Amateur Radio Activity from Rockall

57º37N 013º42W

Dateline:- Wednesday 23 March 2005

It is reported that a visit for Amateur Radio activity from the island of Rockall is on for the month of June 2005.

The plan is for an expedition to leave the Orkney Islands (over 300 miles away) on 11th June 2005, arriving in the area of Rockall around 14th June and remaining there until 21st June.

It will include an amateur radio team led by Dave Wood MM0ALM assisted by well-known and experienced island activator Seamus "Jim" Cameron MM0CWJ from the Hebrides (and, as resident on South Uist, possibly the closest ham to Rockall 240 miles out in the Atlantic).

They will rely on a member of the SAS to get them onto the rock from an inflatable boat and hope to put up a small tent on a tiny ledge a few metres square.

Operation will be primarily SSB (all bands, as appropriate)...the callsign will be MS0IRC/p, the Hebridean island radio club call....the expedition QSL manager will be G0HXN.

Jim also hopes to operate 50MHz, including during the sea voyage, signing MM0CWJ/MM.

This will be a hazardous operation requiring extreme good fortune to succeed...few people have landed on this isolated rock which is beyond the range of normal rescue helicopters.

Even in perfect weather, the Atlantic swell can be intimidating" - in "moderate" seas, it will be surging up and over the top which is only about 20m above sea level - and as the rock's face varies from very steep to near-vertical, an attempted landing is not for the faint-hearted.

This is not a Caribbean cruise! It is a truly daring attempt to activate one of the most elusive IOTA islands, for the first time ever.

The original Islands on the Air (IOTA) number for Rockall was reaciviated due to unauthorised operation from the island. This operation will be fully authorised.

(above text based on words from Andri, GM3VLB)