CB0ZA - Juan Fernandez Isl.

CB0ZA Update (Feb 15)

February 15, 2024: CB0ZA DXpedition Update

The CB0ZA team continues to make important progress. Today we moved the QTH of CB0ZW station to the Santa Barbara fort closer to the town harbor. This new location allows the Hex beam to be closer to the water and provides more space for our receive antenna installation minimizing local interference to improve reception.

This Fort site is the location of previous CE0Z expeditions and also hosts the Island’s Aeronautical radio station.

The remote operators continue to put signals of CB0ZEW on the air and are providing excellent feedback with the RiB operation. This will allow its developers to improve the unit with this first test at a DX location. This afternoon the RiB will be moved to the Mountain location and will remain there permanently until the end of the Dxpedition.

Tuesday  also marked a very important milestone for 6M.  The first EME QSO was made with Clive GM3POI. Several great 6m openings with Europe, North America and Japan. Those JA opening last until midnight local time.

At this time we have about 37k total Qs using all three call signs. We have 1159 contacts on 6m out of which 45 are on EME. We  believe Marco CE1EW (SK) would be proud of our effort. 

As we begin our focus on 80 and 160, we appreciate your feedback as we work to improve our low band signals and try to improve upon our RX antenna system which is still in progress.  Please contact our pilot Nathan K4NHW via CB0ZA@k4nhw.com

We look forward to operating the ARRL DX CW contest this weekend using the CB0ZW callsign Multi-Single category. The wind forecast on Monday called for severe winds up at the mountain site so we decided to concentrate at CB0ZW Santa Barbara fort. However, recent weather updates forecast more favorable winds up at the mountain site. Thus the decision was made by the team to operate from there taking advantage of this QTH location at 330m above the Pacific Ocean.

We are aware there are missing contacts in Clublog primarily due to Internet connectivity issues on the mountain.

Our logs will be updated periodically,  check log again later or, work us again if you are unsure. We do not have time to confirm contacts from the many emails we are receiving.

We would like thank the DX community for the support and participation with our memorial DXpedition honoring our departed friend Marco.   

73 es CU on the bands from the CB0ZA and CB0ZEW Team! 

Source: https://cb0za.com/

CB0ZA Update (Feb 11)

February 11, 2024: CB0ZA DXpedition Update

The remote CB0ZEW station has been QRV for 12 hours now, and made approximately 1,110 QSOs. Unfortunately, the Spiderbeam poles which were in the DXpedition cargo shipment will not be available to the team until Monday afternoon. A makeshift vertical antenna using PVC pipe sourced on the Island was built and erected behind one of the operator’s hotel rooms.  The NexGenRiB (CB0ZEW) will continue to use the WARC bands during the remainder of the weekend due to the RTTY contest activity.

Meanwhile, two trips by truck were made yesterday taking the supplies, antennas and infrastructure up on top of the mountain where the main operating camps are located. It takes approximately 45 minutes to drive up a treacherous, switchback road to access the sites.  

After breakfast this morning, the team will begin taking more of the gear up on top and continue setting up the stations. Priority will be given to establishing the StarLink Internet connection and setting up the network between stations. 

Additional priority this morning will be with constructing/ erecting the 6M8GJ 6-meter yagi.  The team hopes to have this station as well as at least one additional HF station QRV by mid-afternoon.Low band antennas will probably not be erected until Tuesday due to not having access to the Spider Beam poles. 

Source: https://cb0za.com/

CB0ZA Update (Feb 07)

February 7, 2024: CB0ZA DXpedition team members begin their journey

Today, the 6 North American members of the CB0ZA team begin the first leg of their DXpedition to Robinson Crusoe Island located in the San Juan Fernandez Archipelago (CE0Z).  Their flights are scheduled to arrive in Santiago on Thursday (Feb. 8) morning where they will meet Willy, XQ3SK, the 7th member of the team.  While in Chile, they will be hosted by Roberto, CE3CT and make final preparations for the planned Feb.10-24 DXpedition.  

Recent wildfires have plagued regions of Chile, especially near the country’s main commercial port of Valpraiso and it is believed that if the DXpedition had been scheduled for later in February, they would have missed the opportunity to have their vital shipment of gear and equipment sent over on the Island’s supply vessel and perhaps resulted in cancellation since the supply ship only makes trips to the archipelago every two weeks.

On Saturday, Feb. 10, the team will leave Santiago with an early morning 2-hour private charter flight over to Robinson Crusoe Airport (SCIR).  Once they arrive at the airport, located on the island’s southwest peninsula, they will have to go down to the harbor and board an awaiting vessel, traveling along the island’s rough coastal waters with a 1-hour ferry ride to reach San Juan Batista – the island’s main harbor town on the north coast.  There are no roads linking the airport to the town. 

Barring any unforeseen difficulties, the team anticipates arrival at their primary accommodation – Hostal Petite-Breuilh – that afternoon (10th) where they hope to get the NexGenRiB remote station, using the callsign CB0ZEW, on the air as soon as possible.  Approximately 50 remote operators from around the world have signed up to operate CW or FT8 while the team is busy the next couple of days erecting the stations on the mountain above within the National Park.  This will be the first time ever that a DXpedition has been granted permission from CE0Z to operate from this vantage point, 320m ASL elevation and providing an excellent take-off to EU, NA and JA across the expansive Pacific.  Once the two mountain top QTHs are established the RIB will be taken up on top as well and added to the stations there. 

Tentative plans call for the erection of 2 separate operating camps from this location ~ ( -33.6426367, -78.8068947 ) with 3 Elecraft K3/KPA500 stations.  Additionally, plans call for 6m EME and possible terrestrial operation using an ICOM-705 with legal limit PA into an M2 6M8GJ including manual elevation to 90 degrees.  Mike, AB5EB, will coordinate the 6m station activity and says our setup should prove to be ideal for EME but CB0ZA will also focus on terrestrial openings should they occur. Mike says, “If we are doing EME with Q65 and the propagation opens, we will QSY to 50.300 or .313 on FT8 for terrestrial openings– we hope to have access to the ON4KST chat.”

The team will be active in the ARRL International CW DX Contest (category TBD) with the callsign CB0ZW that will ONLY be used during the contest. 

The CB0ZA-CB0ZEW Band Plan has been updated on the website… please refer to it:  https://cb0za.com/frequencies/  As a reminder, CB0ZA will be using MSHV on FT8 while the NexGenRiB remote station will be running WSJT-X in F/H mode.  Also, the DXpedition will be using ClubLog’s Livestream… so please stay tuned! 

Nathan, K4NHW has graciously agreed to serve as the CB0ZA DXpedition Pilot. Please contact Nathan with your non-QSO or non-QSL related inquiries or comments at this email address: cb0za@k4nhw.com

Continue to check the CB0ZA DXpediton website: cb0za.com and the CB0ZA QRZ Page for updates and other information.  Donations are still very much welcome with PayPal address: donate@cb0za.com

Source: https://cb0za.com/

CB0ZA Update (Jan 17)

January 17, 2024: CB0ZA DXpedition announces NexGenRiB remote operation from Robinson Crusoe Island

The CB0ZA DXpedition is pleased to announce that the operation by the 7 member on-island team will be complimented by an off-island team of over 30 remote operators from around the world.  They will be using a NexGenRiB (Radio in a Box) on FT8 and CW with the callsign CB0ZEW.  

The NexGenRiB was developed by Gregg, W6IZT, with assistance from Warren, KD4Z and John N4IHV.  No bigger than a small suitcase and weighing just 12 kilos, the RiB is easily managed by one person.  Hal, W8HC will be transporting the NexGen RiB as carry-on baggage from West Virginia to Robinson Crusoe Island where it will be accessed by the remote operators via Starlink Satellite Internet.

Gregg says that discussions about the need for a smaller RiB for use by DXpeditions began about a year ago when it became clear that a smaller RiB could address a broader set of use-cases at a lower cost.  The NexGenRib is designed to support both local and remote operation, be all-mode, simple to deploy, and no more difficult to operate than your home station.

“We’re thankful to the CB0ZA team for the opportunity to participate on this DXpedition. We’ve put a good deal of effort into designing and building a solution that is flexible and robust, one that can be utilized by remote and local operators as needed,” states Gregg, W6IZT.

The DXpedition made the decision to use the different call sign (CB0ZEW) for two reasons.   First, it is a way to commemorate the DXpedition’s organizer Marco Quijada, CE1EW who became a silent key in November.  The second reason is to distinguish the DXpedition’s remote CB0ZEW QSOs from the on-island contacts CB0ZA QSOs.  Because the remote CB0ZA contacts will NOT count for IOTA under current rules in the IOTA program the team felt the easiest way to manage this issue and honor IOTA’s requirements would be by simply operating the remote RiB with a different call sign. 

The team hopes to have the CB0ZEW NexGenRiB QRV as quickly as possible at their Island accommodations where they are staying in the harbor town of San Juan Batista.  

“Our goal is to have the remote operators make CB0ZEW QSOs during the estimated 1.5 – 2 days it will take our team to prepare the DXpedition sites up on the mountain.  Once we get everything in place on top, we will move the RiB up on top as well. But we see this as a very good opportunity to make contacts almost immediately once we arrive,” says team member Otis, NP4G. For operators trying to work the DXpedition on FT8, please note that the CB0ZEW remote station will be using WSJT-X running Fox/Hound mode while the CB0ZA FT8 on-island stations will be running MSHV software.

Continue to check the CB0ZA DXpediton website: cb0za.com and the CB0ZA QRZ Page for updates and other information.  Donations are still very much welcome with PayPal address: donate@cb0za.com

Gregg, W6IZT with NexGenRIB

Source: https://cb0za.com/

CB0ZA Update (Jan 13)

January 12, 2024: CB0ZA DXpedition Equipment “Cleared” for Shipment to Robinson Crusoe Island

The CB0ZA DXpedition to Robinson Crusoe Island (Juan Fernandez, #58 on ClubLog’s Most Wanted List) set for February 10-24 cleared a major hurdle today (Friday, January 12, 2024).  The DXpedition’s Chilean logistics leader Guillermo, XQ3SA reports that our team’s two air freight shipments sent out of Miami last month have cleared Chilean customs and are now at the port in Valparaiso and scheduled for shipment by cargo vessel out to the Island. 

Our initial plans called for a single shipment made up of the DXpedition’s station / antenna equipment, most of which was generously supplied by DX Engineering, together with our NA team member’s personal belongings. Since each team member is restricted to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) baggage on the charter flight from Santiago to Robinson Crusoe Island, we planned to take our personal gear to the scheduled December preparation meeting in Florida and leave there to be shipped via sea container from Florida to Chile.  This shipment was to be sent down to Chile and added to other essential items being sourced in Chile.  These essential items included tents, generators, power cabling and infrastructure, tables, chairs, mast pipes, guy stakes, rope, tools, fuel containers, etc. Everything together was then to be transported by the commercial supply ship that runs every two weeks from Valparaiso to Robinson Crusoe Island.  This is the primary supply ship to the Island’s 900 inhabitants isolated from the mainland by 675km of Pacific Ocean. 

As you may recall, DXpedition leader and organizer Marco Quijada, CE1EW tragically became a silent key back in November and the continuation of the project was in doubt.  Some member of the team made the decision to proceed with the project in celebration and honor of Marco’s memory.  Unfortunately, because of the delay, we would not be able to make our sea shipment deadline.  Our only other option was to arrange shipment from Florida by costly air freight.  This resulted in a significant, unanticipated addition to the original DXpedition budget.   

To compound matters, another issue arose when we learned we could not send our clothing and other “soft” items along in the same air freight shipping crate with the station gear due to the quarantine requirements and strict bio-security protocols enforced by Chilean officials. These protocols are primarily as a measure to protect Chile’s agricultural industry, but because of these strict regulations governing certain types of shipments into Chile, we were required to make a second air freight shipment… again adding unexpectedly to the DXpedition budget. 

It should be noted too that Chile imposed import taxes / fees on our shipments, another additional expense that we had not accounted for.  So at this time we are appealing to DXers who have not lent support to the CB0ZA DXpedition to please consider making a donation.  We will certainly appreciate anything you can do to help the cause.  Our PayPal address is: donate@cb0za.com 

Finally, a couple quick reminders–  Mike, AB5EB will be operating 6m EME from CB0ZA and will certainly take advantage of any possible 6m F2 terrestrial openings using his legal limit station into an M2 6M8GJ yagi.  DXpedition plans include participation in the ARRL International CW DX Contest and also having a dedicated Radio in a Box (RIB) Station during the operation (more information to follow in our next update).  Also, we will be using ClubLog’s Livestream and Leaderboard during the DXpedition.

Meanwhile, please check our website for updates and other relevant DXpedition information.  Team member Steve, N2IC and his XYL have done an outstanding job resurrecting and updating the CB0ZA website: cb0za.com — check it out.  Also, you can find information on the CB0ZA QRZ.com page.  Inveterate POTA aficionado James, KB2FMH has worked his magic and updated our QRZ page with a “new look”… check it out as well: CB0ZA Callsign Page

We will provide at least two more updates before departing for Santiago on February 7.  These will include our final station arrangements and band plans. Stay tuned and thank you for your support.

73 de CB0ZA Team

Source: https://cb0za.com/

CB0ZA (Jan 12)

Ops: NP4G, HI3AA, XQ3SK, AB5EB, AD5A, W8HC & N2IC

Bands: 2M - 160M

Modes: CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8 + EME

Qsl Info: https://cb0za.com/page-5/

Start Date - End Date: Feb. 10 - Feb. 24

Webpage: https://cb0za.com/