One month to go before the DXpedition begins

Well it’s now only a month out from the DXpedition and I’m really looking forward to it, especially as this trip was all planned and booked over 7 months ago.

I’ve been in contact with the owner of the building on the island and he’s confirmed that I have access to a 24 hour power supply so if the bands are open and I’m awake then I’ll be on the air.

I’ve been in contact with the charter pilot and he’s able to fly me to Flinders Island early on Wednesday August 15 which means I should be on the air that day. It really depends on the weather and how putting up the three antennas go.

There are two 12m fibreglass Spiderbeam poles and I’ve just built and tested the vertical dipoles for 15m and 20m. These will be the two main antennas as I’ll be spending most of my time on these bands. The third and back-up antenna is the Butternut HF9V multiband vertical and this will also enable me to operate on other bands later during the DXpedition. Mind you I’m keen to spend time on 40m before my local sunset and local evening for North America possibly even on the first or second day.

I’ll be monitoring the bands over the next few weeks to keep up to date on conditions as propagation to Flinders Island will be very similar to my QTH. I’ll then post this on the blog a few days beforehand so that everyone knows where and when to look for me.

Thanks to new sponsor - Swiss DX Foundation

I'm delighted to say that the Swiss DX Foundation http://www.sdxf.ch/en has become a sponsor of this IOTA DXpedition. I really appreciate this and look forward to working lots of HB's. For those Swiss DX Foundation members that make a QSO with me, they have the benefit of using the SDXF QSL service. This service will also be made available on my next IOTA DXpedition occurring in October. More details of this second IOTA DXpedition will be announced soon.

Thanks to new sponsor - DX World.net

Special thanks go to Col MM0NDX for enabling DX World.net http://www.dx-world.net/ to be the latest major sponsor of the Flinders Island IOTA DXpedition. It's four and a half months to go and I can't wait, it's been almost 12 months since my last IOTA DXpedition to VK8BI OC-185 and so I'm itching to be on the other side of a pile up again. Thanks again for your support Col.

Thanks to new sponsor - Island Radio Expedition Foundation

A third major sponsor has come on board. Thank you so much to the Island Radio Expedition Foundation http://www.islandradio.org/  for sponsoring this DXpedition. Preparations are all on schedule and with this support it helps to make such an IOTA activation possible.

Thanks to new sponsor - Clipperton DX Club

Thank you so much to the Clipperton DX Club http://www.cdxc.org/ for sponsoring this DXpedition. Preparations are all on schedule and with this support it helps to make such an IOTA activation possible.

Thanks to new sponsor - German DX Foundation

Thank you very much to the German DX Foundation http://www.gdxf.de/ for sponsoring me in my IOTA endeavours. This kind of support is vital to making such adventures happen. I look forward to working many GDXF members in the pile ups.

Charter Flight and Accommodation arranged

Well things are moving along according to plan. I’ve booked and paid the deposit for accommodation on the island. I now have a reliable source of 240V power along with comfortable and safe shelter near the water’s edge. This will give me a great saltwater take off for the vertical antenna.

I’ve been in negotiations with a flight company and I’ve booked and paid the deposit for a charter flight in a little aircraft to take all of the equipment and people over to the island on the Thursday morning. I’ll then be able to install the verticals, set up the station and be on the air in the late afternoon on Thursday August 15.