• NEWSLETTER • JULY • 2012 • 5 1 1 Y 0 E 2 Ar – S E 6 UDXF ‡ 198 Correspondence: Hans P

ving DX ser com s m ar e u y n ROPEAN OUNDATION E i EU DX F .V. t 5 y

2 EUDXF • NEWSLETTER • JULY • 2012 • 5 1 1 y 0 e 2 ar – s E 6 UDXF 198 Correspondence: Hans P. Blondeel Timmerman, e-mail: [email protected]

Bank Accounts of EUDXF

Postbank Hannover PayPal account No.: 153 420 304 IBAN: DE29 2501 0030 0153 4203 04 to bank identiﬁ er code: 250 100 30 BIC: PBNK DEFF [email protected]

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 1 EUDXF NEWSLETTER JULY 2012

Dear EUDXF Members, We are getting used to it: Jan PA1TT Annual General Meeting I am happy to present to you this did an excellent job with our stand at July 2012 EUDXF newsletter and I Ham Radio in Friedrichshafen. As- On behalf of the European DX hope it will give you a lot of reading sisted by Alex PA1AW, Ragnar LA5HE, Foundation I would like to invite pleasure. Jan DJ8NK, Rein PAØR and Nicoletta, you to attend our Annual General Franz DK1II and Ronald PA3EWP he Meeting to be held in Bad Ben- HamRadio 2012 made sure that our booth served as theim during the a meeting point for all our members Deutsch-Niederländische and other visitors. Our eyeball QSO Amateurfunker Tage (DNAT). contest, in which participants had to eyeball as many DXCC entities led to The meeting will take place many interesting contacts. This year on Saturday I did the adjudication myself and ap- th parently I was a bit more strict on 25 August 2012 „residency” than the adjudication and will start committee of last year. With 53 enti- at 14:00 local time ties IØUZF’s YL outranked the rest of as usual in the participants. The full results can Gaststätte Berkemeyer be found at www.eudxf.eu. Jan and Gildehauser Straße 18, crew, thank you for a job well done! 48455 Bad Bentheim, Germany

Jan PA1TT; Klara HA5BA; Rudi PA4UNX; Bekir TA2RX en Olaf DK2LO Photo by Hans PB2T

Following the AGM Ronald PA3EWP will do a presentation on the recent lightweight E51M expedition to Manihiki Atoll, North Cook. In the beginning of this year 7 people went to the other side of the world to activate North Cook. A semi rare DXCC country that was needed by a lot of Europeans. More than 1 year of preparation was needed to accomplish this goal. If you want to hear more details about the E51M DXpedition, come to the AGM in Bad Bentheim. CQ DX (see inviatation next page)

2 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 EUROPEAN DX FOUNDATION E.V.

EUROPEAN DX FOUNDATION E.V. Robert F. Lörcks, Sommerlandstraße 23, D-47551 Bedburg-Hau Correspondence:

EUDXF Office DL To all Robert F. Lörcks DL1EBV Sommerlandstrasse 23 47551 Bedburg-Hau EUDXF Members Germany +49 2824 999703 [email protected]

Date: 01.08.2012 Generalversammlung 2012/General Meeting 2012.

Hiermit möchte ich Sie zur Jahreshauptversammlung der EUropean DX Foundation in Verbindung mit den Deutsch-Niederländischen Amateurfunker Tagen (DNAT) recht herzlich einladen für Samstag den 25. August 2012, 14 Uhr in der Gaststätte Berkemeyer, Gildehauser Straße 18, 48455 Bad Bentheim. On behalf of the European DX Foundation I would like to invite you to attend our Annual General Meeting to be held in Bad Bentheim during the Deutsch-Niederländische Amateurfunker Tage (DNAT). The meeting will take place on Saturday 25th August 2012 and will start at 14:00 local time as usual in Gaststätte Berkemeyer Gildehauser Straße 18, 48455 Bad Bentheim, Germany. Tagesordnung: Agenda: 1. Begrüßung durch den Vorsitzenden Opening by the chairperson 2. Anwesenheitsfestellung Roll call 3. Wahl des Protokollführers Appointment of the minute taker 4. Verabschiedung des Protokolls 2011 Adoption of the AGM 2011 minutes 5. Bericht des Vorsitzenden President’s report 6. Kassenbericht Financial report 7. Bericht der Kassenprüfer Auditor’s report 8. Anträge der Kassenprüfer Motions of the Auditors a. Genehmigung der Jahresrechnung Approval of the annual financial statement b. Entlastung des Vorstandes Discharge of the board of directors 9. Verschiedenes Miscellaneous President: Hans P. Blondeel Timmerman PB2T Nieuwe weg 21 NL-4031 MN Ingen Netherlands +31 344 604107 [email protected]

EUropean DX Foundation e. V. Cashier: Robert F. Lörcks DL1EBV Sommerlandstrasse 23 D-47551 Bedburg-Hau Germany +49 2824 999703 Hans Blondeel Timmerman (PB2T) [email protected] President Bank Account: Postbank Hannover No: 153 420 304 BLZ: 250 100 30 IBAN: DE29 2501 0030 0153 4203 04 BIC: PBNK DEFF

PayPal: [email protected]

tax number: 336/5810/1057

registry court: VR 1301315 AG Osnabrück

club station: DLØEUF EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 3 New Members EUDXF Life Members Membership fees Since July 2011 we welcomed the The following EUDXF Members are following DX-enthusiasts as new registered as Life Members: I would like to remind EUDXF members: those members who did not New Members Life Members pay their membership fee #832 Dervin Beldman, PD9DX Wendy Chang, BV2RS for 2012 yet that member- #834 Arend Ubbink, PA2AWU Prof. Dr. Achim Rogmann, DF3EC ship fees are due at the be- #835 Erwin Grafe, DG9BIP Klaus Schlich, DF3GL ginning of the year. Please #836 Roland Schaeling, DF1OE Jürgen Carow, DF3OL #837 Wim van der Zwan, PA2AM Thomas Damboldt, DJ5DT transfer your contribution #838 Marcel Bos, PA9M Gerhard Richter, DJ5IW of 25 Euro to our bank ac- #839 Theo Koning, PA1CW Jan B.C. Harders, DJ8NK count or to Paypal or come #840 Harald Kjøde, LA9SN Dr. Dieter Messer, DJ9ON and see us at Annual Gen- Dr. Andreas Söchting, DK6AS #598 Dominik Weiel, DL5EBE eral Meeting 2012 and pay #748 Mark van Wijk, PA5MW Dieter Löffler, DK9KD Timm Wangerin, DL1BKT cash. We thank you all for your support Kurt Schips, DL1DA Robert F. Lörcks, DL1EBV and we hope you will enjoy your rving DX se com Karl H. Hille, DL1VU rs m a u membership. e n y i Frank Rosenkranz, DL4KQ t 5 y Leo Wirth, DL4NBE 2 2 EUDXF Silent Key 1 Hans Bohnet, DL5SDF 5 1 y 0 EUDXF regrets the loss of our radio Felix Riess, DL5XL e 2 ar – friend and supporter of DX, OM Curt s E 6 Johannes Langner, DL7BQ UDXF 198 Bues (DJ2FB). We will miss his call- Olaf Brunner, DL7CX sign on the air. May he rest in peace. Robin U. Go, DU9RG EUDXF plans to be present at the Silent Key Iñaki Echeveria, EA2AAZ following events. We hope to see you Dr. H. R. Laubler, HB9RG at #557 Curt Bues, DJ2FB Andrea Panati, IK1PMR • the PI4ZI DX dinner following Yoshi (Hiko) Hirano, JA2MNB DNAT on 25 August 2012. Tsutomu (Tom) Kitahara, JAØDBQ Kazuo Katsuyama, JAØEQO • the Dag voor de Radio Amateur in Noriko Nakamata, JFØJIL Apeldoorn on 3 November 2012. Jukka Heikinheimo, OH2BR Jari Jussila, OH2BU • Interradio in Hannover on 27 Oc- Dick Grolleman, PA3FQA tober 2012. Henk Hofman, PA3GCV Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T For those who missed lunch or haven’t Seregey Kislov, RN3AHL had enough to eat you can join the change of address Tomek Barbachowski, SP5UAF PI4ZI DX dinner in Hengelo, where Thorvaldur Stefansson, TF4M Franz DK1II will do a presentation on I would like to remind you the record breaking T32C expedition that members who change For those members who want to to Kiritimati, East Kiribati. their address or e-mail ad- join the above list of distingnished See http://www.pi4zi.nl/dxdinner.php dress inform our treasurer members, please contact the EUDXF for reservations. at Board. The price for Life Membership is still Euro 400 and is tax deductible EUDXF.Printing@darc- in several countries. For this purpose vy 73, Hans Blondeel Timmerman PB2T kleve.de you will be sent a receipt on request. EUDXF President

Sponsored activities pending sponsoring

3D2R (Rotuma) - by N6PSE Paul S. Ewing 3CØE (Annabon Island) 3XY1D (Guinea) - by DL7DF Siegfried Presch - by EA5BYP Anselmo Bernabé Coll [Elmo] 4W6A (East Timor) - by 9M6DXX Steve Telenius-Lowe 9N7AA (Nepal) - by DL9GFB Franz Berndt 60ØCW (Somalia) - by I2YSB Silvano Borsa A35YZ (Tonga Island) - by DL7DF Siegfried Presch 9L5MS (Sierra Leone) - by DAGOE Stichting CY9M (St. Paul Island) - by MMØNDX Col Mc Gowan (http://www.dagoe.com) D64K (Comoros) - by IV3DSH Paolo Del Do 9NØMD (Nepal) - by IZ8CCW Antonio Cannataro E51M (North Cook Island) - by DL6JGN Hans Griesel FWØNAR (Wallis and Futuna Island) NH8S (Swains Island) - by K9CT Craig A. Thompson - by HAØNAR László Radócz T33, T30, T2, 3D2 (South Pacific) T32C (East Kiribati) - by G3NUG Cheagle Neville - by HA5AO Dr. Gaspar Istvan VP6T (Pitcarirn Island) - by F6BEE Jacques Saget TX7M (Marquesas Island) - by RZ3EM Andy A. Novikow VK9HR (Lord Howe Island) ZK2C (Niue) - by DL7JAN Jan Foerderer - by VK2IR Tommy Horozakis ZK2V (Niue) - by GM3WOJ Chris Tran

4 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 3D2R – DXpedition to Rotuma The seas were rough and instead of 36 hrs, it took 46 hrs to arrive in Ro- BY PAUL EWING-N6PSE tuma. We set up two vertical antennas aboard our vessel and many of us This DXpedition was originally operated as 3D2R/MM while en-route planned for a 2009 visit to Canton to Rotuma. Propagation was excellent Island-T31. The team had been se- and we made many great contacts lected, all equipment was purchased during the two day voyage. Murphy and stored away in Western Samoa would make another visit as one of and the next step was to announce our amps blew while we were oper- our plans and our dates for T31. Sud- ating maritime mobile. Fortunately denly, another team announced that some of the team members were they would be going to Canton Island well versed in repairing ACOM amps just a few months before our plans. and they were able to make a repair Most DXpeditions are visited by in a matter of hours. With only three Murphy in the form of bad luck in one amps, we just could not afford to lose way or another. Some issues are mi- The team had to bring all of the one! nor and some are insurmountable. gear on our flights to Fiji. This is the story of the 3D2R DXpedi- tion, a visit to Paradise and how de- curement teams. Hrane went shop- spite many visits from Murphy, the ping all over the island and spent team was able to persevere and move over $20,000 of his own money to on and work through the challenges. buy Tents, tables, chairs, antenna We quickly reconsidered our options masts and generators. Hrane and considering going to either Conway David-K3LP had rented two vans and Reef or Rotuma. We decided to delay we split into two teams for the three our trip for one season and we ulti- hour drive from Nadi to Suva. Mur- mately were able to get permission phy would visit us again when one from the Island Council of Rotuma half of the team was involved in a to carry out our DXpedition from the traffic accident while driving to Suva! making amp repairs at sea. #32 most wanted DXCC entity. Fortunately, everyone was okay. We In order to prepare for our DXpedi- arrived in Suva later that night and In order to maximize our time on tion, our Team Leader, Hrane Milos- continued preparing our equipment Rotuma, the team assembled the evic YT1AD visited Fiji in May 2011. and loading our vessel for the voyage various antennas while at Sea so that He was able to obtain the DXpedition to Rotuma. they could be immediately set up on license as 3D2R. He also arranged Rotuma upon our arrival. 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 The Island Dancer II would prove to was delayed by ten days due to dam- be an excellent vessel for our trip. age to the ship it was being carried on. This meant that our gear would Fortunately, Hrane has selected a arrive in Fiji after the team arrived in superb vessel, the Island Dancer II to Rotuma! take us to Rotuma. The team and the Each of the team members was boat’s crew loaded all of the equip- contacted and were assigned vari- ment on board and on September 26th ous items to bring to replace the gear at 9PM we started our voyage to Ro- that was in the container. We even ar- tuma from Suva. ranged for the delivery of new antennas to the team members at the Los Angeles airport as they were about to fly to Fiji! We arrived at Rotuma during the We agreed that we would meet at night and had to anchor off of the the Los Angeles airport at planned island to wait for sunlight. and assess our plans. From that point, it appeared that the possibility At sunlight, we docked in a beautiful of having a successful DXpedition was lagoon at Rotuma. We were met by a remote. We made a „go-no go” deci- welcoming party consisting of mem- sion and most of the team members bers of the Island Council including wanted to press on. Mr. Rigamoto the Island Council Chief, We then flew to Fiji as planned. K3LP and crew member loading a the High School Principal, Mr. Perry, Once in Fiji, we broke up into pro- generator. and one of the island police officials. EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 5 We were given a briefing about what assembling the rigs, amps etc in the we could and could not do while on small shack, or setting up the various Rotuma. Their main concern was that Yagis and verticals on the jetty. we not import any fruit from Rotuma Within a matter of hours, we had back to Fiji as they were dealing with two tri-band Yagis for 10-15-20 me- a fruit fly infestation on the island. ters 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 craft- ed a wire beam for 15 meters. K1LZ supervised the installation of four square antennas for 40 and 80 meters as well as an inverted L antenna Getting the shack ready to go! for 160 meters. We operated with six ICOM IC7000 Soon, we were making near- radios and three ACOM amplifiers. ly 10,000 contacts per day from We had six logging laptops with Win- 160 meters to six meters, including Test. Our operation was powered by 60 meters (5 Mhz) We had a pretty The Island leaders meet the Is- one large generator that YT1AD pur- good indication that the bands would land Dancer. chased in Fiji. be this good while we operated mari- Soon, we were on the air. The prop- time mobile on the way to Rotuma. We noticed several small buildings agation on the higher bands, primar- We made 3000 maritime mobile con- on a jetty that we had docked at. ily 10 and 12 meters was amazing. tacts alone. There was a small shack, a larger ga- Signals from North/South America rage and a restroom for people wait- and Japan were incredibly strong. We ing for a vessel. We asked if we could knew that one of our biggest chal- make use of the small shack or the lenges would be to work Europe, garage for our DXpedition. We were where the need for Rotuma contacts very pleased when we were told that was most important. We were very we could. This would save us many surprised at how well we could work hours of effort as we could forgo set- Europe and the Middle East and Af- ting up the tents that we had pur- rica. Our location was surrounded by chased. We carried all of our gear salt-water on all sides and the jetty from the ship and placed it on the would prove to be an ideal location for jetty. Fortunately, we had pre-assem- our operation. bled all of our antennas during the voyage and it was a very simple matter to hand them ashore and quickly assemble them.

The teams is making almost 10,000 QSOs per day..

I’ll never forget the sound that I heard in my headset as I was oper- This small building would prove to be an ideal shack for 3D2R. ating on ten meters SSB. It sounded like an alien space ship was landing! Co-Leader, Dave Collingham-K3LP As I looked across the shack, we all made sure everyone had an assign- looked up and asked „what is that ment and we all got to work either noise”. Within a few moments we noticed a large grey naval ship ap- proaching 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 team gets busy setting up one of the Vietnam war. Soon we would be two three element yagi antennas. Yagis on the jetty. visiting the navy crew and we were

6 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 invited to come aboard. Many of us of volunteers to work with him during banquet had been prepared in our delighted in taking aim with the .50 their rest time to expose the younger honor and was hosted by the Island caliber gun mounted on the bow. people of Rotuma to Amateur Radio Council Chief and the High School During our rest periods many of us and to ultimately train them in mak- Principal. Tables were set up outside went for long walks on the beach or ing contacts. Hrane wanted to donate with flaming torches illuminating the enjoyed swimming in the beautiful some of our equipment so that an night. An incredible feast of pork, warm waters of Rotuma. Some of us amateur station might be operations chicken and seafood was prepared in even went snorkeling on the various well after we were gone. After our our honor. The Islanders prepared a reefs and went Scuba diving with the arrival Hrane shared his desire with traditional Kava root drink in a very ship’s crew. the Island Chief and the Principal of elaborate ritual for us to watch. We About Rotuma: the Rotuma High School. He was in- then each took turns drinking the Rotuma is a Fijian dependency with vited to bring a team of trainers to Kava. Wow! That drink is powerful is a population of 2000 „Rotumans”. Ro- the school and begin the introduction all I can say! Each guest was given tuma is 646 kilometers north of Fiji. of amateur radio. The Principal set up a beautiful flower lei by the women There are seven villages on the island an assembly of all 200 students and present at the banquet. with one central government village allowed Hrane and David-K3LP to give We then enjoyed the large feast with a police station, post office and a presentation on Amateur Radio. in our honor, complete with live a small store and post office. There Soon, a group of 24 students and music and dancing. What an enjoy- are several able evening. small schools Hrane YT1AD and one high then an- school on Ro- nounced that tuma. Rotuma he had pre- has beauti- arranged for ful beaches, the Fijian lagoons and Communica- dense jungles tions Depart- with only a ment to issue few moun- Rotuma High tains. There School a Club are seven in- Radio Callsign dependent of 3D2RI and districts on the that we would island that are be donating to represented them, one HF by the Island radio, power Council. The supply, logging ancestry of laptop and a the Rotumans new Cushcraft comes from A3S antenna, the Solomon mast and coax and Micronesia cable. The Ro- Islands. tumans were Life in Rotuma: four teachers was assembled to go very excited! Life in Rotuma is very simple. Fami- through daily amateur radio class- The Island Council Chief and the lies live in small clusters of handmade room training. The training started High School Principal gave speeches houses along the only dirt road that with a blackboard demonstration of and thanked us most eloquently for encircles the island. Each village has the various components required to the donations and activation of the a small church and cemetery. There operate an amateur radio station. amateur radio club station. are few jobs in Rotuma and most in- In the following days, the kids prac- Murphy strikes again: come is derived from gathering and ticed making QSOs with small VHF Old Murphy would just not leave burning coconut shells that are sold portable radios. The kids really got us alone. One evening, one of our to a bio-fuel company that picks them excited and picked up most aspects team members became seriously ill. up several times a year. Four of the of amateur radio very quickly. We asked the Fiji Navy vessel crew if seven districts have an elementary On our last days of our DXpedition, they had a medic and within minutes school. Each village has a genera- the teachers brought the students to their medic was on board our vessel tor for power, which is only provided our shack. They delighted in actu- and treating our team member. The a few hours each evening. Internet ally sitting down with Dave K3LP and medic was very concerned and they access is only available at the main Hrane YT1AD and making real QSOs made a call to the village hospital village Post Office. There are only a with the DX Community on 20 meters and soon the village ambulance ar- few small trucks and motorcycles on SSB. Each student and each teacher rived. Our team member spent the Rotuma. There are no gas stations, made QSOs and gave their name. night in the village hospital and was restaurants or hotels on Rotuma and Some were nervous, but they all en- released back to us the next day. All there is a strong desire among the joyed the activity and marveled at he could talk about was how attrac- Rotumans to keep it that way. how easy it was to speak to someone tive his nurse was! I guess he was Introducing Amateur Radio to thousands of miles away via amateur feeling better! Rotuma: radio. Time to say goodbye! During the voyage to Rotuma, Later that night, the entire DXpe- Murphy would strike again one last Hrane YT1AD shared with the team, dition team and the Island Dancer’s time on our second to last day of op- his desire to introduce amateur radio crew were invited to a special event eration. We had planned to operate to the Rotumans. He asked for a team at the Rotuma High School. A large through October 7th with a goal to

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 7 3D2R QSO Statistics: a beautiful flower lei. We all took pictures with the Island Chief and Mr. SSB CW RTTY SSTV PSK31 Band Perry, the Principal and shook hands 160 m 2 1,0500001,052 and said goodbye. We then started our two day voy- 80 m 1,144 2,7730003,917 age back to Suva. We all know that 60 m12000012 we have visited a very special place 40 m 1,497 3,929 313 0 0 5,739 known as Rotuma. The Rotumans are as warm, sincere and as generous as 30 m 0 3,424 170 0 0 3,594 any people that you would ever find. 20 m 5,628 2,142 415 0 60 8,245 In return, they asked for absolutely 17 m 2,014 4,989 287 0 5 7,295 nothing from us. Rotuma is a very special place. We are delighted in the 15 m 5,060 5,219 676 0 0 10,955 fact that 3D2RI has been active most 12 m 2,866 4,152 716 0 22 7,756 evenings in the weeks since we have departed from Rotuma. We are very 10 m 4,759 4,986 779 10 37 10,571 glad that they have embraced ama- 6 m161151000312 teur radio and are keeping the island Mode 23,143 32,815 3,356 10 124 59,448 on the air. The 3D2RI team would like to thank make 60,000 QSOs. Our ship’s cap- Still, we came just 600 QSOs short the EUDXF for helping us make this tain informed us that he had been of our goal. That night, as we were DXpedition possible. We are grateful contacted by the ships owner and beginning to take down our equip- to the crew of the Island Dancer II, as told to return to Suva one day ear- ment, a large group of Rotumans ap- well as to all donors and sponsors of lier due to a conflict in the scheduling peared at the dock to say goodbye. the 3D2R DXpedition. of their next charter. Hrane then be- They brought their musical instru- The 19 members of 3D2R are now gan to negotiate with the ships owner ments and serenaded us as we took planning for an exciting DXpedition to and a compromise was made that down our antennas. As we completed Conway Reef in 2012. we would return twelve hours earlier our tasks, in keeping with the Rotu- instead of one complete day earlier. man traditions, each of us was given

WALLIS AND FUTUNA STORY (FWØNAR and FWØNAR/P) BY LASZLO RADOCZ HAØNAR

Wallis and Futuna (French: Terri- tumiers): Uvea on the island of Wal- the Territory consists of three kings toire des îles Wallis et Futuna), is a lis, Sigave on the western part of the (monarchs of the three pre-colonial Polynesian French island territory in island of Futuna, and Alo on the island kingdoms) and three members ap- the South Pacific between Tuvalu to of Alofi and on the eastern part of the pointed by the high administrator. the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the island of Futuna. The capital of the Although the Dutch and the British west (300 miles-480 km), Tonga to territory is Mata-Utu on the island of were the European discoverers of the the southeast, Samoa to the east Wallis, the most populous island. islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, (225 miles-360 km), Tokelau to the As a territory of France, it is gov- it was the French who were the first northeast. Its land area is 264 km2 erned under the French constitution Europeans to settle in the territory, with a population of with the arrival of about 13,500. The French missionar- territory is made up ies in 1837, who of three main volca- converted the pop- nic tropical islands ulation to Roman along with a num- Catholicism. Pierre ber of tiny islets, Chanel, (canonized and is split into two as a Saint in 1954) island groups that is a major patron of lie about 260 km the island of Futuna apart, namely Wal- and the region. Wal- lis Islands (Uvea- lis is named after OC-054) in the the British explorer, northeast, and Hoo- Samuel Wallis. rn Islands (Futuna In 1887, the Islands-OC-118) in queen of Uvea (on the southwest, in- the island of Wal- cluding Futuna Is- lis) signed a treaty land and the unin- officially establish- habited Alofi Island ing a French pro- (the population of tectorate. The kings Alofi was reportedly eaten by the can- of 28 September 1958. The head of of Sigave and Alo on the islands of nibal people of Futuna in one single state is President Nicolas Sarkozy of Futuna and Alofi also signed a treaty raid in the 19th century). France as represented by High Ad- establishing a French protectorate The territory is divided into three ministrator Philippe Paolantoni (since in the 1888. In 1917, the three tra- traditional kingdoms (royaumes cou- September 2008). The Council of ditional kingdoms were annexed to 8 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 France and turned into the Colony of (coconuts and vegetables), livestock cultures of its neighbouring nations Wallis and Futuna. (mostly pigs), and fishing. About 4 % Samoa and Tonga. The Wallisian and The islands have a hot, rainy sea- of the population is employed in gov- Futunian culture share very similar son from November to April and a ernment. Revenues come from French components to culture; language, cool, dry season from May to October. government subsidies, licensing of dance, cuisine and modes of celebra- The rains accumulate 2,500 to 3,000 fishing rights to Japan and South Ko- tion. Traditional events like the kava millimetres (98–118 in) each year. rea, import taxes, and remittances ceremony, going to church (largely The average humidity is 80 % and the from expatriate workers in New Cale- Roman Catholic), plantation & agri- temperature 26.6 °C (79.9 F). donia, French Polynesia and France. culture, and fishing are all highly re- Only 5 % of the islands’ land area Industries include copra, handi- garded. is arable land; permanent crops cover crafts, fishing, and lumber. Agricultur- The language native to and spoken another 20 %. Deforestation (only al products include breadfruit, yams, daily by the islanders is the ‘Uvea small portions of the original forests taro, bananas, pigs, and goats. In language, which traces its roots to remain), largely as a result of the 2007, US$ 63 million worth of com- Samoic origin. Despite this, the offi- continued use of wood as the main modities (foodstuffs, manufactured cial language (because of its adminis- fuel source, is a serious problem; as a goods, transportation equipment, trative purposes) is French. consequence of cutting down the for- fuel, clothing) were imported, primar- The territory had 1,125 telephones ests, the mountainous terrain of Fu- ily from France, Singapore, Australia, in use, had one AM and 2 FM broad- tuna is particularly prone to erosion. and New Zealand. cast radio stations, and two television Today there are no permanent settle- Along with the French territories of stations. Due to this, communica- ments on Alofi because of the lack of New Caledonia and French Polyne- tion costs are high, costing up to ten natural fresh water resources. sia, the territory uses the CFP Franc, times as much as western countries. The GDP of Wallis and Futuna per which is fixed vs. the euro, at the rate The island of Wallis has about 100 ki- capita was 12,640 US dollars in 2005, of 1,000 XPF = 8.38 euro. lometres (62 mi) of highway, of which which is lower than in New Caledo- The total population of the terri- 16 paved, while the island of Futuna nia, French Polynesia, and all the tory at the 2008 census was 13,484 has only 20 kilometres (12 mi), none other French overseas departments (68.4 % on the island of Wallis, paved. The territory has two main and territories (except Mayotte), but 31.6 % on the island of Futuna). More ports and harbours, Mata-Utu and higher than in all the small insular in- than 16,000 Wallisians and Futunians Leava (on the island of Futuna), that dependent states of Oceania. live as expatriates in New Caledonia, support its merchant marine fleet The territory’s economy is limited which is more than the total popula- consisting of three ships (two passen- to traditional subsistence agriculture, tion of Wallis and Futuna. ger ships and a tanker). with about 80 % of the labor force The culture of Wallis and Futuna is There are two airports, one on Wal- earning its livelihood from agriculture Polynesian, and is very similar to the lis with a paved runway of 2,100 me-

Laci and Susanne before the start. On the way to Futuna Island. FWØNAR ~ Photo Gallery

Arrived to Futuna. more than 80 kg of equipment.

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 9 tres (6,900 ft), and one on Futuna I am deeply grateful to my xyl: with a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) strip. Susanne (she has made more than New Caledonia-based Aircalin oper- 2000 RTTY and SSB contacts with ates the only commercial flights that FWØNAR) for her strong and continu- go to Wallis, where it has an office in ous support all along. Joe (HAØLC) Mata-Utu. Unfortunately there are no is graciously thanked for his logisti- commercial boat operators. cal help in bringing my Wallis and Our radio equipment consisted of Futuna project to life. Everybody can two YAESU FT-857D with 2 solid state get more additional information about linears (350-400 W output power) our DXpedion and can find quite a few and a multi-band SteppIR vertical for photos at our blog. It can be found at: 40-10 meters. A 18 m Spiderbeam www.fw0nar.blogspot.com fiberglass mast was used on 80 and The financial and equipment sup- 160 meters. port received from the Chiltern DX The first QSO was made on 28th of Club (CDXC), Clipperton DX Club January on 24 MHz CW at 19:49 UTC (CDXC), Danish DX Group (DDXG), with ZL1BYZ and the last one on European DX Foundation (EUDXF), DX 1188 mmetereter ttallall vverticalertical fforor 116060 aandnd 8800 19th of February on 28 MHz CW at Italy, German DX Foundation (GDXF), mmeterseters 19:49 UTC with FM5AA. LA-DX-Group (LADXG), Nippon DX During 18 days of opera- Association (NDXA), SouthWest Ohio tion as FWØNAR (Wallis Island- DX Association (SWODXA), Swiss DX OC-054) 17,872 QSOs were logged Foundation (SDXF), Spiderbeam and (12,152 CW, 3,045 SSB and Anico Kft. (Nyíregyháza, Hungary) is 2,675 RTTY) with 10,620 stations graciously acknowledged. (AF 1%, AS 31%, EU 25%, NA 36%, HAØDU (Steve) and HAØHV (Sanyi) OC 5% and SA 2%) from 156 DXCC are gratefully outlined for their en- countries. thusiasm, encouragement and sig- I have also made 3,145 CW con- nificant support. Special thanks to tacts on 40-10 meters (with a G5RV Michael (G7VJR), Brad (W6TJI) and antenna and barefoot) as FWØNAR/P Al (K6YRA), Zoli (HA8LNN) and Barna from Futuna Island (OC-118). The (HAØER). I would also like to thank online logsearch for these operations all those who included some support can be found at: with their QSL request (see page at http://www.clublog.org/logsearch.php www.ha0nar.hu for the complete list). aafterfter sstormtorm rrepairepair

Wallis airport start. Antenna work. FWØNAR ~ Photo Gallery

Coconut depot. setting the wire antenna.

10 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 FWØNAR ~ Photo Gallery

FWØNAR/P Leaving Futuna.

rving DX se com rs m a u e n y i t 5 y

2 EUDXF 5 1 1 y 0 e 2 ar – s E 6 UDXF 198

Welcome on Futuna Island FWØNAR ~ Photo Gallery

Portable equipment to Futuna not more than 5 kgs Local food.

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 11 VP6T DXpedition to Pitcairn Island BY JACQUES SAGET F6BEE, VINCENT COLOMBO F4BKV, MICHEL BRUNELLE FM5CD, NIGEL CAWTHORNEG3TXF, AND CILLES RENUCCI VE2TZT

1. Pitcairn Islands general data the usual two periods of five hours. for up to 14 days (the duration of the (from Wikipedia and other sources) If you need power during the night, tourist visa), we will depart Manga- The Pitcairn Islands form a group you must rely on your own generator, reva in the early evening of 17th Janu- of four volcanic islands in the south- have your own diesel barrel and plan ary (local time) and return to make ern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a oil changes… Outlets are Australia / the Air Tahiti flight on 7th February at British Overseas Territory. The four New Zealand type. 14:30. With the non-daily flights from islands – named Pitcairn, Henderson, The official local currency is the Los Angeles to Tahiti and return, this Ducie and Oeno are spread over sev- New Zealand dollar, but the US dollar transportation timing means 4 full eral hundred miles of ocean and have is more than welcome. weeks away from home and this can a total land area of about 18 square 2. Why Pitcairn put some constraints for finding op- miles (47 km2). Only Pitcairn, the After our expedition to FO – French erators having a real job! second largest and measuring about Polynesia in February 2010, we got 3. The team 2 miles (3.2 km) across, is inhabited. the taste for large Its coordinates are 25°04′00″ South QSO number expedi- and 130°06′00″ West - Grid square tions with few opera- CG44ww, CQ Zone 32. tors. We have been looking for a DXCC entity in the top 60 so as to also test our ability to manage large pile-ups. For every expedition, four main questions must be addressed : licence, landing per- mit, transportation and lodging. After many hours on the in- The islands are best known as home ternet, we found that of the descendants of the Bounty mu- Pitcairn Island would Here we are! L. to R.: our host Andrew, F6BEE, tineers and the Tahitians who ac- be a good candidate, VE2TZT, Heather, F4BKV, FM5CD, G3TXF. companied them, an event retold in except that transpor- numerous books and films. With only tation would be an issue : long, rare Knowing the maximum number of about 48 inhabitants as of 2010, Pit- and expensive. Since Jukka OH2BR’s possible operators, the dates and cairn is the least populous jurisdiction operation in year 2000, there were transportation / lodging costs, a in the world. The only permanently no activity from Pitcain that produced number of operators were contacted inhabited island, Pitcairn, is accessi- significant amount of QSO. and five agreed on going to Pitcairn ble only by boat through Bounty Bay. From Europe or Canada, going to for 14 days: Jacques F6BEE, Nigel Pitcairn local time is UTC-8 hours Pitcairn requires 3 flights followed G3TXF, Gilles VE2TZT, all three oper- (same as California), all year. Local by 2 to 3 days of boat for the end- ated as TX4T from Tahiti in February time in Tahiti is UTC-10 and UTC-9 in ing 500 km. The flights are rather 2010, joined by Michel FM5CD and Gambier Islands. easy to find, except that the last one Vincent F4BKV. All five are contesters Late January, the Sun Rise is at between Tahiti and Mangareva is- with previous experiences of operat- 14:12 and Sun Set at 03:33 UTC. land in the Gambier archipelago of ing abroad and as such know both French Polynesia is weekly. The last the pile-up tricks and the art of trav- and most problematic leg of the trip elling! G3TXF decided he will operate is the sea cruise to and from Pitcairn. CW only, F4BKV doesn’t operate CW, Very few opportunities are available the three others prefer CW but can at dates that offer good propagation operate SSB and RTTY. on all nine HF bands with the main 4. Going there ham population centres: USA, Japan According to available and preferred and Europe. Europe is the one where flights, the five will join in Tahiti on Pitcairn has been the rarer. So, after Saturday 14th January 2012, arriv- many searches, negotiations, hopes, ing from Paris, London or Montreal, deceptions and uncertainties, we via Los Angeles International. Michel found a Sailing Yacht, named S. Y. Pit- FO5QB reserved for us rooms at the cairn and registered in French Polyne- hotel where the Ukrainians and Rus- sia, that can take a maximum of 5 op- sians of TX7M operated from on their erators with their 400 kg of luggage way to and from Marquesas in Octo- safely to and back from the island. ber 2011. Vincent and Nigel made a The electrical power 220 V / 50 Hz We were warned that lodging for 5 couple hundreds QSOs from there, is supplied to the whole island by a + 2 crew members would be tight as signing TX6T and we took time to generator between 08:00 and 22:00 the baggages would occupy one dual configure the stations, network and (16:00 – 06:00 UTC). Exceptionally bed cabin / berth. radio interfaces. This had never been during our stay, the main generator To optimise the operating time and fully done before as the operators ran for 14 non-stop hours instead of propagation, there will be 5 operators were coming from different countries. 12 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 The hungry Tahitian mosquitoes ap- about the island, receive the tradi- II interfaces and four laptops running preciated this technical meeting! On tional flower necklace and take some Win-Test contest logging software are Tuesday 17th, we went back to Faaa- pictures. We and our equipment are networked via Ethernet cables and Papeete airport to take the weekly Air taken aboard the traditional trans- switch. A fourth station with the spare Tahiti (domestic airline) flight going portation vehicles on Pitcairn: quad K3 is put in line but without amplifier to Gambier, leaving at 08:00 local. bikes, a few with trailers, to climb as we noticed that the „big amplifier”, Three hours later, the ATR-72 lands from sea level up to 240 m ASL to a the old F6BEE’s Alpha-76A modified on the runway of Totegegie, we col- large house named Paratai Heights with a pair of 3CX800, didn’t survive lect our 200 kg of luggage and take where VP6T will operate from. This well the storage in Tahiti or the trip to the 45 mn shuttle boat between the house has been built by its owner, Pitcairn. Jacques discovered later that airport island and Rikitea village our excellent host Andrew Christian. one tube was shorted, tripping the on Mangareva island. There we are His building skills, tools and kind help excessive-current protection of the warmly met by Bernard and Fran- were very appreciated when we were HV power supply to off. Disconnect- çoise, the owners and skippers of S.Y. installing and dismantling the anten- ing the anode clip of the faulty tube Pitcairn. The equipment and a few nas. was the dirty fix that made possible 5. Setting up to have a fourth operating position On Friday 20th January at with 600 to 700 watts output. 18:00z (10:00 Pitcairn Time) 6. Day by day operation and after a short site survey we are story ready to start antenna installa- Day 1: 21 anuary – Starting the tion. We had decided that we pile-ups will not start operation before At 04:04z Nigel logs VP6T’s first all antennas are up and run- QSO as ZL2IFB, a „neighbour” at ning. With the hot and sunny 5,500 km, on 30 m / CW while weather, broken by short but Jacques waits until 04 15 to have heavy rain showers and on an K9NW answer his CQs on 20 m / CW. area with flat surfaces small- At 04 23, a third band comes into er than expected and heavy action with Gilles logging UA4YA on bushes covering very sloppy 40 m /CW. The first hour produces terrain, the work goes slower 315 QSOs. Vincent logs the first SSB than expected. At sunset, we QSO at 05:42 with JR7COP on 20 m. stop outdoor work with anten- In the following twelve days, the nas ready for the eight higher operators, bands and modes are VP6T’s radio equipment and operators’ bands: 80/75 m quarter wave switched according to propagation bags on Bounty Bay dock: 24 packages and suitcases vertical with switched loading openings to the different parts of the coil, 40 m vertical, 30 m ver- world, taking into account that man- clothes we travelled with are loaded tical, 17 m and 12 m VDAs and one ning 3 or 4 stations with only 5 op- on board the 50 ft. yacht and join the 5-band Spiderbeam on a 10 meter erators having also to manage some 170 kg of antenna parts and ampli- push-up mast. In the large living “side tasks” such as setting up ad- fier that arrived from France via Ta- room, three (almost) identical sta- ditional antennas (transmit and re- hiti, delivered late December by the tions with K3 and solid-state ampli- ceive antennas for 160 m, one sec- monthly supply ship. Before leaving fier are installed on tables lined up by ond 5-band Spiderbeam), fixing the French Polynesia to Pitcairn, our pass- Andy. The radios are interfaced with antennas just before of during wind ports are stamped-out by the French the laptops by Microham MicroKeyer storms, repairing equipment failures Gendarmes and by 17:00 (01:00 UTC on 18th) all is ready to set sail heading to the south east. The pacific ocean is exceptionally flat, with no wind and kept the same for 3 days. The engine was used all the way and on 19 Janu- ary at 21:00 Pitcairn time (05:00 UTC on 20th), we drop anchor not far from Bounty Bay to spent the night there as landing is too dangerous at night. Early the next morning, we are joined by Andrew, our host for the coming 14 days, that guides our yacht to a good anchoring point in Bounty Bay and the operators as well as their stuff are loaded aboard small boats and land in Pitcairn harbour. After landing and unloading our many packages with the help of a dozen Pitcainers (25 % of the population!) that came to welcome us and help with transportation, we go through Pitcairn Immigration, customs and quarantine services to have our passports stamped, pay the visi- tor’s visa and landing fees/service, VP6T antenna farm. l to r: 80 m, 17 m VDA, 12 m VDA, 40 m, 6 m, Spider- receive some tourism information beam 1, 30 m, 160 m, Spiderbeam 2

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 13 and even taking some rest and hav- on 160 m. Wow, that is very promis- great hilltop location! ing meals. ing! With 500 to 600 watts into the A total of 5,181 QSOs are logged on All 8 bands for which we have an- antenna, stations ask for repeats and 24/01. tennas are used. As we have set up we feel that we hear much better than Day 5: 25 January – Technical only one of the two 5-band Spider- we are heard. 67 QSOs in the log, in- day, visits and new antennas beam we brought, we couldn’t make cluding 4 with Europe during the first In the morning, the HL1.1kFx solid every combination of two or three of hour on Top Band, from a place with state amplifier of station #2 fails. It the five high bands during day time. no other station in a 5,000 km ra- is fixed by Jacques that discovered Ten or twenty were only possible on dius is 100 % DX! This first night on some dead bugs and a lot of corro- the Spiderbeam. We make thousands 160 m was by far our best one, with sion inside the cabinet. The corrosion of QSOs with simple and low gain an- 284 QSOs in the log, including 46 de- made some internal ground contacts tennas such as the 12 m VDA, the serving Europeans. very poor and a good cleaning was 17 m VDA and the 40 m quarterwave For the day 22 January a total of the solution. This amplifier was used vertical we used on 15 m. 5,562 QSOs are logged on all nine HF at TX4T in February 2010 where it bands. operated non-stop for 3 weeks about Day 3: 23 January – 10 meters from the salty pacific Bounty Day ocean… By no mean we would We have visitors: the kids from the have missed the festivi- school, the doctor and his wife and ties of the Bounty Day, 4 or 5 tourists. Nigel explains them the national Day of Pit- ham radio, DXing and DXpeditioning. cairn. We took a three Gilles and Michel located the 6 m hour break between beam left by Jukka OH2BR in 2000. 17:00 and 20:00 local Andrew brings it to the house but the time (24 January 01:00 gamma match has been broken. They to 04:00 UTC) and our clean the antenna and think about a hosts took us on their solution to repair the matching cir- quad bikes to go down cuit. All 4 ocean-view operating positions are oc- To add more flexibility to our dai- cupied: VE2TZT, F6BEE, FM5CD, F4BKV. the hill and join the whole population of the island light use of frequencies, three of us The QSO count after 24 clock hours on the docks in Bounty Bay. Some take two hours from their operating of operation is 5218, though we 45 quad bikes transported about 75 time to install the 2nd 5-band Spider- stopped all traffic between 21 Jan. people that shared an excellent din- beam antenna. It is not easy to find 22:11z and 22 Jan. 02:11z to set up ner prepared by all the families. A a proper location, not too close to the the 26 m Spiderbeam pole support- remarkable assortment of extra-fresh other antennas and on a near-flat ing the 160 m Top Loaded vertical fish cought in the ocean a couple of ground. It is set up on the South side with 16 radials. The breeze added to hours earlier! There we met the leg- of the house, between the 30 m verti- a slopping terrain with some bushes endary Tom Christian VP6TC and his cal and the generator shed. made the work harder and longer wife Betty VP6YL, as well as Meralda Some strong winds, heavy rain and than expected even if we waited for VP6MW, Dave VP6DB and Brian VP- nice rainbows. After sunset, we can the late afternoon when the sun start- 6BX. In fact, Pitcairn has a very large see many thunderstorms on the ho- ed to be less aggressive on our white but rarely active ham radio popula- rizon. So the low bands, especially but blushing skins! Again Andy was of tion. 160 m, are very noisy. A total of great help to push up the heavy mast. With a lot of emotion, all the Pit- 4,725 QSOs are logged on 25/01. Day 2: 22 January – 160m debut cairners sung „In the sweet by and Day 6: 26 January – QSOs Too late and too dark to set up the by”, a christian hymn from the 19th Again wind and rain showers. Many two Beverage receiving antennas we century while watching the mock up thunderstorms, mainly from the east had planned to put towards JA and of the Bounty burning on the shore. / south-east and noisy bands. A total Eu/NA. Jacques quickly listens on Even with this break a total of 6,180 of 4867 QSOs are logged on 26/01. 160 m : S2 noise level on the single QSOs are logged on 23/01. Day 7: 27 January – QSOs antenna we have, that is not bad at Day 4: 24 January – QSOs Rain, mist and wind. The VDA an- all. A couple of CQs and K5UR is the Gilles sets up the 2 beverage antennas have to be set back to vertical first entry in the 160 m log on 22 tenna in the bushes, each sloping to from time to time. A total of 5,066 Jan. at 04:11 UTC. Two minutes later, Europe / USA and to Japan. There is QSOs are logged on 27/01. E74AW is the first European logged very few flat land when you are on a On 160 m, we ask for many repeats

All the inhabitants of Pitcairn gathered to see the mock-up of the Bounty burning in Bounty Bay. In the background, the S.Y. Pitcairn that took us to and from the island.

14 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 as the static crashes and QSB are crashes even on the beverages. On noon with all our equipment ready to very bad, even on the beverages. Still 160 m, we hear 2 partial calls from get onboard the SY Pitcairn. Carefully many visible thunderstorms. Europe: F6 and DL but we can’t com- re-packing the two beams, cleaning Day 8: 28 January – 50 MHz plete the callsigns. Sorry, unknown all the masts and guying stakes as QSO guys. A total of 4,392 QSOs are well as rolling the coaxial cables kept Gilles and Michel didn’t find bet- logged on 30/01. us very busy until the last minute and ter than a piece of string to fix the Day 11: 31 January – More rain, the return of the hot sun was appreci- gamma match of the 6 m beam! It is more noise, QSOs and bad news ated to dry the stuff we had to pack. installed on top of a 4 m pipe found In the morning we receive an Nigel took time to upload the QSOs in Andrew’s construction stock. As the e-mail from Bernard. Our skipper is logged in the last 24 hours to Club K3 of Station 1 is connected to the 62 Nm from Pitcairn and he reports Log and to LoTW. only amplifier covering the 6 m band, very bad weather forecast for the The three quad bikes and trailers are the LNA brought by Jacques is in- next days, highly recommending that loaded, a short visit to Tom and Betty stalled on the receive path and we put we bring forward our departure back to buy Pitcairn souvenirs and we go to a self-spot on the cluster (shame on to Mangareva no later than tomor- Bounty Bay between two rain show- us !) after a few CQ on CW, beaming row afternoon, otherwise boarding ers. Our skippers Bernard and Fran- to the USA west coast. Only one QSO might become very difficult because çoise are waiting for us and in a hurry is made at 01:14 (duped at 01:23) of the wind and high seas. This means to board and weigh anchor as soon with XE1FAA. We assume he was very shortening our operation by 36 hours as possible. The ocean is worse and happy! In addition, some 4,504 QSOs and start taking down the most com- worse and the boarding is a bit hectic. are logged on 28/01 on the 9 other plicated antennas in the evening. The farewell to our Pitcairn friends is bands. With regrets, we agreed to follow very short and by 4:00 PM (00:00 UTC Day 9: 29 January – More rain, Bernard’s advice, a trustable skip- on 2 February) we leave Bounty Bay, more noise and more QSOs per. Late in the afternoon, Gilles and heading to the North West, meaning In the evening, new rain showers Jacques take down and start packing we will have head waves and winds with static for the whole discharges cruise. With produce S9 these very bad noise level on conditions, 40, 80 and the return 160 m when trip to Man- we listen on gareva last- the transmit ed 60 hours, antennas, so several hours efficient dur- with 4m waves ing quieter making four of days. Tonight the five opera- the 2 bever- tors badly sea- ages are the sick for the only solution whole trip… to hear the Very early in stations call- the morning of ing us. There Saturday 4th, are also two we set anchor CW contests in quiet Rikitea this week bay. We learnt end: CQ afterwards 160 m and that they got REF. Jacques a lot of (wel- operates the CQ 160 m contest main- the 160 m Tx antennas, the 2 bev- come) rain in the past 3 days, and the ly in search and pounce mode to avoid erages and the West Spiderbeam. It day after our departure Pitcairn got working too many additional dupes. is too dark to disassemble the beam 24 inches (61 cm) of rain in 24 hours! The reaction time of the stations we that evening. Even if we had bad weather dur- work is a bit longer as they don’t im- A total of 4,623 QSOs are logged on ing our return trip, one can imagine mediately realise they are called by 31/01. that it could have been much worse a rare DX, but they sound very hap- Day 12: 01 February – Last by trying to leave Pitcairn later. For py when the QSO is confirmed. With QSOs, heavy rain, tearing down the next 3 days, we stay at Bianca & 58 QSOs and 35 multipliers, we have and packing Benoit’s pension in Rikitea village and serious expectations to win the award A total of 2,368 QSOs are logged Nigel and Vincent are on the air sign- for 1st VP6 finish! We also hear sev- on 01/02. The pile-ups are still mas- ing TX6T/P to give the IOTA hunters eral F stations calling CQ in the REF sive when we must go QRT at 16:32 the rare OC-063 Gambier Islands ref- contest with good signals on 80 m (08:32 local time). Nigel logs F8FAZ erence. On Tuesday 7th, we fly back to but they don’t copy us. They will nev- on 10 m/CW as the last and 56300th Papeete to get some rest and wait for er know they missed a good country QSO of VP6T. our flights taking us to London, Mon- multiplier. Heavy and continuous rains and treal, Paris or E51 and FK for Vincent A total of 4,560 QSOs are logged on strong winds started well before sun who still needs his daily dose of SSB 29/01. rise, so we start by tearing down and QSOs! Day 10: 30 January – More rain, packing the radios and all gear inside 7. Observations on the traffic more noise, QSOs the house, the 5 of us being ready We worked 4 ham radio populations The noise on the low bands is get- to rush outside as soon as the rain and so observed 4 traffic styles from ting worse and we have strong static stops. We must leave the house at their respective operators:

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 15 • Japan: very disciplined as al- the partial or full callsign an- our log to Club Log so that every- ways with many callsign repeats swered by the DX operator, mak- one could check if they really worked to double check that we log ing runs slower and from time VP6T. So why calling again to waste them 100 % correct. Relatively to time exasperating our more your time, our time and reduce the high QSO rates are possible if patient phone operators. Worst possibilty for many to work VP6 as a you make good use of the Su- was on 20 m / SSB. A short or real new band slot ? per Check Partial, otherwise it is longer rest period or switching Everyday our log was also uploaded very difficult to take one com- to North America even when to LoTW to confirm the VP6 band slots plete callsign at once (most JA propagation is open with Europe to many users. More than 40% of the callsigns have 6 characters). was the consequence. This be- QSOs have been confirmed even be- • USA / Canada : usually brief, effi- haviour from lowest class „DX- fore we left Pitcairn. cient and well disciplined, follow- ers” is not encouraging efforts QSL: Nigel G3TXF, in addition to ing the operator’s instructions by DX operators to work Europe. his operator tasks accepted to be the and allowing high and constant • Rest of the World: Usually with QSL manager for VP6T. All cards re- QSO rates. Nevertheless and on „normal” manners, though some quested either by e-mail, direct or via several occasions we have been South American operators display the web site OQRS will be answered deliberately jammed on our lis- their European / Latin origin… by the same way. tening frequencies certainly by We have about 1,500 duplicate QSO 8. Figures stations from this area. Why ? in our log, equivalent to 5 hours of • Europe: some European opera- QSOs by 3 or 4 active stations. We tors never stop calling, whatever made big efforts to upload everyday

VP6T QSO breakdown by band, mode and continent.

BAND SSB CW RTTY DUPE AF AS EU NA OC SA 160 0 1,158 0 55 0.2 % 5.9 % 6.5 % 85.4 % 1.0 % 1.0 % 80 579 2,677 0 85 0.5 % 11.1 % 38.7 % 46.5 % 2.2 % 1.1 % 40 1,460 4,218 0 120 0.6 % 18.0 % 42.2 % 35.5 % 1.9 % 1.9 % 30 0 6,323 705 399 0.6 % 22.4 % 42.5 % 30.9 % 1.8 % 1.8 % 20 3,227 3,218 720 140 0.9 % 17.7 % 39.1 % 36.3 % 2.7 % 3.3 % 17 2,142 3,611 867 165 1.1 % 14.4 % 20.6 % 58.7 % 1.5 % 3.7 % 15 3,403 3,897 875 150 0.9 % 15.5 % 21.4 % 56.4 % 2.2 % 3.8 % 15 3,178 3,650 1,074 205 0.9 % 20.0 % 18.1 % 55.9 % 1.2 % 3.5 % 10 4,348 3,260 0 211 1.1 % 18.8 % 19.6 % 55.1 % 1.2 % 4.0 % 50 0 1 0 1 100.0 % ALL 18,517 32,013 4,241 1,531 0.8 % 17.4 % 28.6 % 48.3 % 1.8 % 3.0 % 54,771 56,302

9. Conclusion for a full month very far away. joyed our operating. Let’s first recov- What made VP6 Pitcairn become We hope all of you got at least one er before we even think about where the 41st most wanted DXCC entity is contact with VP6T and that you en- we go next! its remoteness. Being rare and the only possibility, the access by boat is expensive. So we thank very much the various vendors, DX clubs and foundations that contributed to make this expedition a reality and a suc- cess: Spiderbeam, Microham, Club Log, Win-Test, RFHam, DXWorld.net, Northern California DX oundation, European DX Foundation, German DX Foundation, Clipperton DX Club, South Eastern DX Club, Swiss DX Founda- tion, GM-DX Group, Low Band DX Group, Mediterraneo DX Club, Nippon DX Assn, West Island Amateur Radio Club (Quebec, Canada), Northern Il- linois DX Association as well as many individual DXers. A special mention to Flo F5CWU who loaned us his set of bandpass filters that allowed us to si- multaneously operate up to four stations with very little interference. Our Webmaster Laurent F1JKJ did a remarkable job and must be thanked, The team from VP6T from left to right: Jacques F6BEE, Michel FM5CD, Vincent as well as our families that let us go F4BKV, Gilles VE2TZT and Nigel G3TXF. 16 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 6OØCW Somalia 2012 BY SILVANO BORSA (I2SYB)

Somalia… a country known from serious attack took place a few days tion was impossible. ancient times as Puntland, it was in- later, when two humanitarian volun- We started immediately our plan- cluded in the Ethiopian Kingdom since teers (a Dane and an American) were ning and the Doctor found a good lo- the second century BC. It was invaded kidnapped. A couple of months later cation for us: the villa of the former many times by different people and U.S. intelligence found the terrorists’ (now dead) President was sometimes split in numerous small nations till base and a special forces operation rented to Europeans needing to stay 1887, when it became an English Pro- rescued the hostages and killed all in Galkayo (there are no good hotels tectorate under the name of Somalil- terrorists. From that day, the atmo- in that area). Despite the high rate, and name. Between 1915 and 1941 it sphere was more relaxed and calm we decided to accept this offer con- was part of Italian East Africa togeth- and visitors safety was better guar- sidering the large garden, ideal for er with Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 1960 anteed. our antennas. There was also a 70 m it became independent and civil wars Initially we didn’t want to go to So- tower for microwave links and we al- began. Signs of Italian presence are malia, since we were aiming at other ready dreamt about hanging a 160 m still evident: culture and infrastruc- destinations. The planning of the ac- beam from it! Everything seemed to tures from our country helped during tivity for a group like ours needs con- go right, but Mr. Murphy was working the last century to develop Somalia. sidering different destinations at the for us: just after the (new) airplane Many persons ticket were speak Italian bought, Dr. (mostly old Jama called people) and us: the Presi- it is easy to dent’s heirs hear good now asked opinions for a full year about our rental rate of country. $ 45,000! It After the was clearly previous re- unaffordable. gime col- After a couple lapsed in ear- of hectic ad ly ’90 s , tribal painful days, wars divided Dr. Jama Somalia in 3 called us say- States: So- ing that he maliland in had found a the north, hotel very Puntland in clos to the the center University , and South in and that Rec- Mogadishu tor agreed area. There to give us is a „federal some rooms government”, for our radios even if the situation is not calm and same time, as unexpected events and use of the roof for our antennas. in the South there is the presence of may require quick changes and sud- It was also a good solution for our Al Qaeda militias and African soldiers den cancellations. It was the case of safety, given the very close distance from Ethiopia and Uganda to help to our DXpedition to Mali this year, when of the hotel from our radio stations. keep order. two days after airplane tickets were We tried to find pictures or descrip- Galkayo is a town located in Punt- bought and hotel down payments tions about this location on Internet, land close to southern border and is made, a civil war between Govern- but no information was found. We had considered a dangerous area. Here ment Army and Tuareg northern mili- no alternatives and therefore we con- our friend Dr. Jama lives and works. tias forced the Malian Ministry to call firmed the reservations. Flights were Last year, during a Skype conversa- us and abort the DXpedition! So, we not simple to organize: previous DX- tion, we asked him if it was the right had to find and get organized for a peditions were made through a local period to visit again Somalia (some of new country : Somalia! At the be- airline company which went belly up. our group already visited the country ginning we only needed local logistic So, thanks to our wonderful friend Dr. in 2005 and 2006). Without hesitation help, since all team members have a Jama, we found a carrier connecting he replied that it was too dangerous lifelong Somali license. But in a coun- Nairobi and Galkayo. We got in touch and a visit could be too risky for our try like Somalia local logistic help is with Enrico, 5Z4ES, who lives in Nai- safety. This was confirmed by several mandatory. Some contacts did not robi. terrorist attacks during October and produce results, but then we got in Enrico and his wife Lisa were re- November 2011. One of them, by the touch with Dr. Jama, who was in Italy ally kind and ready to help: flight in- way, was carried out against Radio for a neurosurgery conference. He re- fos, ticket reservations, overweight Galkayo, a local short-wave broad- assured us about the local situation, charge negotiations ( more than casting we helped with antennas and but said that if we wanted to go there, 130 kg in excess!!!). They came to an Acom 1,000 p.a. during our last it had to be in May because in that Nairobi Airport to help us with Visas visit. Luckily there were no victims, period he would have been in Galkayo and custom clearance, and organized but we were really worried. The most and without his presence a DXpedi- a very pleasant night in Nairobi with

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 17 dinner and hotel rooms to rest for some hours. THANKS ENRICO! THANKS LISA! It’s great to have friends like you in countries where the smallest problem can cause huge unpleasant con- sequences ! DXPEDITION CHRONICLE: Ready at Milan Malpensa Airport, but with a sick Silvano sitting on our luggage, Gino and Stefano took charge of check-in and baggage. In a few minutes, thanks to a very profes- sional Swiss hostess, all procedures were competed. It was Sunday 7 May, 7:00 in the morning when we took off to Zurich and Nairobi, where we landed at 18:30 local time. At Nairobi Airport Enrico and Lisa took care of customs and passports. They took us SSB station to a beautiful grill restaurant sporting all kinds of meat, including crocodile and ostrich, with the added bonus of a very nice African dance show. Back to the airport very early in the morning after a few hours of sleep, we finally met our very, very old airplane by African Express Airlines (ever heard about them?). Enrico took care personally of our baggage in order to avoid bad surprises and bade us his farewell. When boarded, the plane didn’t show any sign of maintenance since many years! It was narrow, dirty and the smell in the air is hard to describe. We tried to fix Angelo’s seat, as well as a door swinging dan- gerously. Also the window gaskets were out of place. Unusual operations for Gino who, being a frequent flyer, 6 M station opted to praying! After a four-hour flight we landed on the Galkayo airport clay runway. Dr. Jama, together with our friend Hussein and a delega- tion of the Crescent Moon (the local Red Cross), were waiting for us. Af- ter quick custom formalities (thanks Doctor!), followed by lunch, we could explore the University roof. Unfortu- nately, the space insufficient, but we agreed with the hotel owner that we could use also part of his roof, just a few meters away from the Univer- sity. We tried to take maximum advantage of the available space, but in the end we could have not more than 10 m distance between antennas. This caused a lot of interference and the only solution was to find clean frequencies and operate on different Yagi home made for RTTY station bands, bearing each other. Of the two We had huge pileups to face, rooms given us by the University, the up. At 17:00 2 stations were operat- while we had also many commit- smaller was dedicated to SSB and ing. Mr. Murphy began his duty: no ments with local authorities, Cres- the larger to CW, RTTY and 6 m. We internet connection, despite all our cent Moon etc. The Internet troubles, started by installing a Spiderbeam in efforts. We decided to delay the first caused by censorship filters, were a torrid 38 degrees C temperature, log uploading to the following day. On always with us. But after a call to and we had to stop often for resting Tuesday morning we woke up at 5:30 our friend Giacomo IH9GPI in 5 min- in the shadows and drinking lots of to take advantage of the mild tem- utes we received an updated file of water. At 15:00 UTC the first station perature and by the end of the day all software for our online log software was on the air, but we didn’t want antennas were installed and all four with a solution to bypass censor- to stop until the 40/80 vertical was stations were operating. ship. „We fu…d them this time, too!”

18 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 sunset universities, installed antennas Many different problems affected under very difficult conditions. 40 m bodyguards (not contractors but So- our operation: a blackout due to a CW was not too bad, but SSB was mali well-trained soldiers) . Local law storm, shortage of operators because almost impossible. Gino and Stefano says that every stranger must have of dysentery, but we always managed worked hard to make just a few hun- one bodyguard , but our team of 6 to reach an average rate in excess of dred tiring contacts. 80 m SSB was had only 4 of them. 5,000 QSOs per day. We consider this totally impossible, owing to S9+10 Besides radio, the other goal of our to be a very good result, taking into noise. Probably we could have logged trip was to check the progress made account that one station was only a some A6 or HZ with 5 kw, but we thanks to the help that we had pro- beacon for 6 m. and in case of propa- soon realized that our location was vided during previous DXpeditions. gation openings we stopped the RTTY not suitable for the low bands. We We attended at many different cer- activity in order to try contacts this made every effort to satisfy requests, emonies held in our honor. The most band. So we had in reality 3 stations but we regret that the final result was important to us was in Galkayo Hos- and 5 operators (almost one per day disappointing. About 160 m, we did pital, where Vinicio IK2CIO received spent most of his time at the rest- not have enough room on our roof, so the nomination of his son Andrea as room). we asked permission to place some Ambassador of Peace. Andrea, with About propagation, we realized that antennas on another building close his personal donations since he was 5 it was very variable on the higher to the University. After some days of (now he is 12), helped in building and bands, with sudden openings and negotiations the permission was re- refurbishing a children pavilion of the strong signals from Europe or Ja- fused. So, no 160 m. Hospital. Another important visit was pan, forcing us often to manage the As we described above, the gen- at the local Crescent Moon facility. JA pileups by numbers. We also had eral situation in town was apparently There about 200 protheses per year very strong QSB in the morning, calm, but there were anyhow some are manufactured and given to chil- which causing strong problems and problems: during antenna installation dren who lost legs or feet due to mine in some cases we had to interrupt a some people threw stones at us and or bomb blasts. We also attended a QSO. During the night we had good we heard many times shots and gun- dinner with local authorities (Mayor, openings to USA, mostly in 18 and fire but we were not too worried be- Hospital Manager, members of the 21 MHz. The propagation to the USA cause Dr. Jama provided us with four Parliament) and the request was al- started at about ways the 22:00 UTC and same: lasted until „HELP US” about sunrise. We will During the day put on our we received Eu- website as rope and Asia. soon as Erratic night possible an openings char- appeal by acterized prop- Dr. Jama agation on the explaining lower bands, what was 80 m in partic- done and ular. This band what dire was mostly si- needs re- lent. We did not main to be have noise but met. This we could not will not be hear anyone! ham radio, Signal strength but with a was close to little help zero and the from ev- few QSOs made erybody we were completed could really

EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 19 help people who need our support. Angelo felt drums in his belly, Vinicio and full of contradictions. It is one of Going back to radio matters, the slept even while walking and Stefano the poorest countries in the world, greatest disappointment was the dreamt about chips and Milanese cut- and having lived for a dozen days in 6 m band, a new one for almost ev- let after 10 days of camel stew. awful hygienic and health conditions erybody. We were informed by Ser- We were tired and as soon as we we realized what everyday’s life can gio IKØFTA that that period was not are on the plane we fell in a sort of be for that brave people. We hope, good, but expectations were anyway hibernation! with your help, to be able to alleviate very high. Every morning we tried Saturday morning we landed in Zu- their sufferings. the beacon with the antenna to JA, rich and from there we flew to Milan Check our website www.i2ysb.com but no answer back. In the afternoon on time. This was the first DXpedition soon, where you will find information again to EU, with the same results. in which we were happy to get back about the next humanitarian steps we Sergio informed us by e-mail of open- home. Somalia is a fascinating and could take. ings to 3B8, FR and ST2. We immedi- mysterious land, with an old history ately went on RTTY with 500 W, but no answer. Only one day, during the Some interesting statistics afternoon, we had a good opening for one hour and we worked about 70 stations, mostly SV. During the last 3 days absolutely no propagation, and the physical conditions of the team reduced our operating ca- pacity to 50 %. We knew about the high expectations and we were deeply frustrated, but we take comfort for the 100 operators whom we gave a new one. In any event, it’s an interesting result because it creates the first statistics for that country in that period on this band. Time went on and we arrived at our scheduled departure time. We had to uninstall and prepare all material for our journey back to Italy. Murphy hit one more time the team: Silvano, Marcello and Gino suffered with fever, vomit and dysentery. Vinicio, Angelo and Stefano stood up bravely to the job. After so many years spent in DX- peditions installing and uninstalling the same radios and antennas, we can ready all containers and luggage in a few hours. We finally left the hotel, but stopped at another hotel where a Somali TV crew ran an inter- view which was broadcasted on the same evening on a satellite TV (Hot- Bird, don’t ask which one!) We arrived at Galkayo Airport but surprises were not over: delayed landing of the incoming aircraft, not unusual in itself, but on touchdown a tire exploded! Luckily the pilot found a spare wheel in the trunk and with jack and wrenches he replaced it while we waited under a tree. We flew south and landed near the Kenya border for custom and safety check, with great happiness of Silvano and Finally we want to thank all friends cult), but if we can… . Gino who spent one hour in the Air- who made this DXpedition possible: Stay tuned. port toilet! We then landed at Nai- Dr. Jama and Hussein, Enrico and The Italian DXpedition Team. robi and Lisa helped us again with Lisa, IH9GPI Giacomo, IK7JWY Artu- African bureaucracy. All material was ro, IKØFTA Sergio, the NCDXF, Sezio- safely loaded onto a Swiss airplane. ni ARI and their donations, sponsors rving DX se com We thanked Lisa and bade farewell rs m and amateurs who contributed to a u e n with some embraces and kisses ( En- y i make the financing of this DXpedition t 5 y rico was not there!), hoping to have possible. 2 the chance one day to return them 2 EUDXF Thanks, really THANKS from our 5 1 1 all courtesy and help given to us. y 0 heart. e 2 Physically the bill arrived: Silvano ar – Of course we are already working s E 6 UDXF 198 and Gino were sick for days, Marcello on the next DXpedition. Probably we with a sore throat could not speak, will not be able go there (very diffi- 20 EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 Next EUDXF NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2013 • DXpedition; ZK2V (Nuie) …

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EUDXF newsletter JULY 2012 23 rving DX se com rs m a u e n y i t 5 y ROPEAN OUNDATION E V 2 EU DX F . . 2 EUDXF 5 1 1 y 0 e 2 ar – s E 6 UDXF 198 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

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