Hello fellow bird folk,
Plans for my upcoming Europe trip are now finalized. I will be leaving direct to Europe from the K6G expedition, first ops being on 4/30.
First stop is a long layover in Iceland. BIKF airport happens to be right on the HP83/84 line, so I plan to operate from there. Scheduled times on the ground are 4/30 1345Z - 5/1 0740Z, subtract a bit for customs and security time, plus I'll probably be visiting the Oceanic Air Traffic Control Center at some point. West Coasters and ops in the center of NA take note, there is likely only ONE usable pass (sadly). This is the 1956Z pass of AO-7, which has footprint over basically the entire continent. I sure hope the QRO lids remain at bay and don't flip it to mode A, this is a very rare opportunity. Plenty of passes possible for the East Coast and Europe.
After that, I will be heading to Amsterdam for four nights, then Brussels for one night. Not sure how much operating in each country but I hope to work at least one pass to the US from each towards my CCXD.
The second week will be in the British Isles. May 6-8 on Jersey, 8-10 on Guernsey, and 10-13 on Isle of Man. I will be staying on the west coast of each island to maximize possibilities for low passes to North America.
To wrap it up, I will do a day roving in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with George MI6GTY before heading back home.
This is a trip with my family, so I won't be on every pass. I will make my best effort to be on good North America bound passes, and it should be easy to cover Europe as well. AO-7 will be the primary NA bird, but some use of FO-29 will be possible.
All countries are CEPT TR61/01 and I have gotten LoTW certificates for all calls. All QSLing will be through LoTW, but if necessary I can get some cards made up, which will be available via direct NJ7H as usual.
Callsigns:
Iceland TF/NJ7H Netherlands PA/NJ7H Belgium ON/NJ7H England M/NJ7H (short layovers, not sure if will be used) Jersey MJ/NJ7H Guernsey MU/NJ7H Isle of Man MD/NJ7H Northern Ireland MI/NJ7H Republic of Ireland EI/NJ7H
73, Gabe NJ7H