OA9/KQ6XA Cave Expedition Peru 2004

Cave Expedition Peru 2004 : On-The-Air
The ham radio operation is in conjunction with a world-class expedition
of speleologist cave scientists to explore and survey the deepest
previously unknown caves in the southern hemisphere.

Cave Exploration Expedition
using Portable HF Radio 02 July ~ 25 August 2004

Callsign: OA9/KQ6XA
Operator: Bonnie
QTH: Andes mountaintop in Amazonas area of Peru

Huge gaping entrance to one of the deeper pits in the southern hemisphere, an Andes mountain cave. Note the caver wearing red, descending into the cave, near the bottom of photo.
It was unknown prior to 1999, when our expedition group descended into this abyss to explore it. The expedition returns in 2004 to survey and map the cave.

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The QTH of OA9/KQ6XA: Basecamp on a remote Andes 14,000ft peak in the zone of Amazonas Peru. This photo is looking toward the south. Our temporary VHF repeater site is just to the left of the summit. The small pond to the right is our water supply! Our 20 Watt HF transmitter (Vertex VX-1210) is battery powered. Solar power charges the batteries to run all the HF, VHF, Satellite & Video gear. We are using wire antennas supported by collapsible poles. There are no trees growing at this elevation.

Daily amateur radio schedules with the expedition on the 40 meter band are coordinated by:
Augusto OA4CVT in Lima Peru

Operators are invited to communicate with the expedition via SSB or CW. We enjoy keeping in touch with the rest of the world. When trying to contact the expedition station on SSB voice, please listen for reply in either CW or SSB voice. Try calling according to the schedule (below). As you make contact, please give an honest signal report. If signals and propagation are good for the QSO, we would appreciate the chance to chat, or possibly even the offer of a message relay to friends and family by email or telephone.

**EXPEDITION RADIO SCHEDULE**
OA9 / KQ6XA Expedition Peru 2004 HF Portable 02 July - 25 August In addition to the regular HFpack schedule at 1630z and 2230z on 18157.5kHz, the expedition will use the following schedule:
Time UTC	Meter Band	Frequency kHz	Schedule
00:30z	17m	18157.5 USB or 18158 CW	Daily
01:00z	40m	7087.5 LSB or 7087 CW	Daily
00:45z	15m	21437.5 USB or 21438 CW	As needed
03:50z	30m	10117.5 CW	As needed
xx:xx	17m	18095 CW	QSY Freq for CW
The Cave Expedition Peru 2004 will operate on HF using a 20W transmitter and battery power charged by solar. To conserve battery power during cloudy days, OA9/KQ6XA will not call CQ, but instead will just listen for calls and respond to them directly. Radio operators around the world are invited to QSO with OA9/KQ6XA, please call at the above scheduled times and frequencies on SSB or CW. Listen for response in CW or SSB. QSL via eQSL.

Many thanks to Jessica KF6WMY. This endeavor would not have been possible without her.

author: Bonnie Crystal

This web page and the images presented herein are not permitted to be copied or reproduced on other websites without the written permission of the author.