Angels come in many forms… By N6PSE

There has been a lot said of lately about “Angels” and their role or involvement with a Dxpedition. Some Dxpeditions have an Angel who is generously matching their donations. This is very uncommon but a very nice situation to have. Angels come in various forms and sizes. The kids at Dorothy Grant Elementary School, who recycled bottles and cans to give the Intrepid-DX Group’s VP8 Team $250 are all Angels. Their teacher and mentor, Beverly Matheson-WA6BK is an absolute Angel for stimulating the hobby of Amateur Radio at her school. A few months ago, the VP8 team put out a plea for funding so that we could obtain a BGAN terminal to upload logs during the VP8 Dxpedition. An anonymous European Angel stepped forward and generously donated the entire amount of funds necessary for this purchase. A major Dxpedition such as VP8STI/VP8SGI could not move forward without all of our Angels. Companies such as Elecraft, ICOM, SteppIR, Force 12, DX Engineering, Array Solutions, these people not only produce fine products, but they also work behind the scenes to enable well planned Dxpeditions to be well equipped and to move forward. Tim Duffy-K3LR, Mike Mertel-K7IR, Bill Hein-AA7XT, Eric Swartz-WA6HHQ and Ray Novak-N9JA are significant figures working behind the scenes to make DX happen. The people at the Northern California DX Foundation and INDEXA work tirelessly, all year to raise money in support of various Dxpeditions. Without their support, most Dxpeditions would fall well short of their needs and would not be able to move forward. Indeed, Angels come in many forms. Many DX Clubs and Associations around the country and around the globe do their part and much more to support rare DX. The German DX Foundation is always interested in supporting good projects. The Clipperton DX Club, the Chiltern DX Club, the Northern California DX Club, The Lone Star DXA, The South West Ohio DX Association and many more contribute in a big way to the success of many Dxpeditions. As we move forward with our plans to activate VP8STI/VP8SGI, I think it’s important that we look back at where we started and where we are today. Without all of our Angels, our journey would have ended long ago. Thank you to our donors, sponsors and contributors at every level. Thank you for llowing us to move our dream of activating these islands forward. Thank you for your onfidence and your support. We could not complete this effort without all of you. What do you think? Paul N6PSE

VP8STI & VP8SGI Project 2016 (Plans)

Equipment

We’ll be active from 10 to 160 meters (include WARC bands) with 6 stations in CW, SSB and RTTY.

TX / RX	Amplifiers	Antennas	Others
Elecraft K3	Elecraft KPA500	Shared CW or SSB; Qty 3 radios same time: 3 el C3 Tri-bander (10,15,20) FORCE 12″ 4O3A High Power Triplexer 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 1 Set for 10, 15 & 20 Meters Qty 1 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 4, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers Qty 1 20′ Telescoping Mast	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface
Elecraft K3	Elecraft KPA500	Shared CW or SSB; Qty 2 radios same time: 3 el C3X Dual-bander (12,17) FORCE 12″ 4O3A High Power Custom Duplexer (12,17) 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 1 Set for 12 & 17 Meters Qty 1 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 4, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers Qty 1 20′ Telescoping Mast	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface
Elecraft K3	Elecraft KPA500	RTTY & 60 Meter Station; Qty 1 radio 3 el C3 Tri-bander (10,15,20) FORCE 12″ 1/4 Wire Vertical for 60 Meters with Ground Radials 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 1 Set for 10, 15 & 20 Meters Qty 2 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 3, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers Qty 2 20′ Telescoping Mast	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface RTTY interface
Elecraft K3	Elecraft KPA500	Shared CW or RTTY; Qty 1 radio: 1/4 Vertical from FORCE 12 for 30 Meters (heavy duty aluminum design) 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 30 Meters Qty 2 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 4, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers 300′ Wire Beverage Qty 15 Ground Radials 14 awg minimum; 30 meters (23′ 1 3/4″ each – cut at 10.115 mhz)	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface
Elecraft K3	Elecraft KPA500	Shared CW, SSB or RTTY; Qty 1 radio: 1/4 Vertical from FORCE 12 for 40 Meters (heavy duty aluminum design) 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 40 Meters Qty 2 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 4, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers 300′ Wire Beverage Qty 15 Ground Radials 14 awg minimum; 40 meters (32′ 11 1/2″ each – cut at 7.1 mhz)	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface
Elecraft K3	Expert 1.3K-FA (for low bands)	Shared CW, SSB or RTTY; Qty 1 radio: 1/4 Verticals from FORCE 12 for 80 & 160 Meters (Bottom Coil loaded; heavy duty aluminum design) 403A High Power Band Pass Filters; 1 Set for 80 & 160 Meters Qty 3 200′ LMR 400 Coax Qty 4, 4′ RG-8U Coax Jumpers 300′ Wire Beverage Qty 8 Ground Radials 14 awg minimum; 80 meters (65′ 0″ each – cut at 3.6 MHz) Qty 8 Ground Radials 14 awg minimum; 160 meters (128′ 1 3/4″ each – cut at 1.826 MHz)	Radiosport headset Dell Laptop PC with N1MM CW Iambic Keyer W3YY CW Interface
Other Items: Qty 3 Expert 1.3K-FA Solid State Amplifiers/Tuners. Qty 6 4KW Generators Qty 2 Tents (24′ x 24′ Circle); 1 tent for operating and 1 tent for sleeping Qty 6 Operating Tables Qty 6 Operating Chairs Qty 14 sleep cots; operators bring their own sleeping bag Qty 1 Inmarsat BGAN Internet Terminal.

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VP8 ANTENNA DIAGRAM

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VP8 ANTENNA DIAGRAM

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VP8 CAMP LAYOUT

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VP8 STATIONS TENT LAYOUT

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VP8 30 METER ANTENNA DIAGRAM

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VP8 40 METER ANTENNA DIAGRAM

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VP8 80 METER ANTENNA DIAGRAM

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VP8 160 METER ANTENNA DIAGRAM

Band Plans

Band plan to use, to be possibe.

BAND	CW	SSB	RTTY
160M	1.826.5
80M	3.523	3.790	3.580
40M	7.023	7.082	7.045
30M	10.105		10.142
20M	14.023	14.185	14.080
17M	18.079	18.130	18.099
15M	21.023	21.285	21.080
12M	24.894	24.944	24.912
10M	28.023	28.485	28.080

DXpedition Itinerary.

information for the VP8 Itinerary Plans.

Our plan is to voyage first to South Georgia Island. We will meet with Government representatives and have a safety and biosecurity meeting. We will then voyage South to South Sandwich, one of the harshest places on earth.

We will anchor, off load and set up camp to be there for ten days. Our goal is for eight full days of QRV. After we meet our goals, we will voyage to South Georgia Island. We will off load and set up there for a planned ten days with eight full days of QRV.

If we are delayed in getting to or leaving South Sandwich, we will sacrifice time at South Georgia to do a good job from South Sandwich. This is essentially two ten day DXpeditions to two very rare entities stitched together. We will be QRV from 10-160 meters on CW/SSB and RTTY. Let the voyage begin!

Location Map

VP8STI/VP8SGI Location Map

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Azimuthal Map

VP8STI/VP8SGI Azimuthal Map

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