional antennas and amps sometimes have trouble busting pileups.

Good luck and have fun....

Dan KI4AX

 

as a ham of 51 years,former contester that has won Vermont section many times over, I disagree....I am now limited and restricted to my home station operations, and if I want to use my station to full advantage, Then I must go mobile or portable. I totally disagree. When you sign /qrp....it's like your a disease...nobody will work you or they say " QRM HERE, SO MUCH QSB, STATIONS TOO CLOSE CAUSING QRM, YOUR SIGNAL IS SO WEAK,CAN'T YOU DO THIS AND THAT? " excuses,excuses. If you DON'T sign /qrp, then they will work you,but when they find out your running low power, then the excuses come in...they want to work someone else that is running a kw....and don't tell me that you would answer a signal that is an s2 before a signal that is 20 over s 9 , loud booming signal compared to a weak just barely audible signal??????

 

KA1BSZ, you can do it if you want to. You should be able to manage it with a 1/4 wave vert or similar simple antenna deployed at a /P site somewhere.

Whether or not you, like many of us, want to put up with lots of attempts, people who don't split when they are operating split, and the endless shouting, is another matter, of course! In the end, it's only a call in a log. When you die, nobody will know about it, let alone care.

Go on!

 

Good expedition operators will make a specific call for QRPers. Whether or not someone with a 4-ele Yagi and 1kW is QRP is a matter of opinion and desperation, of course!

 

I go the other way. I actively look for the weaker stations when operating a good antenna. You know it will make someone's day when they reach DX with an EARCHI end-fed hung out of their student room window or something!

 

This is will be an epic DXpedition that is for sure and there will be epic pileups but plenty of low power operators will make it through. No one asks what power level and what antennas your running. You just exchange your call and signal report. I have worked plenty of DX over the years with a mobile and 100 watts. You just have to be persistent and smart about it. The 3Y0 team won't care if your running 5 watts or 1500, wire antennas or stacked beams. If they hear you they will work you. The guys that are down there right now are some of the most talented people at running a DX pileup in the world and they want to make as many contacts with as many different stations as they can. There will be times when propagation will help you get your signal in the books and times that it won't favor you. If you want to work them, there will be a window. Most of the DXpeditions I have worked on low power have not been in the first several days they are there. You just have to pick the band that favors you the most and best time and try. Don't give up before you start. Tim, K9CQ

 

Oh God, I hope they don't use FT8, it's crowded enough as it is. I hope they use Olivia, I never hear anyone there.

 

I hear DXpedition ops call for QRP stations quite often... And, for the most part, the better equipped stations will hold off and let the QRP stations call. I know it can be frustrating to call and call with no reply; been there and done that. But, I will change up my strategy if what I am doing is not working. Try a different time of day or delay your call a couple of seconds so that you might be heard as the din of the crowd begins to trail off. If the DX op is working a split, as they often do, try calling a tiny bit (100 Hz or so) off his listening frequency. Or if he is listening in a range of frequencies try finding an empty spot and keep calling. Eventually he will cross the frequency you are on and possibly hear you.

And, don't forget to listen a while BEFORE you call. You should know, at a minimum, his call and the frequency he is listening on before you call. Oh, and don't forget to use your dummy load when you tune up.

Dan KI4AX

 

When they come on the air,I'll wait until the last few days of their operations and maybe I'll get a chance to work them and maybe not. I will try to work them with my digital mobile station in between rebuilding my repeater system. 2/440/900 rpter.

 

OMG...YES..the 20 meter band ft8 is so crowded, there no way to decode anything. The roar alone is from 14.076 - .072. If they use PSK 31,OLIVIA,CONTESTIA 4/125;8/125/8/250. that would be nice.

 

so do you run qrp?