Federated States of Micronesia
V62S - Satawal Atoll (OC-299) - Nov 13 to 22
V62P - Puluwat Atoll (OC-155) - Nov 24 to 30
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NEWS: 16 Mar 2024 All the bureau requests received until Mar 15 over the Club Log's OQRS have been shipped through the Canadian Outgoing QSL Bureau. 5 Mar 2024 There is only a limited amount of double-folded QSL cards in stock for these operations. They will be mailed on a 'first come - first served' basis. If you wish to receive one of them, please don't hesitate to order it soon, before they are gone. 29 Feb 2024 All direct QSL requests have been mailed this afternoon. 27 Feb 2024 QSL cards arrived from the printing house is Sicily, and will be dispatched in the coming days. 6 Feb 2024 QSL cards have been shipped to me by Alfio (IT9EJW), who designed and printed them. 29 Dec 2023 I received many nice messages from chasers following my return back home, and I appreciate all of them. I would like to include one here, received yesterday from Harald, who is not an IOTA chaser: “I add donations to expeditions since I know it cost a lot to go to remote and off grid locations, and I try to add some extra when I can and especially when someone has made an extra effort or achieved something that is above what is expected. Your proven record, your effort, the time you spend on giving us at home a QSO, the hardship you had along the way and the end result is well worth a donation Cezar.” – Harald, LB2HG The first upload to LoTW was done a few minutes ago for both V62S and V62P. Next upload will be in a little over a week, on January 8, 2024. As I already mentioned, the QSO matching toward IOTA credits will be enabled on January 9. 27 Dec 2023 The list of donors has been updated and I will continue to bring it to date from time to time. Contacts with those chasers who provided support and/or submitted direct QSL requests will be uploaded to LoTW in the coming days. I am currently waiting for the appropriate certificates to be provided by LoTW for both callsigns. 22 Dec 2023 (periodically updated!) I received several direct QSL requests by mail which do not comply with what I posted under QSL information in the Logs & QSL section of this website. The following stations should check their submissions against my instructions and respect the latter if they wish to receive directly the QSL cards they requested. Otherwise, one or both cards will be mailed via the bureau, as the case may be: CM3EFM I1APQ JA1YSW JA3BWC JA8DCR JF2LEX JG3SZF JH1LPZ JH1XUP JN1FRL JR3XKF K9GWH LY2QT MW0YVK N7XM NA5YO WA1FCN 17 Dec 2023 (23 UTC) Logs have been uploaded to Club Log. Please take time to read the QSL instructions as posted on the Logs & QSL section of this website. All those who will include additional support with their direct QSL requests, in order to help me defray some of the large costs associated with this project, will be acknowledged on the Donors & Support section. 16 Dec 2023 (4 UTC) Please note that both V62S and V62P logs are now in electronic form. I need to submit the required validation documents to IOTA, and upon the approval of these operations, I will upload the logs to Club Log and enable them for OQRS. I will also prepare the necessary QSL information, which I will post in the Logs & QSL section of this website. Here are the logs statistics, for everyone's perusal: V62S QSO 6464 CW 4370 – 67.6% SSB 2094 – 32.4% Stations 4104 DXCC 94 CQ Zones 34 Continent QSO % AF 13 0.2 AS 1950 30.2 EU 2802 43.3 NA 1436 22.2 OC 197 3.0 SA 63 1.0 Band QSO % 10 m 179 2.8 12 m 1265 19.6 15 m 2104 32.5 17 m 1458 22.6 20 m 1439 22.3 30 m 19 0.3 Total 6464 100.0 QSOs per DXCC for those above 1% of total amount of contacts. DXCC QSO % JA 1593 24.6 K 1257 19.4 UA 440 6.8 I 438 6.7 DL 394 6.1 F 174 2.7 UA9 157 2.4 SP 147 2.3 VE 127 2.0 OH 124 1.9 UR 100 1.5 VK 96 1.5 G 92 1.4 SM 86 1.3 ON 78 1.2 OK 77 1.2 EA 72 1.1 BY 64 1.0 V62P QSO 2617 CW 2004 – 76.6% SSB 613 – 23.4% Stations 1977 DXCC 79 CQ Zones 32 Continent QSO % AF 2 0.1 AS 761 29.1 EU 1009 38.6 NA 761 29.1 OC 67 2.6 SA 17 0.6 Band QSO % 10 m 17 0.6 12 m 797 30.5 15 m 596 22.8 17 m 122 4.7 20 m 658 25.1 30 m 427 16.3 All 2617 100.0 QSOs per DXCC for those above 1% of total amount of contacts. DXCC QSO % K 703 26.9 JA 653 25.0 I 185 7.1 UA 169 6.5 DL 146 5.6 F 59 2.3 SP 55 2.1 UA9 53 2.0 VE 50 1.9 VK 45 1.7 SM 42 1.6 UR 39 1.5 OH 36 1.4 OK 35 1.3 HA 27 1.0 HL 27 1.0 V62P & V62S DXCC Total = 99 2 Dec 2023 (13 UTC or 11 pm) I departed from Puluwat on Dec 1 at 4:30 pm, and arrived in Weno on Dec 2 at 12:45 pm. It took another couple until I was able to go to the emergency hospital. I was seen and given an oral antibiotic. They also bandaged the left food thoroughly, to last until I’ll be back home, removing all the dead skin which was very painful. The antibiotic must be taken with food, and so I ordered some from the restaurant downstairs. The food is good, I had it before, but my appetite is very low and so it’s a struggle for the time being. When I’m not lying down in bed, my energy levels are 20% of my normal ones at best, perhaps much less. I cannot focus on anything, other than sending a couple of messages to family. To summarize, I never imagined that it will take a couple of weeks of waiting in Weno for the project to actually begin. I purchased a lot of food for the boat, and ask the crew to take care of my meals, which they agreed. However, none of the really good stuff, such as eggs and cheers ever made it to the boat. Usually I’m OK with any good, or so I thought. In any case, food on the boat and the remote islands is not very good. Additionally, on Puluwat I was brought food every other day until the last 2-3 days on the island. Perhaps laying on hard wood benches and cement floors for 24 days in a row was a little too much. But this is not what brought me down, it was the mosquito bite infection. In an anonymous post on the DX Summit, someone who didn’t have the integrity to give his real callsign advised to go home, since it was pointless anyway. Maybe it was for his goal, whatever might have been. But there are known IOTA chasers like E72U and EI7CC who made with V62S just in the nick of time, OE2VEL or OZ1HPS who made it with V62P when I was almost out of gas. This was primarily an IOTA project, and I was obviously only happy to give various DXers a new band or mode now and then. But the slot hogs are a species that I need to batter plan how to deal with in the future. I received numerous advices as to best conditions to this or that distant part of the world. After 55 years of amateur radio, it continues to baffle me how poor understanding is still among hams that the forecast is based on a model. The model has the highest probability to be good, but unfortunately in many situations that was exactly not the case. The good news is that I replied to them, indicating where I believe that the best conditions with them will be, and many of them made the log. Here is the workload for the coming weeks: - Recover myself first, get back on my feet. - Prepare documentation for the IOTA validation process. Since this is my operation, I cannot validate it myself, hi. - Go through hundreds of photos to find some acceptable for the QSL card printing. Alfio (IT9EJW) will do the rest, but he need the raw materials. I think that he will shut down over Christmas and New Year’s, so I’ll have to do it soon. - Digitize the paper logs. About 85% of the V62S log is on paper, and the entire V62P. This will take some serious work, and I promise to do it as soon as my energy level is up. Meanwhile, please understand that I have been away from family for almost 40 days, and so there is an expectation from them, particularly my wife, that we will be able to spend time together during the holidays. - Several operators indicated that they submitted donations lately and requested me to confirm that they were received. I am sure that they are waiting for me in paypal. I am most grateful to them all. However, the internet communication here in advertised as unsecured, and I will not check my paypal account. All donations will be acknowledged on the expedition website in due course. - As my very good friend Axel (DL6KVA) put it, a donation is to support a project, not in lieu of a contact. I am so sorry that all this logistical mess too so long to be sorted out and you missed my operation from V62S. Your superb CW would have cut through the pile-up as the finest knife. But that’s in stark contrast with other hams, whose callsigns I am not going to list, who indicated that they believe that it is the activator’s responsibility to have everything ready and any support should only be associated with making contacts, hi. I have time to think of a donation level threshold above which the respective station will receive their card(s) automatically. - I am unsure that the cards can be produced, dispatched, and arrive in the chasers’ hand in time for the annual IOTA deadline of Jan 31. Consequently, once the logs are up at Club Log, all contacts for which direct QSL requests will be made will be uploaded to LoTW for QSO matching. Please wait patiently for QSL instructions, as they will be available once the logs are up. - In view of the above list, I don’t think that I will be able to publish the logs prior to Christmas, but I’ll give it a try. 29 Nov 2023 (03 UTC or 1 pm) I have just been informed that the boat will arrive to pick me up on the morning of Dec 1, heading to Weno that afternoon, arriving sometimes in the morning of Dec 2. I earlier declined to pay for a charter at a cost of $8,000, but I'm glad that in the end the group decided to organize a voyage to bring people and supplies to the island and extract me in the process. The contractors I mentioned about told me that they can "rationalize" their use of gas and provide me with 1 gal. This is another gas tank, and I will check with them in the afternoon. If so, I will add a few hours to each of the on-band activities of today and tomorrow, until all gas is used. I have been here for quite some times, and so I should mention that there is no toilet on the island. The bush is used for #1, and the ocean for #2. I cannot do that walking around in naked feet, and so I have to... improvise. The school has both a caferetia and washrooms, but they have been out of order for ages and so are not used. 28 Nov 2023 (20 UTC or 29 Nov at 6 am) I am on the last gas tank for the generator. After two days of promising the locals to either pay for a bit of gas at up to three times the nominal fee or provide them for up to three times the amount supplied when the boat arrives here, nobody was willing to give me some. The tank will last for up to 8 hours of operation. Having something to do, even very, very little, is crucial for the moral, and so I'll try my best to extend the use of that gas as long as possible by limiting the operation on a daily basis for the time windows that I found most successful. I will always keep hope that maybe one of the locals who knows about my situation will eventually decide to let me have some gas, but it certainly doesn't look promising at this time. I plan to restrict my operation between 12 and 16 UTC. This will allow me to be on the air today and tomorrow. I'll be first on 30 m, after which I'll move to 20 m, and back to 30 m. Please give those IOTA chasers who still need this one a chance. There are many stations who continue to keep calling me on various bands/modes, despite the fact that they already logged me on many slots. I will avoid picking them up. One of the contractors lent me a desk light, which if charged for 3-4 hours, it will operate for 3-4 hours. There is no other light that I could use on the island, except my headlight. The locals have small flashlights, nothing else. I am sleeping on the cement floor of one of the school classrooms. I got from the locals a thin plastic mat, on which I put a sleeping bag, a sheet in four and a blanket in two. The comfort is not on my mind, it is the mosquitoes... 27 Nov 2023 (22 UTC or 28 Nov at 8 am) I arrived on Puluwat with the three lacerations on the left toe, covering an area of 7-8 cm, pretty badly infected. It hurt badly and I had to do something drastic. I tried to find some polisporin or similar cream at the island dispensary, but there was none. As such, I washed the wounds thoroughly and did my best to remove as much of the puss as possible, after which I tried them and applied some liquid bandade that I had with me. I stopped wearing anything on the foot, the next day it appeared that the red colouring shrunk a little. Over the next days the evolution was good, and so this was mostly out of the way. After checking out several potential locations for the antenna and station, the Deputy Mayor and I concluded that since the operation was over the weekend only, the best option was to stay at school. As such, the antenna was placed in the middle of their yardm which is relativey small, and the station in one on the classrooms, which the generator is way out, next to their cafeteria. This worked out reasonably well. There were numerous kids around over the weekend, because the school is the only place where there is internet on the island, and so they hang there watching and playing on their cell phones. I found the bands in rather terible shape compared to what I experience on OC-299. I sneaked some QSOs in CW on 20 and 15 m prior to the beginning of the CQWW CW, and for the rest, over the next couple of days, it was a struggle. Each bands will open to EU and some to NA at times, but not too long, and not each and every time it was forecasted, sometimes just marginally. I tried to be there as much as possible, hoping that more chasers will eventually end up in the log. This was not exactly how it worked out. There are a huge number of callered, from various countries, who just want to log me on every single slot. I tried several times to indicate to them that I’m looking for “new stations”, and they clearly understood, since many stood by for a while, but each time I wasn’t transmitting “new stations” they would immediately call incensely. On Nov 25, there was a minor G2 geomagnetic storm, which led the planetar index K into the values of 5 for 12 hours, followed by a period of 6 of 3 hours, after which it came down to 4 and only later lower. I still managed to make some contacts, but there were generally logs CQs and frequent periods of inactivity. On Sunday, I learned that I won’t be leaving on Monday as scheduled. When I left Satawal, the boat was supposed to carry out an emegency evacuation to Weno for the team leader. I don’t know exactly what happened, but that didn’t materialize. Perhaps she felt a little better and decided to go ahead with a shorter job schedule, moving slowly, with the rest of the team, to the islands closer to Weno. What is sure is that she decided to not come over and pick me out, renouncing at her team work already scheduled for Puluwat. I was obviously furious, because I am not stranded here. Unlike on Satawal, the locals don’t take care of my food needs, as I generally have less than 10% of what it seemed reasobable to expect as food. There were two days in which I only received a small packet of crackers. I have bottled water for today and tomorrow, after which I will have to used boiled water. There are three contract workers assisting with a house building project on the island. One of them lost half of his food provisions when he worked here previously as a result of theft, and so they came with additional reserves now. I am thankful to them to giving me a few of those. When the school resumed on Monday, I was supposed to be gone. But this was not the case. With virtually no space to roam in the breaks, the kids involuntarily damaged the antenna a couple of time. Not a big deal, since this type of antenna can be fixed easily. Unfortunately, in my first take down of the mast, for band changing, I managed to break the top 2 m of it. I hit the edge of a large water container, something unexcusable, since I was very much aware of its presence. It was just a split second of inattention, which led to quite a bit of work. I had some short pieces of wood that I use for rolling of them the radials, and with a big knife chopped them to create some narrower pieces about 20 cm long. The broked part was then surrounded by them, and since I don’t have any steel wire, I use electrical tape. It worked and I used the antenna successfully over night. I only have gas for the generator for today. I had plenty more, but I decided to gift it to my host in Satawal. I don’t regret the gesture for a minute, but had I known that I will be stranded on Puluwat, I wouldn’t have done it. I may be able to get a bit from the three contractors, but it will only last me another day. I tried to find someone willing to sell gas here for some serious sum, but I couldn’t. The community doesn’t have any per se, it all belongs to each of the locals, and it is used for the boats that go out at sea fishing. Finding some gas is one of my priorities here today. Another priority is to find a different place, because I cannot continue to stay at the school. I also discussed this with the Deputy Mayor, but the prospects are not encouraging. There is only one space where I could installed the anntena and station, but it is far from the public use and he is seriously concered of my safety and that of the equipment and my personal belonging. The very top priority though is finding a way to get to Weno and then return home. The big nuissance on Satawal were the sand flies. However, they were pretty much located on the actual sand, and only appear during daylight. Thus, they would only attack when I had to change the band one the antenna at day. There was sand in the little beach hut I operated from too, but due to a quasi-constant breeze there, the sand flies were rarely a serious problem. On Puluwat, the pest is the mosquitoes. There are barely noticeable during daytime, but once the sun comes down, the are ferocious. I didn’t bring any repellent with me, because I was assured that I won’t need any. As such, I have no choce than to scratch various parts of the exposed skin carefully, so that they don’t lead to serious irritation and possibly infection. It is a major nuissance. While most mosquitoes are gone during daylight, the effect of their bites follows me throught the day. It tends to gradually come down during late afternoon, only to furiously reoccur at nightfall. I re-booked my flights a few days ago for Dec 3, but it is highly unlikely that I will be able to make it. There is no boat scheduled to come here, and to organize one will take several days, because they need to book sufficient people and cargo. Since there have already been two boats so far this month, one when I came over, and one when the utility crew came, the prospects are dim. This project required a lot of persistence and determination so far, and it may still require some more. 21 Nov 2023 (07 UTC or 5 pm) The percentage of contacts in the log is low for NA. As such, I have tried my best to check almost every forecasted propagation window with that region on 12, 15, 17, 20, and 30 m. Unfortunately, my attempts have been a hampered by the fact that I fell sick with some stomach bug. Had no appetite and only drank water or the last couple of days. I felt a little better today, but still not even close to my normal energy levels. In any case, as I already mentioned in an earlier message on the IOTA Forum that I will check last night the propagation on 30m, from time to time. I have done it, and after 30 min periods of CQing, I only managed to log one or two JA and UA stations at a time. I won’t do that again. 30 m is a right-off here at this time on the year and solar cycle - sorry. Propagation on 20 m was generally good during my stay, with nice openings into EU. However, propagation to NA on 20 m was a drag. It only opened one night, when thanks to the cooperation of (most of the) EU stations I was able to log a good chunk of NA stations. There was a substantial difference in the signal strengths between EU and NA at the time, and without the EU’s help most if not all of the NA stations would not have made it into the log. The propagation windows to NA are virtually similar on different bands, which is why I had to decide which band to operate on. I picked up 17 m because signals were clearaly stronger than on the other bands, i.e., 12 and 15 m. Propagation to EU has been best on 17 m, but also on 20 m. I received various requests and advice from different chasers. Unfortunately, I’m using just a vertical with 300-400 W. I’m sure that some of you could have done a better job, but I really tried my very best to give as many people as possible a chance at logging this new IOTA. As it usually happens, this also gave those who wanted to contact this particular V6 station on every band and mode a chance to do that. It was not how I envisioned this mission, but I am not going to challenge human nature. The boat hasn’t left Weno as scheduled, but one day later. As such, it is expected to arrive here on Thursday, Nov 23. I have specifically requested a minimum of 4 operating days from Puluwat, but will see what happens in the end. Please refrain from making multiple contacts with V62P, so that more hams can have a chance at logging the rare OC-155. All this change of schedule has a pretty negative effect on me, amplified by the fact that I didn’t feel well for the past couple of days. I realize that I have to be relaxed and wait for the boat to follow its path, but it is certainly easier said than done. My laptop died on me several days ago. As such, I'm taking the log on paper now! This is not a big issue but adds another wrinkle to everything else. Locals are very nice, and over the last couple of days they decided to leave me being the only occupant of the open hat next to the beach. One of them comes and sleeps in at night, but that's pretty much it. They also seem to have understood me turning them down on the tuba, that alcoholic beverage from fermented coconut water. 18 Nov 2023 (04 UTC or 2 pm) After four full days of operation, the log counts 4000 QSOs, fairly equally shared between SSB and CW. My operating times were very accurately chosen, most definitely not erratic, which is how they were recently described on the IOTA Forum. My eating, rest and sleep schedule was entirely based on the propagation forecast, as I tried my best to be active during all potential openings to Europe and North America on 12, 15, 17, and 20 m that didn’t overlap - in which case I had to decide on one or another band and I saw fit, after tests. Sometimes, the propagation ended up being great, other times just fair, and I also had my share of lows too. The vertical antenna is placed right on the beach and the equipment is a small, nearby hut, used by the local men to congregate each evening and drink tuba, which is fermented coconut water. The Chief allowed me to settle there, which is why I also sleep there at night, on one of the benches. The locals, however, continue to assemble there for hours, and they usually produce a fairly high level of noise. However, that is nothing compared to the systematic noise generated by pileup chasers, who don’t care what the operator does, and instead just keep transmitting their callsigns endlessly. They shold know better, but it has become part of the hobby, hi. FYI, I never operated with less than 300 W. On a positive note, the Japanese hams have been very cooperative and allowed to me to focus on Europe and/or North America when I requested so. In return, I put the time and gave them a chance on the respective bands in due course. The island has a solar power system, but the battery packs are ancient and don’t hold. As such, it can only be used during daylight, on sunny days, starting almost a couple of hours after sunrise and until at least one hour before sunset. However, after the power unexpectedly dropped on my a couple of times, I decided to run exclusively on the generator in order to avoid potential equipment failure. There is a lot more to say, but I’m going to leave it for some other time. The boat arrangement has obviously changed since I was dropped off (I'm sure that you didn't miss the sarcasm). According to the "latest", I will be picked up on Wed Nov 22 my time, and so I will likely operate until 23:30 UTC on Nov 21. Then, I will be taken to Puluwat, where I will only be allowed to remain for a maximum of 3 full. I am very upset by this significant schedule change, primarily because after I will be in Puluwat for 3 days, I will have to stay on the boat as it goes to a few other islands. This will make me return to Weno on... Dec 2! I’m trying to address a number os issues starting with how can I obtain a visa for the additional days, since my last day to be in FSM had to be Nov 26. Once this issue can be addressed, I will have to re-book the plane tickets, but before I do that I also need to confirm with the boat operators the very exact time I will arrive in Weno - because it has significantly changed in less than a week. Meanwhile, I cntinue to argue with the boat operators for more time on Puluwat, as well as to remain there while they are doing the charter for the utility company crew. However, I don’t know if there is any chance for them to accept my poposal. If they leave me on Puluwat, they will have to return there from some considerable distance away in order to pick me up before finaly returning to Weno. Instead, they want a compromise, which requires the utility corporation team to stay with me on Puluwat for three days, and then me to join them as they continue their progress to Weno, never needing to return before arriving there. Since I will be operating from Satawal for a total of 8 days, I hope that everyone interested in OC-299, as well as those who took advantage of this operation to collect new bands by contacting V62S, will have been able to do it. Consequently, I would very much like to ask all chasers who already have OC-155 confirmed to consider refraining from contacting V62P in order to give those who still need it a chance at logging it. Additionally, I would also like to ask those who do need OC-155 to refrain from making multiple contacts. Note that I am not going to reinforce this in any way. My experience with V62S indicates that I must change bands and modes in order to give the most of you a chance at contacting OC-155. This is why I’m leaving this entirely at the chasers' discretion. I will try all possible openings, hopefully one will work for you. Thank you, in advance, for your kind understanding and consideration. 9 Nov 2023 (02 UTC or 12 pm) Regretfully, we didn’t leave last evening as originally scheduled. Instead, the captain decided to postpone the departure for one day in order to give time to a low pressure front moving slowing towards the western islands of Chuuk, exactly in the direction we will be heading, to advance. It has been raining here for two full days, and he was concerned that the ocean will be a bit too too stormy. After sailing to Bouvet, it was difficult to accept his verdict, but… it’s a different boat, different crew, different conditions all together, and ultimately he is in command. There are passengers and cargo that need to be dropped at 5 islands before he will head straight to Satawal. Arrival at each island must be done during daytime, in order to be able to download there everything needed. This is why the voyage will take quite a while. He told me that, to be on the safe side, I should count on arriving to Satawal on Nov 14. I told him that this is far too late for me and asked him to do some “miracle” to reach that island sooner. He promised that he will try his best to arrive by Nov 13, but your guess is just as good as mine. The plan is to stay on Satawal for 6 full days. I will overnight at the house of the Chief’s son, whom the captain told me that he knows very well. Then, 4 full days on Puluwat. Fingers crossed! I mentioned in an earlier post the two large rooms with hardwood floors that passengers will sleep on. Well, I slept last night on the boat, but I got a bunk! That not only offers more privacy, but I manage to make it pretty confortable. The crew gave me a carpet made of woven palm leaves, which I folded in three. On top of it I put a bad sheet, folded in four, which I borrowed from the hotel along with a pillow. Finally, on top of that I put a nice blanket, folded in two, borrowed from Mark. This is a 90 ft power boat and the noise of the diesel engines, even running idle, is pretty loud, but I was able to sleep. The bunk is in a passing through cabin, which does have an air conditioning unit. The unit functions, but there is no freon in it, which is why it actually operates as a fan, hi. 7 Nov 2023 (23 UTC or 8 Nov 9 am) North Star is scheduled to depart at 5 pm. I visited it yesterday and beside captain Mariano there will be 7 crew members. The boat is about 30-40 m long, I will find out more about its specs from the captain once we leave. It is very basic for passengers, in that it has two fully covered large areas in the back, one at the deck level and one below. This is where the passengers will sleep, on hardwood floors, but have some chairs in front where they can sit down during the voyage. Passengers are supposed to bring something to sleep on, like a mat (locals used carpets made of palm-leaves), as well as a pillow and a blanket. Worth noting, both areas have air conditioning, but also some small windows which can be open if needed. It is very warm here and humid, but it will be cool on the ocean, particularly consider that the air conditioning will be running. There is also an open area Mark said that he will lend me a pillow and a blanket, but we still need to find some sort of a mat. I looked for one yesterday, in the stores, but without success. I’ll try again today. think that with something like a palm leaf carpet I’ll pretty much laying on hardwood floors, not very good. Passengers are supposed to bring their own meals, prepared at home, but I will eat with the captain and his crew, which will be doing some cooking. The boat cannot dock at any island, since there are no entries large enough for it. Instead, the locals need to come to the boat with motor canoes and carry everything to the shore. I am not allowed to bring gas canisters on board. The gas will be transported in a large 200 L metal drum, and I’ll take 100 L with me. When we arrive at my destination, the locals will bring empty drums and siphon the gas in them with a pump. I was told that it is routine for them, so… will see how it goes. It rained yesterday from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, 12 hours non-stop. It was mostly pouring, and so I hadn’t been able to transport anything to the boat yet, since I didn’t want everything to get soaked and stored on the boat like that. I purchased some heavy duty plastic bags to protect each suitcase and each box I have for the locals. Once I depart Weno, I was clearly told that I won’t have internet anywhere, on any island. The only communication between Weno and the islands is via SAT phone at the admin office. I am not fully convinced that this is correct, but I have been warned, and so I am prepared for it. While on the boat, the captain has HF communication with Weno and SAT phone as well, for emergency. 3 Nov 2023 (03 UTC or 1 pm) NFC guys worked tirelessly in order to be able to accommodate this project. Today is a national holiday, as the people here celebrate the Independence Day of Micronesia. However, their staff in Weno is still in the office for another hour or two as they are taking bookings for a trip to the western islands, required only to assist me. I am very grateful for their understanding and consideration. Here is what has been discussed and how my scheduled looks: 8 Nov - Depart Weno on North Star, direction western islands of Chuuk. The boat will carry passengers and cargo. 9-10 or 11 Nov - North Star will stop at as many islands in that group as needed, depending on the final list of passengers and cargo. All these islands belong to OC-155. At each island, passengers and cargo must be transported to the atoll by motor canoe, since there is no harbor to dock to. Once all drop offs are done, the boat will head to Satawal. This portion will a charter for me only, as they have no other passenger or cargo for that destination. 11 or 12 Nov - Arrival in Satawal. I will disembark and the boat will return to Weno. 16-17 Nov - The boat will travel again from Weno to the western islands with a crew belonging to the state utility company, who has work to do on three of those islands. 19 or 20 Nov - The boat will pick me up from Satawal and take me to Puluwat. 24 Nov - Depart Puluwat. 25 Nov - Arrive in Weno and fly out the next day. Mark, who is the Assistant Manager here in Weno, will meet with the Chuuk utility company on Monday morning, in order to discuss with them the possibility of better accommodating their project and mine. Their field team left yesterday for the Mortlok islands, with another boat, where they arrived today. Once they finish their work. they will be return to Weno, and after a short break, will head out with North Star to the western islands. It appears that in order to accommodate the second part of my project, the utility company crew must hang in there on the western islands for a few extra days. The plan is that following Mark's discussion with the head of their project on Monday, he will bring me into the picture. If they agree to help me out, I am prepared to compensate their crew for their extra time. Additionally, I will ask them to look into possibly leaving a bit earlier for the western islands. 2 Nov 2023 (12 UTC or 10:30 pm) The plan was for Pat and her group to go through all calculations and provide me with the travel options this evening at 7:30 pm. However, I was told that they were still working on their transporation schedule, aiming to help me as much as possible – working to find people interested to travel to at least one of these islands. Meanwhile, I learned that they announced today that are organizing transportation to three of the western Chuuk islands which are part of the IOTA group OC-155. I’m only guessing that their plan may be to use this opportunity in order to take me to Satawal after their drop off the rest of the passengers. I will definitely be the only passenger going to Weno. However, this is to be confirmed tomorrow. I was also given the green light to purchase different supplies that I’ll need to take with me on the islands. Despite the fact that I don’t have yet a firm trip schedule, I was encouraged by this and spent a few hours shopping around. I also got oil for the generator and will put it tomorrow. 1 Nov 2023 (13 UTC or 11 pm) NFC scheduled a working dinner with me at 6:30 pm. Pat, Cora, captain Mariano, and Mark – their manager here in Chuuk, were all present. We had a very nice discussion, in which I summarized the scope of my project, indicating the logistical aspects that I need them to provide me with. Pat indicated that they want to honour this project, which was initiated with her predecessor (Peter Sitan), and which was confirmed by late captain Callistus. The cost of transportation for a complete charter is $40k. We worked the past months on the premise that they will be able to do it for $20k. However, in order for this to happen, there would have to be a combination of charter service with regular service, on different legs of the voyage. The regular service can obviously be done with there is a sufficient group of people interest to travel to the islands. It is like a puzzle in which several pieces must come together nicely. One such groups that hoped that will come on board to the western Chuuk islands is most comprised of people from the public utility company, working to provide solar power on these islands. Unfortunately, they cannot take the trip prior to November 15, and plan to stay on various islands up to 12 days, which creates a time problem for me. This being said, they will work on this tomorrow, and will provide me with the available options. The good news is that captain Mariano is originally from Satawal, and so he can contact the Chief in advance and secure his permission for me to go there. We also discussed the fact that the Deputy Mayor of Puluwat, Hernit Ikea, has been receptive to my request and offered to talk to their Chief and find someone to host me while on their islands. While the details are still to be worked out, everyone is on the same page in that my destinations are Puluwat (OC-155) and Satawal (OC-299). 31 Oct 2023 (12 UTC or 10 pm) The municipality boat is busy over the next couple of weeks providing health / hospital services for all the communities in the large Chuuk lagoon. After this, it will leave on a contract to Mortlok islands, so it won't be able to assist me in any way during a convenient timeframe. Meanwhile, the boat that I am supposed to travel on, which is named North Star, has finally returned to Weno today. It transported the remains of captain Callistus to his native island, in the state of Yap. It didn’t make any stop on the way. The company operating this boat is NFC. Pat - their CEO, and Cora - their accountant, arrived this evening from Pohnpei in order to carry out some interviews for job positions, as well as other business matters. They will be very busy tomorrow, but I hope that they will be able to make time to meet with me and discuss the existing options. The President of FSM - originally from Chuuk, his wife, and other dignitaries arrived from Pohnpei with the same plane with which Pat and Cora came. They had dinner at the restaurant of the hotel I am lodged in, with numerous guests. Lots of security measures at the hotel. 30 Oct 2023 (13 UTC or 11 pm) This afternoon we met with the deputy mayor of Puluwat, with whom I had a very nice chat, explaining the scope of my project. He was very receptive, and I invited him at the hotel, so that I can show him some photos from previous operations, as well as more information about our program. He accepted and we spent a good couple of hours talking about amateur radio and IOTA. My contact joined us too, after which I invited them for dinner. He will contact tomorrow morning the people on the island in order to decide where exactly they are going to host me. The deputy mayor of Puluwat also indicated to me that he is currently stuck in Weno and is interested to return to Puluwat as soon as possible. Knowing that I also want to go to Satawal, he mentioned that he would be very interested in visiting Satawal if at all possible, since he has never been there before. Interestingly, there are some people from Satawal right now in Puluwat, and one way or another I will receive help in contacting the local community of Satawal. The only aspect that remains to be finalized is the boat transportation. I am working with my contact on two options. The first option is the boat I originally retained. Its administrators intended to provide me with a combined regular and chartered services, in order to stay within the budget agreed upon. I was informed though earlier this afternoon that it seems that the group who was supposed to use it toward the regular fee portion, may not be able to commit within an acceptable time frame for me. Tomorrow there will be a discussion with them, as well as with the boat administrators, and we'll see what can be offered. If I have to charter the boat for my entire project, the cost will be twice as large as I have discussed with them. Therefore, I am working on a contingency plan, investigating the possibility of using a pretty similar but much older boat, owned by the municipality of Chuuk. It will be a full charter, but at a price closer to what I have agreed upon with the group mentioned earlier. In this option, the boat will wait for me on both Puluwat and Satawal. I'll need to find out if they can provide such a service timely, given that they are always busy, and how much will it cost. 30 Oct 2023 (02 UTC or 12 pm) My contact and I decided that he will approach the local leaders this afternoon all by himself, and if the discussion is fruitful than he will come to pick me up so that I can meet them subsequently. However, if his discussion with them is not fruitful, then I will have to change my destination from Pulap to Puluwat, where my contact knows people in the community. My operation will be the third one from OC-155. The first activity was from Puluwat by DF6SL/KC6 in Feb 1979, and the second from Pulap by V6O (Lanny, W5BOS), in Oct 2004. Regarding Satawal, it seems that there won't be a problem for the locals to receive me, but I must negotiate tomorrow with the boat operators the length of my stay. I told them numerous times that I need to be there for a minimum of 5 days, and that I can stay longer if convenient for them, up to 10-12 days. Despite of what we have already agreed upon prior to me coming down here, it is apparent that they want to wait for me there rather than come back to pick me up at a later date. This is why we need to have another, hopefully "final" negotiation tomorrow... I picked up a 2kW generator, a 30m long power extension cord, and a power bar. The boat doesn't allow me to transport the gas in plastic canisters. Instead, it will provide me with a large metal barrel that will hold the quantity I need. Regarding the intended gifts for the locals, I learned that medical supplies are provided free by the state government to local communities, but are extremely expensive when purchased directly. Consequently, I was advised to focus on purchasing school supplies instead, since this will be more beneficial for the locals given what I can get for the money spent. 28 Oct 2023 (22:30 UTC or 29 Oct 08:30 am) All my flights went according to schedule. On my way, I was Dave's (AH6HY) guest in Honolulu for the night of Oct 26. We spent a very nice evening together, chatting about amateur radio and IOTA, and coming to know each other better. I am very grateful to him for all his support. I arrived in Weno yesterday afternoon just before 4 pm, and all my luggage made it as well. My contact picked me up at the airport and we went to purchase some supplies for my anticipated voyage. Following this, we met with some of the local leaders who know the Chief of Pulap and were interested to find out more about my project and the benefits for the local community there. It is 8:30 am now when I'm posting this message from the hotel where I'll stay at least one more night. I am scheduled to meet again with the local leaders on Monday morning. Their support is absolutely necessary, and I hope to get it. The boat that is supposed to take me to Pulap will arrive in Weno tonight. It will have to be refueled Monday, and I'm not convinced that it will sail out the very same day. Meanwhile, there shouldn't be any problem to purchase on Monday everything else I need and want to take with me for the voyage. However, we'll have to work hard getting the generator. My contact told me that since captain Callistus was from Satawal, he knew very well their Chief and they had a close relationship. Consequently, he didn't inform the Chief of my project in advance, because he thought that it was unnecessary. Now that the captain is out of the picture, my contact suggested to me that I should just show up. I don't think that this is a good idea, and so I'm working to obtain the Chief's permission prior to arriving on the island. 19 Oct 2023 The group I retained for boat transportation confirmed this early morning that they will be able to provide me with their services as planned. Thus, I will depart to Micronesia on October 26 as originally scheduled. 16 Oct 2023 (updated) This morning at 02 am (06 UTC), I received the shockingly sad news that captain Callistus, who was in charge of sailing the boat to Pulap and Satawal, has just passed away. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues. He was in mid 50s, had a very good understanding of this project and obtained the support of the local Chiefs, whom he knew personally. Captain Callistus was truly happy to be part of this project and will be sorely missed. I am in close communication with his employers, who are distraught by his sudden passing. They are already working toward finding a replacement and asked me to be patient until they have a solution. I may have to change the timeframe of my plane ticket, but I will wait for more feedback from my contacts in Micronesia. 09 Oct 2023 I am working with my local contacts to have everything ready for the voyage so that I can depart to Pulap as soon as possible after my arrival to Weno. Depending on how things unfold, as well as weather conditions, I expect to head out sometimes between Oct 29 and 31. The Icom IC-7000 transceivers accompanied me in many radio expeditions. They have been very robust and performed admirably in either very cold or hot and humid environments, while enduring very well rough transportation conditions. However, in the unlikely event that one of the transceivers will get damaged during the operation from Pulap, I may decide to keep the second transceiver for Satawal. 26 Sep 2023 I have now purchased the plane tickets and the updated time schedule is as follows: Oct 26: drive to Syracuse, NY, and fly from there at 08:10 am (12:10 UTC) to Denver and from there to Honolulu, where I'll arrive at 03:16 pm (Oct 27, 01:10 UTC); overnight at Dave's (AH6HY); Oct 27: depart Honolulu at 07:10 am (17:10 UTC); the plane will stop for refueling in Majuro (V7), Kwajalein (V7), Kosrae (V6), and Pohnpei (V6); Oct 28: arrive in Truk at 03:45 pm (05:45 UTC); transfer to Weno by boat; Oct 28-30: carry out local purchases (generator, oil, fuel, extension power cable, food supplies, as well as medical and school supplies as gifts for the local communities) and get ready for the voyage at sea; Oct 31: travel to Pulap and arrive the next day; Nov 1 to 7: radio operation from Pulap; Nov 8: travel to Satawal and arrive the next day; Nov 9 to 16: radio operation from Satawal; Nov 17 and 18: return to Weno and arrive on Nov 19; Please note that dates for travel at sea and island operations may change due to weather conditions and/or unforeseen aspects. Please bookmark this page and check it for updates closer to the respective time. I am allowed to travel to FSM without a visa for a stay of up to 30 days. Consequently, the current plane ticket has my departure from Truk scheduled on Nov 26 at 12:10 pm (02:10 UTC). This allows me to incorporate contingencies associated with the voyage at sea. However, if I will be able to return to Weno in time, I will attempt to change my ticket for an earlier flight. 21 Sep 2023 I just finished a very informative, almost two-hour Zoom meeting with the boat captain and my contacts down in FSM. We reviewed every step of the logistical plan, and the captain confirmed the transportation schedule I already announced, as well as a number of other logistical details. Meanwhile, he indicated that relatively small delays may occur, due to weather conditions and/or other unforeseen reasons that may arise. However, this is not going to shorten my stay on each atoll. If anything, my stays will be longer than originally planned. 14 Sep 2023 I am very pleased to report that several organizations have already responded positively to my grant applications by accepting to support this complex and madly expensive project. I wish to assure them, as well as all individual donors mentioned on this page of my sincere, heartfelt gratitude for their generous assistance. Meanwhile, I would like to encourage more of the IOTA chasers and DXers to consider supporting this project. I do need your assistance, so please join in the adventure! 28 Aug 2023 My contact in FSM indicated to me last night that my stay on each atoll may be longer than intended. I am sure that more chasers will appreciate that. Meanwhile, I submitted DXpedition grant applications to various foundations, associations and clubs, in hope that some of them will take them into consideration. Fingers crossed! 22 Aug 2023 The Department of Transportation, Communications, and Infrastructure of FSM issued today the licenses AT/28/23 for V62P and AT/29/23 for V62S, which I will use for this project. V62P is intended for radio activity from Pulap (Chuuk), OC-155. This rare IOTA reference was last operated from 19 years ago by Lanny, W5BOS, who was active as V6O. V62S is intended for radio activity from Satawal (Yap), OC-299 New. I will travel from Canada to Weno (Chuuk) via Guam, from where I will reach Pulap (Chuuk) by chartered boat and operate from this atoll for 5-7 days. Then, I will be picked up by chartered boat and transported to Satawal (Yap), from where I will operate for 5-7 days as well. After the end of this activity, I will return to Weno by chartered boat and fly from there back to Canada via Guam. This is a very expensive project ($26-28K), and I am looking for all possible financial support from the community. This will be a full-time operation, as the sole scope of my voyage is to activate these rare IOTA groups. 11 Jul 2023 I arranged in early 2020 to travel to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in order to operate from the IOTA references OC-155 (Chuuk) and OC-299 (Yap). Due to the covid pandemic, FSM enacted stringent travel conditions, which were not relaxed for more than a year. In the meantime, the person I retained to provide me with boat transportation to one of the atolls belonging to each of the above references passed away due to a heart attack. His replacement continued to offer me the charter I needed, but at $40K, twice the price agreed upon just a little more than one year earlier. As a result, our communication stalled. Following my return from Fiji (OC-189), I re-engaged with my contact in FSM regarding the OC-155/299 project. Based on the results of our communication, I am happy to announce that we are now working to finalize the logistics of a trip to FSM coming October/November. Its detailed schedule will be announced on this website, in due course. Note that the original voyage included boat transportation from Chuuk to Yap and back, while the current plan is for separate boat transportation within Chuuk and Yap, respectively, and flying between the two FSM state capitals via Guam. THE PROJECT
Map of the Federative States of Micronesia (FSM).
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SPONSORS & DONORS
Thank you for your trust and support!
Stations below offered support prior to my departure in this IOTA expedition ["Donors & Support" section lists everyone who provided support.] 5B4AHJ - Alan
9A2AA - Tom AB5EU - Trevor AC0A - Bill AD1C - Jim AD4K - Steve AF2F - Vlad CT4NH - Luis DL1AMQ - Tom DL1BKI - Brigitte DL1BKK - Werner DL4BBH- Friedrich DL4MN - Mario DL6JGN - Hans DL6KVA - Axel DS4DRE - Kang DS5ACV - Jong EA3JL - Vic E72U - Vedo EI7CC - Peter EU7A - Andy F4WBN - Christian G3UHU - Dave G4BWP - Fred G4IRN - John G4PVM - Paul G4VMX - Tony HA1RW - Tamas HA5JP - Attila HB9BQB - Guido HB9DKZ - Hans HL4CBX - Yoon HS0ZIV - Helmut I2YDX - Joe IN3ASW - Gianni IZ5JNO - Gian JA1BPA - Icko JA1SKE - Isao JA4GXS - Ken JA6WJL - Yasu JA7BWT - Aki JA8COE - Taka JA9IFF - Jim JE3GUG - Eichi JE7JIS - Hiro JF2UPM - Kei JF4VZT - Yuu JF7RJM - Abico JG8IBY - Aki JH1OAI - Aki JH2RMU - Aki JH2XQY - Taka JH7CFX - Tohru JI3DST - Take JI3MJK - Toshi JK1KSB - Oku JL1QDO - Kit JN3SAC - Taka JO1CRA - Hide JP7EIP - Ned K0DEQ - Bill K1HT - Dave K1NU - Len K1OA - Scott K1ZN - Jeff K4KKL - Mike K4PI - Mike K4UFB - Earl K6FW - Frank K8GI - Rick K8NA - Ted K9RR - Bill KB7HDX - Mark KD1CT - Bob KF7ZN - Ron KM4VI - Tom LA8DW - Karl N2OO - Bob N3NT - Craig N4II - Ed N4WW - Doc N6NO - Merv N6PF - Eli N6VR - Ray N7BT - Don N7RO - Dick N8OC - David N9BX - Bruce N9EAJ - John NN7A - Art OE2VEL - Wolfgang OE3EVA - Ernst OE3GCU - Günther OE3KKA - Karl OE3RPB - Reinhard OE3SGA - Gus OE3WWB - Willy OE6IMD - Michael OH2BCK - Ulf OH2BF - Erkki OH2FT - Joni OM3JW - Steve ON4IZ - Doc OZ1HPS - Lars OZ1LWT - Jens-Ole OZ4O - Ole PA3C - Aart PE1NCP - Martin PY7ZZ - Fred RU3SD - Vasily RZ3EC - Eugene S57L - Janko S58N - Mike SM3DMP - Tom SM3EVR - Tord SM3NXS - Sten SM5LNE - Jan SM6CMU - Ingemar SM6CVX - Hans SP5APW - Jacek V6J Team VA3DXA - Peter VA7DXX - Dave VA7QD - Jeanne VA7RN - Les VA7VF - Margaret VE3JV - Wayne VE3VHB - Mike VE6WQ - Joel VE7DP - Frank VE7JH - Gabor VE7QCR - Pat VE7VR - Dave VK3QI - Peter VK5GR - Grant VK5MAV - Andy VK8NSB - Stuie W1JR - Joe W1NG - Ken W4DKS - Dan W4FOA - Tony W4UM - Mike W5BOS - Lanny W5PF - Paul W7BEM - Chip W8JRK - Joe W9ILY - John WB2YQH - Bob WC2K - Rick WC6DX - Will WD8PKF - Alan WL7CG - Alan WT4DX - Tem ZS1FJ - Barry |
