Major VHF DXpedition planned for January

A major VHF DX-pedition to Namibia, that will include operation on a number of VHF bands and modes, is in the final planning stages.

The team will be led by HB9CRQ, one of Europe's top EME operators and will include moonbounce operation on 50, 144, 432 and 1 296 MHz.

January is also one of the peak months for Tropospheric-ducting propagation in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Experienced tropo operators, including Glenn, ZS2GK, and Dave, N7BHC, will make a serious attempt to complete the first-ever 144 MHz contact spanning the Atlantic Ocean.

Glenn was recently at one end of a 2 m contact with FR5DN on Reunion Island, a distance of just short of 3,000 km and Dave, a native of Port Elizabeth, runs a 144 MHz beacon from the east coast of the U.S., beamed towards Europe.

Satellite operation is also planned by using low earth-orbiting satellites. The location should give good coverage, including all of Africa and much of the eastern portion of South America.

The group will assemble in Pretoria on 5 January 2009 and will leave early on the following morning for the drive to Luderitz, where the station will be put into operation on arrival. The last day of operation is expected to be on 16 January.

There is still an opportunity to join the expedition.
Visit www.sarl.org.za for more details and regular updates.