Latest News as of Nov 11

The hot, tired, jet-lagged S9Z team has been on the air for about 24
hours.  The equatorial heat and humidity is almost unbearable for those
not accustomed to it so set-up, especially antenna work, has been slower
than we had hoped. The good news is that propagation is amazing on the
higher bands and we’re trying to maximize our QSO rates there.

We have sporadic power failures which affect the club log real-time
uploads. If you don’t see your QSOs in club log’s search please work us
again. Of course our QSL manager will handle discrepancies for you after
we complete operations.

Thank you and 73! 
S9Z Team 

 

PRESS RELEASE #2 - Dated Oct 17 - Updated October 25th

As the clock keeps counting down, the S9Z team has been in continuing preparation for the trip to Sao Tome & Principe as scheduled on November 10-20.

New Team Members:  
We are welcoming two new members to the S9Z team, Carlos CT1END and Araujo CT1DSV have joined us as team dxpeditioners.

Shipping of Equipment: 
Numerous hurdles have caused serious concerns for getting our equipment to the island.  Our early plans called for all equipment to be transported by sea to the island but we quickly learned that was not possible due to lack of harbor capabilities on the island.  We then attempted to ship via air freight using both commercial and traditional common carrier passenger aircraft.  However, we again learned that would not be possible because international rules would not allow us to ship our equipment using these methods as well.  This left one sure method and we will now carry as checked baggage all the equipment.  

This new method will work but not without financial consequences.  Unexpected oversize bags and long cases will be utilized but will also bring about extra charges, especially when 15 people each will have a least 1 additional extra bag.  One does not realize how much radio hardware is needed to standup this level of operation.

Club Log Features and Operational Tests
S9Z will be using Club Log and most of their features you’ve come to expect: QSO uploads, Log Search, Leaderboard, Guestbook, Live Stream, etc. We’ll upload to Club Log in real time and use their OQRS

Equipment testing:
During the summer the radio station team (Michael N6MZ, Robin W7YED, and Angus KJ7KOJ) operated our four IC-7610 stations during ARRL Field Day and during several test sessions for new releases of WSJT-X with Super Fox mode. The WSJT-X tests included Club Log real-time QSO upload and Live Stream. We had excellent results and look forward to deploying the stations and network at S9Z.

Operation Fund Raising:
The financial support received not only from you as a DXer  but also from a number of DX clubs and organizations is greatly appreciatedThe unexpected change of now having to carry our equipment has increased our operational budget considerably.  Your donations are helping us to offset those increases.  Should one wish to assist us with a donation it can be accomplished by visiting the S9Z web site at www.s9z.org and follow the donate button.

S9Z  Operating Information:   
The  S9Z team will l operate  HF on 10, 12,  15,  17,  20,  30,  40,  60, 80, and 160 meters using     SSB,  CW and Digital modes.  We will also operate VHF on 6M, EME on UHF and be QRV on QO-100 Satellite.  Operation on other Satellite systems will take place are they become available.

The team will be equipped with 6 stations of which 4 are general operations, 1 on 6m and 1 for EME operation.   The position for QO-100 Satellite will also be made available as well.

The stations will be configured as follows:

Station-1-Digital-CW
ICOM IC-7610 Radio

SBE 1.5K Taurus Amp

Station-2-Digital-CW
ICOM IC-7610 Radio

Acom 1010 Linear Amp

Station-3-Digital-SSB
ICOM IC-7610 Radio

Acom 1010 Linear Amp

Station-4-Digital-SSB
ICOM IC-7610 Radio

Elecraft KPA500 Amp

Station-5-6m-RTTY
ICOM IC-7300 Radio

Tokyo HyPower HL1 Amp

Station-6-EME
ICOM IC-9700 Radio

Gemini 432 Linear Amp

Stations equipped with 12V30APS-N1MM Logging-WSJTX w/SuperFox Key
Laptops computers for each position and a QO-100 Satellite Kit will be available 

Antennas: 
Antenna masts, Hex beams for bands 10 thru 20m including WARC bands, 160/80m Top Loaded Vertical, 60M dipole, 40M half squares, 30m vertical dipole, DHDL RX antennas, 6el 6m yagi @25 fee & 16 El Long boom 432Mhz yagi.

QSL Policy:
A QSL policy was developed so that anyone contacting S9Z can easily obtain a QSL using any of the following 4 methods: Direct QSLS via QSL Manager, Online OQRS, Bureau QSLs and Logbook of the World.

All contacts will be logged during the operation on all bands and modes via the following four (4) methods:  Direct QSLs via our QSL Manager, Online OQRS Service, Bureau QSLs, and the ARRL Logbook of the World.

Please see detailed QSL policy at  http://www.s9z.org  and also on our QRZ page
at:   https://www.qrz.com/db/S9Z

Youth Program:
The Dateline Dx Association and the S9Z Dxpedition team in the interest of bringing more young amateur radio operators into Dxpeditioning have decided to invite a young amateur operator the opportunity to be on a dxpedition for his very first time with the idea of helping to build skills and fostering mentorship to Angus Alexander KJ7KOJ who started on amateur radio at the age of 12 and quickly achieved his extra class license, developing a keen interest in contesting and Dxing.

Angus gained his General license in 2020 and developed a keen interest in contesting and Dxing.  He loves not only working new countries but also researching their background and culture.  In 2022 he organized his own M/S entry to the FT-Roundup contest placing #2 worldwide.  Early this year he upgraded to Extra class license and was also a remote operator on the recent K8R and N5J expeditions.

Angus has amassed an impressive Dx record of DXCC on 5 bands, worked over 275 countries and 1100 slots for the Dx Challenge, 2nd place during WW Youth in 2022 and CQ DX Marathon and 1st place in the 7th call area during the 2020 CQ WPX SSB Contest.

Angus accepted our invitation subject to him raising funds needed to cover his travel expenses.  Angus has worked hard to raise money for his trip and he received grants from the Northern California DX Foundation, The North Fulton Amateur Radio League Youth Program and personal donations from KB2S and W7TMT. 

Our team appreciates the support given to Angus and is proud to have him on board as one of the S9Z team members.

For more details visit our Youth Support section at:
S9Z Youth Support – S9Z Sao Tome Dxpedition 2024

73! from S9Z Team