Chuginadak Island DXpedition IOTA NA-234 New One

2008-07-28 Hot News!

na-234 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:01:12 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news from KL7DX Cleveland Volcano IOTA-expedition to Chuginadak Island (Aleutian islands, Alaska) as of 07/28/2008 12PM:

KL7DX finished the operation in the air from Chuginadak Island (NA-234) participating in IOTA Contest. Eruption of Cleveland volcano have been covered the team with ash all the time, while they were staid on the Island. Base expedition camp shut down on 27th with very active Cleveland eruption as a background. Team was evacuated to "Lady Gudny", waiting for them in Skiff Cove.
Visiting Nikolsky on the way back to Unalaska, they took a board some Aleutians, required ambulance support. The avia connection in that area is not available still yet because of volcano activity.
The team reached the Dutch Harbor (Unalaska) on 28th.
All the expeditioners: Yuri UA9OBA, Sergey RA3NAN and Yuri N3QQ are in a good mood and feel well.

THANKS to everyone for KL7DX support and warm words!

2008-07-25 Hot News!

na-234 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:50:20 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news from KL7DX 07/25/2008 05:00 AM:

Some last days (23/24) the weather condition on the NA-234 was not good. Some raining storms with strong wind (> 50 kmh), temp ~ 7..8 degrees.

The tent of the expedition's shack was disturbed. During this the PA had a failure.
The team had tried hard to fix the PA, but, up to now only the 100 watts are used with SpiderBeam and new installed SteppIR vertical.

Today (25th) the weater improved. Temp is 17...18 C. Despite on Low Power, some Europeans managed to QRV with the team.

All the best to the others!

2008-07-23 Hot News!

na-234 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:24:44 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news - KL7DX is in the AIR! 07/23/2008 03:00AM:

At 03 AM the flag of Russian Robinson Club is above the Chuginadak Island!
Team is on the Island already and prepared for the activity in the air despite on active volcano 10 km away from the expedition tent.
At 03.20 AM the KL7DX started to transmit on 14.260 from Chuginadak Island NA-234 IOTA New One!
The position of the team is located on North-East part of the Island, so, the directions to EU and USA are going to be opend.
Up to now the solar indexes are not "friendly" for the EUs (Aurora=8, Ap=13) so will wait until they improve.

Good Luck to Everybody!

2008-07-22 Hot News!

na-234 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:14:15 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news from the Team/KL7/mm as of 07/22/2008 06:30AM:

The team is for 7 hours already have been 300 m away from Chuginadak Island (NE part of the Island). But the eruption of Cleveland Volcano (~7 km away from the present location of the team) have not gave any chance to land up to now. Everything around (ship, ocean) is covered by ash. The eruption goes on every 5...10 minutes.
If the Cleveland's "activity" permits, the team will try to land tomorrow morning (their local time).
There is 100 wts TX and G5RV antenna on a board and the team try to be in the air as KL7DX/mm (mostly for KL, VE, and W6/W7 hams).

2008-07-21 Hot News!

na-234 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:06:10 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news from the Team/KL7/mm as of 07/21/2008 18PM:

The weather is not comfortable. Temp is + 7...8 degrees. It's raining. There are strong wind and ocean waves there. The team expect to see the Island in 2 hours approximately (if everything is going well!) But they still does not know, if they manage to land today or tomorrow (depending on weather).
The Team had a night rest in settlement Nikolsky yesterday. The departure from there was not easy also because of ocean.
The expedition members would like very much to step on the Islands' ground and to prepare the equipment to operate from NA-234 in the air.

Wish them GOOD LUCK!

2008-07-19 Hot News!

na-234 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:22:52 GMT

NA-234 (IOTA NEW ONE!) Latest news from KL7DX Cleveland Volcano IOTA-expedition to Chuginadak Island (Aleutian islands, Alaska) as of 07/19/2008 3AM:

We thank all hams who is supporting our expedition! Team of Russian Robinson Club – N3QQ, RA3NAN and UA9OBA arrived in Dutch Harbor (Unalaska island, NA-059).

Okmok Volcano, located on Umnak island, in the middle between Dutch Hurbor and Chuginadak island, continues to erupt. The eruption is now episodic, with occasional, ash-producing explosions occurring every 15 to 30 minutes. The plumes from these explosions appear to be limited to about 6,100m (20,000ft) above sea level. The aviation color code for Okmok Volcano remains at ORANGE. The initial phase of the eruption, which began on July 12, was quite explosive and produced a wet, ash and gas-rich plume that reached 15,200m (50,000ft) above sea level, now high altitude sulfur dioxede cloud from the main explosive phase riached West Coast of the U.S. See www.avo.alaska.edu/image.php?id=14341

Despite current situation and possibility a return to more vigorous explositions, expedition team is continuing to work towards our goal. All flights are cancelled to Nikolski direction. We had to find new (larger) boat “Lady Gudny”, beacause our chartered boat was not available. We are leaving Dutch Hurbor July 19th towards Chuginadak island. Please look for our activity on usual IOTA frequencies and updates www.NA-234.com

Cleveland Volcano KL7DX IOTA-expedtion breaking news!

rz3em — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:55:59 GMT

NA-234. (IOTA NEW ONE!) Breaking News: The KL7DX IOTA-expedition to Chuginadak Island (Aleutians islands, Alaska) is under feasibility review by team members – Yuri Sushkin N3QQ, Sergey Morozov RA3NAN and Yuri Zaruba UA9OBA.

Okmok Volcano, located 75 miles away from our destination continues to erupt. The volcano is currently at aviation color code RED and alert level WARNING. All areas immediately around the volcano are considered hazardous. Airborne ash and gas continues to drift with the wind and pose a hazard to aviation in the area. Satellite data continue to show a long (~250km) plume moving east, the height of the plume is approximately 9,100m (30,000 ft) above sea level. Cleveland Volcano on Chuginadak island have current aviation color code YELLOW and volcano alert level ADVISORY. Please see http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Okmok.php for more information.
Team of Russian Robinson Club is planning to land on the island by boat and start operation between July 19th and July 21st with participation in IOTA Contest July 26-27th weather and seismic conditions permitting. QSL via AC7DX. Please look for us on usual IOTA frequencies and on-line tracking of KL7DX’s position via GPS/SPOT Messenger is available on www.NA-234.com