staging equipment rebar dead man used on many stakes
TRANSCRIPT
Plan- 6 stations running for 10 days 24 hours per day
Actual – 6 stations running for ~5 days 24 hours per day propagation permitting
- 6 x Elecraft K3 - 1 x Icom IC-7000 back-up
- 1 x Elecraft K2 back-up
- 4 x Elecraft KPA 500- 2 x Tokyo HyPower- 1 x Tokyo HyPower back-up
- 4 x generators 4 kw each- 7 x 200 liter drums ~1,200 liters fuel,- 2,000 feet RG-8X
Operations Plan
Antennas
• 160 m - Spiderbeam 18m fiberglass mast – Inverted L 1/4 Vertical
• 80 m - Spiderbeam 18m fiberglass mast w/SGC
• 40 m – 4 Square
• 10 – 20M – Folding Hex Beam x 2
• CrankIR x 3
• BigIR x 3
• Pennant RX antenna
Antenna Plan
Actual Schedule
Day # Op.Day # Location ETA ETD NM Speed Hours
18-Mar Advance Tream Arrives in Mackay
25-Mar Day 1 Depart Mackay for Mellish 13:30 6.5 3626-Mar Day 2 At Sea 27-Mar Day 3 At Sea 28-Mar Day 4 Arrive Mellish Reef - Start set-up 13:2529-Mar Day 5 Set-up30-Mar Day 6 OP Day 131-Mar Day 7 Op Day 2
1-Apr Day 8 Op Day 32-Apr Day 9 Op Day 43-Apr Day 10 Op Day 54-Apr Day 11 Op Day 6 Shutdown / Depart - just a few contacts5-Apr Day 12 At Sea ~14:006-Apr Day 13 At Sea 7-Apr Day 14 At Sea 8-Apr Day 15 Arrive Mackay - Unload Boat 2:309-Apr Day 16 Sort - Repack
10-Apr Day 17 Sort - Repack11-Apr Day 18 Arrange Shipments / Sell Generators / Donations12-Apr Day 19 Leave Mackay
Cyclone Ita
What did we know and when did we know it?
- We knew it was the end of the cyclone season
- When we arrived at the island it was windy – approx 20 knots
- As the days went on the winds got stronger
- On about April 1st the skipper told us of a tropical depression forming to the North
- He said these events are known to form cyclones
- What’s the difference between a cyclone, hurricane, or a typhoon?
- The skipper was closely monitoring the weather
- At one point he said he “isn’t panicking yet, but if we saw him running we should be close behind him”
- We received radio reports of death and destruction in Honiara
- He was receiving NOAA WEFAX images and maritime Wx warnings every 4 hours
- On the early morning of April 5th we decided it was time to start packing