D68C DXpeditiuon to the Comoros, February 2001

Nigel Peacock writes:



D68C Comoros DXpedition, February 2001



http://www.dxbands.com/comoros

The Five Star DXers Association, closely linked to CDXC (Chiltern DX Club), the UK DX Foundation, was formed from the core group who organised the very successful 9M0C DXpedition to the Spratly Islands in February 1998.



The Association will undertake a major expedition to the Comoros, D68, next February, 2001. The callsign D68C has already been assigned, and the plan is for an operation encompassing almost three weeks' of operation, including three weekends. The first members of the team will arrive in D68 on Tuesday 6th February, and expect to spend the first two to three days installing antennas and equipment. Operations will commence before the weekend. Station breakdown will start on Monday 26th February, though operations may continue for a further day or two after that..






There are two main objectives:.



To provide the possibility for every amateur radio station in the world - even those running QRP or very simple antennas - to make at least one contact with D68..



To enable top DXers to put D68C in their logs on as many bands and modes as possible. It should be possible for top DXers active on all bands and on all three modes to work D68C on close to 20 band / mode slots. We expect to substantially exceed our 9M0C score of 65,524 QSOs..



The Comoros stand at number 59 in the DX Magazine's 1999 world-wide listing of 'Most-Wanted' DXCC entities (up from 72 the previous year). However, many of the countries ranking higher on the list - including Bhutan, Tromelin Island, Clipperton Island, Tristan da Cunha, Palmyra Island, Palestine, Agalega and St Brandon, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and Libya - have been very active since the survey was carried out, so in reality the standing of the Comoros is much higher. In any case, the Comoros rank much higher - at number 36 - in the USA Central zone in the same survey..



The D68C operation will build on the experiences gained during the 9M0C operation (and distilled into the successful book "DXpeditioning Behind the Scenes" - see below), to give both seasoned DXers and "Little Pistols" a wide range of opportunities to work the Comoros on many bands and modes. The date of the DXpedition has been chosen with propagation forecasts in mind, and should coincide closely with the expected sunspot peak. Good propagation to all major areas is expected on all bands from LF through 10 metres..



D68C will have six high-power HF stations active simultaneously when band conditions allow. Activities will encompass SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK31 and, as appropriate, FM. Stacked monoband antennas will be used for 10m and single monobanders will be used for each of the remaining HF bands. On LF we will use full-size four-square arrays for both 80 and 40m. 160m operation will utilise the well-known Titanex verticals, with various loops and Beverages for receive. Full details of the equipment and antennas will be given in a subsequent bulletin. Some 3 tonnes of equipment will be sea-freighted by container to D68 ahead of the DXpedition to allow the team to put on an operation of this scale..



By operating over three weekends, the team expects to be able to work through the demand for the Comoros to the point where even the most modestly equipped stations will have a good chance of contacts on several bands. The extended period of operation also opens up the opportunity for a D68C entry in the ARRL CW Contest and, perhaps, other contest events taking place during that period..



The multinational team is still being formed, but already includes many well-known callsigns, as well as some up-and-coming DXpedition operators. .


So far, members include:.



5B4AGC -George.

5B4WN - Marios

9H1EL - Jeff

G0OPB - Tony

G3NUG - Neville

G3OZF - Don

G3SED - Mike

G3VMW - Steve

G3WGV - John

G3XTT - Don

G4JVG - Steve

G4KIU - Nigel

G4TSH - Justin

GU4YOX - Bob

JA1RJU - Kazu

JA3AER - Taizo

M0BJL - Shaun

M0DXR - Mark

SM5AQD - Hawk

W3EF - Maury

W3WL - Wes



Many of these callsigns will be familiar from other DXpeditions, but we are especially delighted to have along Mark M0DXR, who is UK Young Amateur of the Year for 1999-2000..



We will be seeking contributions from sponsors to cover the very significant logistics costs of this DXpedition. Details of our bank accounts in the UK and US will be announced shortly..



Between now and February further bulletins will be issued, and a web-site is currently under construction. This will, of course, carry full details of the operation and, in due course, will include propagation predictions, photographs, log checking, etc. Phil G3SWH has kindly agreed to be our QSL manager and QSLing will be via the bureau, direct or by e-mail. Phil's address is 21 Dickensons Grove, Congresbury, Bristol, BS19 5HQ, England. Pilot stations will be appointed for the major geographical regions, and details will be announced later..



Don Field G3XTT, NK1G (g3xtt@lineone.net) 4th September 2000
(D68C Publicity Officer)"[/I]