The A35JT team is very grateful to the European DX Foundation for their support of our efforts to activate Tonga in September 2019. We will be doing our best to target your part of the world as much as possible on every available opening we can find recognizing that it is in the top 60 most wanted on Clublog for Europe.
The A35JT expedition team is grateful for the tremendous support it has received from the German DX Foundation! With the addition of Steve VK5SFA to the team (who is something of a 160m specialist) and support received from the DX associations, we will be placing some increased focus on our planned 160m operations too!
The DXpedition team is grateful for the support we have received from the CDXC UK Foundation. We will be trying our hardest to make contact with your members from Tonga in September!
The A35JT DXpedition team is indebted to Carsten VK4OA at RF Solutions for his support of our DXpedition. We have obtained a number of items needed for the DXPedition station through RF Solutions including some of the HYBRIFLEX-13 and ULTRAFLEXXX-7 feedline and connectors for the 6m EME station and the 40m 4-Square array. Team members have in the past also purchased RadioSports Headsets and SPE Amplifiers via his company.
Dealing with a local re-selller has been fantastic for solving customs import hassles and we would heartily recommend them for any VK or Pacific based Amateur Radio operators seeking products from the many brands of equipment that Carsten provides.
The team wishes to thank the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), the Clipperton DX Club of France and the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group for their generous support of our DXPedition!
We also wish to thank our corporate sponsors who are helping with some of the equipment costs!
Spiderbeam are helping with masts for our expedition. We are in particular using two of their 10m Aluminium masts for our beam antennas (HF and 6m). These are fantastic for their size and enable us to fly on commercial airlines with all of our antennas without exceeding our luggage weight limits.We will also use a Spiderbeam 12m fibreglass mast for some of the wire antennas on the expedition.
Messi & Paoloni are also helping our expedition with coaxial cable. One of the biggest unseen hurdles on a weight restricted expedition is how to take enough coax to connect everything together. Last used by VK5GR on his YJ0AG expedition, Messi & Paoloni ULTRAFLEXX-7 provides us with RG-213 performance at nearly half the weight per metre. We are also using their 75ohm cables for the phasing harness in the 40m and possible 30m 4-Square array.
The expedition is running two separate activities, with HF the main focus, and the second activity being 6m EME (which is possible mostly during week 1 only based on moon predictions). 6m EME has been especially requested as we have been told A3 has never been activated on 6m EME before. Getting the 6m EME antennas out to the island has proved a serious logistical challenge. Through the generosity of individual donors the 6m EME project is now possible and arrangements to freight the antennas and masts are now underway (after some more testing back in VK).
So, a huge thank you to the following who are supporting our 6m EME activities:
SP3RNZ, NJ6P, K2ZD, N3XX, G8BCG, SP4MPB, W6UC, K7CW, G8VR, SP7VC, N8RR, OH2BC, F6BKI, ON4IQ, ON4GG, N1DG, DL8YHR, ZS4TX, OH7KM, N7IP
See you all from Tonga in September!