June 1, 1996
The expedition draws nigh! Our plans to begin operation on the 18th of June continue to proceed on time, on schedule. We have been in contact with both the airlines, and the officer in charge on the island, on a regular basis. We are all feeling the great energy from the amateurs all over the world who have contacted the participants with good wishes, and some additional contributions. We have been gratified also that other DXpeditioners from very successful operations have been open with suggestions to help us along too!
Mike, VE9AA, will be the first arrival on the island. The CY0AA operation should begin on June 18th. Operations will be updated daily by communications with both W9OEH, and WA8JOC. The second group (WA8JOC & W9OEH) will then begin additional activity for another 9 to 10 days, on June 24th, and all 3 stations will be active until July 3rd in the early morning. There will begin to be a phase out/tear down of the stations on July 2nd, with our departure set for the later part of the afternoon of the 3rd of July. Unfortunately, additional packing time will be necessary on the island since we'll have to have part of the equipment shipped out on a flight on July 2nd in the early afternoon. At that point the expeditioners will make decisions based upon band conditions, and demand, which frequencies will remain active, and which antennas will be disassembled, and where our final efforts should be directed.
We have promised our sponsors, the North California DX Foundation, UK Six Meter Group and the Six Meter Internat'l Radio Club (SMIRK), Icom North America, Cushcraft, Oklahoma Comm Center, WJ2O Qsl's, Heil Sound, EQF Logging Software, RSGB/Chilthern DX Groups, EUDXF, OZ DX group and others along with acore of the amateur radio community that have been kind enough to send in donations, and allow us the use of their equipment, a first class operation!
The band plan has now been updated to include 432 Mhz also. Look for us on the standard HF split frequencies, and on VHF, 50.110, or if a second station is needed on 6 meters at the same time, due to multiple Es openings, the second frequency of 50.225 may be used. QSL information will be repeated periodically PleaseLISTEN to the operators instructions.
QSL's for 160 - 10 meters will go to WD8SDL,and for any VHF (2,4,6,70cm and satellite QSO's, cards should be sent to VE9AA. We ask that all cards go direct, with SASE(Canadian stamp etc. for VHF cards) required. Bureau cards will be handled but at a lower priority, and will most probably be of a lesser quality than direct QSL's. Turnaround time for bureau cards will try to be kept under a year. We will do our utmost to turn direct cards in a matter of one to two weeks. Please keep in mind that QSL's will not be printed until after we arrive back at our homes. This could take a month or two after the operation is completed before we would have any QSL's to send out. We ask also that NO DUPLICATE QSL's be resubmitted until 6 months after the original submission by stations wanting confirmations. Multi - QSO labels will be used, and no duplicate QSO's will be verified via the bureau. This will cut down on the cost to our QSL sponsor, WJ2O QSL's, in all fairness to his generosity.
We wish to have the guidelines out in the open before the operation begins. This should facilitate all of our efforts to get out the cards needed without duplicated effort on our part, or yours.
We certainly expect duplicate QSO's on SOME frequencies, but please keep them to a minimum. We will try to confirm all calls before the end of a QSO, so you know if you're in the log on that band/mode. The dupe QSO's will be weeded out when the QSL's are issued, and only one per mode/band will be issued.
We will be run on no lists, so you know where NOT to look for us. We will try to use standard splits for pileups, but the ultimate decision is that of the operator. We will try to conserve frequency spectrum space, and will try to work pileups on one frequency first. If the operator feels this is unproductive, then split frequency will be used. PLEASE LISTEN for instructions given by the operator.
We continue to solicit funds, since the undertaking has exceeded our original estimates, but we're still here, and going, in any case. Any funds will graciously be accepted by either VE9AA, or WA8JOC. No amount is to small ..... it all adds up!
Thanks to all! We'll hope to keep everyone hopping from Sable....See you from there SOON!
Sincerely,
THE CY0AA EXPEDITION TEAM
VE9AA WA8JOC W9OEH
MIKE KEN WAYNE
Visit the CY0AA website at:
http://www.cam.org/~dino/sable.html
Send any donations (large or small) for CY0AA to:
MIKE SMITH, 131 SMITH, GEARY, NB, E2V 2G3, CANADA
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