DXpeditioners
K9PPY - Jim
VK6LC - Mal
VK2PS - Steve
CT1EEN - Sam
On shore support
VK6DLB - Dave
VK6BHY - Mike
Public relations
I1JQJ - Mauro
QSL manager
I1HYW - Gianni
WebMaster
I121171 - Maury |
VK9-99.
(WESTERN AUSTRALIAN OUTLIERS. k.)
"ROWLEY SHOALS"
IMPERIEUSE REEF
September 20-27 1999.
(Public Report)
April 1999
.IOTA99. Convention Alicante Spain 23-25 April
1999.
VK9-99 UPDATE AND PROGRESS REPORT.
VK9-99 Rowley Shoals has been a 10 year long
dream for me right from the first day I received
a lonely letter declaring "there are no
Islands left" , fortunately it was signed by
G3ZAY. (Who I hope is not listening) Yes, only he
knows of its horrible contents and from that day
Martin gave me the inspiration to do something
about it and prove there are a few left.The
Rowley Shoals dxpedition is one of them and was
officially announced in Las Palmas in May 1998.
From my announcement there in Las Palmas I
received immediate support andcontinued
conducting mini presentations in Spain, Portugal,
England, Wales, Singapore and Australia.
The Rowley Shoals are a very remote group of
Atolls that lie 400km west ot of Broome in the
Indian Ocean, North Western Australia.
Oh boy ! that' s a long way to swim and to get
there we will need a bit more than a canoe.
Special government landing and transmitting
licenses were established for the Rowley Shoals
Marine Park. (Scientific permits)
In a short space of time donations were appearing
and a formal dxpedition budgetwas drafted,
$12,000 was needed to make it possible with a 5
man team. A $5,000 marine charter fee was paid up
front by the team members for this 6day operation
and soon after we were granted an extension of 1
extra day to cover a full weekend period world
wide, this also came at a high price.
Up to March we have received public contributions
of $4,570. and we are now only $2,430 short of
being on target and less than 5 months to go.
The Dxpedition has purchased some specialized
equipment from U.S.A. and are very excited to
bring a very expensive rare IOTA reference to the
world.
At this very point of time the VK9-99 equipment
and antennas are in-service andbeing tested from
a selected farm 70km East of Perth.
Our VK9-99 Web site was established and
advertising had started along with the VK9-99
story that has been sent to 10 International
Magazines.
The Team members are:
K9PPY Jim. U.S.A
CT1EEN Sam. Portugal
VK2PS Steve. Australia
VK6DLB Dave. Australia
VK6LC Mal. Australia.
Our team members have now confirmed their
individual travel details and our local travel
and logistic schedule has been finalized.
It also has been confirmed by our sea charter
vessel King Fisher III that the VK9-99 Team will
operate Maritime Mobi le, keeping you all up to
date with ourprogress over the 14-16 hours at
sea. Our chief EU. pilot will be Jose' CT1EEB.
Cunningham Island plan layout is on display and
Sam will explain the finer details to you of our
landing etc.
2,000 kg of Dx equipment will be transported by
motor vehicle from Perth to Broome, about 5,000
road km round journey. Two 5kva generators and
300 litresof fuel is among the goodies that will
be a part of our 2-3 station activity, along with
my famous 4 SQ array antennas and Yaesu amplified
rigs.
This has been only possible from the large
support by iota persons world wide including our
major sponsors.
A current sponsor and contribution list from our
VK9-99 Web site is also on view for your
interest.
I report to all concerned the VK9-99 Dxpedtion is
on track and on schedule but we are still in need
of funds, please help.
There is also a hot rumor in the air that Jim and
Sam will be exercising their new VK call signs to
also OC.183 and OC.199 after the Rowley Shoals
Dxpedition.
We have produced a special VK9-99 T-shirt for
"Alicante" IOTA99, please sponsor us
with the "Raffle" and our
congratulations to the winner, we thank you all.
Malcolm K. Johnson. VK6LCand VK9-99 Team Members.
K9PPY, CT1EEN, VK2PS, VK6DLB.(Have a nice time)}
VK9-99.
(WESTERN AUSTRALIAN OUTLIERS. k.)
"ROWLEY SHOALS"
IMPERIEUSE REEF
September 20-26 1999.
(Dated 4.11.1998)
VK9-99 I.O.T.A. PUBLIC REPORT OF PROGRESS
(Oct.1998.) by VK6LC Malcolm K. Johnson.
(Windsor R.S.G.B. HF. & I.O.T.A. Convention,
9-11th. October 1998 and World Wide Amateurs)
To advise all concerned that planning of the
VK9-99 Dxpedition, originally proposed last May,
at the IOTA convention in Las Palmas, Canary
Islands, is well in advance.
My original estimate of $Aus.20,000 dollars was
to land 10 operators with dual stations onto the
Rowley Shoals for 7 days. It has now been revised
with a shared charter to $Aus.10,000 dollars 4
operators and 4« days of operation.(Tuesday 21,
Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Friday 24 and part of
Saturday 25) Australian dates. For this period
all studies are complete and detailed scenarios
are in place for this dxpedition.Our shared
marine charter deposit has been paid and VK9-99
licence has been received . Now to officially
announce our VK9-99 Team.
The multi-national team consists of:
K9PPY "Jim" Model. (Illinois, U.S.A.)
SSB
CT1EEN "Sam" Pimenta. (Massama,
Portugal) SSB
VK2PS "Steve" Pall. (Sydney, Australia)
Dxpedition editor. CW
VK6LC "Mal" Johnson. (Perth, Australia)
"Team Manager" SSB-CW
Onshore support and safety communications:
VK6DLB Dave Bamford & VK6BHY Michael Tutt,
Karratha and Dampier North Western Australia.
Dxpedition qsl manager and EU. fund raising
coordinator is:
I1HYW Gianni Varetto
Public Relations and media:
I1JQJ Mauro Pregliasco
Internet VK9-99 WEB Page manager:
I121171 Maurizio Bertolino
The Web site is:
http://www.425dxn.org/dxped/vk6lc/
VK9-99.
(WESTERN AUSTRALIAN OUTLIERS. k.)
"ROWLEY SHOALS"
IMPERIEUSE REEF
September 20-26 1999.
(Date 4.11.1998)
Several amateur radio magazines and journals will
feature the announcement of the "Rowley
Shoals" dxpedition and collective
photographs and updated information can be viewed
from our WEB page.This site progressively will
feature and track the dxpedition activities as
new and final information becomes available.
Progressive contributions tallies and final
dxpedition log information will be placed onto
this site.So far just over $Aus.1,500 dollars
from our contributors have arrived and I would
like to mention our early major sponsors:
R.S.G.B. IOTA Committee, U.K. (part marine
charter) and a special loan of the IOTA
"Yaesu" FT900AT transceiver and pwr
supply.
Diamond Dx Club, Italy (all qsl cards and
artwork)
WaasLand. Radio Club, Belgium (part marine
charter )
G3NUG. (160 Litres of generator fuel)
I1HYW. (60 Litres of generator fuel & part
marine charter)
ON4XL. (emergency supplies)
ON4IZ. (Medical kit and Medical supplies)
I1SNW (Tent Hire )
G3ALI (12v. 90a/h. lead acid battery)
VK3ATN. (ATN antennas. Log Yagi)
I am very happy we have an excellent Team of
experienced IOTA operators, they all have made
their dxpedition commitment and are busy making
transit reservations for next September. My task
of managing this dxpedition is no easy job, good
communications, planning and organizing is
essential. Our landing will be a dangerous one
and it will be a long way from the mainland. Our
shared marine charter will only drop us off and
pick us up again 4« days later and during this
period we stand alone in International waters,
safety will be a main feature of my
responsibilities. The IOTA fraternity must
appreciate the huge costs involved including our
International guests that personally have to pay
to reach this remote North Western town of
Broome, all in the name of our exciting
"IOTA Program, so please make your
commitment and join us. It should be understood
by the total IOTA fraternity that all operators
on this dxpedition will be under huge pressures
"on and off" the radio, they will be
working long hours in temperatures of 35 plus deg
Celsius, so we hope for a better frequency
cooperation and understanding by all. Dual modes
(ssb/cw) and dual operating stations have been
included into the logistics. Thank you all. Yours
faithfully Mal. VK6LC
VK9-99.
(WESTERN AUSTRALIAN OUTLIERS. k.)
"ROWLEY SHOALS"
IMPERIEUSE REEF
September 20-27 1999.
(Date 4.11.1998)
Brief dxpedition Synopsis: (based on a 5« days)
2,000 kg of dx equipment will be transported
2,350 km from Perth to Broome. On route, power
generators and camping equipment will be
collected from Karratha in our far North West
town. All the VK9-99 Team will gather in Broome
on the 17th. September 1999. The next 2 days
(18th.&19th.) will be spent finalizing food
& shopping, familiarization of camping
equipment, rigs, generators, customs-immigration
clearances, Rowley Shoals Marine Park meeting,
safety procedure's and preparing and packing for
our outer reef landing. 20th. we depart Broome
for the Rowley Shoals late afternoon (0800utc)
and the over night 200nm. sea voyage will be
anywhere from 14-16 hours long arriving at
"Imperieuse Reef" the following morning
21st. at sun rise. 4 operators and 2,000 kg of
equipment will be ferried over the 1.8km reef to
Cunningham Island a small sand cay (800x 250
metres) that appears about 1.5 metres above the
high tide. Our operation will proceed over the
next 4 days (22,23,24,25) and we will prepare to
dismantle
VK9-99 on the final day Sunday 26th. around
2400utc early morning. Our shared marine charter
will return back around 0500utc just after midday
to collect us and our log books. The reef
crossing can only be coordinated on the high tide
subjected to weather conditions at this period.
During our stay on "Imperieuse Reef"
special safety & security communications will
be operative via Amateur and commercial services,
skeds will be maintained on shift roster outside
normal operating schedules. This will also
include contacts with the commercial vessels,
mainland support group, coast watch aircraft and
tracking weather reports. Safety evacuation plans
are in place to ensure the welfare of the
dxpedition. Our friendly over night sea voyage
will see us back in Broome Monday morning the
27th. around sun rise again. (who's for a cold
beer and a vegemite sandwich ???) For this early
stage of planning this is how it will happen and
more final details will be available around
August 1999. Our dxpedition transit information
may change as I have requested for an extension
of one-two extra days to see the overlap of the
weekend world wide. This arrangement will be
subject to finances and share charter approval.
73. Mal. VK6LC
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