Here's an update: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3Y0J Bouvet Island News 12 February 2023 Team aiming to come off island at 10am (local time) today and then to try resupply the camp with more essential items such as food, fuel, generator and antennas. This might prove tricky due to 3-4m waves, but there is a weather window opportunity they hope to take advantage of. Team have just one tent on the island, no tables or chairs, no heating; very primitive conditions. 3Y0J. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Check the WX on and around Bouvet here: https://www.windy.com To all of you keyboard commandos who are crying about how the Bouvet team should have beams, amps, more stations on the air, how they should be doing it this way or that way, etc., etc., currently the waves are only 12 feet high, and the temp is a right at freezing, so swimming a few hundred yards from shore to boat and back and climbing up and down the 800 foot cliff carrying all their gear is sissy stuff, you guys would be doing it much better than they are, I'm sure.
Obviously they didn't plan for adverse conditions in advance. Did todays society forget the "adapt and overcome" motto of days past? Integrity? Do or die? Only a small portion of the group is on the island so what are the rest doing? Relaxing on the Marama? How many operators went there to do a job? 12? If you're not running the pile-ups, then your ass can haul equipment, secure antennas, keep generators full of fuel! How many centuries has mariners known Bouvet was a inhospitable island? Did they expect a beach resort with servants? Couldn't come up with some waterproof containers to transport rigs, amps or gear in? Hell a large igloo cooler and duct tape would have done the job! Antennas spend their lives in the elements. It doesn't matter if they get wet. $815,000.00 budget should have brought much better results. We shipped 2 vehicles in a cargo container from Florida to Australia and back for less than $20k. That takes care of their equipment being shipped. Honestly how much did the Marama charge for a month and a half? $100k-$150k-250k? That still leaves over $500,000.00 in donated budget. Where did it go? Gotta save some for partying it up in Capetown South Africa like last time. Another well known DXpedition group says they can do it for $250,000....... The 3Y0J website brags of expecting 200,000 Q's bringing 10 amps, 14 transceivers and multiple antennas for 6-160m including numerous yagis when in reality they at around 7,000 Q's, 2 transceivers and a pair of wire antennas. That's pathetic. I commend the group for taking on this grueling endeavor and wish them a safe journey home. It's not the lap of luxury. But when you agree to do a job and make promises, you better live up to expectations. Don't let your mouth write a check your ass can't cash. I completely gave up on it, don't even check the cluster or listen for them on the bands. It's been nothing but one huge disappointment to the Amateur radio community.
I'm sure they miss you enormously. I know I would. I'm sure that the 3Y0J team is more disappointed than you and all of the other crybabies put together.
Its the weight of the GENERATORS that they would need to power the amps that is the problem. Imagine a 350+lb generator on a blow boat in 12ft+ seas. Or trying to put up huge Yagi's in 60+mph winds. Ain't gonna happen. They are trying their best in the worst conditions that you cannot even imagine. God speed to the expedition and I hope they all make it home safely when all is said and done. Your ATNO ain't worth some ones life. AR is the best hobby there ever was but it is a hobby. lighten up dude!
As I mentioned before. Why take a few large generators difficult to move, when several small light ones will do the same job? That was a huge mistake on their part. They brought ten SPE Expert amps with them. Those amps have the ability to switch between 500, 1000 and 1.5kw output. At the 500w setting it would draw low amperage which a small generator can handle. But at 500w the world would have a better chance of hearing them. They also weight only 35lbs and very small. Actually hearing them would greatly decrease the dupes and QRM. The winds were high in a few storms that lasted a day. They were not 60mph the entire time so drop that excuse. Many days were very low winds. There is very little chance of human injury so drop that excuse as well. All the guys are wearing suits capable of withstanding cold water. I know guys that chop holes in the ice and jump in with shorts on, no protective suits. They don't die or suffer health risks. $815,000 US dollars and they can't complete a task they told the world they could. Your excuses don't hold water. My ATNO is another of your poor excuses. Like most of the world, I quit listening for them days ago. There is another team more capable with higher integrity ready to go. I can wait for that team.
It’s called FREEDOM OF CHOICE.You should try it and see how you feel.FREEDOM is quickly going away so try it while it’s still Legal. Clayton W4KVW
Unfortunately it looks like 3y0J is drawing to a close. Again, I want to stress that the team members did the best they could under extremely challenging conditions, with nary a reasonable landing spot.
Which group would that be? Not trying to start anything, just curious. 3Y0I and 3Y0Z hit some very nasty conditions and could not even make it on the island... 73, Adrian YO3GFH
3Y0J Bouvet Island News 12 February 2023 Part 2 3Y0J first Log available now. Only CW and SSB QSOs. FT8 QSOs not uploaded yet. After a team meeting we have decided not to bring any more gear to the island. Operations will continue until the fuel on the island runs out which we believe will be tomorrow afternoon. We will begin to tear down camp tomorrow and by Tuesday have everything removed from the island and back to Marama. There is a problem with uploading the FT8 logs at this time. Please standby until we resolve this issue hopefully tomorrow. 3Y0J.
Rebel DX with Dom, 3Z9DX and the crew. They fund their own DXpeditions and don't beg for donations but will accept if you choose.
