3Y0E - Bouvet Island - Expedition to the most isolated island on Earth.

Once uploading to LoTW, we soon realised the original log had issues when  converted to ADIF.

We are now dealing with the problem, which should be fixed shortly. If you can’t find your callsign please contact the QSL manager lz3hi@vip.bg

An update will appear within this post.

Only ZS8! (Marion Island)

All info below:

ARRL DXCC Desk Approves 3Y0E Operation (Feb 20, 2008) 

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 ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that the 3Y0E DXpedition to Bouvet Island from December 2007-February 2008 has been approved for DXCC credit. “If you had cards rejected for this operation, please send an e-mail to the ARRL DXCC Desk to have your DXCC record updated,” Moore said.

The team of 3Y0E has been alarmed today. Some unconfirmed news of unknown origin is hitting some  dx bulletins with details of  Petrus’ next activity from ZS8 - Marion Island.

Remembering recent problems caused by sharing unconfirmed news regarding 3Y0E activity, leading dx chasers to confusion, we would like to clarify that we cannot take any responsibility for any gossips and hoax news spreading across the world.

We suggest all dx news and bulletins publishers to verify any news regarding ongoing preparations and further arrangements of ZS8-activity received with us before publishing them to avoid sharing incorrect news again. Avoid hoaxes, please…

We would like to clarify that Petrus Kritzinger, ex 3Y0E, currently ZS6GCM/mm is set as  team leader for a new scientific team going to Marion Island for 1 year.
The arrangements for his activity from ZS8 are in progress now. Currently we try to collect some equipment for Petrus to make his activity more complete, delivering another most wanted DXCC entity to you at high level.

We would like to ask once more for being aware of publishing wrong news regarding this operation. A brand new, ZS8-dedicated site is under construction now. Its web address will be published soon and more news regarding any further activity of Petrus will be announced right there.

73
Rhynhardt Louw ZS6DXB
3Y0E Pilot station and Media Officer
www.3y0e.com
zs6dxb@kats.za.net

The worldwide well known oceanographic research ship Agulhas (ZSAF) reached Bouvet Island around 6:00 UTC on Feb. 12. It took approx 3 hours to get all team’s gear on board. Everything went pretty smoothly and the entire Bouvet team is on their way back to RSA now. They are supposed to reach Cape Town in approx. 6 days. You can follow ship’s movement here. We wish the team and the Agulhas’ crew peaceful sailing back home without any bothering events. Stay tuned - more details coming soon!

Today 2 last log updates arrived from Bouvet Island - the very last station has been logged on Feb. 9. Due to tough weather conditions, Petrus decided to disassemble the station faster than expected during a brief moment of weather window. This really and sadly means:

3Y0E went QRT
on February 9th, 2008
at 19:15 z

Note: all contacts after this date will stand for fakes which means somebody pirated the call cheating you.

All log issues will be double checked once Petrus returns to RSA - all operators concerned will be informed of their log status then.

Warm words of congratulations to all those operators who managed to get into the log! Certainly, this was a tough experience for each side: calling stations and Petrus down there, in Bouvet Isl. battling with pile-ups in a tent with howling winds and temperatures reaching -35°C (-31°F) with a wind chill exceeding -60°C (-75°F)! But as somebody said, chasing a real DX isn’t always “59″ - it’s a battlefield where a mixture of good luck and operating skills may do miracles. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. That’s a part of the game pals…

Petrus is facing another journey to another rare DXCC location - ZS8. This time much better prepared to deliver you a contact with another wonder of nature in the world - fabulous Marion Island.

On behalf of the 3Y0E team
Stan SQ8X

The whole 3Y/B experience was a new one to each member of the team including those who are based in Europe or RSA. There were very happy and very stressful moments making everything exciting, more interesting. And giving a chance to learn something new. We would like to share a part of our experience with you now.

Something exxxxtra!

Once Petrus returns home, we will receive loads of pictures and videos from the one of most remote places on the Earth. I decided to create a special, dedicated multimedia gallery for this purpose. It will deliver a high quality materials concerning Bouvet Island and living and working in such a distant place. None of those views of the island and other materials has never been seen in public before. In addition, one of goals of this gallery and other materials brought by Petrus is to deliver a portion of popular-science knowledge regarding work of scientists working down there in many of sub/Antarctic islands like Bouvet. This multimedia site will require some time to be done. This is why I’d like to ask for some patience.

Meanwhile we’ve got something extra for you. The first and the last station in the log + 8 operators chosen in the log randomly and everybody who donated to 3Y0E will receive something special: A3 poster with a picture of Bouvet Island taken and signed by 3Y0E Petrus - a way to thank YOU for being with all of us during the 3Y0E activation. A list of winners will be published soon.

A new DX adventure begins!

For Petrus, this ham radio expedition was like a sudden dropping into a wild ocean in a middle of a South-Atlantic storm. This novice operator has been forced to handle crazy pile-ups and to get along with many things that sound so obvious to experienced amateur radio operators. That was no surprise some of them disliked his a bit slower operating style, but almost all of comments received included words of appreciation and congratulations, encouraging him to get along. He has been really “infected” with ham radio virus for good. During brief satellite calls he expressed how amazing and fascinating the ham radio to him is. No wonder he decided to continue his amateur adventure from another, remote place: Marion Island. Yes, another most wanted DXCC entity will be brought to you by Petrus…

Now, the 3Y0E team transforms into ZS8 team and more news regarding this expedition will be published soon in a new press release by Rhy, ZS6DXB. A new DX adventure begins. Sooner than you think… Stay tuned… Over.

On behalf of the 3Y0E team
Stan SQ8X

News from Cape Town this evening.

Last midweek, 3Y0E showed on 14260 looking for JA/VK/Far East. Unfortunately, HF conditions were no good for him at that time - CQing to no avail.

In QSO with Volker, ZS1Y earlier today, Petrus confirmed he will again show on frequency @ 06:30UTC tomorrow (Feb 9) looking for JA/VK one last time before he QRT’s from Bouvet for good.

ZS1Y will hopefully be in contact with Petrus at this time tomorrow morning. Should conditions be similar to last midweek, Volker intends asking Petrus to return again between 10:00 - 11:00z. VK especially may have a good chance of working 3Y0E then. However, we stress this particular timeframe may not be suitable for Petrus.

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One other important piece of information is that Petrus will, to our delight, be on air also tomorrow evening, most probably for the last time. Check 14260 approx 17:00UTC onwards.

May we also take this moment to mention the online log now includes QSO’s to Feb 7 and 3Y0E QSL cards are now arriving to happy ham’s  confirming their contact with Petrus!

Good luck..

Before 3Y0E brings to its end, Petrus managed to meet his friend on the air transmitting from another unique location. He managed to speak to Lars Boehme, VP8DIF (aka DL9LB and MM0DWF) who is based in a former Norwegian whaling station – Husvik [pron. as ‘hoosveek’] on South Georgia Island.

Lars VP8DIF on South Georgia isl.

Since Lars and Petrus know each other in person due to their scientific professions, it was really remarkable they could catch each other from those 2 remote and unique locations. Signals were pretty good between those 2 sub-antarctic islands reaching 5/5. The 3Y0E team finds these contacts really unique, merging  the amateur radio hobby and somewhat that could be described as remoteness vs. friendship…

Alike “our” Bouvet team, Lars does also research on Elephant Seal species down there in South Georgia, developing an unique technique of wireless, satellite monitoring of animals. All data collected will help to understand i.e. environmental impact of climate changes on Antarctic fauna.

Lars plans to activate South Georgia in spare time – all information can be found on his website:

http://www.lars-boehme.de/vp8dif/index.html

Some more information about South Georgia Island:

http://www.sgisland.org/pages/sghome.htm

Stan SQ8X

6 February 2008

3Y0E is rapidly approaching the end of operations - was it really Dec 19, 2007 Petrus ZS6GCM made fame with his Bouvet callsign?

This was never a full blown Dxpedition with  state of the art equipment being used. Just newly licensed Petrus, with a joint South African/Norwegian research team on Bouvet, using a borrowed IC-735 and 4BTV vertical. He did (and is still doing) fantastically well.

All good things must come to an end. Petrus has been in constant contact recently, and informs the team he will break camp and go QRT from Bouvet Island on Saturday, Feb 9 2008.

Upon his arrival home, 3Y0E will be staying with Rhy ZS6DXB for two weeks. During this time Petrus will provide access to all videos/images he took whilst on Bouvet. Stan SQ8X has some very important news about this, which will be included on site sometime Friday.

This morning at 06:30UTC, true to his word, Petrus was heard calling CQ for JA/VK. Unfortunately, he reports HF conditions were awful.

To date, 3Y0E has made over 1400 QSO’s from Bouvet Island. The team thinks this is a remarkable achievement from one so new to amateur radio. Until Feb 9, Petrus will remain calling on 14260 MHz, with a split of “up 5″. Generally, he transmits from approx 17z onwards, until he hears no more.

So, with only a few more days to go, 3Y0E and the team congratulate everyone who has made contact with the fifth most wanted DXCC. Logbook issues/errors will be looked at closely once Petrus himself is back home. Stay tuned for this…

Everyone associated with 3Y0E would again like to thank individual donors who very kindly donated to Petrus to enable him to gain some radio equipment of his own. All monies donated have now made it possible for Petrus to purchase a beam for his next Dxpedition! Thank you!

3Y0E.com has now over 35,000 unique visits, with over 105,000 page views. We thank everyone who has added their input to the site.

* You may be interested to view the ship steaming towards Bouvet to collect the team.

73 to all!
Rhynhardt Louw ZS6DXB
3Y0E Pilot station and Media Officer

www.3y0e.com
zs6dxb@kats.za.net

All direct cards received up to 01 Feb 2008 have been replied by 04 Feb 2008.
Every other incoming cards will be replied weekly.

73’s de LZ3HI

 

Good news arrived from Bouvet isl. today. Another vessel passing by 3Y0E dropped some equipment for the team and finally the iridium issues got solved. Petrus sent us another log update immediately. Now the online log contains all contacts logged until Feb. 2nd. We may expect another log update later today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.

On behalf of the team

Stan SQ8X

Bookmark Feb 6 in your DX calender!

It has transpired an operator asked 3Y0E whether he would be able/willing to appear on air Wednesday, Feb 6th at 0630UTC. Petrus has since acknowledged that he will show up on the radio at this time. Propagation charts indicate a possible predicted opening towards JA especially. Operators in VK/ZL/Far East may feel this time suits them too.

Currently, no JA/VK/ZL/Far East has made Petrus’ log.

Petrus says he won’t be on too long as his work commences approx 07:00UTC. He’ll also be using a battery to power his rig.

It’s advisable that as many as possible listen out for Petrus at this particular timeframe, give feedback to the site and perhaps with new info, 3Y0E will show again later in the week -  if he can get out of whatever chores are assigned!

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*May we also take this opportunity to mention a delay in the latest online logbook update. Petrus reports his email facility is currently down, so the log files he sends will be delayed by a day or so until a passing ship, he says, drops off some new software.

Col, MM0NDX (on behalf of 3Y0E team)

Following on from Rob’s PA3GVI excellent Ham Radio from Antarctica (incl 3Y0E audio clip) here’s a rather good video of Rob himself working Petrus on Bouvet.

Congrats Rob! 

3Y0E QSL cards are now ready. Printing is complete and the cards will be sent out in the next few days.

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I will start confirming all incoming direct cards.
Please look carefully in the online log and find your call-sign logged
correctly before  sending  me your QSL card.

Thank you !

73’s de LZ3HI Emil

QSLing Details

We just received another log update from Petrus. Now, the online log contains QSO’s logged until Jan. 29th. We noted Petrus worked quite a number of NA stations this time, including even West Coast (!), and there was a surprising, real pipe-line propagation towards Poland. SP-stations dominated like 70% of all QSOs logged on Jan. 29th. In addition, there was a number of Scandinavian stations that managed to get into the log, too.

We would like to congratulate Tom, LA4LN, who made it as well. Without his help and efforts, Petrus couldn’t get his 3Y0/B license.

We received quite a few questions from US stations asking Petrus to operate a bit longer for the NA-stations. We did pass this request several days ago. Unfortunately  he replied saying propagations often closes down too quickly. He tends to close his rtx down when he doesn’t hear any responses to his calling CQ for a long time. He usually checks the band in next 30-60 minutes and starts calling CQ again. If nobody responds, he usually goes QRT since propagation seems to be over.

Once northern hemisphere Spring comes a bit closer, conditions may slightly change and European and North American stations may experience better openings towards Bouvet island like it happened on Jan. 29th. We were also told, Petrus really enjoys his first ham radio experience very much. He noticeably tends to extend operating times and really gets excited with working you guys

Before bringing to a close, we’d like to add we are quite surprised with Petrus’ results under such miserable conditions (the SSN value is 0 for most of his activity period so far! Now, a newly born sunspot appeared on the Sun’s surface) with a barefoot power and simple vertical antenna. In addition, all those sub-antarctic locations show one thing very clearly again: how to learn to operate in pipe-line shaped conditions, waiting for a right spot for your location to make just a few calls and finally get into the log.

Greetings from the Bieszczady mts., SE Poland

Stan SQ8X

28 January 2008

The team behind 3Y0E is proud to have another world first from a DX’peditition. On the 24th of January 2008, Petrus 3Y0E gave an exclusive radio interview with a commercial radio station in the Falkland Islands. 3Y0E.com is now proud to present you with a recording of the interview .

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3Y0E is also coming to an end. The team is scheduled to be picked up from Bouvet Island on February 12, 2008. This date may change however due to weather conditions and the speed of the ship or any other urgent matter beyond our control. Feel free to follow the movements of the ship at the following website: Agulhas tracker

To date, 3Y0E.com has now received over 28 000 visits with 85 600 page views since December 19, 2007. We would like to remind people that 3Y0E is only active on 20 meters phone and normal operating frequency is 14.260 MHz with a split of 5 KHz up. We also urge people to contribute to the donation fund that was set up to equip Petrus with his own equipment on his next journey that is just around the corner to another rare DXCC! Please visit the 3Y0E.com website and click on the donation bottom.

We would also like to congratulate all the people that have made it in the log to date and wish all others good luck in working 3Y0E before he goes QRT. There will be regular logbook updates so please visit the 3Y0E.com website on a regular basis to check if you are in the log.

Thank you all for the wonderful support to date!

73 and good hunting to all!
Rhynhardt Louw ZS6DXB
3Y0E Pilot station and Media Officer
www.3y0e.com
zs6dxb@kats.za.net

Following on the heels of Charles Veley’s never before seen pictures of Bouvet Island, we now have another World Exclusive for you… No, this is not a joke. Something extraordinary happened today and we’re happy to share this news with you. This was like an Islanders’ Union using radio waves against ocean waves to pass Petrus’ expressions and notes on Bouvet to another island - the Falkland Islands…

Thanks to the Falkland Islands Radio Service, citizens of the VP8/F land could listen to a world exclusive interview with Petrus 3Y0E aired live by a reporter at F.I.R.S. - Stacy Bragger. It seems to be one of the very first times that public media broadcast material related to a ham radio dxpedition using a satellite link transmitted directly from the spot, definitely the very first time from such a remote location as Bouvet island.

We are thankful to the staff at the Falkland Islands Radio Service for the privilege to share a recording of the interview with you - feel free to download it from here.

We also would like to thank Stacy Bragger for his interest in our international enterprise and for his willingness to share it with other people in the Falklands. Stacy has been working at the radio station since 2005, taking a part in various auditions and hosting his own program “The Fusion” broadcast in the Falklands each Saturday evening.

I have been presenting “The Fusion” for over two years now and I greatly enjoy being able to inflict my musical taste on the population. Working at the station is never boring, sometimes stressful, sometimes funny.

- Stacy wrote in his biography note. It’s nice to see that despite of the Internet era, younger generation still recognizes the world of the ham radio as a source of inspiration. We are all radio waves united!

Stan SQ8X - another radio reporter

Another satellite e-mail from Bouvet arrived. We’ve got some of your questions answered. To our, and probably your surprise, we received answers to same questions by the entire research team! Each member of the ongoing expedition dedicated his time to send us a message and tell us i.e. what is the worst/best about the most remote island in the world - what do they do in their spare time? Go to “Letters from Bouvetoya” section to read all answers now

In addition, new portion of QSOs logged on Jan. 27 are now ready
to check in the online log.

Warm words of congratulations go to Annita KC2OYY - YL from the US who managed to make the contact and get into the log!

The team at 3Y0E.com are very excited to report that a World Exclusive will soon be appearing on the website. This has never happened before on any DXpedition. We’re delighted to be the first.

We hope to have this ready for you over the weekend, or Monday latest.

Stay tuned..