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 Previous: DX on a Budget |  Next: David Clark, KB6TAM, Officially Completes Global Sail |
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 16, 2001--You may never have heard of it before, but Ducie Island in the South Pacific is the latest DXCC entity--the 335th, according to ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. Starting at 0000 UTC on November 16, 2001, Ducie Island will be eligible for DXCC credit as a result of a favorable vote to accept the Pitcairn Island Amateur Radio Association (PIARA) as an International Amateur Radio Union member-society.
The DXpedition operation from Ducie Island is not expected to commence until sometime this weekend, however, and should last about five days. Ducie is located east of Pitcairn Island, perhaps best known among hams as the home of Tom Christian, VP6TC, who's PIARA president and head of the Ducie DXpedition team.
PIARA filed its application for IARU membership last March, and the matter went to a world-wide vote of IARU member-societies in June. Votes were counted November 15, and PIARA's application was approved for admission effective November 16, 2001. Under DXCC rules, an entity that hosts an IARU society is considered a "political entity." Pitcairn Islands--including Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
Mills emphasized that only contacts dated November 16, 2001, and later will count for DXCC. For the moment, that point is a bit academic, however, since the DXpedition team has been delayed in reaching Ducie. The island has been activated previously for the Islands On The Air program (it's IOTA OC-182), but Mills says those earlier contacts will not count for DXCC.
The group will use a VP6 call sign--to be announced. Initial plans called for the DXpedition to be on the air at 0000 UTC November 16. Log checks will be available on the "DX Cluster from Japan" Web site.
Other DXpedition members are Kan Mizoguchi, JA1BK; Dave Brown, VP6DB; Mike McGirr, K9AJ; and Vince Thompson, K5VT, plus JA1SLS/VP6BB, JF1IST, and FO3HO.
The pilot station is Bill "Dr Bill" Avery, K6GNX, and the QSL manager is Garth Hamilton, VE3HO, PO Box 1156, Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0, Canada. (QSLs sent to the manager should include an SASE; cards also may be sent via the QSL Bureau, but operators are asked to not send a second request through the bureau after QSLing direct.) All 50-MHz QSL requests go to JA1BK.
Avery said he'd heard from JA1BK that because of concerns about a nearby weather front, the departure planned for November 14 was delayed. "The PIARA team expects to depart from Mangareva to Pitcairn Island at sunrise (November 15). "They will arrive on Pitcairn Friday morning and, after a very short resupply operation, will leave immediately for Ducie Island." Avery estimated that the DXpedition team should arrive on Ducie around dawn November 17.
Located 360 kilometers from Henderson Island--the nearest land--Ducie Island is surrounded by water 3000 meters (9800+ feet) deep. It's about 2.5 square miles and visited only rarely. Because of its remote location, conventional transportation is not available, and a substantial boat is needed for the journey. Due to ecological concerns, only one group may be on the island at a given time. The CQ zone for Ducie is 32; the ITU zone is 63.
Operating plans call for the group to provide contacts with as many stations as possible during their stay on the island. Some operation is planned on all bands, 160 through 6 meters (there will be a 6 meter beacon on 50.110 MHz). Up to three stations will be on the air at a time.
21.020 MHz (CW) and 21.295 MHz (SSB) will be QRV 24 hours each day. Outside of 15 meters, 28.495 MHz and 14.195 MHz will be the prime SSB frequencies, and 14.020 MHz will be the prime CW frequency. Operation also will include RTTY. Low-band and 30, 17 and 12-meter operation is expected to take place during the final few days of the operation.
Equipment includes Yaesu FT-1000MP and FT-1000MP Mark-V transceivers, FT-100Ds, and an Acom 1000 amplifier. Antennas include a two-element HB9CV on 10 and 15 meters, a four-square for 20 meters, and wire and vertical antennas for the other bands.
Additional information in on
the JA1BK Web site.--Wayne Mills,
N7NG, Bill Avery, K6GNX, and Bernie McClenny, W3UR, provided information for
this report
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