The "Marion Dufresne" is now scheduled to leave Reunion Island on 12 December, and to reach Crozet on 20 December. Thierry, F6CUK reports that, "following the signing of the agreement with the TAAF", he has
been authorized to be QRV on the HF bands for three weeks only, between 20 December and 26 January. In addition, he will have to QRT for "at least 5 hours" each day, "to allow the French Polar Institute to take measurements".
That being the case, Thierry intends to concentrate his activity on 2-3 bands - 20 and/or 17 metres, and 30 metres at night - in order to give an All Time New One to as many people as possible. "I have not chosen any frequencies either", he says, "this will be discussed with the scientists on site". At all events, he has already agreed with the Bouvet team that he will operate FT8 on 10131 kHz, and he is aware of the privileges granted to the General US licence class on 20m.
No constraints will be put on satellite activity, and Thierry will be able to operate via QO-100 for the entire duration of his stay on the island.
Departure from Crozet will be around 25 March.
Thierry and his team are working to secure permission for a longer QRV period on the HF bands; he is in contact with the IPEV (the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor), but to date he has no information about a possible extension.
As for the callsign, Thierry has applied for a special callsign to mark the 60th anniversary of the first amateur radio activity from Crozet, conducted by Roger Baudelot, FB8WW, between December 1961 and February 1962. Thierry's callsign will be announced only a few hours before he starts operations.
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