YBDXC yb land dx club: HK0NA, Malpelo DXpedition 2012

http://hk0na.com/

HK0NA, Malpelo DXpedition 2012

Beginning January 18 th the team will be enroute to Malpelo and won’t return until February 10 th.

Your kind contributions to our DXpedition will be properly acknowledged upon our return.

Thanks for your understanding CU all in the pileups !

The HK0NA team

DXARC Dxcolombia Amateur Radio Club HK1NA , is pleased to announce its expedition to Malpelo. We will use the callsign HK0NA, which has been issued by the Colombian Licensing Authority.

Our objective, under the direction of Team Leader, Jorge, HK1R, is to have signals on all bands and modes authorized by Colombian law.

The team will consist of both foreign and Colombian operators.

We are hoping that DXers, DX Clubs, DX Foundations will help with the costs involved. Any and all financial assistance will be great appreciated.

See you in the pileups in late January 2012.—73 !

Malpelo Is. Location

Malpelo Island (Spanish: Isla de Malpelo) is an island located 235 miles (378 km) from Colombia’s Pacific coast, and approximately 225 miles (362 km) from Panama’s coast. It has a land area of 0.35 square kilometres (86 acres). It is uninhabited except for a small military post manned by the Colombian Army, which was established in 1986. Visitors need a written permit from the Colombian Ministry of Ecology. The island is part of Cauca Department.

The island consists of a sheer and barren rock with three high peaks, the highest being Cerro de la Mona with a height of 300 metres (980 ft). The island is surrounded by a number of offshore rocks. Off the northeast corner are the Tres Mosqueteros. Off the southwest corner are Salomon, Saul, La Gringa, and Escuba. Malpelo Nature Reserve, a plant and wildlife sanctuary, is defined as a circular area of radius 9.656 kilometres (6.000 mi) centered at 03°58′30″N 81°34′48″W / 3.975°N 81.58°W / 3.975; -81.58.

Malpelo is home of a unique shark population; swarms of 500 hammerhead sharks and hundreds of silky sharks are frequently seen by diving expeditions, making it a very popular sharkdiving location. Malpelo is one of the few places where the Smalltooth sand tiger has been seen alive, in the dive site “El bajo del Monstruo” it is frequently seen.

Malpelo has been interpreted as a portion of oceanic crust, probably a local manifestation of a “hot spot”. It is composed mainly of pillow lavas, volcanic breccias, and Tertiary basaltic dikes. At first glance, the island seems to be barren rock, devoid of all vegetation. But deposits of bird guano have helped colonies of algae, lichens, mosses and some shrubs and ferns establish, all of which glean nutrients from the guano.

On July 12, 2006, Malpelo was declared by UNESCO as a natural World Heritage Site. A Colombian foundation is trying to preserve the biodiversity of the site.

Frequencies

We’ll be active from 6 to 160 meters (include Warc bands) in CW, SSB and RTTY with as many as 10 stations at the same time in different bands and modes.

BAND PLANS

*These frequencies have been specifically selected in coordination with the VP6T team so as to minimize the possibility of mutual interference

BAND C LSN SSB LSN RTTY LSN

This might change depending on the local QRM.

6M 50.103 50.110

10M 28.024 UP 28.405 As Dir 28.080 UP

12M 24.892 UP 24.940 As Dir 24.920 UP

15M 21.024 UP 21.275 As Dir 21.080 UP

17M 18.070 UP 18.130 As Dir 18.098,5 DWN/UP

20M 14.024 UP 14.160 As Dir 14.080 UP

30M 10.124 UP 10.142 DWN

40M 7.024 UP 7.056 7.195 +/- 7.038 DWN

80M 3.524 UP 3.770 As Dir 3.586 DWN

160M 1.833,5 UP 1.845 UP

160M JAPAN 1.811-1.816

50 MHz Grid Locator EJ94EA information and operating tips

We’ll be emphasizing our operation on this band, it will be a new one for most 6 m operators.

The set up consists of a 5 element Yagi, radio and an amplifier.

We will be QRV 6m when the band is open.

Frequencies maybe changed, depending on local noise/birdies. Split operation will be deployed when needed.

Main mode is CW. If band conditions permit, SSB mode will be used to gain a higher QSO rate. Please do not ask for mode changing.

Please avoid QSO duplication, give others a chance. Logs will be uploaded twice a day to our site.

Long haul contacts are rare and last for a short period. If multi-hop event happens the operator will give it special attention.

Grid locator is: . Please, DO NOT send your locator, it is not needed and we won’t log it anyway, it wastes precious time.

Whenever it’s possible, and while the band remains closed, the station will be beaconing on the same frequency. If you hear it, feel free to send a text (SMS) saying your grid locator and report only. Tlfn: +

Qsl Via N2OO

Qsl Info

*The DXpedition team intends to upload the HK0NA log to Logbook of the World (LOTW) about 6 months after the conclusion of the DXpedition*

The HK0NA DXpedition team is pleased to announce that Bob Schenck, N2OO and members of the SJDXA will be handling QSL duties.

Bob is a member of the CQ DX hall of Fame and the founder of the QSL Manager’s Society.

His professionalism and dedication was on display recently as he and the SJDXA handled the the 3Y0X and K5D DXpedition QSL duties.

QSL cards, will be available four ways:

OQRS DIRECT

OQRS BUREAU

DIRECT MAIL WITH SASE/$$$/IRC(s)

QSL BUREAU

But please, use only ONE of the ways to save us a lot of extra work.

Should you choose to QSL directly to N2OO via direct mail send your QSO

information and SASE/$$$/IRC(s) to:

QSL ROUTE DIRECT:

Bob Schenck, N2OO

QSL Manager for HK0NA

PO Box 345

Tuckerton, NJ 08087-0345

USA

How to Work Us

DXers who follow these guidelines will be several steps ahead of the masses…..

• Our Goal is to provide every station in the World the opportunity to make at least one QSO, and to enable top DXers to put our call sign in their log on as many bands and modes as possible.

• First, make sure you can copy us well enough for a good QSO. If signals are poor, would it be better to wait a while for better propagation? It can be very embarrassing to you for us to call you when you can’t hear us.

• Unless otherwise noted, we will utilize split operation only. This means you cannot succeed by calling on our frequency. We aren’t listening there. Be very careful to set up your transceiver so that you do not call on our transmit frequency. You must find where we are listening and then pick your next transmitting frequency accordingly.

• Our operators will try hard to work everyone in the world. Some areas will require more effort than others. Listen carefully to determine if we are trying to work a particular geographical area. Call if you are in that area. We will not respond to callers who are not in that area. If you are not in the desired area, spend the waiting time studying the pileup procedure of the operators.

• Call only if we are calling your exact call sign, if we are calling a very similar call sign or if we are asking for anyone to call. One matching letter in your call sign is NOT enough! Listen to the pileup again, and wait for the next opportunity to call. We will not respond to calls from stations other than those we are addressing. Keep in mind that many DXpedition operators may be hearing you even if they don’t respond. You could earn a bad reputation in this way.

• If you do not hear who has been called, listen for a short time as the operator will probably call again. You don’t want to miss his second call. When in doubt, DO NOT call, but rather try to determine the correct procedure. You will be far more successful by listening more and transmitting less.

• Be sure you have made a good QSO. If you aren’t sure, make another QSO. It is best not to send a report until the operator sends your call sign correctly. If the operator does not send your call sign correctly, make another QSO. He may have actually worked someone else.

• Reiterating, we will not work stations who are:

o Calling out of turn – when we are trying to work someone else

o Calling out of the called area – study the pileup and wait for your turn

o Calling with an obviously wrong partial call sign – use the time to study the pileup.

• These simple guidelines are intended to help you to get into our log quickly. They are consistent with our intended operating procedure. If you call the way we expect you to call, it makes sense that you will be in the log more easily and more often.

• We understand that no one is perfect, and that everyone will make mistakes. Keep your own house in order; make sure to minimize your own mistakes. Don’t get frustrated. Our operators are some of the best in the World. Summon your greatest self-control, and let us deal with the others. Soon, you will be in the log.

Our Plan, Overall plan

As you can see the dates are firm. We expect to arrive on the island on Jan. 21, 2012 and begin operations immediately. The four members of the team travelling to Malpelo early with the Colombian Navy have the mission to erect the operating sites, infrastructure to support twenty people for 17 days, and erect all the antennas and stations. This is a huge sacrifice on their part as they will be on the island until our departure on Feb. 7 th. There is a possibility that they will have some time to be will be QRV prior to the main team arriving.

The team will be QRV on 160m-6m, CW, SSB, and Digital modes. Elecraft has supplied the team with eleven K3 transceivers and five new KPA 500 amplifiers. Alpha has supplied three of their High Power 8410′s amplifiers for use on the low bands and DX Engineering has supplied many of the antennas to be used. We plan to have two operating sites and as many as ten stations QRV on open bands/modes. One of the operating sites will be placed near the summit of the island with antennas to cover the areas of the world that have been blocked on previous DXpeditions. Our antennas will be strategically deployed to maximize our signal and to ensure DXers worldwide will have an opportunity to work us.

Dates

December 27 th— Advance team departs. Four members of Team sail with all equipment and gear to Malpelo with Colombian Navy.

Jan.18th—Team assembles in Bogota, Colombia

Jan. 19 th—Team flies to Buenaventura and boards the SEAWOLF for final team meeting.

Jan. 20 th—Depart on high tide for Malpelo

Jan. 21st—Arrive Malpelo after 24 hours, begin island access, begin radio operations.

Jan 21st through Feb. 5/6—continue radio operations.

Feb. 7 th—depart Malpelo

Feb. 8 th—arrive Buenaventura

Feb 10 th—operators return their home for well deserved rest.

Operations Plan

OP. A (Alto) located near the summit of the Island at 300 m ASL