KINGMAN REEF 31 AUGUST DXPEDITION – ANNOUNCEMENT

For immediate release.

Kingman Reef 2000 Update

The Kingman Reef DXpedition team will depart Honolulu by air on Sunday, October 15 for Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island) in Eastern Kiribati. The team will be met by the motor schooner Machias for the voyage to Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef. At Palmyra, we will be joined by Mike, KH6ND, who is currently active as KH6ND/KH5. (Mike currently has over 16,000 QSO's logged on 10 bands.) The team may have the opportunity to spend some time at Palmyra before continuing to Kingman Reef--a tiny, barren and extremely narrow coral cay.

During at least 12 days at Kingman, we will be QRV on all bands from 160 to 6 meters, on CW, SSB and RTTY with up to six stations. Machias will be anchored in the lagoon for the duration of our stay. We will depart at the end of October for Kiritimati and will return by air to Honolulu on November 5.

While we plan to serve all constituencies, our team's major targets are Europe, where Kingman is most-wanted, WARC bands, low bands, RTTY and six meters. The tiny size of this coral cay presents a layout and operational challenge to our team. Our strategy to meet this challenge includes heavy use of vertical antennas on all HF bands and 160m to achieve minimum takeoff angle in a close and radically marine environment.

Expenses for this DXpedition include over $50,000 for transportation!. We will be heavily dependent upon assistance from both individuals and DX organizations, especially in Europe, to meet our objectives. Contributions should be sent to Tom Harrell, N4XP, 2011 New High Shoals Rd., Watkinsville, GA 30677.

The current team complement is KH6ND, K4UEE, WA1S, AA7A, KH7U, NH6UY, OH2BU, WB4JTT, AH9B/W5, I8NHJ, JH7OHF, RZ3AA, VE7CT, N4XP and NI6T. Our pilots are JA3AAW (Japan), DL1XX (Europe) and K6GNX (North America). Our webmaster is N1DG.

For the Kingman Reef/Palmyra DX Group Garry Shapiro, NI6T