3B7C St. Brandon Island DXpedition getting close

The 3B7C St. Brandon Island DXpedition is getting close, with the advance party of Neville G3NUG, Don G3BJ and Don G3XTT flying out this Friday 31st August.

On arrival they will supervise the unloading of the shipping container (6 tons of gear) onto the Sainte Rita, a converted trawler which will take equipment and team the 24 hour crossing to Isle du Sud. The generators (six of 5kW capacity each) have already been taken out to the island by the regular supply vessel.

The remainder of the team arrives Monday 3rd September and will board the ship immediately, ready for sailing.
We expect to arrive on Isle du Sud on 4th September, but operations are not expected to commence until midnight UTC on Friday 7th September, by which time all stations and antennas will have been assembled. However, the 6m beacon on 50.090MHz will be activated at the earliest opportunity so that 6m DXers can start to monitor for possible openings.

TEAM MEMBERS

We are delighted that Michel FM5CD has joined the 3B7C team, bringing us up full strength with 20 operators, enough to man all operating positions whenever the bands are open.

QSLing

Bureau cards can be requested via the webpage. The QSL Manager is Neville G3NUG (qrz.com for address) but please note that we don't need cards for individual contacts - a listing in log order is best.

ONLINE LOGS AND CONTACT WITH 3B7C

Other than our radio gear, contact with the outside world is limited to an Iridium satphone which will be used primarily for uploading logs on a daily basis.

The online log lookup, reached via the 3b7c.com website, breaks new ground because it will feature a lookup for your zone, showing what times you, or others in your zone, have made contact with 3B7C on each band. If you have not worked 3B7C at all, just enter your country prefix for the data to show both country data (if available) and zone data.

If you have worked 3B7C on one or more bands, put your call into the search engine for confirmation that you are in the log, and also for the data on best times to work 3B7C on the other bands. Note that this information is not “predicted" but rather derived by analysing all the QSOs in 3B7C's current log. To make it more fun, the search facility also shows you which operator you have worked on each band

Ahead of this real-time data, team member Eric K3NA has prepared some detailed propagation forecasts which can be found on the webpage.

If you have any feedback for the team, it can be emailed to 3b7c@g3wgv.com. Messages will be read by John G3WGV in the UK and a daily digest of key information sent by him to the island to help with the planning of operating schedules, etc. Please do not expect John to engage in detailed correspondence - his task is merely to pass information on to the team. Any significant news from the island will be mailed to John who will upload it to the 3B7C web site as required.

3B7C Web Page: http://3b7c.com

The website also features a leaderboard which shows the top 100 band/mode slot DXers. There are 38 potential slots. No prizes this time, just have fun.

We look forward to working you from 3B7, on many bands and modes! We will, as promised previously, ensure that towards the end of the expedition we spend time operating CW at lower speeds for the benefit of those who are new to the mode.
Sp
SPONSORSHIP

Thanks again to our many sponsors all of whom are shown on the 3B7C website. Our top sponsors have been:
Yaesu (Principal Sponsor), ARRL Colvin Award, Continent 8 Technologies, Martin Lynch and Sons, Milemark LLC, NCDXF and Nevada.

Don Field G3XTT, NK1G
(g3xtt@lineone.net) 27 August 2007
(FSDXA Publicity Officer)