Jan Mayen & QTH
Jan Mayen Island is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is 55 km (34 miles) long (southwest-northeast) and 373 km2 (144 mi2) in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of 114.2 km2 or 44.1 mi2 around the Beerenberg). It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by an isthmus 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide. It lies 600 km (about 400 mi) northeast of Iceland, 500 km (about 300 mi) east of central Greenland and 1,000 km (about 600 mi) west of the North Cape, Norway. The island is mountainous, the highest summit being the Beerenberg - stratovolcano 2277m asl in the north. [source & more info: wikipedia]
Our QTH
Our QTH will be a settlement called GAMMELMETTEN - loc IQ51SA. It is situated in the middle of JX coastal line from the Northern side of the island. It used to be a place of previous meteo station - now moved to Olonkin City [ Link1 ] [ Link2 ].
Why Gammelmetten and that part of the island? Since November 2010, the island is under strict nature protection regulations defined by Norwegian law. Our QTH is one of very few places that may be utilized by tourists, and the only place we have received permission to set up our ham radio gear.
The place provides excellent signal take off for North America, Japan, Oceania, and most of South America, but a bit more difficult for Europe / Africa.
Fortunately, we will be located pretty far away from NATO's Lorac-C Station [ link1 ] | [ link2 ] in Olonkin City so its QRM shouldn't be very strong (if any on higher bands). The Locan-C station is a real problem on top bands at Jan Mayen...
Weather at Jan Mayen, even during polar summer season, is cold and very humid. We may experience approx. +5°C/+41°F during our stay or so. See weather stats from 2010 (source: http://eklima.met.no/):
Check weather forecast for Jan Mayen island here »
