THE H44KW DX-PEDITION 2013

by

Phil Whitchurch

G3SWH

I had been considering a DX-pedition to the Solomon Islands since 2010 but for a number of reasons, primarily to do with finding somewhere from where to operate, had decided to go elsewhere. However, after the 2012 operation as 3DA0PW with John EA5ARC / G3OLU, Jim, G3RTE and I were keen to go somewhere together in 2013. Other destinations were considered, such as American Samoa, Rodriguez Island and the Marshall Islands, but around May 2012 I discovered that Bernhard, DL2GAC was planning to visit the Solomons again as H44MS between October and December 2012. A quick e-mail to him produced a host of useful information, including the e-mail addresses of the head of the new Telecommunications Commission of the Solomon Islands (TCSI), which in 2009 had replaced the government’s Spectrum Management Department. He also provided details of the guest house in the capital, Honiara, from where he usually operates. Unfortunately, whilst this appeared to be quite good from the radio perspective, it was not air-conditioned and was really a bit too Spartan for a couple of oldies like us. More research on the Internet revealed several apparently quite comfortable hotels on the main island of Guadalcanal, the Iron Bottom Sound Hotel being the best situated on the northern coast, right on the edge of the ocean. Our joint attempts to contact the IBSH by e-mail, fax and telephone proved difficult if not impossible and we initially abandoned this location in favour of the Pacific Casino Hotel, which was also right on the edge of the ocean. Jim was more successful in getting a response from the PCH who indicated that they would be happy for us to put up antennas and operate from there. Unfortunately, there were no trees within the compound, so we were faced with the prospect of having to take antenna supports of some sort with us. We also considered the Rain Tree Café, which is some distance to the west of Honiara itself and who were also responsive to e-mails and our proposals.   Jim also managed to make contact by e-mail with Ralph, H44RK, who is an ex-patriate Australian working in Honiara and persuaded him to go and speak to the manager of the IBSH and obtain reliable contact information, but again, responses were not forthcoming. Ralph was also most helpful taking a short video of the PCH but he and Bernhard declared the Rain Tree café to be unsuitable for amateur radio. He did manage to find and video a superb location on the ocean nearby but it consisted of bungalows on long-term lease but none were available during our proposed dates.   By the time that Bernhard arrived in Honiara in mid October, we were getting desperate to make decisions. He also visited the ICBH, spoke to Vivian, the Filipino manager and possibly explained in a bit more detail what we were planning as he appeared to get a slightly better response, but still no e-mails. He also got some photos of the site that showed some well-placed trees on the beach and more details of the accommodation blocks than was available from Google Earth. In desperation Jim finally telephoned the IBSH and spoke to Vivian, who was actually very helpful once communication had been established. Jim was allocated Room 106, close to the trees overhanging the beach and I was allocated Room 502 in a separate single storey block set about 20 metres back from the beach. Both rooms were very comfortable, air conditioned and with private facilities. The two rooms were over 50 metres apart and as we would be operating from them we hoped that this would minimise any inter-station interference.

History.  There are traces of human habitation on the islands dating back some 30,000 years but they were first “discovered” by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568 but attempts at colonisation were unsuccessful.   Missionary activity then started in the mid 19th century and European colonial ambitions led to the establishment of a German Protectorate over the Northern Solomons, following an Anglo-German Treaty of 1886. A British Solomon Islands Protectorate over the southern islands was proclaimed in June 1893. German interests were transferred to the United Kingdom in 1899, in exchange for recognition of the German claim to Western Samoa.   Guadalcanal is the largest island in the group. The name comes from Guadalcanal, a village in the province of Seville, in Andalusia, Spain, birthplace of Pedro de Ortega Valencia, a member of Mendaña’s expedition. The main highway through Honiara is still called Mendana Avenue.

During 1942-43 it was the scene of bitter fighting between Japanese and American troops, primarily over possession of the Japanese airfield, now known as Henderson Field. Iron Bottom Sound is the name given by Allied sailors to Savo Sound, the stretch of water at the southern end of The Slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island because of the dozens of ships and planes that sank there during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942-43. Prior to the war, it was called Sealark Channel.

By the end of the war, Honiara had been developed by the American forces and became the new capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. Independence within the British Commonwealth was achieved on 7 July 1978. Between 1999 and 2003 there were a series of ethic conflicts until an international peace-keeping force drawn from other South Pacific countries, particularly Australia were deployed. The peacekeeping forces have been successful in improving the country’s overall security conditions. However, the government continues to face serious problems, including an uncertain economic outlook but the situation remains unstable.

Licensing.   Licensing was relatively easy although the people at the newly formed TCSI were obviously not very familiar with amateur radio. There was the inevitable form to be completed and copies of passports and UK licenses to be provided. I tentatively requested the callsign H44G but was very firmly told that this callsign series was reserved for aircraft, so we settled on H44KW, which had not been previously issued. The biggest obstacle was paying the SBD 200 fee (about £18.50) as the TCSI didn’t accept credit cards or PayPal. Fortunately, Bernhard introduced us to Greg, H44GP who agreed to make the payment in return for a cheque for £25 drawn on a UK bank, which was duly sent by snail mail in August 2012. The formalities completed, the licence was issued on 14^th September and sent to me by e-mail. I was then horrified to find that it did not include a 30 metres allocation and was limited to 100 watts on all bands. After a further exchange of e-mails, I received “special” authorisation for 30 metres but no increase in authorised power.   Bernhard’s existing H44MS license granted him access to all amateur bands with 1,000 watts but had been issued by the now defunct Spectrum Management Department and was due to expire on 31^st December 2012. Consequently, he must have spent a lot of time negotiating with the staff at the TCSI’s office in Honiara as he arranged for the German team led by Sigi, DL7DF and who were to follow us to Honiara in early March 2013 to be allocated H44G from Guadalcanal and H44T from Temotu with full HF privileges and 1,000 watts. You can imagine my annoyance! However, I was pleased to be issued with a revised H44KW license with full privileges a few days before we left UK, which was just as well as we had both purchased Elecraft KPA500 amplifiers specifically for the DX-pedition.

  Getting there.   We planned to be active from 18^th to 28^th February 2013 and our Singapore Airlines flight to Brisbane via Singapore left London Heathrow on 16^th with a change of aircraft in Singapore, arriving in Brisbane on the evening of 17^th. On the outward journey we were met at the airport and stayed overnight in Brisbane with our old friend Greg, V85GD, our host at V8JIM in 2004 and who is now VK4PG before a further 3 hour flight the following morning with Solomon Airlines, arriving at Henderson Field in Honiara in bright sunshine at 13:45 local time.

Arrival.   Clearing Customs and Immigration was no problem and we had just started to look for a taxi to the hotel when I noticed a local lady holding up a sign that read “JIM G3RTE, PHIL G3SWH. TWO ENGLISH MORSE CODEMEN”. Quite unexpectedly, we were presented with garlands of flowers, bundled into a taxi and taken to the hotel. Along the way we learned that the lady was in fact Maggie Koi, H44MK, one of only two ethnic Solomon islanders to hold an amateur radio licence, the remainder being either visitors like us or ex-patriate residents.   Hotel check in formalities completed, we were shown to our respective rooms for a quick change of clothing before investigating antenna locations. Jim had decided to use vertical dipoles as close to the ocean as possible, and there were several suitably located trees that he could use as supports, although they were not as high as he had hoped. Using my catapult, it was a simple matter to put halyards over a couple of branches and for Jim to hoist up his antennas with Maggie’s help. These were wonderfully sited, literally on the water’s edge with a clear take off to the north. Bernhard’s photos had not shown any suitable trees as close to the ocean for me to use, but had shown a very tall palm tree reasonably close to my room. Getting a halyard over this tree was not so easy and resulted in the loss of several weights and lengths of fishing line before I was successful in pulling up the centre of my doublet as an inverted vee. The take off to the north was not the best as it was shielded from the ocean by one of the two storey accommodation blocks.   By the time we had the antennas erected it was almost dark and we invited Maggie to join us for dinner at a nearby restaurant. After dinner, we finished assembling the two stations and prepared for the pile-ups.

Climate.   We elected to plan our DX-pedition in the middle of the wet season, which runs from mid-December to mid-May when monsoon winds come from the west or northwest bringing higher temperatures, humidity and rainfall. Short, sharp, torrential rains are followed by bright sunshine. Honiara’s annual rainfall is about 215 mm, which is drier than most of the rest of the country. Some areas on Guadalcanal’s south coast, receive as much as 12.5 metres of rain!Daytime coastal temperatures vary through the year from 27°C to 32°C falling at night to around 19°C. The humidity can be oppressive and s highest in the morning, regularly reaching 90%. The weather for the first few days was sunny and not too humid and we were treated to some flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder most evenings, but the QRN levels were surprisingly low. However, towards the end of the DX-pedition, the weather deteriorated to almost continuous heavy rain.

On the air.   We had agreed between us that Jim would operate on 12, 17 and 30 metres and I would operate on 10, 15, 20 and 40 metres. We would share any 80 metres activity between us towards the end of the DX-pedition. We experienced no inter-station interference.   Jim got off to a flying start on 30 metres, making his first QSO with JJ1IRS at 0951 UTC on 18^th February, but my amplifier refused to power up and, feeling very tired after the journey, I went to bed in a bad mood. Some tests the next morning showed that the mains fuses had failed and, with Maggie’s help, we braved the local mini bus to visit Greg, H44GP’s electronics shop to get replacements, which solved the problem. My first QSO was on 40 metres with OM4DX at 19:45 UTC on 18th, by which time Jim had well over 600 QSOs in the log.   The pile-ups were fast and furious and the QSO numbers racked up quickly, although it was obvious that I was never going to catch up with Jim. Then our first disaster struck: Jim’s amplifier failed and with the limited tools and test equipment we had available, we were unable to diagnose the fault. Jim was thus obliged to continue with 100 watts from his Elecraft K2. I thought initially that Jim’s misfortune would allow me to catch him up in the QSO stakes, but about 24hours later, my own KPA500 also failed, exhibiting exactly the same fault as Jim’s. E-mails were sent to Elecraft support, but there was really nothing we could do until we returned to the UK. However, it did give Elecraft the opportunity to ship some replacement modules to Waters & Stanton so that they could repair the amplifiers and return them to us as soon as possible after we got home.   Propagation was often peculiar. As is usual in the tropics, all the bands closed between about 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. local time but Jim found that 17 and 12 metres would be open when 15 metres was apparently closed. Likewise, 30 and 17 metres would be open when 20 metres was apparently closed. Jim’s vertical dipoles were obviously performing better than my doublet! Consequently, we decided to relocate the doublet so that it was closer to the ocean and clear of the two storey building, but it made little or no difference. We also decided to try a vertical dipole for 40 metres suspended from a catenary between two convenient supports. This certainly improved my 40 metres signal and even with only 100 watts from the Elecraft K2 I was able to hear and work many more European and U.S.A. stations long path on the grey line at our local sunset.   A few days after the amplifier failures, Jim noticed some intermittent high SWR readings. The cause was traced to salt water ingress into his not-very-weatherproof dipole centres. Replacing these solved the problem.   Close down.   All too soon it was time to close down and we decided that we would actually close as close to midnight UTC as possible on 27^th, which was actually 10.00 a.m. local time on 28^th February. The bands were not busy that morning and I actually made the last QSO with W2QO on 15 metres at 22.20 UTC. We also managed to take down the antennas in a dry period between rain storms!   We made 16,100 QSOs with 120 DXCC entities during our 9 days of operating, including 7,804 unique callsigns. The complete log was uploaded to Clublog and my web site on a daily basis. LoTW uploads were tried but failed due to the slow speed of our Internet connection. A successful upload was made from Brisbane on 1^st March. The final log is fully searchable at http://www.g3swh.org.uk/h44kw-log.html, showing the operator’s callsign against each QSO. Special, colour photo QSLs have been printed and are available either via the OQRS facility on my web site http://www.g3swh.org.uk/decision.html (recommended) or direct with SAE and adequate return postage. Bureau cards can also be requested from my web site and will be processed as quickly as possible. Cards are also available via the traditional bureau route.   Getting back.   Maggie had arranged to travel with us to the airport but I managed to get the departure time slightly wrong and we had to leave earlier than planned without her, making an anxious journey through the heavy traffic before arriving in good time for check in. Despite having received an extra baggage allowance from Solomon Airlines, we were charged for 10 kg of extra baggage. Maggie arrived shortly after we had checked in with some gifts for our XYLs and some farewell photos.   The flight back to Brisbane was uneventful and we were met once again by Greg, VK4GP and his XYL Trish who put up with us at their home for the next two nights. We had planned some sightseeing over two days in Brisbane, but unfortunately, it rained almost continuously the whole of the time we were there.   Greg delivered us back to the airport on the evening of 2^nd March for the flight to Singapore and the connection back to London, where we arrived on the afternoon of 3^rd March.   Statistics.

 9th International DX Convention 2013
28 Aprile,  Paestum (SA) – Italia
Organizzazione: DX ITALIA

Patrocinio: 

                       ARI Sezioni di Avellino, Benevento, Francesco Cossiga, Nocera Inferiore e Portici.

Domenica 28 aprile 2013 una splendida Paestum accoglierà tutti i radioamatori che vorranno darci l’onore di essere tra di noi. Come da anni, anche questo appuntamento vedrà ospiti di rilevanza internazionale, importantissime DXpeditions e relazioni di grandissimo valore tecnico. Grande attenzione è stata riservata all’ aspetto mondano del Convegno a cominciare dalla scelta del luogo e dell’ hotel che ci ospiterà.

A pochi km a sud di Salerno sorge il comune di Capaccio Paestum che è uno dei siti archeologici più importanti d’Italia e allo stesso tempo uno dei luoghi turistici più rinomati per le sue spiagge ampie di sabbia dorata, alle quali si accede attraverso pinete ombrose e per la qualità delle sue strutture ricettive. Si trova a pochi minuti dalla splendida natura del Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano, secondo Parco Nazionale italiano per estensione. E’ il luogo ideale per trascorrere qualche giorno in assoluto relax, gustando i sapori tipici della cucina mediterranea e i prodotti tipici del luogo; infatti è centro di produzione della famosa mozzarella di bufala e del carciofo I.G.P.

La manifestazione si terrà presso il Savoy Beach Hotel sito a Paestum, bellissima struttura situata a pochissimi metri dal mare, ed a pochi km distanza dalla zona archeologica e dal Museo Archeologico Nazionale.

PROGRAMMA

Domenica 28 Aprile:

09,30: Apertura lavori “9th International DX Convention 2013″;
Benvenuto di Oreste D’Anzilio IZ8EDJ, organizzatore dell’evento;

Intervento dei Presidenti delle Sez. ARI patrocinanti.

Mario Ambrosi I2MQP, Rappresentante del DX in Italia.

10,00: 1A0C – S.M.O.M. 2012 by Fabrizio Vedovelli, IN3ZNR

10,30: PT0S – St. Peter & St. Paul Rocks 2012 by Tamas Pekarik, HA7RY

11,00: D64K – Comoros Island 2012 by Fabrizio Vallefuoco, IW3SQY

11,30: ZL9HR – Campbell 2012 by Gene Spinelli, K5GS

12,00: “50MHz: come sfruttarli con i modi digitali” by Costantino Cerrotta, IC8TEM

12,30: Premiazioni

13,00: Pranzo di Gala

16,00: Sessione di esami per il conseguimento della licenza USA
Durante la manifestazione sarà presente Mario Ambrosi I2MQP a disposizione di chiunque vorrà effettuare avanzamenti e/o richiedere i seguenti Award: DXCC, WAC, WAS, WAZ, CQ DX, CQ DX FIELD.

Le quote di partecipazione sono le seguenti:

Pranzo di domenica 28 – euro 35,00 ( a persona )

Antipasto del casaro: bocconcino integrale di bufala, bresaola rucola e parmigiano, ricottina di bufala, zucchine e malanzane alla griglia, prosciutto di Parma;
Primo piatto: Cortecce con carciofi e croccanti sopra;
Secondo piatto: Cosciotto di vitello in bellavista con tortino di melanzane e patate ambrate ;
Dessert: Cestino ai frutti di bosco vellutato alla vaniglia;
Torta e spumante;
Acqua e Vino compresi

Pernottamento in stanza doppia o matrimoniale euro 40,00 ( a persona ), supplemento singola euro 20,00.
Coordinate GPS: lat 40.423535 – long 14.983891 ( Via Poseidonia, 41 – 84063, Paestum – Capaccio ( Salerno ) Italy

Le prenotazioni andranno effettuate entro e non oltre il 13 aprile 2013 ( per consentirci di organizzare tutto al meglio ) via e-mail all’indirizzo: iz8edj@gmail.com , telefonicamente al numero 3342575485. WEB SITE http://www.dxitalia.it

Mention the name Campbell Island to any 19 year old and you’ll most likely get a blank look or, “Where is Campbell Island?” That was my reaction in June, 1965 when told I’d be going to Campbell Island, as well as circling the earth aboard a US Navy weather ship. We would leave Newport, Rhode Island in mid August and travel to Dunedin, New Zealand via the Panama Canal. After a

On these journeys to “60 South” we would stop at Campbell Island to drop off mail and shuttle New Zealand personnel to the island, and then proceed to sea station. We’d return to Campbell Island several weeks later to collect outgoing mail and to ferry NZ personnel to Dunedin. During several of these stops I had the opportunity to go ashore on Campbell Island to meet the resident meteorological team and to view the wildlife. In January, 1966 we stopped at the Auckland Islands instead of Campbell Island in support of a scientific expedition.

Upon completing our weather assignments in the Southern Ocean, we would return to the USA the long way, via Australia, the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal and the Mediterranean to the North Atlantic, stopping in various countries along the way, and returning to Newport, Rhode Island in May of the following year. Returning to Newport I transferred to another ship and repeated the adventure for another Operation Deep Freeze season, completing my Navy enlistment with 2 circumnavigations of the world, visiting many countries and celebrating two Christmases and two birthdays below the Antarctic Circle, in the shadow of the Balleny Islands.  

Now, let’s fast forward 45 years to March, 2012 when I read an announcement in the DX bulletins about an upcoming Campbell Island DX-pedition seeking people to join the team. I immediately sent an e-mail indicating my availability and was notified a few days later that I was on the team. When telling my wife what I’d done, she reminded me that I was no longer 19 years old!

The next months were consumed with preparing for the “adventure,” as my wife came to describe the DX-pedition. She and I already had a five week holiday scheduled in New Zealand that ended on Oct. 18, 2012. My original plan was to remain in NZ and meet the ZL9HR team in Invercargill on Nov. 22^nd. My wife thought I’d wear out my welcome by staying with friends that long, so I flew home on Oct. 18^th and then flew to Australia on Oct. 28^th, where I stayed at a hotel and later with friends before returning to New Zealand on Nov 9th. I met John 9M6XRO in Dunedin on Nov. 22^nd and we drove 3.5 hours south to Invercargill, NZ stopping to visit Cliff ZL4AS, and his lovely wife Isobel.

Campbell Island was last activated by a major DX-pedition in January, 1999. ZL9CI spent twenty one days on the island, making a DX-pedition record of 96,004 QSOs. Their landing permit prohibited over night radio operation, so at sundown the team was required to return to their boat. Only under unsafe weather conditions could the team remain overnight. Our landing permit authorized ten operators on the island for ten days, with no overnight stays.

Our team began assembling in Invercargill on November 22^nd and the first of several formal meetings with the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) was conducted on November 24^th. The island is a tightly controlled wildlife reserve, landing is not permitted without a permit, and they are extremely difficult to obtain, as well as being very expensive. 

Since 2001 the island’s wildlife lives in a predator free environment after all the rats, mice and other predators were chemically removed from the island. Anything going to the island must be inspected for loose dirt, seeds, organic matter, insects, rats, mice, etc; all radio equipment, clothing, boots and even the boat must undergo detailed inspections by DoC personnel. Once equipment is inspected, everything goes into quarantine until the boat sails. 

Our equipment was unpacked by DoC personnel, inspected, and repacked in approved DoC provided containers and/or plastic coverings. Our boat the “Evohe” out of Dunedin is a DoC approved vessel. They use Evohe for their own visits to the island so we had a skipper and crew experienced with the Southern Ocean and the island.

On November 26^th we met in the DoC office for final inspections and the all-important briefings on safety and working around the island’s wildlife. Then began the task of unloading the DoC Quarantine Store of all our equipment, loading the truck, and driving thirty minutes to Bluff, where the Evohe was waiting.

With the help of the Evohe crew, several local hams, and our DoC partner, Gilly Adam, we loaded the boat in a few hours and prepared to get underway. Then skipper, Steve Kafka, gave us the bad news. The weather in the Southern Ocean was terrible; a 700 kilometer voyage through a storm with 50 knot winds and 10 meter seas would be too dangerous. If someone was seriously injured during the beating we would surely take from the boat’s movements it would force us to cancel the DX-pedition.

A decision was made to sail south, through the Foveaux Strait and anchor at Port Adventure, on the east coast of Stewart Island. Foveaux Strait is well known for its inhospitable waters; it lived up to its reputation! The seven hour journey was extremely rough, but nothing compared to what was to come. Because our gear was in “quarantine status” we were unable to go ashore on Stewart Island.

After over two days at anchor, the skipper plotted a course around the now waning storm; however the seas would still be in the four to five meter range. We were asked to remain in our bunk as much as possible to minimize the possibility of injuries, moving about the boat under these conditions required extreme caution. For the next two days we were knocked about, at times violently, as we headed directly into the wind and waves making an average 6 – 7 knots under sail and engines towards Campbell Island.

We arrived at Campbell Island early in the morning of Dec. 1, 2012, three days later than planned. There were a few minor injuries during the voyage, but fortunately nothing that would have jeopardized the expedition. That’s easy for me to say, those who sustained the injuries were reminded of them every time they climbed in and out of the Zodiac, or lifted a piece of equipment.

Gilly Adam, the DoC officer, went ashore to open the buildings, and the Zodiac runs commenced. Equipment was staged on the wharf and carried about one hundred and fifty meters up a muddy hill, under the watchful eyes of the Hooker Sea Lions, to the operating buildings. The Evohe crew was instrumental in transferring the equipment and erecting antennas.

Each of us was loosely assigned a particular task, i.e. antennas, power distribution, coax, indoor set-up. By late afternoon we were on the air with the first contact made with ZL1BBO on 40 SSB, with the remaining equipment installed the following day. Losing three days at sea required a rearrangement of the station / antenna plans. We were not able to install the 6 meter station, the 30 meter vertical, the 80 meter vertical, or the 40 meter Moxon beam.

The organizers provided much of the equipment, which kept the project cost low. They had used the Kenwood transceivers, SPE amplifiers, and some of the antennas on previous DX-peditions. These four radios and four amps as well as two Elecraft stations provided by other team members, performed flawlessly. The Yamaha generators worked smoothly and flawlessly making the spare generators unneeded. The team had planned for every contingency, with redundancy for all mission critical systems, including more petrol than required.

We had the use of three rooms in the old Met Service building: a non functional kitchen in which the boat crew provided a propane gas fired hob for making hot tea and coffee; the former dining room, and the former recreation room. All windows were boarded over to prevent glass breakage from the winds; we were not permitted to remove the boards. The recreation room housed the SSB / RTTY team while CW was in the dining room. We did have a challenge with coax cables being strewn among the rooms; switching antennas between the radios became a frustrating task in the poorly lighted rooms.

At times, because of the terrain and the sea lions, changing an antenna’s direction became a dangerous task, especially in the dark of night. Stepping on an unseen sea lion in a thick tussock could easily result in being bitten. We were advised by the DoC and the Evohe’s skipper to exercise extreme caution, especially at night or in the bush. Being bitten would most likely require an emergency evacuation. The sea lions were almost always aggressive yet not too threatening, but they constantly reminded you whose territory you were invading. We were cautioned to keep our distance and never touch or harass them. Also problematical were the mud-filled bogs that were visible along the walking track and also hidden in the tussocks. Finding yourself in one of these mud pits was a dangerous and unpleasant experience.

One question we were asked was “why don’t you use vertical antennas in the water? Our permit prohibited antennas in or near the water. There were no sandy beaches near our DoC designated operating sites and antennas were marked to minimize bird strikes. Another challenge was sea lions becoming entangled with radials and other cables.

The antennas proved to be efficient as installed, although we did have problems with the Spiderbeams. The new “preassembled” Spiderbeams were difficult and very time consuming to assemble. The documentation is poorly written, the antenna itself too cumbersome for use in a hostile environment and not robust enough to handle the winds. One Spiderbeam had to be assembled in an area with knee high grass, the wire elements and guys were easily tangled in the grass and were difficult to see.

The standard duty Spiderbeam on the upper hill (exposed to constant wind) was in shambles the next morning. We may have assembled it incorrectly, the team reassembled the antenna and it failed a second time within twenty four hours when an arm broke. It was replaced with a heavy duty Spiderbeam which worked well to the end of the operation. However, the aluminum hub frame of both Spiders was terribly deformed. If you can bend a critical antenna part by hand, it’s the wrong antenna for this application. And while the positive aspect of the design was five bands on a single mast, the problem of antenna scheduling becomes evident with only two such antennas and no other tri-banders.

The Steppir vertical failed towards the end of the expedition, leaving us with the 40 meter vertical (which performed perfectly) and a low mounted 80 meter dipole which performed well towards North America but not as well toward Europe or Asia. The homebrew monoband 10 and 15 meter Moxon antennas performed perfectly as did the 12 – 17 meter Optibeam.

For 160 we used an inverted L on an eighteen meter fiberglass push-up mast, a sight to be seen. The surprise challenge on 160 was man-made noise we suspected came from the NZ Met Service’s automated weather station’s inverters located in a building that was off limits to the team. In spite of the noise, John 9M6XRO and Dave K3EL made most of the 185 Qs on the few nights conditions cooperated.

We made 43,000 Qs with 61.5% on CW vs. 35.6% on SSB and 2.9% on RTTY. Since there were neither daily team performance updates nor pilot reports we didn’t know how we were doing from shift to shift. The SSB number was somewhat disappointing, but in retrospect we had some of the world’s top CW ops and an insufficient number of “dedicated” SSB ops and only one RTTY capable station.

Several of the CW ops did double duty on RTTY and SSB as time allowed. However the use of Ham Radio Deluxe and a USB filter sub optimized RTTY operations. We were asked to use this configuration rather than a superior N1MM MMTTY implementation that was available. We made some trade-offs between providing ATNO to as many as possible or satisfying a band / mode fill request, we chose the ATNO as the goal because of the reduced number of operating days. Some callers expressed disappointment with this decision. In my opinion the ATNO always outranks a band/mode fill; I chose to stay on SSB where I could achieve higher rates than RTTY.

The weather on ZL9 was “changeable.” We experienced four seasons every day, including snow. The operating spaces were very cold at night. We had a few small LED light strips and flashlights to navigate the three rooms we were allowed to use. Being in dark rooms all the time, you tended to lose track of time.

Fortunately, after the first day an accommodation was made to permit half the team to remain on the island overnight and operate. Propagation in this part of the world was interesting; we lost about 6 hours a day due to no propagation. Although a band appeared dead, we’d call CQ in attempts to test the propagation. Dave K3EL prepared VOCAP predictions for all bands which provided insight into possible paths.

In recapping the pile-ups, signals tended to be loud on the bands I worked, the pile-ups energetic and sometimes challenging (unruly), with people calling over the station I was trying to work, others calling nonstop. When I heard a call or a partial I’d stay with it until logged, and I would not allow the pile-up to make the rules. For the most part, I listened only within the announced frequency spread to discourage “spread creep”.

The Americas and JA pile-ups were relatively easy to control. As required, I gave “very” clear directions in an authoritative voice. Not unexpected, the EU pile-ups were a challenge and I lost my temper with them on the opening night when, they refused to listen and/or stop calling.

Throughout the week I had outstanding NA, JA, and EU runs on 15, 17, and 40 meters. “Almost” everyone was disciplined and generally followed directions, although the weekends did highlight the problem. On my last midnight to 6AM shift running EU on 17 meters, the pile-up became unruly at about 3AM, tired and sleep deprived I asked Jacky, ZL3CW to take over. He experienced the same chaos but being multi-lingual gave him an edge. I don’t know what he said but things calmed down and I resumed operating after a 30 minute break until the band went out at about 5AM.

We’ve been dealing with poor pile-up behavior for a long time. Maybe the root cause is over enthusiastic weekend ops that won’t have an opportunity to work the DX during the week, possibly inexperienced ops that have no mentor, maybe it’s a language issue, or maybe they’re simply rude people? Regardless of the cause, the DX op can only do so much when the pile-up doesn’t follow direction! Going QRT is always an option, and I did that once when EU callers refused to follow direction.

There were 1,350 dupes, one EU op called on the same mode / band 3 times within an hour, I logged him again and again then moved on. Another EU op apologized for calling again; he said he wasn’t sure if he was in the log – he was!

As I reflect on the adventure, it was a surreal feeling to again walk into a room on a remote sub-Antarctic island where I first walked 47 years before. Although in good repair, much of the building looked as if it were frozen in time with its old architecture, dated kitchen, antique wall mounted telephones and the “look and feel” of another era.

The 10 person team of: Jacky, ZL3CW, John, 9M6XRO, Pista, HA5AO, Don, VE7DS, Dave, K3EL, Glenn, KE4KY, Les, W2LK, John, VK3YP, Tommy, VK2IR and I was augmented by the Evohe’s crew and our DoC rep. They were there when we needed them; there was a lot of heavy lifting that would have been a real challenge without their help. They were genuinely interested in the specifics of DX-ing and the processes involved with setting up the stations. It would be nice if one or more of them applied for their ZL license as they go to the sub-Antarctic islands on a regular basis.

We certainly had our fair share of challenges during and after the DX-pedition, but for the most part the experience and maturity of most of the team worked in our favor. Yet, we still have some challenges which are not resolved at this writing.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the NZ Department of Conservation and the NZ Met Service for their outstanding cooperation. No one lands on the island without approval from these agencies and they don’t give approval easily.

And, of course, the friendships made on the team and in New Zealand will last a lifetime. Several of us will be attending Visalia 2013, while six of us will meet at Dayton 2013, and yet others will attend the International DX-Convention in Paestum, Italy, HamCom Texas and later we’ll meet again in Friedrichshafen, Germany in June, 2013.

The DX-pedition was a once in a lifetime adventure that required significant planning and work just to get to Campbell Island, and significant (physical) work while on the island. Working twenty four hours a day with short breaks for some sleep and a meal was extremely difficult, but the adrenaline was flowing and we had lots of fun regardless of the cold, rain and territorial sea lions. Speaking for myself, and I’m sure the other team members, we’d go back in a New York minute.

About the author:

Gene was first licensed in 1976 as WB5WFD, and has held K5GS since 1996; previous calls were WD6DLK and KE6LT. He’s an avid DXer and an occasional contester. His DXCC count is 353 confirmed (Mixed) with all current DXCC entities confirmed. Gene’s radio interest has always been DXing with occasional diversions into restoring vintage radios and the digital modes. He’s been a member of Northern California DX Club since 1978. A retired I/T executive, he spent 40 years at IBM and most recently 5 years consulting with a Japanese technology firm. Gene first visited Campbell Island in September, 1965 while serving aboard a US Navy weather ship supporting “Operation Deep Freeze”. He made a total of 16 stops at the island during the years 1965 – 1967. He holds ZL1NA and VK2IXC. Gene and wife Pam live in Colorado and look forward continuing their travels in retirement.

[special tnx K5GS]

Hrane Milosevic-YT1AD is one such determined leader. He first activated Conway Reef in February, 2001. His team was comprised of eight operators and their goal was to satisfy the many needs for a Conway Reef contact.

Hurricane Paula was making its way towards Conway Reef with only four days and 29,000 contacts in the log when the team was forced to abandon their plans and quickly evacuate the island. They packed up their equipment and motored for 40 hours back to Fiji to ride out the hurricane.

Following hurricane Paula, the team returned to Europe but immediately began to make plans for a second attempt to complete their Dxpedition to Conway Reef. They set a goal of a second attempt for October 2001. Later in October, a team of 11 members made their way towards Fiji. Their timing and schedules were heavily impacted by lost items in their luggage that delayed the start for 3-4 days.

After six days of waiting for their lost gear, they went QRV from Conway Reef and made 37,000 contacts.

Following this activation, the team still felt there was an unmet need and decided to wait ten years and to try again for Conway Reef. In 2009, a group of Germans activated Conway Reef, but due to poor propagation, the needs of Europe were not fulfilled. We had planned to go to Conway Reef in 2010, however based on the German Team’s 3D20CR activation; we delayed our plans and went to Rotuma Island-3D2R instead.

This gave us more time to study the need for Conway Reef. We found that Conway Reef was #35 on Club Log’s most wanted list and this was reason enough. We reviewed the activation in 2009 by the German 3D20CR team. We found that due to poor propagation conditions in 2009, there was still a significant need in Europe for a contact from Conway Reef. Our decision was made; we would plan to activate Conway Reef with a significant presence and impact to the remaining need.

Our team leader, Hrane Milosevic-YT1AD is very experienced at leading Island/Tent/Generator DXpeditions. We were fortunate to have for our use much of the same equipment intended for 3D2R-Rotuma Island Dxpedition that we conducted only a year earlier. In addition, many of the team members from 3D2R wanted to return to Fiji and be a part of the 3D2C team. I was personally and particularly delighted that we were able to add three new members to the 3D2C team that were participating in a Dxpedition for their first time!

Our vessel to Conway Reef would be the venerable Island Dancer II, the same vessel that brought us to Rotuma last year for our 3D2R Dxpedition. Hrane arranged for the Russian team members to arrive in Suva, Fiji a few days in advance of the main team. They would unpack the shipping container and examine and make the necessary equipment tests. To their horror, it was discovered that corrosion had attacked two of our generators and they were unable to be run and tested. Upon Hrane’s arrival in Suva, he set out to buy three new replacement generators at a cost of $2000 each! While Hrane procured the replacement generators, the remaining team members loaded our vessel in preparation for the 36 hour voyage to Conway Reef. Serge-RZ3FW, Tevita-3D2TR and Jim-K9JM load the many masts and antenna supports onto the Island Dancer II.  During the voyage to Conway Reef, there was ample time for napping and catching up with old friends about their radio activities during the previous year. It was great to meet and chat with the new guys and share their excitement about the adventure ahead of us.

We arrived at the reef on the morning of September 26th. We had heard reports that the reef had significantly diminished in size and that there was no vegetation, however it was easy to see plenty of vegetation, however there are no trees on the island. The south side of the reef is protected by a significant barrier reef on three sides of the island. We anchored on the north side of the isl

and in fifty feet of water which would better enable us to approach the island and cross the reef at high tides. This effectively made it impossible to enter or leave the reef at any time except at high-tide. We decided to plan our shift changes and meal breaks to coincide with the tides.  As soon as we were at anchor, Hrane and the small boat crew would explore the reef and chart a path for us to cross the reef each day. Small buoys were placed in a dotted line across the reef, which even at high tide was very shallow and almost impossible for our small boat. We could see that there were three shipwrecks at Conway Reef, one of them very recent. We wanted to avoid being the 4^th!  Once a path was found across the reef, we quickly broke into loading and unloading teams. The unloading teams went ashore while the loading team staged all of the gear at the stern in preparation for loading on our small inflatable boat that would make approximately ten trips back and forth across the reef to get all of our gear on the island.  As the leader of the loading team, I was very glad that our vessel had a powered winch that greatly aided us in loading the small boat of the large and heavy items, particularly the generators! I did not envy the unloading team already on shore who would have to lift the heavy generators out of the small boat and carry them across the beach to our camp.  Getting the pre-assembled antenna pieces ashore proved to be quite tricky! Soon, all the gear and the team were ashore and we began to set up the two large tents and various antennas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team sets up one of the four three element Yagi antennas that we would use on Conway Reef. In addition, we would have separate verticals for 30, 40, 80 and 160 meters.  Conway Reef “Light & Power” was set up on the beach away from the Operating tent. You can see the Island Dancer II in the background at anchor outside the reef. Pictured are three new diesel generators that were fueled twice a day.

The only wildlife that we encountered on the island was the many “boobies” guarding their eggs on the beach and the many hermit crabs and ticks. More about the ticks later! In addition to the numerous birds, there were many hermit-crabs on the beach.

Our first impressions of Conway Reef were that it was surprisingly cold there. We had expected warm tropical weather as we enjoyed in

Fiji, however our voyage had us moving south – west and we were much closer to the climate of New Zealand than we were to Fiji which was further north. While we had some nice warm afternoons, the morning and evenings were quite cold and some of us were unprepared!

 

The tents, tables and chairs quickly move into place.

Soon, we had  the tents in place and most of the antennas erected and it was time to get on the air!

 

 

 

We were thrilled to find that band conditions were excellent! We enjoyed incredible openings on 10 and 12 meters during most of the Dxpedition. 15 & 17 meters were quite good at times. Only 20 meters was disappointing with only a brief opening for a few hours each day but nothing like the great conditions enjoyed on the higher bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the Operating tent on the left and the resting tent on the right. The bulk of the team would sleep on the island each night, while 7-8 dayshift operators would return to the vessel at night after dinner, only to return with breakfast the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each morning, the dayshift team would arrive from the boat with breakfast for the night team. Here you see the boat-crew bringing scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. In order to increase our effectiveness, we decided to have only two meal breaks each day having breakfast as the day team arrived and enjoying dinner just before sunset. While not intended, most of the team members found that they would lose ten or more pounds of weight during this adventure without really even trying!

The boat crew was very adept at fishing and we enjoyed fresh fish each day while on the reef.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was it like there?

I’m often asked when I make my various Dxpedition presentations, what was it like there?

Well, it was really fun! Imagine playing radio with massive pileups of excited contact seekers almost as much as you want! The food is good, the radio is great, but best of all is the camaraderie and the new friendships that you make on each Dxpedition. You miss the many comforts of home, but you are having so much fun that you really don’t notice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike-K6MKF operates SSB from 3D2C. Miguel-PY3MM operates at full speed despite having a dislocated shoulder earlier that day! During our break times, we often went exploring on the reef at low tide. The water was very clear but not as warm as you would expect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We marveled at the beautiful corals and the many colorful fish. Three white tipped reef sharks 3-4 feet long lived inside the reef but never bothered us. At low tide, we could walk out to two ship wrecks including this Chinese long line fishing vessel.

Our first casualty!

One afternoon, I was enjoying a relaxing conversation with our team physician, Alan-K6SRZ when Miguel-PY3MM approached us in obvious pain. He had been swimming on the reef when he somehow had dislocated his left shoulder. Alan, being a retired Physician, quickly knew what to do and had Miguel sit down as he began to manipulate his arm to get it back into place. Within seconds Miguel’s pain subsided and he was overjoyed that Alan was able to fix his shoulder with so little effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miguel-PY3MM has his dislocated shoulder repaired and rejoices as his pain eases.

Most of the team members were also plagued by the many ticks that were in the sand. We regularly felt the ticks as they had hopped up on us and were boring into our bodies. We found that Deet and bug repellent had no apparent effect on the ticks. They were merciless; in fact some of them hid in our belongings and even came home with us!

Dragan-YT3W was our skilled IT expert. He kept all of the laptops and interfaces working during all hours of the day or night. Here he is seen uploading our logs to the on-line log server. These uploads would take as much as four hours each day and consume many satellite telephone minutes.

Here you see the night team ramping up for the many EU contacts they would make each night. Note the jackets and sweat shirts being worn. It got really cold at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hrane-YT1AD the team leader gives a “thumbs up” when asked how the band conditions are.

Our team worked EU on many bands throughout the night as well as North America and Japan on the low bands. During the day our propagation on the higher bands followed the sun as we worked across North and South America and then the opening to Japan started mid-day and stayed with us well into the evening. There was no particular area that was difficult to work. We worked EU, the Middle East and Africa with ease.

As soon as breakfast was consumed, the night team would retreat to the relaxing tent for the many naps that would be enjoyed in between operating shifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miguel-PY3MM and Vasily-RW4NW catch a nap between shifts. Aleksej-UA4HOX carries a big stick to make sure we keep our rates up!

 

1A: a DX whose history started more than nine hundred years ago

1A0C ‘s “travel notes”

by Giorgio Minguzzi, IZ4AKS

There are some DXCC entities, which, regardless their position in the “most wanted” list, send the DXers’ hearts throbbing. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is doubtless one of them. According to “The DX Magazine” it occupies the 79^th position in the list of the worldwide most wanted Countries. For the American West Coast it is a “most wanted” included among the first 30 elements of the list, it occupies nearly the 44^th position in Asia and in Japan. Only in Europe it is after the 100^th position but this does not seem to frighten European DXers, whose calls produce the insuperable wall against which the expectations of all those who hoped to obtain even just a QSO were wretched.

Why is the SMOM Country?

The Order of Malta, fortified by its more than nine hundred years history, analyses the reality according to a perspective we could define patient and “millenary”. That’s why determination is an essential element for those who want to come into contact with such an ancient and prestigious institution.

And it was exactly thanks to a group of Roman people’s strong determination that SMOM was added among the entities admitted inside the prestigious DX Century Club on 29^th September 1981 (with the QSL confirmation from January 1982).

Certainly, if all that has been done it is thanks to those who have believed in this project from the beginning, putting a lot of effort in it. I make reference to the historical core composed of Mario Gallavotti I0MGM, Mario Monaco I0MXM, Alfonso Porretta I0AMU, Tony Privitera I0IJ, Antonio Vernucci I0JX and many others I am not able to list but who struggled in order for the extraordinary peculiarities of the Order of Malta to be recognized by the ARRL in the 1980s. Many months spent studying the complicated and troubled history of the Order gave to Rome the prerogative to be the only capital city which can boast three DXCC entities in its territory.

Only few people know that the 1A prefix was chosen in occasion of the first programmes, precisely in the 1980s, following the praxis of that period, according to which other “particular” entities used the prefixes of the 1AA-1ZZ group, which was not allocated by the ITU. It was, in fact, a set which was left free for the radio amateur activities that sprang from “ambiguous” or “contested” territories. In those years, Spratly used 1S, while the operations from Minerva Reef took place through the 1M prefix. So, the Capitolian team decided to adopt 1A, which had never been used before, trying to underline that the activities did not take place from the Italian territory. From that moment, this decision was never questioned, but the suffix was debated. In those years, a 1A0A station sounded like a piratical operation. You should forget today call-sign trends characterized by shorter and shorter contests; that’s why the two letters KM (Knight of Malta) were chosen. In that way the agreement was reached and 1A0KM made history in DX.

The birth of 1A0C

The circumstances, which actually led to the birth of the first operating station from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, are, also, famous for unfortunate reasons. In fact, 1A0KM was born in order to support the communications between the unities of the Order that operated in the territories shaken by the terrible 1980 earthquakes and the head office of Rome. To a certain extent, 1A0C was born in similar circumstances. In fact, some CISOM radio amateurs (the Order of Malta’s Italian Relief Corps) felt the need to study the aspect concerning emergency communications in depth.

A large scale project concerning precisely this theme had been prepared for a long time and, more than one year before, some radio amateur call-signs had been issued by the Grand Magistry and the Reliefs Corps had then assigned them to some operators. So, the emergency of the earthquake in Emilia has completely changed the situation, showing all its dramatic power and underlining the importance of these skills in the backgrounds in which CISOM operates every day.

An entity which is difficult to activate

However, as it is known, it is necessary to be aware of the difference between permissions and authorizations to exert a station from the territory of this DXCC entity.

Permissions to install a station as a radio amateur are granted in very small quantities and always in periods of the year in which diplomatic and service activities allow it. These are usually short periods and they often do not coincide with the best propagation openings, where it is necessary to manage various stations work simultaneously in a yard which is only 100 meters long and 70 meters wide.

The way in which angles, paths, radials encumbrances and anchorages have to be analysed has to be much more similar to a “Tetris” field than to a “field day”. Everything has to perfectly fit in in a background where many compromises come into place between the performances and the aerials dimensions. Eventually, some choices have to be taken and it is bound to renounce to something. This year, this meant for us the fact of not working on 160 meters.

Moreover, difficulties concerning equipment are not the only ones that people operating through 1A have to meet. Rome, as all big cities, is characterized by a quite high noise level. Actually, the attempt is to obtain the best possible result dealing with any kind of noise. But, regardless all these difficulties, the excitement felt when transmitting from that small plot of land in the heart of a big city is unique.

41.000 QSO in 4 days

From the outside, it is almost impossible to judge an expedition considering all the factors. Certainly from the inside, a team knows if the group dynamics have well operated and whether the expected goals have been achieved or not. I think 41000 QSO in such a short time can place this activity among the greatest successes of the thirty-year history of this prefix. The preliminary works which led us to this event have been long and tiring. From the very first moment we knew we wouldn’t have been able to do all that we would have to. That’s why we have decided to invest all our strengths in two definite areas of the world: the USA (in particular the West Coast) and Japan. Moreover, these are the areas with the highest OM density and with the greatest number of attempts in search of the QSO with an Order of Malta station. The propagation, even if it is in a better period of the solar cycle than the activities in 2007, gave us two powerful “flares”, which have considerably reduced the possibilities of DX during two out of the four periods of work. To be honest, I think with America it would have been hard to do something better, but the result could have been better towards Asia. Unfortunately, towards that direction physical obstacles are numerous and signals coming from Japan are faint and difficultly decipherable (because of a high pile-up). Maybe the situation could have been improved by inserting a Japanese operator inside the team. He/She would have been able to speed up QSO in SSB, using his/her mother-tongue. But unfortunately, we have not been able to recruit a Japanese colleague in due time for the activation.

Modern by tradition

I would like to conclude this short report of the 1A0C activity by a hint at the fund-raising campaign in favour of the CISOM. I would like to thank individually all the people who contributed to the initiative through a small or notable grant. The funds raised will be used for the purchase of radio equipment, which will be employed by CISOM in emergency situations, where it constantly operates. As soon as possible, we will furnish you the proof through a detailed report.

I personally believe seeing that in this period of worldwide economic crisis radio amateurs engage in solidarity, with no cultural barrier, is beautiful (and the simplicity of this word is not fortuitous at all). Evidence of this: the international origin of the offers we are collecting.

So, while we take down the radio amateurs’ equipment from the villa, our eyes fall on a series of panels temporarily prepared in the yard. A series of images, taken in the most desolate and sorrowful places of the world, where the humanitarian activities of the Order of Malta are immortalized. Among them, three sentences which have stricken me stand out: the first one states “Let’s go where the others do not want to go”; the second one states “Let’s do what the others do not want to do”; the third concludes “We are the last ones to go away”. So, while I close the Hexbeam in its box, I feel proud of having taken part, even just for a few days, of this almost millenary glorious history.

1A0C: the 6 meters adventure

by Jose Ramon Hierro Peris

Having the idea of activating the SMOM during summer the 6 metre band came first to our minds.and with the lack of a firm F2 so far this cycle to offer DX at mid latitudes Sporadic E propagation is always a refuge for the magic band enthusiasts.

Since 1A was added to the DXCC program on September 1981, several aficionados groups have operated from Villa Magistrale dell’Aventino.

Outside of the Sporadic E season in the lower part of the solar cycle few contacts are made using tropospheric ducting and terrestrial communication means.

The ones made in summer on 6 metres with Sergio, IK0FTA, at the key produced contacts to most ham radio populated places via one or two “Es” hops.

At the Aventine’s summit, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, you not only can enjoy the quiet atmosphere around but have an almost clean 50 MHz spectrum, which surprised us, considering you are in the middle of a bustling large city.

The antenna location was chosen on the most suitable place to cover North America, Japan and most of the European territory. Our focus was to contact those countries not widely covered by previous operations, mainly in the Americas and the Far East.

Although the Sporadic E mechanisms are not very clear yet, it is widely accepted that high solar activity does not favor it. Before and during our four days stay El Sol was very flare productive. There were 81 C and 15 M class flares during a 9 days period. X-Ray radiations from those events sparked off plentiful radio blackouts on the HF bands, obvious on 50 MHz.

Whatsoever the reason was, the only full day with the fun of a strong Es was the first one, 1 July. At 9:51 UTC was the kick off. And the band folded at 19Z. The next day the band looked promising but shortly after noon only weak footprint openings showed. Meanwhile the band was Es absent, although we were not in the middle of an important meteor shower, we managed to log lots of stations reflected off the rocks,not forgetting reflections off Saint Peter’s Dome, as Sergio, IK0FTA, suggested.

We were not able to hear or to be heard in Japan but managed to grab some 23 QSOs with North America in two brief openings via Es multihop.

Notwithstanding the bad propagation, ending with 2125 QSOs, 57 different DXCC entities in 4 continents fulfilled our expectations for such short operating time.

What is CISOM?

The Order of Malta’s Italian Relief Corps (CISOM), counts some 3000 volunteers (medical, paramedical staff and assistants) in the three North-Centre-South units into which the corps is divided in Italy. Founded in 1970, it carries out rescue and assistance operations during natural disasters. It intervened during the earthquakes in Irpinia, Umbria, Puglia, Basilicata and Abruzzo.
In addition to its work in Italy, the Corps has also participated in international humanitarian initiatives such as the consignment of food aid for children in Hungary after the collapse of the Soviet bloc (1990) and, more recently, in Kosovo and in the entire Balkan region.

What is the SMOM?

The Sovereign Order of Malta is a sovereign body as provided by international law. The Order – based in Rome, on via Condotti, has its own government, an independent magistracy, bilateral diplomatic relations with 104 countries and is granted the status of Permanent Observer in many international organisations such as the United Nations. The six Grand Priories, six Subpriories and 47 National Associations of Knights on five continents manage its operational activities. The Order issues its own passports and stamps and creates public institutions, endowed with judicial autonomy. The Order’s day to day life is governed by a Constitution and Code, reformed in 1997.

The Grand Master governs the Order both as sovereign and religious head. He is elected for life, within the professed knights in perpetual vows. He is assisted by and presides over the Sovereign Council, which is composed of four high offices – Grand Commander, Grand Chancellor, Grand Hospitaller, and Receiver of the Common Treasure – as well as six other members, all elected by the Order’s Chapter General for a five-year term. The Council of Government and the Board of Auditors, whose compositions reflect the international character of the Order, assist the Grand Master and the Sovereign Council. The Chapter General also elects these two bodies for a five-year term.

More info in www.orderofmalta.int

Photos

Some sets of phots are available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hfg6uhnxl0n8f4j/x581oqeMc9

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xvc4df1n5wa762q/G2l3rY4OmA

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mqi14ld40r58vv6/bV54vM_dGL

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ylef8fmphbtd2go/jGZsFa1Cy-

List of the operators

The list of the operators is available here: http://www.1a0c.com/team/

Statistics

http://www.clublog.org/charts/?c=1A0C&a=embed#r

Where there may be a way to make a gentle climb down to the water’s edge, the rocks in the surf would warn off even the most oblivious of boat captains.
Even though it would seem obvious that no ship would approach her shores under sail, more than 350 ships have been lost to the island, and more than a thousand sailors have been buried on the island. In one wreck alone, in 1834, the Sibylle lost over 300 sailors who were buried in mass graves on the island. During the shipping season when the island is ice free, it’s often shrouded in fog which has led it to being known as the “The Graveyard of the Gulf.” The island was first recorded by the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) 1450-1499. However the Mi’kmaq people of Nova Scotia likely visited the island before this. So with this brief history you can start to understand why CY9 is not frequently found on the airwaves. It is not an inviting location even the locals believe it to be haunted with ghosts. The team of CY9M consisted of (from left to right) Bill N2WB, Colin MM0NDX, Vicky SV2KBS, Steve VA3FM, Kevin VE3EN, Bjorn SM0MDG, Simon IZ7ATN, George EA2TA, (myself) Mike AB5EB and Christian EA3NT. After over a year of planning and much discussion, the team met in Sydney, Nova Scotia on July 24th, 2012. After mostly late night arrivals, it was not until the 25th that the team began making final preparations for the island. Much help had been offered by Al VE1AL (CY9DXX 1988) and Phil VE1BVD. Without these guys on the ground in Sydney, I seriously doubt this expedition would have taken place. They were able to help us store equipment in Sydney prior to our arrival. They also helped secure some of the needed camping supplies from local stores. The team departed Sydney at 3pm for the journey north to Bay St. Lawrence in northern Nova Scotia which is about a 3 hour drive and the place where we would meet the boat captain. It took a van, two trucks, and one trailer to get all the operators and the supplies to Bay St Lawrence. The road north is through the final stretch of the Appalachian mountain range before it disappears into the north Atlantic, with St. Paul Island being its last breath of air. The road is filled with dangerous curves and moose, which I saw two of.  We arrived a little behind schedule to Bay St. Lawrence, which may have been a blessing in disguise as the wind was gusting 50 knots with seas over 10ft. This would have made an evening landing impossible, which we had initially thought might be achieved that night. It was late for us to get any sort of lodging at the local camp and in the pitch dark with our new tents we had acquired in Sydney no one felt like setting them up in the dark. The Captain showed pity and offered us to sleep in the berths of two of his crab boats. Kevin and Steve staked claim to the first boat, which would take us to St. Paul. However the stench of the second boat of fish and crab was more than any of the members wanted to try to sleep through. Half the team slept on the pier after setting up our tents without stakes and weighing them down with our bags from the wind. Col, Bill and Vicky slept in the hull of an adjacent boat. It was after midnight before we finally were all in bed. Being so close to St. Paul was exciting for the team after a long day of packing and travel. Our wakeup call was at 4am at which point we’d fill twenty 25 liter cans with fuel and then head to the island. The captain felt confident that there would be a window of good weather for landing in the morning. As we all drifted off to sleep we could only hope he was worth his word.

4am arrived and with less than four hours of sleep the adrenaline was running high – we were all eager to make the trek to St. Paul Island. However, it took little more than getting out of the harbor to realize that this would be no joy ride. The seas were an easy 6 to 7 feet and they were confused, coming from different directions. The captain, forgetting he had more than his seasoned deck hands and crab on board, plowed through the seas, much to the disliking of the crew. Two of the team became quite sick on the trip out, and before we even got to the island, spirits were starting to fall – and the reality of St. Paul was starting to begin.
As we came around the southern tip of the island we entered Atlantic Cove, or Governors Cove, according to the locals. The landing site was white with breaking water and it prompted the Captain, in his thick Cape Breton accent “Oh, didn’t expect this, don’t think you guys will be getting on the island today.” What comfort we gain from the slightly calmer seas as we approached the island was quickly lost as the team faced the reality of possibly not getting on the island at all.
However, after ten minutes of maneuvering the captain felt that we would be able to make a landing, although it would be in less than ideal conditions. After rigging up the dingy with a 300ft rope that just reached the landing stage, Kevin VE3EN was the first operator to land on the island. I followed him and it was clear to Kevin and I that landing on the island was not going to be the biggest issue of the day. We had been told about the cliffs that guard the island but it seemed not much of a concern until we saw the 20ft granite face! There was a small crevice to the right of the face that a person could fairly easily climb, however it was not realistic to carry any supplies up this route. One misjudgment by any of us ascending the cliff would likely mean a quick end to the expedition.
After Kevin and I climbed the cliff-face, Simon landed on the island to help coordinate the supplies off the dingy and tied them onto a rope that Kevin and I hauled to the top. The supplies began to pile up on the landing stage and it became obvious that the task at hand was going to take hours. Col, Bjorn and Vicky helped raise the supplies until the operating tents were lifted and then they went to set up the shacks. Simon joined Kevin and I at the top while George, Steve, Christian and Bill worked on moving the supplies up the beach and tying it to the rope. The edge of the cliff was very loose, and there was a constant threat of rocks falling down on the crew below, as many did. We were very fortunate, after six hours of lifting, we had no injuries. The final piece to lift was an 85kg generator. We had initially planned on taking much smaller generators due to the anticipated cliffs and hauling, but when the bigger generators were offered free to the group we lost our better judgment and went with the bigger generators. It took seven guys at the top of the cliff and three below to raise the beastly generator. The team had serious doubts on our ability to raise the generator after 3 failed attempts. The problem was a rock that stuck out of the cliff about 7 or 8 feet up the side. With the lighter loads we had been able to manipulate the load to get around it. However, with such a large load we could not swing it. It was not until George was able to climb an adjacent rock at the bottom and pull the generator to the left of the rock that success was at hand.
Getting the generator to the top was a big moral victory however the sun and 6 hours of heavy lifting had drained the team. The final push to the operator site was about 200 yards over flat ground, including about 30 yards of marsh with water up to our ankles. No member could escape the physical labor, and it took a serious toll on the team. The following hours seemed to drag on in an effort to get radios connected, antennas up and personal living quarters squared away. A minimal amount of gas, water and food were brought across the marsh in an effort to focus on the immediate needs of the stations. It was not until about 9pm that we made a concerted effort to get at least one station up and running. CY9M was now on air with a 20m VDA and instant pileups.
It was discouraging to the whole team that it had taken so long to get on the air. Simon had single handedly assembled 2 Hex beams, Steve and Kevin had put up the 6m station, George and Christian had worked on the computer networking and Bjorn and I started on the 160m and 80m vertical with the rest of the team all pitching in where needed. We were able to get the 17m VDA up, and after sundown, we cut a 40m ¼ vertical with one radial for CW. After all this everyone on the team was exhausted, mainly from the heavy lifting, and the night ended early for the team. I think it is fair to say that we were disappointed by the amount of time it took for us to get on the air. However it was not for a lack of effort and we all now understood the true challenge of CY9 and the toll it had taken on the team.
The following morning was met by a sense of urgency by the team to get more stations on the air. We had gotten much needed sleep and the island was smiling on us with nice weather. The seas were more pleasant and the team was back at making antennas and putting contacts in the log. We raised the first Hexbeam for the CW station. Simon had put a second one together, and it had been placed between the SSB and CW tent with a coax long enough to reach both. We had hard boiled eggs to start each day and Vicky and Bill assumed the cooking. We only had one hot meal a day, which was usually pasta with some sort of meat and sauce. Dinner was a pot of food and we had plenty for everyone. However, depending on the task at hand or the pile up you may be eating a cold meal. The food served its purpose though – dinner was not a reward or social event – it was just for the needed energy to carry out the day’s work.
We were able to get the 160m vertical up before sundown on the second day as well as the listening array. The 160m receiving antenna array was built using two opposite facing pennants remotely switched with a receive antenna coax switch from DX Engineering, who sponsored the team. As the sun went down on our second day the 80m vertical still lay on the ground and the 40m vertical had been moved to a new location where we would later add a second vertical to build a 2-element phased array for 40m. Simon, Christian and I built a 30m ¼ wave vertical. The initial SWR was about 1.5 but at 9 MHz. So after cutting it to 9.5 MHz Christian decided we should put 4 raised verticals instead of one on the ground. It should be noted that the antennas were less then 15m from the sea. After putting the elevated verticals we had to add the wire we had cut back, the antenna tuned at 1.5 SWR at 10.100. It is also worth noting that this antenna made over 3000 contacts on 30m CW with 500w. The 30m pile up was tremendous, and we would run that band all night. Col ran the 40m ¼ vertical with a huge pile up. The sun had set before we could complete the 2-element 40 meter phased array. The second night we ran 30m/17m and 160m out of the CW tent with the SSB tent running 20m and 40m until the bands closed.
Bjorn made several hundred contacts on 160m while Kevin ran 80m CW and Vicky ran 30m until I relieved her for some rest. The 160m vertical was top loaded with 2 raised radials. The radials were close enough to the sea to get salt spray on them and both of them worked great. The 80m vertical was a ¼ wave with only 2 raised verticals along the sea as well. The antennas were close enough that their radials overlapped a little. However using filters loaned by GM3YTS both stations could run at the same time without interference. Kevin had a nice run with the 6m station putting several hundred stations in the log along the east coast of NA. I was even able to make a few 6m contacts which were one of my goals for the trip. Unfortunately, no EU openings occurred on the Magic band.
On day three the team was starting to get rested, and into a good rhythm. The first day had been so draining physically, that it really set us back. We still had a little antenna work left. Bjorn and Steve finished a 40m 2-element phased vertical array that used a Comtek Phasing Unit. This antenna worked really well and allowed for us to limit the pile up somewhat by listening either east or west. Col and Steve used the array on 40m SSB on the third night with the ensuing pile being tremendous. We used three MW0JZE Hexbeams on HF which worked very well also. After day 3, the operating site was covered with no less than 11 antennas.
There were a total of 6 stations being built in two camps. Closest to the sea was the CW and 6 meter tent, 50 meters to the West the SSB tent which also hosted the Digi mode station. All stations were built using support from Elecraft with their K3 radios as the center piece. Two of the stations where using Acom 1011 amplifiers, one station using a HVLA700 amplifier loaned to us by RF Power and the other ALS-500 12 volt amps. The stations and antennas where hooked up together using gear from DX Engineering who also supplied the material used to build the low band RX antennas. All radios where running on 12 volt using an uninterruptable power supply built from 4 car batteries being constantly charged by a 55 amp chargers powered by the 5.5 kW generator. This way our radios where always running even during generator down time, and both camps including their amplifiers where
powered from one single generator keeping the fuel consumption to a minimum, about 2/3 of the specified fuel consumption minimizing the environmental impact on St Paul.
The 30m pile up was tremendous and would see run that band all night. Indeed 30m would turn up to be the band with more QSOs than any other with Christian focusing every morning, just after sunrise, on JA, VK and ZL stations which were coming right through the North Pole with very fluttery signals which. Combined with the pile up and a lot of patience, it was a real struggle to pull out individual Callsigns. For this reason we had to ask for QRS QRS…
As a team we were really starting to hit our stride and there was time to enjoy a little of the island itself. Due to the thick growth it was not possible to walk very far but we were able to get about. There was a seal that would frequent the waters near our operating site. He seemed to look on in curiosity. Out of desperation Kevin had tied a few cold beers in a plastic bag and placed in the water to cool them. However the bag ripped and Kevin had to take a swim to rescue two of them. That is dedication for a cold one! The pile ups were never ending and the weather had been holding nicely. With most of the work done, it was now time to enjoy the station. We even drank some wine with our dinner and Bjorn and I enjoyed a nice cigar that evening. Our fourth day on the island was mainly operating. Simon and Christian retrieved more water from the landing stage as our supplies dwindled. We were able to put many more contacts in the log. It was a real challenge to work the JA’s, and even the west coast of NA was often weak, even with beams pointed at them. It was not usual to have EU louder off the back of the beam than some of the NA stations. The fourth night we ran 160m/80m and 30m again in the CW tent. The conditions were not as good as the previous night, but we still put lots of stations in the log. On the low bands static crashes were sometimes over +20dB.
I was woken on day 5 by Kevin who said “We need to have a team meeting about tomorrow.” I knew this didn’t sound good. The weather was getting ready to change for the worse, and the Captain felt that if he did not pick us up that day, then he might not be able to get us for the next several days. With the possibility of bad weather and the concern of catching various flights home, we knew we had to leave that day. If 6ft to 7ft seas were considered decent conditions to make the trip out to the island, we had little interest in seeing what the seas would look like in “rough” conditions. We left Vicky running the 20 CW pile as the rest of us began tearing down the antennas and camp. It all seemed to come down much easier then it went up! The seas were great for departure that day (24hrs later they would not have been) and we were able to load the boat with no real issues except the dingy sprang a leak. We had to empty the water out of it after each trip to the boat.
After loading the boat the Captain took us around the island where we were able to see the north island. There is not an inviting place to land anywhere on the north or south island. The ride back to Bay St. Lawrence was very peaceful, it even allowed us to stop and take a team photo with the island in the background. Once at the dock, we quickly unloaded the boat and sold the excess gas, batteries and one of the extension cords. We went home with a much lighter load. Vicky, Bill and I made the trip back to Sydney in a truck. Seeing two moose on the way home was a nice treat. The best part though was the hamburger and warm shower!
Everyone made it back to Sydney safely. Had we not even made one contact that would have been a good accomplishment. For a group of 10 operators, half of whom were unknown to the group, the team came together very well. We all got to know each other very well over the 10 days we were together. Most of us don’t spend that much time with close family or friends in several years. It was an intense experience from not just a radio experience but from a human experience. Upon arrival back home I am already faced with ideas for the next trip for the group. If it is half the trip that CY9M was then it will be well worth it. We made just over 33,000 QSOs in 135 hours of operating.
CY9M would like to sincerely thank all sponsors and donors who made this expedition successful. http://www.cy9m.com/

[ Special TNX to  Mike, AB5EB ]

Written by Bob Allphin, K4UEE

195,000 QSOs….WOW ! How does a DXpedition make that many contacts? Well, it’s just simple math: have a lot of radios and antennas, a lot of days on the air and enough operators to keep making QSOs day after day. And that is exactly what we did……piling up about 10,000-15,000 contacts each day until time to go home.

But that wasn’t always the plan. Originally when the DXpedition to Malpelo was first announced, there were to be six Colombian (HK) operators and four foreign operators. When Gregg Marco, W6IZT and I were invited to join the team, we recommended expanding to fourteen total by adding some more foreign operators. Suddenly one day, we saw on the DXpedition website that we were now co-leaders. It was news to us, but in the end we played important roles in the operation. Gregg was asked to handle equipment procurement, antennas and the IT requirements. I was to handle fund-raising, public relations, and help build and manage the operator team.

In October 2011, three team members conducted a recon trip to the island. While on Malpelo, the Colombian Marine contingent stationed there had shown Jorge HK1R (the DXpedition organizer), Faber HK6F and Sal HK1T the way to the top of the highest peak on island. This literally opened up a whole new world to them…..they had a 360º view of the entire radio world. All the previous DXpedtions to Malpelo had been conducted from the only flat spot on the island on the Eastern side, about 1/3 of the way up. This location was blocked radio-wise from about North, through West all the way to South as the steep mountain walls rose sharply another 600 feet from this normal QTH. As a result, contacts in the past with the West coast of the USA, Japan, Asia, the Pacific, Southeast Asia and VK/ZL were hard to come by. They now saw a way to change that! In fact, Jorge decided we had a chance at the QSO world record for a non-hotel, non fly-in type DXpedition (that is the record that was set by the Ducie Island DXpedition, VP6DX in 2008). After their return, Jorge contacted Gregg and me and said we needed more radios, amplifiers, antennas, generator and operators.

With that decision, the die was cast. I quickly sent a few emails and made a few telephone calls and issued some more invitations and we grew the team to twenty operators. Like most DXpedition leaders, I have a list of people that I have been on DXpedtions with before and know people I can trust to do a good job under difficult circumstances. Also, I place a high value on compatibility among team members. I believe no one has the right to ruin another person’s experience. Looking at the operator HKØNA operator list, you will see relationships going back to 1997 that began at VKØIR. I did inherit some operators from the original team. Although they had little DXpedition experience; they were all successful contest operators and were good guys.

Gregg, George N4GRN and I flew to Cartagena, Colombia the first week of November to meet with our Colombian counterparts and to make some critical decisions. We found that we were all quite compatible and made friends easily. We were pleased that we all shared the belief that safety was our primary goal. We would do everything possible to protect our team from injury or worse. The island is nearly vertical and difficult to access from the sea. In previous DXpedtions there have been incidents where team members have been injured and there was one near-fatality. Faber, HK6F is a safety/rescue expert in his profession and George, N4GRN was on a cave rescue team years ago. Together they devised a plan to install a winch system to hoist people and equipment safely onto “El Tangon”. This is the structure put in place by the Colombian Navy some years ago to facilitate the re-supply and changing of the personnel stationed on the island.

 Additionally they decided to install safety cables at the more dangerous and difficult parts of the climb to further reduce risk to the team members. As with most of the equipment used on the DXpedition, the necessary cables, clamps, harnesses, screws, etc. were purchased in the US and shipped to Colombia via a freight forwarder in Miami.

Using a Yahoo Group reflector for the team, we all became better acquainted as the plans for a successful DXpedition were discussed, modified and finalized. There were a lot of emails from our team doctors (WØGJ, KØIR and primary physician K9SG) urging us to get our old bodies in shape. The youngest on the team was 24 (LU9ESD) and the oldest was 74. This was to be a physically tough adventure for most of us.

Jorge convinced four of our team to go to Malpelo prior to the full team’s arrival in order to establish the operating sites, put up the antennas, set up radios, amplifiers and the generators. They left home on Christmas day and traveled to Malpelo on the monthly Navy re-supply ship. Although the dry season was supposed to begin in December, they were plagued with terrible weather. It rained almost every day and some days it poured and poured. They did manage to completely prepare Op. B (baja) and get about 40% of the antennas and equipment up to Op. A (alto) at the mountaintop. On January 10^th, when it was apparent that they had done about all they could do and further progress was strictly weather-dependent, we told them to begin using the official HKØNA call sign. Previously, they had used their own call signs and made about 1,200 QSOs. After they began using HKØNA, they made about 11,500 QSOs prior to the main team arriving on January 21^st. This strategy was part of our overall strategy to break the VP6DX record, but more importantly that decision gave DXers more time to get into the log.

The main team met in Bogotá the evening of January 18^th. It was the first time that some of us had met and it was quite fun and festive. The bar bill was large! Next morning we flew to the port city of Buenaventura and checked into a beautiful, classic and very old hotel. We were checked in by noon and began our first team meeting shortly afterward. This was the first time that we could all be together to discuss all that needed to be discussed: the itinerary, safety procedures, equipment, antennas, power, getting on and off the island. Additionally, Glenn WØGJ went over the computerized scheduling program that he and KØRC had developed. It is really quite sophisticated and looked like it was going to solve our scheduling challenge. The doctors each talked with us about our responsibilities to both ourselves and to our teammates. The biggest concern was a fall and a broken limb and sun-related illnesses. We had several fellas have a problem on Desecheo and we didn’t want to go though that again. It is all about staying hydrated. We were cautioned over and over to look for warning signs in our teammates. We had set up a water cooler and icemaker at Op. B. That would make it easier to get a cool drink of water and help prevent dehydration. Also, having most of the outdoor work already completed at Op. B would keep us out of the sun as well. Our charter vessel, the SeaWolf, is normally used to transport scuba divers to Malpelo. It is a world-famous dive destination because of the diverse undersea life including huge schools of hammerhead and silky sharks. On occasion, there are whale sharks found there too. It was a 24-hour transit to Malpelo. We left the hotel at midnight and boarded the vessel about 0100 am. After a quick briefing we hit the sack and the SeaWolf departed at 0400. I only remember the sound of the engines as we left Buenaventura and when we were in the open sea, the motion of the boat changed significantly. We had rough seas all the way and most of the fellas slept late and missed breakfast. During the day, people would come topside for a look around and say “hi” to the few guys hanging around and then go back to their bunks.

At 0500 the following morning, we heard the engines slow and we raced topside to get our first glimpse “the rock”. It looked just like the pictures except bigger. As the sun rose, we began ferrying men and their personal gear to “El Tangon”. Some climbed the rope ladder; most were hoisted up like sacks of potatoes using the hoist system. Then, usually in groups of two or three, people would begin the climb to the marine base, the location for our Op. B. As you might imagine, a few folks made it in 25 minutes or so and bragged that they made no stops….I, on the other hand, took 45 minutes and made eight stops to rest and hydrate. Eventually everyone was up and we saw our home for the next sixteen days. Things were pretty much ready to go. All the antennas were up, the radios and amplifiers were neatly placed on tables that lined the wall of the small building Jorge had negotiated for our use. Six stations in all…ready to go. All this because four guys (HK1MW, HK6F, HK1N and HK1T) went early to do the setup. We call them the “Fabulous Four”. We are all indebted to them and thankful for their sacrifice. That should include DXers worldwide because you had a longer opportunity to work us…and hopefully put a ‘New One” in your logs.

While Gregg W6IZT, loaded the final version of N1MM into all the computers, several men set up the two sleeping tents, while others made interference checks among the stations. We were on the air at noon (local) the same the day we arrived. The pileups were huge as the #12 “most wanted “ DXCC entity came on the air with six stations simultaneously. We implemented the computerized schedule that had been so painstakingly-developed and began to settle into “DXpedition mode” i.e. sleep, eat, operate and do chores. The pileups would continue non-stop for fifteen days.

But we still had to get Op. A at the mountain top up and running. We had purchased a sturdy operating tent at the last minute and checked it as “excess” baggage on the trip down. Our fear was that the operating site was so exposed to the weather, and because the “Fab Four” had experienced 60 mph winds at the top the previous week, we were just uncomfortable with the existing complement of tents. The tent, a single generator, a couple of antennas, masts, and personal gear were carried to the top. Several of our guys and 4-5 marines did the heavy lifting. The site was 600 feet above Op. B, but the climb was circuitous and dangerous. In those places where a slip and fall would have sent a man tumbling down the mountain, the Fabulous Four had installed safety lines. It was the last 50-60 feet that were the scariest. It was virtually straight up and you pulled yourself up with a rope that had been tied in place. Fortunately, the footing was secure rock and there were crevices to use as steps; but without the rope it would have been impossible for anyone other than an experienced mountain climber. I was warned never to look down and I didn’t until I reached the top. I only went to Op. A once and am glad I did because I can appreciate the difficulty of the climb and the danger that some very special team members undertook to keep those four stations on the air. There were 6-7 guys who basically manned Op. A off and on for twelve days. They would go up and stay 2-3 days, operate and operate and sleep little. Then they would come down, shower, and eat a meal or two, get some asleep and go back up. I began referring to them as the “Iron Men”. They were Jorge, HK1R the DXpedition organizer, Franz, DJ9ZB, Manu LU9ESD. Peter PP5XX primarily. Ralph KØIR, Glenn WØGJ, Steve VE7CT, Bob N6OX, Sal HK1T, Faber HK6F and Bolmar HK1MW spelled them on occasion.

 From Op. B we had a clear shot to US east coast, Europe and Africa. They were loud on Malpelo and we were loud on their end. Stations “behind” the mountain were significantly weaker, but workable, if they could hear us. Asia was our biggest challenge, but from Op.A it was a chip shot. I was told over and over that JAs were 20-30db over S9 on some bands while barely readable below at Op. B. All told we put made 12,500 QSOs with Japan and for many of them it was a “new one” for sure.

Because not all of out team was either able or inclined to pull shifts at the mountaintop, our computerized scheduling that had all been done in advance was out the window. We took a step back in time and used pen, paper and chart on the wall method. The fellas at Op.A did their own scheduling based upon who was “on top” and kept the three HF stations and a 6m station on the air almost around the clock. They had fewer operators to share the duty…so they worked harder!

Down below, we assessed our talent and the operator’s interests and crafted a schedule that gave everyone shifts that seemed to satisfy everyone and maintained our QSO rates. When we realized that the “tent and generator” QSO record was within reach, we had a meeting and I asked if we should modify the schedule and begin using our more experienced operators on more shifts and reduce the shifts of the less experienced guys. To a man, they said yes…let’s do it…. let’s go for it. So for the next six days, some fellas were pulling four to five three-hour shifts each 24-hour period while others were reduced to one or two. I want to thank those fellas for sacrificing their enjoyment for the good of the team. They know who they are! This enabled us to keep the daily rates high even as the demand for QSOs and the pileups began to diminish.

It seemed we would never get to the record. We would collect the logs at each station once per day around noon and then post the cumulative number. We would be making between 12,000 and 15,000 QSOs per day but it seemed we would never get there. It is easy to set a goal and a number of QSOs you want to make, but you must actually make those QSOs….one at a time. Op.A was shut down on Feb. 3^rd and our guys and some of the marines brought everything down the mountain. It was very sad in a number of ways as their success from up there was critical to our overall QSO count, but I know the “Iron Men” really didn’t want it to end. They were literally at the top of world with a view and radio conditions that were unequalled.

Now we had everyone back at Op. B and nowhere to sleep everyone…. to say nothing of the fact that we now had too many operators. Jorge and I talked and we agreed to send the Op.A guys and a few others to the SeaWolf. They were entitled to some R & R and maybe a beer or two. So the crew that had worked together at Op. B for all those days stayed on the air another 36 hours and added thousands more QSOs to the logs. We kept four stations on the air until noon local time on Feb.5^th and we were completely off the island by 7:00 pm local. The QSO total was 195,000 plus. We couldn’t believe it ourselves….still can’t!

Just a quick word about the team. We had twenty men from six different countries, with the majority coming from Colombia and the United States. We spoke four different languages, although English was the language of convenience. There were times when we thought we were being understood and times we thought that we understood what was being said to us. Well, it always didn’t work out that way. There were misunderstandings and differences of opinion and different cultural challenges, but to the team’s credit…we worked through all of those challenges and all went home as friends or as the Colombians prefer…compadres ! (translation…better than a friend).

It was a great adventure and everyone returned home safely with stories to be told and retold for years to come.

A word about DXpedition funding, especially as it concerns the rare “most wanted” entities. They are rare for a reason…usually there are political restrictions or they are geographically difficult to reach — or both. It’s common for the DXpedition team members to pay 50-70% of the total costs of these kinds of DXpeditions, but the remainder must come from DX Clubs, DXers and of course, DX Foundations. . I urge you to please continue your support your other favorite DX Foundations and DX Clubs as well as make direct contributions to the DXpedition.

As the organizer of the expedition had many different adventures, but the organization of the expedition to the remote island of Fiji group, Rotuma, located about 320 nautical miles from the capital city of Suva, is a different story, a story in itself. All our activities related to organization of the expedition to Rotuma Island were not common. First it was the activity related to T31K, after ., 3D2C and finally we make decision, Rotuma island is our destination. This DXpedition was originally planned for a 2009 visit to Canton Island-T31. The team had been selected, all equipment was purchased and stored away in Western Samoa and the next step was to announce our plans and our dates for T31. Suddenly, another team announced that they would be going to Canton Island just a few months before our plans. We quickly reconsidered our options considering going to either Conway Reef or Rotuma. We decided to delay our trip for one season and we ultimately were able to get permission from the Island Council of Rotuma to carry out our DXpedition from the #32 most wanted DXCC entity. In order to prepare for our DXpedition, our Team Leader, Hrane Milosevic-YT1AD visited Fiji, few times, last in May 2011. He was able to obtain the DXpedition license as 3D2R. He also arranged for a large shipping container full of equipment to be shipped from Apia, Samoa to Suva, Fiji. This container was slated to arrive the week before the DXpedition team would arrive in Suva. Pacific Freight Inc confirmed the container would arrive in July, well before our arrival. “Murphy” made his first appearance in our DXpedition as we would learn only two days before our arrival in Fiji that our container was delayed by ten days due to damage to the ship it was being carried on. This meant that our gear would arrive in Fiji after the team arrived in Rotuma! Each of the team members was contacted and were assigned various items to bring to replace the gear that was in the container. We even arranged for the delivery of new antennas to the team members at the Los Angeles airport as they were about to fly to Fiji! We agreed that we would meet at the Los Angeles airport at planned and assess our plans. From that point, it appeared that the possibility of having a successful DXpedition was remote. We made a “go-no go” decision and most of the team members wanted to press on.
We then flew to Fiji as planned. Once in Fiji, we broke up into procurement teams. Hrane went shopping all over the island and spent over $20,000 of his own money to buy Tents, tables, chairs, antenna masts and generators. Hrane and David-K3LP had rented two vans and we split into two teams for the three hour drive from Nadi to Suva. Murphy would visit us again when one half of the team was involved in a traffic accident while driving to Suva! Fortunately, everyone was okay. We arrived in Suva later that night and continued preparing our equipment and loading our vessel for the voyage to Rotuma. Fortunately, Hrane has selected a superb vessel, the Island Dancer II to take us to Rotuma. The team and the boat’s crew loaded all of the equipment on board and on September 26th at 9PM we started our voyage to Rotuma from Suva.
The seas were rough and instead of 36 hrs, it took 48 hrs to arrive in Rotuma. We set up two vertical antennas aboard our vessel and many of us operated as 3D2R/MM while en-route to Rotuma. Propagation was excellent and we made many great contacts during the two day voyage. Murphy would make another visit as one of our amps blew due the boats faulty wiring (ground loop) while we were operating maritime mobile. Fortunately some of the team members were well versed in repairing ACOM amps and they were able to make a repair in a matter of hours. With only three amps, we just could not afford to lose one!
In order to maximize our time on Rotuma, the team assembled the various antennas while at Sea so that they could be immediately set up on Rotuma upon our arrival.
We arrived at Rotuma during the night and had to anchor off of the island to wait for sunlight.
At sunlight, we docked in a beautiful lagoon at Rotuma. We were met by a welcoming party consisting of members of the Island Council including Mr. Rigamoto the Island Council Chief, the High School Principal, Mr. Perry Gabriel, and one of the island’s police official. We were given a briefing about what we could and could not do while on Rotuma. Their main concern was that we not import any fruit from Rotuma back to Fiji as they were dealing with a fruit fly infestation on the island.
We noticed several small buildings on a jetty that we had docked at. There was a small shack, a larger garage and a restroom for people waiting for a vessel. We asked if we could make use of the small shack or the garage for our DXpedition. We were very pleased when we were told that we could. This would save us many hours of effort as we could forgo setting up the tents that we had purchased. We carried all of our gear from the ship and placed it on the jetty. Fortunately, we had pre-assembled all of our antennas during the voyage and it was a very simple matter to hand them ashore and quickly assemble them.
Co-Leader, Dave Collingham-K3LP made sure everyone had an assignment and we all got to work either assembling the rigs, amps etc in the small shack, or setting up the various yagis and verticals on the jetty.
Within a matter of hours, we had two tri-band Yagis for 10-15-20 meters set up on 25 foot masts on the jetty. Later we would add a delta loop for 12 meters and a vertical wire antenna for 17 meters. K3LP also crafted a four element wire Vee beam for 15 meters. K1LZ supervised the installation of the four square antennas for 40 and 80 meters as K3LP and crew installed the inverted L antenna for 160 meters.
We operated with five ICOM IC-7000 radios and three ACOM amplifiers. We had six logging laptops with Win-Test. Our operation was powered by one large generator maintain on the boat.
Soon, we were on the air. The propagation on the higher bands, primarily 10 and 12 meters was amazing. Signals from North/South America and Japan were incredibly strong. We knew that one of our biggest challenges would be to work Europe, where the need for Rotuma contacts was most important. We were very surprised at how well we could work Europe and the Middle East and Africa. Our location was surrounded by salt-water on all sides and the jetty would prove to be an ideal location for our operation.
Soon, we were making nearly 10,000 contacts per day from 160 meters to six meters, including 60 meters (5 Mhz). We had a pretty good indication that the bands would be this good while we operated maritime mobile on the way to Rotuma. We made 3,000 maritime mobile contacts alone.
I’ll never forget the sound that I heard in my headset as I was operating on ten meters SSB. It sounded like an alien space ship was landing! As I looked across the shack, we all looked up and asked “what is that noise”. Within a few moments we noticed a large grey naval ship approaching our dock and tying up just behind the Island Dancer. This ship was the one and only ship of the Fiji Navy. For several hours we had to endure a high level of noise from the ship until they shut their radar and navigation systems down. Whew! We sure were glad when they shut down and the noise went away. The Fiji Navy ship was a former US Navy vessel that had been donated to Fiji after the Vietnam War. Soon we would be visiting the navy crew and we were invited to come aboard. Many of us delighted in taking aim with the .50 caliber gun mounted on the bow.
During our rest periods many of us went for long walks on the beach or enjoyed swimming in the beautiful warm waters of Rotuma. Some of us even went snorkeling on the various reefs and went Scuba diving with the ship’s crew.
About Rotuma:
Rotuma is a Fijian dependency with a population of 2000 “Rotumans”. Rotuma is 646 kilometers north of Fiji. There are seven villages on the island with one central government village with a police station, post office and a small store and post office. There are several small schools and one high school on Rotuma. Rotuma has beautiful beaches, lagoons and dense jungles with only a few mountains. There are seven independent districts on the island that are represented by the Island Council. The ancestry of the Rotumans comes from the Solomon and Micronesia Islands.
Life in Rotuma:
Life in Rotuma is very simple. Families live in small clusters of handmade houses along the only dirt road that encircles the island. Each village has a small church and cemetery. There are few jobs in Rotuma and most income is derived from gathering and burning coconut shells that are sold to a bio-fuel company that picks them up several times a year. Four of the seven districts have an elementary school. Each village has a generator for power, which is only provided a few hours each evening. Internet access is only available at the main village Post Office. There are only a few small trucks and motorcycles on Rotuma. There are no gas stations, restaurants or hotels on Rotuma and there is a strong desire among the Rotumans to keep it that way.
Introducing Amateur Radio to Rotuma:
During the voyage to Rotuma, Hrane-YT1AD shared with the team, his desire to introduce amateur radio to the Rotumans. He asked for a team of volunteers to work with him during their rest time to expose the younger people of Rotuma to Amateur Radio and to ultimately train them in making contacts. Hrane wanted to donate some of our equipment so that an amateur station might be operations well after we were gone. After our arrival Hrane shared his desire with the Island Chief and the Principal of the Rotuma High School. He was invited to bring a team of trainers to the school and begin the introduction of amateur radio. The Principal set up an assembly of all 200 students and allowed Hrane and David-K3LP to give a presentation on Amateur Radio.
Soon, a group of 24 students and four teachers was assembled to go through daily amateur radio classroom training. The training started with a blackboard demonstration of the various components required to operate an amateur radio station.

In the following days, the kids practiced making QSOs with small VHF portable radios. The kids really got excited and picked up most aspects of amateur radio very quickly.
On our last days of our DXpedition, the teachers brought the students to our shack. They delighted in actually sitting down with Dave-K3LP and Hrane-YT1AD and making real QSO’s with the DX Community on 20 meters SSB. Each student and each teacher made QSOs and gave their name. Some were nervous, but they all enjoyed the activity and marveled at how easy it was to speak to someone thousands of miles away via amateur radio.
Later that night, the entire DXpedition team and the Island Dancer’s crew were invited to a special event at the Rotuma High School. A large banquet had been prepared in our honor and was hosted by the Island Council Chief and the High School Principal. Tables were set up outside with flaming torches illuminating the night. An incredible feast of pork, chicken and seafood was prepared in our honor. The Islanders prepared a traditional Kava root drink in a very elaborate ritual for us to watch. We then each took turns drinking the Kava. Wow! That drink is powerful is all I can say! Each guest was given a beautiful flower lei by the women present at the banquet.

We then enjoyed the large feast in our honor, complete with live music and dancing. What an enjoyable evening. Hrane-YT1AD then announced that he had pre-arranged for the Fijian Communications Department to issue the Rotuma High School the Club Radio Callsign of 3D2RI and that we would be donating to them, one HF radio, power supply, logging laptop and a new Cushcraft A3S antenna, mast and coax cable. The Rotumans were very excited!
The Island Council Chief and the High School Principal gave speeches and thanked us most eloquently for the donations and activation of the amateur radio club station.

Murphy strikes again:
Old Murphy would just not leave us alone. One evening, one of our team members became seriously ill. We asked the Fiji Navy vessel crew if they had a medic and within minutes their medic was on board our vessel and treating our team member. The medic was very concerned and they made a call to the village hospital and soon the village ambulance arrived. Our team member spent the night in the village hospital and was released back to us the next day. All he could talk about was how attractive his nurse was! I guess he was feeling better!
Time to say goodbye!
Murphy would strike again one last time on our second to last day of operation. We had planned to operate through October 7th with a goal to make 60,000 QSOs. Our ship’s captain informed us that he had been contacted by the ship’s owner and told to return to Suva one day earlier due to a conflict in the scheduling of their next charter. Hrane then began to negotiate with the ship’s owner and a compromise was made that we would return twelve hours earlier instead of one complete day earlier. Still, we came just 600 QSOs short of our goal. That night, as we were beginning to take down our equipment, a large group of Rotumans appeared at the dock to say goodbye. They brought their musical instruments and serenaded us as we took down our antennas. As we completed our tasks, in keeping with the Rotuman traditions, each of us was given a beautiful flower lei. We all took pictures with the Chairman, Counncil of Rotuma, Tarterani Rigamoto and Mr. Perry Gabriel,the Rotuma High School Principal and shook hands and said goodbye.

We then started our two day voyage back to Suva. We all know that we have visited a very special place known as Rotuma. The Rotumans are as warm, sincere and as generous as any people that you would ever find. In return, they asked for absolutely nothing from us. Rotuma is a very special place. We are delighted in the fact that 3D2RI has been active most evenings in the weeks since we have departed from Rotuma. We are very glad that they have embraced amateur radio and are keeping the island on the air.
The 3D2RI team would like to thank ICOM, ACOM, INDEXA, NCDXF, GDXF and many other club and personal donators for helping us make this DXpedition possible. We would also like to thank Mr. Tevita Rokobaro (3D2TR) – Ministry of Communications (Retired) and Mr. Tevita Navila, A/Manager Technical Regulatory, Telecommunications Authority of Fiji for all of the assistance that they gave us. We are grateful to the crew of the Sere Ni Wai (Island Dancer II; Leave A Boat Class), as well as to all donors and sponsors of the 3D2R DXpedition.
The 19 members of 3D2R are now planning for another exciting DXpedition for 2012.
Our desire is to do as many connections and to enjoy all the pleasures offered by our hobby, amateur radio. We are waiting, as always, ready, Murphy, but now his features is small and we are much more prepared. Records are not important, but all those activities related to the expedition, our group WW DX TEAM, team of friends-brothers make all our trip proud and highlight.
Hrane YT1AD,
Paul, N6PSE

73 deYT1AD & 3D2R as: WW DX TEAM

8th International DX Convention 2012

PHOTO – VIDEO DELLE PRESENTAZIONI

When I was 12 years old I got a 12-in-1 transistor project board that
had a code oscillator and info on ham radio. I taught myself code but
didn’t go any further.  My dentist was K0RXT, who became my Elmer and
I got Novice call WN0TAS  October 1967.
I like DXCC Challenge, DX ragchewing and contesting (especially RTTY)
most. I am also interested in VoIP like IRLP and D-STAR, emcomm and 6
meters.
Also I am not an IOTA chaser, but like to op the IOTA contest   2003
RI, 2004 ME West, 2005-6 ME East  as N1DX.

I was always interested in DX and got about 60 countries as a Novice.
My first DX Elmer was W0HLU from Kansas State University W0QQQ.  He
was VU2HLU for 3 years and came back to the university staff when I
moved to the school in 1972.
My best DXpeditions were KP5/K0BJ  (with N1DX), and VR6BJ, /CE0 on the
Yankee Trader circumnavigation of 1979 with N1DX. Now I do ZF2BJ every
January, from wonderful ZF1A club station.  The Yankee Trader trip was
mostly RTTY for me and I was first RTTY op. from VR6 (VP6), and second
from CE0Y. I have activated many places for a short time, with
suitcase expeditions or the Yankee Trader.  C6 ZF KZ5BU /HC2  CE0
VR6BJ  /KH8  5W1BV  /3D2 YJ8BJ  /H44  5Z4YN  /G  /GM  /OH  VP10A  /EA7

Operating from VR6TC’s shack, and from shack of Father Dave CE0AE.
The wind got strong and knocked out out mains power.  Dave cut down a
banana tree at 2AM and got the wires reconnected.  4 hours later when
the sun came up I saw 10cm of new growth from that banana tree!
Most dangerous was KP5. It was a year before it became nearly
impossible to operate there, but it was already difficult due to drugs
and HH/HI emigrants.  An airplane flew over our camp late the second
night — we think they were trying to drop drugs.

No definite plan other than always more ZF.  I would like to visit my
son KB0MBS in HS5-land where he has lived for 5 years.

I like cw on the WARC bands 12-17-30M  I am not a lowband fan at home but I like 80 and 160 on ZF.

If possible I like to work a pileup split up, with no selective
calling by number or region.  However when close and far regions are
both coming in it is good to call the far one only for a while.  I
remember working EU/JA/NA all at the same time near sunrise on 17M at
KP5. I could work all equally well. It was very fun.
Well some of the I operators, and also other southern and eastern EU
ops, will never stop calling when I have a very different partial
call. Sometimes it is even so bad I must work them and tell them they
will not rx a QSL.  But that is pretty rare and most ops worldwide are
wise about how to make their calls. If you can run a pileup well,
usually most of the bad behavior will not start.  In the past the JA
ops were almost TOO polite — if you called JA8XY?,  JA8XYZ sometimes
will not try it, and JA8XZZ almost NEVER call ….   But recently it
seems they will be more willing to call with just a partial callsign.
OK I am excited to meet many I and EU OMs at DX Italia and in
Pordenone.  It will be my second time to I-land. First time was in
1976.

73  Bruce K0BJ  ARRL Second Vice President  Colby Kansas  USA