Setup is under way in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei, located on the Island of Borneo and surrounded by Malaysia, for the V84SAA DXpedition. Eighteen operators under the leadership of Krassy Petkov, K1LZ, will fire up on February 7 and continue until February 18. Operation will concentrate on the low bands.

“Many of the team have already landed in Brunei, and the tent is set up on the beach for the CW team,” top band expert Jeff Briggs, K1ZM/VY2ZM, reported just prior to his planned departure from the US. Briggs explained in a February 4 update that two operating sites — one for CW and the other for SSB — will be set up some 25 kilometers apart. “The CW stations will be set up on Seri Kenangan beach, with an ocean shot to North America and Europe,” he said, adding that he anticipates the first real night will be February 8, as the team may not be fully set up on 160 meters on the first day, and “there is a lot on our plate.” After that, Briggs said he plans to be at the radio nightly, and he’s hoping manmade noise remains minimal to nonexistent.

All of North America will have some portion of common darkness with the V84SAA team. Briggs advises North American stations to look for V84SAA immediately after local sunset in Brunei, not necessarily at local sunrise in North America. “We may peak out of a 220° heading about 20 minutes after it gets dark in Brunei,” he said.

For antennas, the team will use verticals on 160 and 80 meters and a four-square on 40 meters located on the beach. Plans call for two Beverages — one for Europe and another for North America. While the team will focus on the low bands, expect to find V84SAA on the higher bands — including 30, 17, and 12 meters.

In addition to Petkov and Briggs, other US operators on the team include Briggs’s son Patrick, KK6ZM, and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA. The V84SAA team will have the support of Tamat Lampoh, V85T, and the Brunei Darussalam Amateur Radio Association. QSL via Tony Stefanov, LZ1JZ, direct or via the bureau. During the DXpedition, V84SAA will upload its logs daily to Club Log.

Brunei is the overall 146th most-wanted DXCC entity, according to the Club Log DXCC Most Wanted List, but it’s number 39 on 160 meters, and 73 on 80 meters.