This page will be updated as and when I receive news from Tim along
with pictures and logs. Check back daily for news from paradise island
as I get it!
73's De Anthony (ANT) MW0JZE www.mw0jze.co.uk
The calendar below runs from the 30th Jan 2005 till the 3rd of March respectively.
Please click the shaded cells to read the update for that date.
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
9
|
|
11
|
|
|
13
|
14
|
|
|
|
18
|
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
25
|
|
|
|
28
|
|
|
|
-
|
-
|
January has been a time for checking final details of the expedition, building the 80m wire dipole and the 40m & 80m Sky Wire Loop. The team have received dozens of good luck messages and requests for certain band and mode slots. All messages have been answered were possible we will attempt to honour all such requests. The website has now been completed and is updated regularly.
After the events of 9/11 I consider it quite important to do all you can to ensure that carrying Amateur Radio Equipment is not considered a security risk when travelling around the world. A full itinerary of all the teams Communications equipment, serial numbers and an explanation of what we were doing was e-mailed to Air New Zealand in Auckland. They have then forwarded this to check in areas in London and Los Angeles. On my last visits to ZK1 this has proved to be an excellent way to speed up the checking in once at the airport.
Day 1, Jan 30th,
For the Swedish team members the day started early as they were up ready to leave for Gothenburg Airport at 4am local time. Jed and I had arranged to meet them at London Heathrow at 10am. We were soon through to check in and our advanced letter to Air New Zealand had helped us to speed the process with all our 11 cases weighing a total of 300 Kg on their way to the aircraft. After a few relaxing beers we were soon on board the Boeing 747 and up and away. Flying to Los Angeles we chased the sun set over Greenland, an awesome sight with glaciers, the snow and reflections from the sun. For those of you armchair DX'ers I hope my descriptions of our adventure give you a little insight into the highs and lows of a DXpedition adventure.
It seemed a lifetime but the 11 hour flight to Los Angeles was soon to end and here the fun begins, he says sarcastically! I always fear customs in LA! We had to collect our luggage and take it to the collection area for the onward flight. To our horror the customs guys were slamming the cases onto the conveyer belt and I really feared the worst about some of the equipment. We will find out later I guess! Although once again my letter to Air NZ helped again as Gemma from Air NZ ground staff had been assigned to look after us and ensure that we could all board the onward flight to the Cook Islands.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 2, Jan 31st,
After re boarding the plane late last night we had another stop at Tahiti Airport in French Polynesia. The temp here was 27c at 3am…. A taste for what was to come. A short wait here before we again board the plane for the next leg. Arriving at Rarontoga about 5am local, still the journey was to continue but first we found that a 10m mast had not been reloaded onto the plane at LA and the airline had promised to forward it the next day. It actually did us a favour as this meant that we would be 10kgs lighter for the Inter Island flight to Aitutaki Island. Waiting for us at Aitutaki was Queen Tutai who drove us to the lodges where we are to set up the expedition. By now it was close to midday and the sun was beating down fiercely the temperature of 33c and the high humidity was going to be a real problem for us. We started putting up the antennas 17m and 20m 3 element mono band Yagis, a YP2 antenna which we set on 20m and that was really all we could do today, exhaustion hit us hard by mid afternoon after the very punishing last two days.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 3 Feb 1st,
After a 12 hour marathon sleep for some team members, the job for the day was to set up more antennas, conditions on 20m were very low so it was best to work the DX early and late and work on the antennas during the afternoon. A 40m vertical dipole, and a 80m Quad loop was erected, we had some great help from a local guy who was quite happy to climb up to 25 metres up the trees in burning midday heat. We paid him NZ$50 for his dangerous work. Already as always I was being bitten badly by mosquitoes on my legs so I am very sore today after spending hours in what can only be described as jungle. This evening the Samade Bar was too inviting to miss, great entertainment from a Cook Island dance group a buffet and plenty of beer.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 4, Feb 2nd,
Our first chance to work a pile up although the path to Europe was only open briefly on the short path this morning. One more antenna to put up this morning, the 30m vertical dipole. Band conditions as expected are poor but we are having fun trying our best to work the long and short paths back to Europe.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 6, Feb 4th.
Today we have some bad news, Cyclone Meena developed in the Northern
Group of Islands and is currently around Palmerston Island and is
heading straight for Aitutaki Island, luckily we are in a location
away from the sea and sheltered from the oncoming storm. However tomorrow
we will be closing down the radio stations until the cyclone has passed
on Sunday, it is scheduled to hit the island on Friday afternoon.
Please don't be worried it is not likely to serious. We may loose
phone lines and internet but will be in touch as soon as we can. I
guess you can keep up to date yourselves with this cyclone with internet
weather websites. We have had many enquiries about the North Cook
Islands part of this expedition but we have some negotiating next
week with Air Rarotonga to air lift our small rucksacks of radio equipment,
this is proving to be troublesome at the moment. Let us hope for the
best! All the heavy equipment is already on Manihiki Atoll, all we
need to carry is 2 radios and PSU's and laptops. That alone ways 25
Kgs plus some clothes. The day passed without much sign of the cyclone.
We have received mixed messages about the path and arrival of Meena,
the latest weather reports from New Zealand Metrological Office didn't
arrive as phone lines were down, and that's before the cyclone arrives!
Weather today just very wet and hot at 33c. We decided to play safe
and take down the Yagi antennas and prepare them safely on the grass
away from harms way. We left up all the wire antennas in the trees
as they would be easy to put back up if damaged. I have been asked
to try to work 80m, and this evening I finally found time to give
it a try, my first attempt to work 80m was quite a disaster, I could
here many G stations but they were all talking local and no breaks
between overs to make myself heard, and when I did work an Irish EI
station he said: "I don't want to talk to you as I already have Aitutaki
confirmed, goodbye" I couldn't believe how rude he was! He didn't
even consider that I may have wanted to work him. So after an hour
of trying and hearing UK stations say" Only VK and ZL please" and
"Kilo One …Please listen we only want ZL and VK" I gave up! Maybe
I have to belong to an 80m group to be accepted on that band!!
Return To Top Of Page
Day 7, Feb 5th
After stocking up on more food and water in case Meena causes damage, we settle down to what could be an uncomfortable time ahead. At least for now we still have the wire antennas and so far no power outages. By midday the torrential rain had been coming down for several hours and the wind is slowly increasing. For sure Meana is just North West of us now! This morning the bands were in good shape even making contacts to Europe on the long path with the wires. This afternoon I was in radio contact with A35RK Paul on Tonga Island, he gave me the co-ordinates of the eye of the storm and its expected path over the next day. This is easy to plot using DX Atlas software, where we could see the path exactly as it runs South East through the Cook Islands. The hurricane has a quadrant of 200 miles across and was just 100 miles to the west of us tracking SE at 15 MPH!
Return To Top Of Page
Day 8 Feb 6th
Meena is hitting us hard, sitting here at 01:40 am with the noise I can best describe as a freight train ripping through. I am sure that the path of this cycle must of changed….. we can only wait till morning to find out for sure. By 3am the electric power was cut, and trees all around hit the ground with a loud thud. The storm was now at its peak…….. At 7.30 am local time I awoke to see the whole area strewn with debris, I walked to Des's house, he owns the lodges to report to him that everyone here was safe in fact we did not even have any structural damage to the lodges. Des had a generator going to download the latest met office charts, these showed us that our fears of a direct hit by the storm had materialised. The eye of Cyclone Meena centred just 16 miles East of us and wind speeds 115 MPH ripped through Aitutaki Island and maintained that speed for up to 3 hours as the eye passed. Already workmen were clearing roads and working on power lines. Our driveway had to be cleared of about 5 trees before we could reach the road. Three Australian female doctors who were working at the hospital were staying in the lodges next to us and we decided to drive up to the hospital to check on casualties. This storm people say is the worst in living memory on Aitutaki Island and a lot of damage has been caused. Many resorts like Pearl Beach Resort had to be evacuated yesterday and have been badly damaged. The fishing Club at the harbour destroyed and 1 metre sea surge damaged properties along the coast. Incredible no people had been injured. Certainly we will have no radio activity today, the winds are still too high to work on antenna masts. Eleven hours later the power was restored and once again we can shower. All our wire antennas destroyed but repairable, we will try to be back on air by Tuesday 8th Feb. Now we have lots of hot exhausting work on antennas again…..
A not so fortunate victim of Cyclone Meena
Return To Top Of Page
Day 9, Feb 7th
Today was a very difficult day for the team, we spent hours putting up the antennas after the big storm. The 80m Delta loop had to be repaired as a falling tree had sliced it in half, connection was soldered and we hired a local to climb 25 metres to the top of two palm trees to get the D loop up into the air. We were not able to work on the 40m or 30m verticles as they were tangled in a fallen tree which has a wasp nest in and these wasps are big!!! The work is exhausting in 34c and high humidity. By mid afternoon the work was done. Food on the island is also hard to find. Bread is sold early and by 9am its all gone so tomorrow we will have to go to the shop and miss the Europe pile up. So without any lunch, tired & hungry we drove to the Samade Bar late in the afternoon. This evening provided good openings for Jed and Magnus while Tim worked on 40 & 80….. 80m was really tough going. But thanks to those in England that did persevere with me.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 12, Feb 10th
The last few days have given very poor band conditions, with high
K index levels at high latitude meaning the path to Europe was closed
for long periods, one unusual QSO was made on 40m to Scotland at 13:15z
that is 5 hours after his sunrise. A good time to explore the Aitutaki
Island lagoon, take in some sun and experience life on the Island.
This evening gave a good opening to Europe, although we understand
that you guys are hearing us better than we hear you so we have been
asked to work duplex when working Europe. If there is a pile up we
do request that if you are already on the log, then do not call in
at these times. The 40m vertical was put up again today after a lot
of hard work moving a huge tree that fell on the wire during last
weeks storm. Thanks again to Sally's climbing guys who managed again
to climb to 25 metres high.
The Swedish Part Of The Team Enjoying The Cook Islands Experience
Return To Top Of Page
Day 14, Feb 12th
Good openings again on 15m and 20m at sunrise and sunset gave Europe a chance to break into our log books but the openings are so short. From nothing the pile up begins and in maybe 30 minutes the band closes so when it does open we were thankful to DL5RBW to enter us in the cluster to waist no time. For the Swedish team members their mission is to work Sweden and for the English to work UK operators, the smile on our faces says it all when we achieve our goal.
We have to start thinking about our expedition to the North Cook Island, Manihiki Atoll. Since arriving here we learn that Air Rarotonga are being very strict on the 10 kg luggage allowance on the aircraft and NO excess baggage permitted. So we had to ask Queen Tutai to assist us in making a telephone call to Air Rarotonga's owner Ewan Smith to plead our case and importance of Amateur Radio to the income of his company. I think it has done the trick!!! He sympathises with and agrees that it should be ok to waive the luggage restriction on us. We wait to see if this works out as planned! ZK1WET Magnus is active in the CQWW RTTY Contest this weekend. Many stations reply with "ZK1 ????" as they cannot believe there is a RTTY station on the islands, I guess it is not common. However it is creating a lot of interest on the bands and well worth spending time on RTTY. With temperatures of 34c by day and 27c by night it is great to have a cold shower as often as you can. The Internet went down here for a couple of days and a trip to the internet café was also no good as we could not send any files for logs or photos to the web manager. The mosquitoes are biting hard, or at least trying to and this is wearing me down a little, they sure love my blood! Working 40m is difficult it seems that there is a lot of pirate traffic in the Pacific with MM talking together from 7.000 - 7.100 MHz never using call signs and always jabbering for hours making the band at times impossible to work, from 7.100 - 7.300 MHz after dark is full of BC stations again working anything is an achievement. News now of Cyclone Nancy approaching us from the North East…. Keep an eye on this one! www.met.gov.fj Met office in Fiji has up to date information. Just one comment to note…. We are NOT on Rarotonga!!! The QTH is Aitutaki Island OC-083!!! And no Victor is not standing behind me!
Return To Top Of Page
ZK1 North CANCELLED
Press Release
Day 17, Feb 15th
Cyclone Nancy hit Aitutaki Island late last night, winds were not as severe as Cyclone Meena, so little damage was done, just fallen trees again blocking our exit of the lodges. Yesterday we had a team meeting and decided that due to the cyclonic depression covering the Cook Island area we must think about the safety of the team and after browsing weather charts of the South Pacific it was agreed to cancel the Manihiki Atoll Expedition. A very disappointing decision but safety comes first. The Cyclonic depression has been caused by cold air moving north from Antarctica meeting the hot humid air towards the equator this has caused a huge depression emitting cyclones in the Fifi to Cook Island area. The last cyclone to hit the Cook Islands was 6 years ago and in two weeks we have experienced 2 cyclones with another one approaching us from Samoa. Are we the most unlucky DX Team? 3 cyclones to hit during the time here! It is unfortunate that we could not come here in November the best time to avoid cyclones but money and time off work is not so easy to schedule. I know this will disappoint many who are waiting to work ZK1 North, but I am sure you will understand the reason for our decision. We also received information that many of the Manihiki Islanders were evacuated last week before Cyclone Meena and do not want to go back until the all clear is given for the cyclones.
Our antenna systems were taken down last night but will be put up again after Cyclone Olaf has passed by possibly on Wednesday or Thursday. Air Rarotonga evacuated their aircraft up to Aitutaki this morning to avoid the Cyclone on Rarotonga. 73 de ZK1 Team on Aitutaki Island.
Day 17, Feb 15th continued….. Hurricane Romance on ZK1! Yesterday
amidst of the cyclone, two members of the team ZK1WET Magnus and YL
Anki disappeared to be alone for a while on Valentines Day….. and
came back to the lodge engaged! So from the whole team, congratulations
from us all to Magnus ZK1WET and his fiancé Anki. In a welcome break
in the weather, the team managed to put back up the 20m beam and repair
the 80/40m Delta Loop…. So back on air on 40 and 20m this evening.
On a New Zealand news report this evening it was reported that "Something
strange is happening with the Cyclones forming in this area"
Congrats To Magnus ZK1WET & Anki From The Web Team
Return To Top Of Page
Day 18, Feb 16th
I am writing this at 04:00 local time, we have just had the biggest pile up of the expedition so far, from 23:00 last night the conditions to Europe on 20m short path have been incredible. Signals up to 5/9 logged across Europe. I am not sure what happened to the SFI but it is just amazing conditions. Jed was trying to sleep, I heard many sighs from Jed as I continued to work the pile up. In the end he gave up trying to sleep and has taken over from me "On Air" 5 hours ago I had started eating a packet of crisps, one thing you do not do here is leave food on the table, without noticing as I had been so engrossed in the pile up, not only the crisps but my body was crawling with ants and I have been bitten many times….. what else can happen on this trip!
This morning Jed has flown over to Rarotonga on the early flight to meet up with Victor ZK1CG and Jim ZK1JD. This afternoon the Swedish team will also fly back to Rarotonga to spend a day as tourists. The world seems to be causing "Panic" over cyclones Nancy and Olaf, and there are reports of a "Supercell Cyclone" forming near here. Every met office report gives conflicting information… Should I get the hell out of here? Or is it all media hype, because what the media is reporting is not what I see from the met office.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 19, Feb 17th
Short opening to Europe this morning. I am keeping a watch on cyclone Olaf today, 300 miles west of Aitutaki. The Sweden team heard today that their flight back home is cancelled to the the hurricane over ZK1. They will now have to stay in Rarotonga and take cover from the storm.
Here on Aitutaki the storm got a lot closer than predicted and raged all day and night. Lots of damage from the sea surge. My 20m monoband suffers a broken element and will have to be taken down again for repair. Conditions today quite good over 500 in the log while cyclone Olaf raged.
My 20m monoband suffers a broken element and will have to be taken down again for repair
Return To Top Of Page
Day 21, Feb 19th
I repaired the damaged director element on the 20m yagi yesterday.
The bands are much quieter here today and working Europe was very
difficult. One consequence of the cyclones is that the supply ship
has not arrived here so there is no petrol on the island, and hardly
any food. I just managed to fill up with the remains of the diesel
so I can still drive around the island. 40m is very busy here not
by amateurs but by Pirate sea fisherman, jabbering in what sounds
like Indonesian, no call signs are used and they talk for hours. Above
7.100 MHz is broadcast AM and almost impossible to work the 100 -
200 section of the band at any time of night.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 23 Feb 21st
Last night the only DX I could work was on 40m all other bands almost silent, great to work Europe thanks to F9VO and Bernard and ZL2UO Tony. This morning a good pile up to USA on 20m. Only one QSO to Europe OZ7YY from Denmark. This is the 3rd day with only a small opening to Europe, I can only hope things improve in the next few days. At least the weather has improved sunny and 33c. Thanks also to G3SED Mike, sometimes the only signal from England!!
Staying in the lodges here are 3 of the most gorgeous Australian student doctors you could imagine!!! I think I need to make an appointment! Time for some beers at the Samade Bar!
Web Master Comments: You Poor Man, Stuck On An Island With Them!
Return To Top Of Page
Day 24 Feb 22nd
An improvement on band conditions today but still not enough to work a pile up over the poles. Good conditions to the Americas today. Jed ZK1SDZ made his final few days operations from Rarotonga visiting ZK1JD Jim and ZK1CG Victor. We noticed that there was a definite advantage on Rarotonga as far as working to Europe. Jed returns home today. I am still to be on Aitutaki Island until the 3rd March. The online log only contains the log of ZK1SDE Tim, the other logs will be uploaded as soon as possible. I am finding that working duplex on 20m very hard from here due to US stations working right through the DX areas for local chats. A day off from radio operations now, firstly a boat ride over to the Queen Tutai's private hideaway on Akaiami Island which is one of the small islands on the edge of the Aitutaki Lagoon. Sitting on the beach looking across the lagoon is stunning as you look back over to Aitutaki. Akaiami is only 300m across and maybe 600m long but walking inside the island is like a scene from Jarassic Park, it is dense jungle and lots of birds in the trees, large herons circling above ready to dive to the sea to catch the fish. Before the mosquitoes chop my leg off it is time to head back for a rest before the evening. It is the student doctors last night on Aitutaki before they fly home to Australia. They have been working here for the last month at the hospital. We are off for an Island Dance night at the Samade Bar for a farewell party.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 25 Feb 23rd
Again a big improvement on conditions, 1 hour of strong opening to
Europe this morning. I was to close down early as I have some errands
to run here for the owner of the lodges. The Swedish Team arrived
safely back in Sweden after a very tiring journey from Aitutaki to
Rarotonga to Auckland then Los Angeles to London and finally to Gothenburg.
The diversion was due to their original flight home being cancelled
due to the hurricane. Pifff ohh guys, now you can sleep!!!! Still
no supply ship here, food on the island is running very low, no petrol
left at all, fresh juice and water also now on low stock. The supply
ship is scheduled to arrive early next week. This evening I again
had good conditions to Europe and was able to work a pile up again…..
not for long… you can be sure someone will start transmitting on the
same frequency or just 1kc away… Why I ask! Okay so now I made a big
mistake I made a QSY to 14.195 Mhz, great another pile up was under
way… again only for 30 minutes before IT9RYH started calling DX and
the pile up was gone.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 26 Feb 24th
This morning band conditions change again, I call and call and only some signals are going over the North Pole at this time.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 28 Feb 26th
In a 16 hour slot today 800 QSO's were added to the log mainly from USA and Japan only a few into Europe, thanks again for the help of G3SED Mike for keeping the frequency open in Europe. Yesterday there was a delivery of diesel and petrol to the island. Just in time, the electricity power station was on the last gallons of diesel. The ship will be back from Rarotonga in a few days with food supplies. Unusual that the band is closing here in daylight hours and is buzzing after dark, not what I am used to on 20m. Last night the band was open throughout the night to most of the world. Am I dreaming or did I really see on the weather chart hurricane number 4 on the way? Cyclone Percy passed Tokelau last night, its path being tracked very carefully.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 29 Feb 27th
Although the band has been quiet it was nice to work two Indian Ocean stations long path 3B8FQ & FR1AN with good strong signals. Now the 5,000 QSO mark has been passed in my log which given the conditions I am very pleased with. In a QSO with ZK3HC on Tokelau Island, he explained that cyclone Percy had now passed causing devastating damage to the Island. Now a category 4 cyclone the winds are at extreme destructive force. The latest prediction puts its path midway between Aitutaki and Niue Island, if that happens everyone will be happy. If it goes another path we are in trouble! The next few hours are critical. An opening to Europe on 20 and 80m was most welcome this evening.
Return To Top Of Page
A Local Fisherman, this is an all to often sight on the islands as many people are so dependant of the sea for food and a source of income.
Day 31 March 1st
Cyclone Percy moved south as predicted and should not be a threat to the Cook Islands as its winds are decreasing to storm force today. The only effect of the storm so far is heavy overnight rain. At last I have made some QSO's to Europe on 80m in the last couple of days to Italy and to England. 40m was excellent for a while last night with conditions to many parts of the globe the pick of the bunch was working TZ2LC in Mali. Africa is difficult from here. 20m has been very quiet now for 2 days.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 32 March 2nd
Cyclone Percy made us all very worried today but thankfully passed 300 miles to the west without much damage to Aitutaki. My adventure comes to an end in the South Cook Islands now as tomorrow morning I head back to Rarotonga to meet Jim ZK1JD and Victor ZK1CG and then home to England. Thank you to all of you that called in to me I appreciate your calls very much. There are so many people that have helped me on this project, from England, Sweden, Cook Islands and not forgetting my web manager Anthony MW0JZE from Wales. Thanks also to the Pacific Cyclone Emergency monitors that have been so important to our safety. FOUR hurricanes hit this expedition, forcing us to cancel the proposed ZK1 North activity, previously only 2 cyclones have hit this island in 40 years… am I just lucky or what? Today I have at last managed to contact our friends on Manihiki Atoll, I have had to pay them for all the food that was ordered for the cancelled week there. Well at least that should keep them sweet for next time we want to go. I have spoken to the Swains Island DX Team who have also been affected by delays by the weather. Also had the pleasure of speaking to the Peter 1st Team down in southern Argentina, their efforts were also hit by time delays and I really felt for them when I heard they had decided to cancel the expedition for another year. Its been a tough month for DX'ers!!! Especially as I close my account the SFI falls to 75 now I know that the challenge I had set myself was one that was very tough but I rose to the challenge and enjoyed a wonderful experience here in paradise.
Return To Top Of Page
Day 33 March 3rd
The hurricanes continue to cause havoc, my flight off Aitutaki is
cancelled this morning and re scheduled for late this afternoon. The
Air NZ flight to LA and London is still on but a decision will be
made later today to see if that will be cancelled to.
My log closes with 5,943 QSO's in 125 DXCC entities. Plus another 2,000 QSO's on logs from ZK1SDZ Jed, ZK1WET Magnus and ZK1XMY Tomas.
73 de Tim ZK1SDE …..
Return To Top Of Page
|
