Press release #6
In about a month we will be joining Saint Brandon. After a year of intense working, we are quite satisfied and impatient to finally concretize.
Our 700Kg of equipment are actually on the way to Mauritius. They will then be loaded on the boat with the generators before sailing to Saint Brandon with two 3B7A team members on April 3rd. The rest of the team will use a second boat the 5th as scheduled. This new option allows us to remove some constraint with the weight of our equipment and improve security by adding some redundancy with transportation. This has of course a cost but it seems very important to us.
The “early-team” will be in charge of all equipment transit operations, as well as identifying the location for all antennas, stations, generators, etc. If time allows, they will of course start all installations. Much time must should be saved until the rest of the team land, allowing to be on the air in a very short time. But do not expect any QSO before the entire team is on the island.
You might have read the web page dedicated to propagation forecast on our web site. It shows the best time/bands to contact us depending on where you are located. That kind of schedule will be available at each station position and will drive our traffic. Priority will always be given to the areas with the shortest and most difficult openings.
We renew the organization we had on Tromelin (FT4TA) and Juan de Nova (FT4JA). Five stations, totally similar and flexible, will be available for the 8 operators. Our goal will be to put as many of them on the air at any time, with a priority for the most important hours of the day around our sunrise and sunset, optimizing our resting time.
To stick with our objectives, we have decided not to bring any antenna for 6m. Conditions are so bad that it would be a waste of time for just a few or no contact at all. No antenna for 6m also means no try for EME. To end the short list of things we “won’t do”, we’d like to inform that 60m is not allowed on our license.
Let’s remind Saint Brandon is not an “hotel and regular flights” destination. As soon as we will leave Mauritius we will have to do everything by ourself: loading/unloading equipment, managing generator, food, maintenance, etc. This will be a lot of work and tiredness that will come in addition to the hours behind the radios.
Once more, you can trust in our great motivation, we can’t wait starting the pileups!
Please keep supporting our project and visit our website http://www.saintbrandondx.com/en/how-to-help-us/
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