ZS1S, using the call sign ZD9ZS(South Africa and S, it seemed a good combination) and Nigel Cawthorne G3TXF, using ZD9XF will be visiting Tristan da Cunha in September/October 2014, travelling to and from Cape Town on the South African Antarctic supply ship, the SA Agulhas II.
PLEASE CHECK CLUBLOG, MY LOG IS UPLOADED WHEN THE INTERNET CONNECTION IS USABLE.
The ship is scheduled to depart on 4th September, arriving at Tristan da Cunha four to five days later depending on the weather and sea conditions. It will depart for Gough Island after a few days and return to Tristan da Cunha ready for the scheduled departure on 4th October. The duration of the return trip to Cape Town will again be four or five days.
All the extra boxes and cases have been loaded on to the ship and we are set for the departure on Thursday.
I will be using an Elecraft K3 with an Elecraft linear amplifier up to the power limit on the island which is 250 watts.
The antennas will consist of a rotatable TA33 Jr beam on an eight meter sectional pole, a dipole for 5260 kHz, vertical dipoles for the other bands and a three element beam for six netres.
I also have a Force 12 SVD for 15 metres.
We may use a Beverage on the low bands, depending on the local situation.
This page will be updated as often as possible, however the internet access on the island is limited.
My pilot station will be Dennis ZS1AU, I would like to thank him for this generous offer.
Likewise I am very indebted to many amateur radio friends who have helped me in many ways to get this project together, Martin G3ZAY and Rob M0VFC who sowed the seed two years ago, Robert ZS1FF and Andy GM0BZS for their assistance in getting the K3 radio to Cape Town, Mike ZS1CO for the loan of the amplifier, the kind people on the island, Shaun ZS1RA for the loan of the bandpass filters, my son Bruce ZS1IF for his assistance with a lot of the necesary hardware and software, Barry ZS1FJ for the loan of the SVD antenna and last but certainly not least my long suffering XYL Glynis ZR1GW for putting up with the chaos at home and hearing about the plans as they unfolded.
We have been making reasonable progress, on Tuesday morning 9th September we were doing 15 knots at about 35 degrees south and 7 degrees west and the weather on route has generally been very good with a maximum of 3 metre swells.
There have been numerous times in excess of three hours when the ship has stopped to conduct scientific experiments.
The passengers have been afforded the opportunity to visit the engine room and the bridge, below is a picture of G3TXF.
Our first glimpse of the island before dawn on Wednesday 10th September, taken with time exposure hence a grainy picture.
A clearer picture of the inhabited part of the island, the village of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas.
The helicopter, a Bell 212 that took us off the ship, a two minute ride.
The harbour and the ship anchored off in the distance, good sea conditions at the time..
Conditions rapidly change... the next day, only one quarter of the cargo was offloaded before the ship departed for Gough Island.
We had 40 knot winds, rain and no internet connection.
Friday 19th September update:
The TA33 beam and rotator are installed and working, there was a good break in the weather.
The operating position.
A walk up to the top of the 1961 volcano, a view of Edinburgh, looking west.
The weather was kinder to us and when the opportunity is there you have to explore, there may not be another chance.
If circumstances permit, more pictures will be uploaded.
A six meter propagation beacon, ZD9SIX will be installed during the time on the island.
73
Cameroon
