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I have been a ham since 1962. Over these many years I have found this hobby to offer many opportunities for enjoyment and personal development. Most recently, I discovered DXpeditions. My first trip was to St. Pierre in '93 with a local group to operate FP/N8CC in the IARU event and DX as FP/AA8U outside the contest. This experience was sufficiently thrilling to ensure future trips to not only work DX, but to be DX!
This summer, after many weeks of detail planning the four of us headed off
to Rarotonga for an eleven day DXpedition, a dream come true for me. This
trip to Rarotonga, IOTA OC-13, started on July 10th and ended July 21st this
summer. Stan K8MJZ, Marilyn AG8W (Stan's XYL), Diana KA8KZJ (my XYL), Bruce
AA8U (that's me) formed the team that went to the South Cooks. We were
licensed as ZK1MJZ, ZK1AAG, and ZK1AAU. (An
enlarged version of this photo is available).
Rarotonga is a gorgeous volcanic island almost straight south of Hawaii, at about 21 deg. South and 159 deg. West. The island is rather small, only about 7 km across at its widest point. It only takes about 40 minutes to drive around the place at the posted speed limit, 40km/hr.
The Rarotongan people are among the most friendly I have ever met in my travels around the world. They made us feel welcome wherever we went on Raro. We were at times the center of attention as we erected antennas at the resort and operated the radios. Staff and other visitiors alike took keen interest in our activities. It was fun to demonstrate amateur radio to the many interested residents.
Rarotonga has only one AM radio station, interesting programming, and no TV but for a few sets with attached VCRs to watch movies. This made operating TVI free which was a very welcomed situation. We found we did not miss television at all during our eleven days on Raro.
Once we discovered it is nearly impossible to shoot a fishing line over the tops of 70' plus cocoa nut palms with a wrist rocket sling, we employed one of the locals to climb two of the largest trees and attach pulleys for us to haul up our 30-40-80-160M inverted-L antenna. We wasted most of the first day and next trip will seek out the tree climber first thing! He used the traditional method of wrapping sappling bark about his feet and was very proficient at climbing these tall trees. As a bonus, he dropped some cocoa nuts and treated us to some very excellent cocoa nut juice.
The climate on Rarotonga is as you might have guessed, tropical. I can only describe it by having you imagine the most comfortable t-shirt and cut-off jeans weather that you can. That is what it was like throughout our entire stay day and night. The temperature never got below 74 or above 78 degrees. It is winter on Rarotonga in July, and this helped to keep the QRN relatively low on 80 and 160M.
This was a great trip for radio even in these sun spot deprived times. Of course if you frequent the low bands, this is the peak of the "160M sun spot cycle".
Here is a summary of our logs from S. Cook.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IARU HF Championship -- 1996
Call: ZK1AAU Country: Rarotonga, South Cook Is.
Category: Multi Single
BAND QSO QSO-PTS PTS/Q ZONES HQ STNS
160 1 5 5.00 1 0
80 43 195 4.53 13 0
40 149 701 4.70 19 2
20 89 401 4.51 18 1
15 6 30 5.00 3 0
10 1 5 5.00 1 0
---------------------------------------------------
Totals 289 1337 4.63 55 3
Score: 77,546 points
Operator List: ZK1AAU (AA8U), ZK1MJZ (K8MJZ)
================================================================================
DXpedition -- 1996
Call: ZK1MJZ Country: Rarotonga, South Cook Is.
Category: Single Operator
BAND MODE QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
80 CW 1 1 1
40 CW 71 12 13
40 SSB 1 1 1
30 CW 8 6 4
20 CW 619 17 20
20 SSB 12 6 6
17 SSB 8 1 1
---------------------------------
Total CW 699 36 38
Total SSB 21 8 8
Total 720 44 46 = 187,920
============================================================================
DXpedition -- 1996
Call: ZK1AAU Country: Rarotonga, South Cook Is.
Category: Single Operator
BAND MODE QSO ZONES COUNTRIES
160 CW 89 10 9
160 SSB 30 4 4
80 CW 76 9 9
80 SSB 28 4 5
40 CW 363 19 22
40 SSB 1 1 1
30 CW 206 9 8
20 CW 437 21 42
20 SSB 106 16 20
17 CW 12 2 2
17 SSB 19 6 5
---------------------------------
Total CW 1183 70 92
Total SSB 184 31 35
Total 1367 101 127 = 809,172
==============================================================================
Operating from this remote location was a real thrill despite the lack of
propagation most days. Below is part of a recent ARRL Bulletin regarding the
propagation info for a most of the time we were there. Last week's solar flares never caused a big geomagnetic effect. The A index only went up to 10 on July 12. The biggest upset recently was early on July 17 when the K index went to 4 and the A index was 11. This is hardly a disturbance, and is quite common during more active portions of the solar cycle.Sunspot Numbers for July 11 through 17 were 32, 19, 11, 0, 0, 0 and 0, with a mean of 8.9. 10.7 cm flux was 77, 73.7, 70.2, 67.8, 67, 66.9, and 66.8, with a mean of 69.9.
The high A index on the 17th made 80 and 160 contacts outside Oceania more
difficult than usual. It might not have been considered much of a
disturbance by the author of the Bulletin, but on Raro it sure seemed
significant. The last couple nights of operating the low bands on ZK1 were
the best of the whole stay. The band got quiet and I worked one European on
CW, and a few North American stations on 160M SSB. The IARU contest was not
blessed by very good conditions. We expected somewhat better propagation
then we found.
Finding a frequency to operate 80 and 160 was especially difficult. There are many man made noise sources on both bands down under. I had planned on operating on 1830-35, but there was not a very quiet rx freq in that area. I ended up finding a relatively clear spot on 1837, just below the VK/ZL SSB rag chew frequency at 1840. Another spot around 1825-27 was quiet some of the time at night. I used this working split, listening for JA's at 1909 +/-. On 80M, 3505 or lower was usually tolerable. Also, 3825 and 3831 if not already busy worked well as I recall. It was easy to work the VK/ZL stations on all the low bands. I had several enjoyable rag chews with the fellows down under. They gave me some good advice on where to operate and where not to as well.
Before sunrise 40M was quite usable to work eastern Europe and Japan on the better days when the band was quiet. We didn't find any activity on 10, 12, or 15M outside of the IARU contest. I think these bands were open a times, but no one was listening when we called or they were open to areas with no active amateur population.
By mid afternoon 20M was usually hopping to North America. As the band started to open we operated CW and moved to SSB as the conditions improved. Europeans find the path to ZK1 difficult on most bands. Whenever we heard them calling we sought to work them. We did log quite a few, but not as many as we had hoped for.
During the IARU contest, North Americans were working Europe and we were hearing them at S9 plus at times. We could not get their attention. Some had beams pointed our way and we did get through.
During the daylight hours, especially when 20M was peaking, Stan ZK1MJZ was the primary operator. It was fun watching Stan masterfully manage the multitude. The SSB openings seemed to give him the most pleasure, even though he is a skilled CW operator.
We worked 22 of the WRTC stations, most on both modes. One of these W6X, moved me from 20, to 15, and then to 10M for a tri-band sweep of that station on cw. That was fun. More should have asked. That savvy operator deserved the extra mults. I suspect 15 was more usable than we thought, but there just was no activity on that we could hear.
I operated mostly at night, but once in a while I got on in the daylight hours. I had a mini run on 17M one day. We only had one day with propagation sufficient to "open" 17M. We had planned on working a lot more stations on the WARC bands where ZK1 is almost rare DX. 20M was the "high rate" and best "dx" band most days. 40M was a close second.
30M, one of my favorite "nose-bleed" bands, was usually open with strong steady signals to the states about the time the xyl's dragged me away from the radio kicking and screaming. Toward the end of our stay I stood my ground, missed dinner in favor of "take-away" food (take-out), and hung onto the 30M opening as long as possible, except for the scheduled trips to 160M in an attempt to work Europe. Sad to say, we only worked one lucky European on 160M, but it wasn't for lack of trying very hard. I heard a very faint G3 calling but just could not get a call sign even with the DSP 59+ assisting. Maybe if we would have had room for the Beverage antennas we came equipped to install this would have made the difference.
I found operating on 160M from Raro very challenging. I suggest, when calling a DXpedition station on CW, don't send your call real slow. Try to mimic the speed of the DX station. If he sends slow occasionally, take the hint, he probably wants you to send slow as well or is deliberately giving the slow operators a chance to work him. If he comes back at a blazing speed, it should be an indication that he needs you to send faster to get more letters between fades or static crashes.
When first calling, repeat your full call two or three times. Sending the call sign of the DX station only makes it more difficult to pick out your call and wastes lots of time. Grayline propagation dosen't give you a lot of time to waste either. The DX station knows his call, it is yours that he needs. When the QSB and QRN works against you, the DX station is lucky to get a prefix or suffix. If you hear K3?, take the hint and send your suffix only. If you don't get through in a couple of tries, try sending a bit faster in hopes that at least your prefix or suffix will be heard between static crashes. If the QSB is slow, you might get lucky and your full call will be heard, or you may not be heard at all. Persistance and good timing usually help.
Once a DX station picks out a partial call, please stand by! Often, I heard two or more equally strong stations at almost exactly the same tone. It was impossible to seperate them. The one that either dropped in his call later or QSY'd a bit was usually in the clear. Shifting your TX rit to one side or the other at times can make your signal stand out. I found myself picking up the lower tones most often in the pileups. I don't claim to be an expert at operating 160M, and I am not the best operator on cw either. These are just some observations from the other side of the pile-up. I hope you find them helpful.
Our antenna farm consisted of a Cushcraft R-7000+ 80-10 vertical on an 8' mast and a home brew trapped inverted-L for 30-40-80-160M. The inverted L was suspended between two 70'+ cocoa nut palms. The feed point and 11 radials were elevated about 8-10' off the ground with half of the radials extending out and sloping up to about 25' at the ends. The other radials were strung straight horizontal. The radiator was erected straight vertical to the 80M cw trap and was a very good quarter wave ground plane antenna. On 160, the part beyond the 80M trap extended out horizontally to an insulator about 70' above ground. It worked very well on all of the bands it was meant to. (An enlarged version of this photo is available.)
Our sponsors for this DXpedition were very generous in their support for our
efforts. I want to make sure they are recognized and thanked for this publicly:
AA8GL: What a guy! He loaned us his FT-900AT and even ordered the Collins
SSB and 500 Hz. CW filters so I could install them before we left. The radio
performed like a real contest radio in spite of its small size. The buttons
at times were a bit difficult to manipulate as they are small and close
together. This usually wasn't a problem, but when fatigue started to set in
about sun-up, the buttons seemed to get smaller.
Cushcraft: This company really did us proud. They sent us an A3S-DX AND an R-7000+ 80-10M vertical. The R-7000+ is their newest. It is an easy to transport and assemble, attractive, and is an effective long haul dx antenna. I think this DXpedition got one of the first R-7000+ to come off the production line. Had I not neglected to pack three of the A3S-DX traps, the tri band beam would have certainly helped our score and dx qso count. We had to rely on the R-7000+ vertical and found it to be a great antenna for this beach front location. We mounted it on a Force12 mast kit, only 8' high in the court yard of the resort.
Kenwood: These folks loaned us a new PS-40 power supply which powered all of our 12 VDC equipment on the 240 VAC 50 HZ Raro power system. The supply did just what it was supposed to do, supply clean power without a whimper all day and night every day we were there. Any of you out there concerned about switching power supply noise can forget about it. This supply is super clean! Kenwood also supplied a nifty carry case which they should sell a lot of as it is ideal for traveling with radio and PS enclosed. The side pocket makes a great place to stow travel documents. I carried this through several large airport terminals and it was quite comfortable as they designed the carry strap to actually be human friendly.
MFJ: We had for our use on this trip the MFJ-259 analyzer, the new and improved model. This is without a doubt the best piece of test equipment a ham can own besides a digital multi-meter. They also sent us a complete 20M cw QRP station, the one pictured in their recent ad's. We made about 25 QRP/QRP long haul dx qso's on 20M while on Raro! The G5-RV antenna they provided was available in case the other antennas were not possible to put up and was not needed this time. It looks like a really fine antenna though. The 300W do-it-all antenna tunner/wattmeter is a slick piece of work and performs well under contest conditions. It has a lot of nice features.
Force12: These folks make some light weight 2" x 4' mast pipes. We purchased eleven sections of these, packed them inside an 8" dia pvc sewer pipe and used the mast sections to hold traps and tubing and ground rods and lots of other stuff for compact shipping. The mast pipes are swedged on one end but not drilled. I took care of that, and used 1/4" x 2 1/2" bolts to put the sections together.
You lucky few that worked us and sent the requested SASE will receive one of these for sure. Those that sent the requests via the Bureau will have to be patient, as usual. Some of the misguided souls, or those financially strapped like I was once or twice, that just sent a plain card with no envelope or stamp, well thanks to your fellow DX'ers that continue to send green stamps AND SASE's, will make it more likely for you to receive cards too, but not in envelopes. Sorry folks, but the postage I would have to pay to respond to the thousands of cards I get from contesting each year would be too much for me. SASE's please, if you really want it. I don't collect the cards or send in for the awards because I don't QSL 100%, except the SASE's and the Bureau cards.
My XYL Diana put up with spending most of her time in this tropical paradise
staring at the back of my headphone covered balding head. She hardly ever
mentioned the fact that something else might be more fun for her. Stan and
his XYL occupied the suite on the second floor above us. The radio equipment
was all set up in our room as it was closest to the driven earth grounds in
the flower garden adjacent to the operating table. She didn't get much more
rest than I did. The occasional excursion to SSB startled her, often in the
middle of the night. This happened especially when I started working SSB on
160 to the states. That got me a bit excited. Stan and his xyl on the other
hand got plenty of rest like normal people. Oh well, someone has to work the
day shift. He did a super job of it and deserved the good nights sleep.
I have made a promise to return to the Cooks and spend some non-radio days with the XYL doing all the things she missed out on this time. A three week trip is planned for November of '97 and will include a week of operating from the N. Cooks on the island of Manihiki. We will operate from either N. or S Cooks, maybe both in the CQWW DX CW contest. RTTY equipment will be on the next trip in response to the many requests for this mode.
I have been overwhelmed by the email response I came home to. So many hams that worked us or tried to work us have sent me email expressing their thanks and recognizing our efforts. It sure is nice to know your efforts on behalf of fellow dx'ers and contesters are appreciated.
Yes folks, it is true, 160M is truly a gentlemans band, still. I was amazed at how patient the operators on this band were while I at times struggled for 10 to 15 minutes to dig out a weak one. I am sure some stood by without a peep and missed working us just to keep the frequency clear for me to work their fellow top banders. You know who you are and I thank each and every one of you for your gentlemanly conduct and your patience with my lack of operating skills. For this I will return to both North and South Cooks soon and give you all another chance on 160M.
ZK1AAU QSL to AA8U
Bruce Lallathin
9221 Ford Rd.
Rives Junction, Mi.
49277
GRID EN72RI
email: aa8u@voyager.net
ZK1MJZ QSL to K8MJZ
Stan Barczak
11220 Churchill Rd.
Rives Junction, Mi
49277
GRID EN72RI
email: stanbar@voyager.net
ZK1AAG QSL to K8MJZ
(see above)
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