The AU2K team is currently active from Kanika Island, which is a new addition to the IOTA AS-179. Despite facing some challenging conditions, they continue to push forward with their operation.
Updates from the Field
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Arrival and Weather: The team’s arrival on the island was met with a sandstorm, which, while challenging, didn’t stop their enthusiasm. The early days were marked by pleasant breezes and no noise, but as time went on, they encountered scorching heat and intense noise on both their horizontal and vertical antennas. Despite these challenges, the team is finding bright spots, especially during 20m openings to North and South America.
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Band Noise Issues: A major hurdle has been the intense noise on all bands between 15m to 40m (ranging from S7 to S9), which has been particularly disruptive for CW and SSB operations. This noise forced the team to limit their operations to FT8 for some periods. Additionally, the CW operator was affected by a cold after staying in a strong current, forcing them to take a break for a while. Fortunately, after some rest, the operator returned to the air for short bursts on 40m, 30m, and 17m, making some contacts with North and South America.
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Sandstorm Challenges: The strong winds and constant sandstorms have added an extra layer of difficulty, as the team’s tent (which is open for ventilation and operations) has been accumulating a thick layer of fine sand, making everything harder to manage.
Despite these obstacles, the team is continuing their efforts, and there are bright moments when 20m FT8 provides solid openings. Their perseverance, despite the harsh conditions, showcases their dedication to providing new IOTA contacts to eager operators.
Band Conditions
- 20m FT8 has been one of the more successful bands, with good openings to North and South America during the 00:00z to 02:30z period.
- Noise Levels: Noise has been a major issue, especially on 15m to 40m, which has affected their ability to make consistent CW and SSB contacts.
Ongoing Operations
- The team is making use of FT8 on the affected bands and will continue working on 40m, 30m, and 17m.
- The CW operator is back on the air in short spurts, making a few contacts in between breaks to recover from the cold.
As the team pushes through the tough conditions, Kanika Island is proving to be a challenging yet rewarding experience for both the operators and those trying to log them. Stay tuned for further updates as the team battles the elements to provide more opportunities for DXers to add this new IOTA to their logs.
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