Monday, April 28, 2014

OC-219 Wangiwangi Island ARLHS IDO-259 Wangiwangi LightHouse

OC-219 Wangiwangi Island 
ARLHS IDO-259 Wangiwangi LightHouse 
YF1AR/8 YB3MM/8 
March 26/28 - April 2,2014





This expedition to OC219 was planned as a mini reunion for YF1AR and YB3MM who operated together from Breueh Island OC245 in March 2013. Initially, YC8IBD a local operator from South East Sulawesi province was to join but had to cancel at the last minute. YB3MM came with his wife YB2TET and it was to be their umpteenth honeymoon dxpedition (hi…hi…). Because of work schedule, they left for Wakitobi on March 26th from Surabaya via Makassar. They stayed at Hotel Wakatobi on Wangiwangi Island which is the capital of Wakatobi Regency. I left on March 28th from Jakarta via Makassar as well.

Upon arrival in Manahora Airport, I was escorted by an airport employee to survey the Waha beach condition where the Wakatobi Lighthouse ARLHS IDO259 is located next to a hill about 2 km from the main road on the island. Unfortunately, the condition on Waha beach was not suitable for my activity, so I decided to look for another location in Patuno beach. A perfect location was found right on the beach at the Patuno ResortWakatobi. I met with the manager, Mr. Sulistiyo with whom I had a friendly conversation and explained my intention to introduce Wakatobi to the world via ham radio. Indirectly I would be able to introduce the resort to the whole world because this is where I operated from. The Patuno ResortWakatobi is an international standard resort with modern amenities and luxurious accommodation. Diving is the main attraction in Wakatobi which is well known in the diving haven. Mr. Sulistiyo was very receptive and gave me a warm welcome. He even arranged for me to use one of the rooms in the resort for my activity gratis. In return I promised to promote his resort and print his logo on my QSL card and website. Please check the resort out at www.wakatobipatunoresort.com.

YB3MM and YB2TET have made their booking at Wakatobi Hotel in advance and operated from a different site. After a brief rest, I set up the equipment and antenna and installed the vertical right in front of the room. The antenna was positioned so that it is above water during high tide. On the first day of operation, propagation was outstanding, I worked on 10, 15, 20, and 40M bands and logged 800 QSOs. I was elated and hoping for another excellent propagation for the duration of the dxpedition. However, propagation plummeted during CQ WPX Contest, I only logged 250 QSOs during the contest. I only rested during the day, and the weather was overcast all afternoon. On the fourth day, propagation improved a bit, and I logged 400 QSOs. I was praying for better condition ahead. The sky remained cloudy during the day. On my last day in Wakatobi, I only logged 200 QSOs all day long. The first QSO was JH2CHT on 15M and the last was RV80KEDR on 15M as well. 

During CQ WPX Contest, YB3MM and YB2TET made a side trip to Kapota Island and operated from there. Kapota is a new island for Nusantara Award. Wangiwangi is the new name for Tukangbesi Island which is no longer used. YB8ZY also operated from Wangiwangi then Tukangbesi.

On April 2nd I promptly packed my equipment and took down the antenna. I was ready by 8am when Adhi YB3MM and Tety YB2TET picked me up at the resort. We left together for the Manahora Airport and boarded our plane back to Makassar. I arrived in Jakarta at 16 local time. 

My special thank you to WakatobiPatuno Resort for the support of this Island DXpedition and to all of my supporters and donors who made this activity a reality. YF1AR/8 from Wangiwangi OC219 (and ARLHS IDO-259) is now history. In total 1650 QSOs were made.

See ya in the iota pileups, Budi YF1AR.

Special TNX to W2FB as editor


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OC-272 Kisar Island DXpedition YF1AR/8 YB4IR/8 Dec 21-27,2013

OC272 New IOTA Kisar Island - ID0376 LH Tanjung Tutunmahin



After the success of new IOTA OC275 Kimaam in September 2013, I started planning for another new IOTA expedition. The experience of working pileups from a new IOTA was exhilarating.

I originally located Kisar island as part of OC246. However, it is actually administered separately from Kecamatan Leti (Kecamatan is equivalent to District), Kecamatan Sermata, Kecamatan Moa, and Kecamatan Lakor. I also learned that there was a pending petition for Wetar and Pulau Terselatan Districts to become a new regency separate from Southwestern Maluku (Maluku Barat Daya) Regency. This area although a part of the province of Maluku is geographically closer to Nusa Tenggara Timur Province (which includes Timor).

On November 16th, after several correspondences through email with G3KMA and review of submitted evidence, Roger confirmed that Kisar will be added to OC272 and removed from OC246. I also received a confirmation from KD3CQ stating LH Tanjung Tutunmahin received a reference number of IDO-376. Mission accomplished. Kisar is now rightly included in OC272.

After working with the regional airline Merpati field offices in Ambon, Kupang, and Kisar, eventually a round trip ticket from Ambon to Kisar was secured.

I contacted my close friend, W2FB, for a fundraising event to sponsor this activity. I also asked YB3MM, YB0AI, YB8XM to join in this new IOTA DXpedidition, but they were unable to attend the event due to work schedule. The expedition was set to take place between December 21st-25th after I confirmed the round trip plane ticket from Ambon to Kisar.

On December 4th, W2FB announced the plan for the event on an IOTA-chaser forum mailing list. Following this, I launched the website www.yf1ar.com/2013/12/kisar-island-oc-272-new-iota.html) for the event and then I posted the information to all the dx news websites including dx-world.net. Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from YB4IR Imam who wanted to join me and operate CW; I spontaneously responded to him “Why not?”, as I will be operating SSB. The team will be complete with a CW operator.

On December 20th, YB4IR had arrived in Ambon first, meanwhile I was still preparing for my travel. Later on that evening I departed Jakarta and arrived in Ambon on Saturday morning December 21. Not long after that, Merpati Airlines alerted the passengers that the flight was delayed due to weather condition and would depart on Sunday December 22. I immediately updated the information to dx-news regarding the delay in my itinerary. Fortunately, after some negotiations we were able to fly out of Ambon to Kisar that Saturday with a plane that was chartered by local government officials travelling to Kisar.

The flight to Kisar was originally scheduled at 10:00 but then it was delayed to 14:00, we arrived in Kisar at 16:00 local time. During the transit in Ambon, YB4IR managed to get in contact with his acquaintance, H Agus, who would be able to help facilitate a power generator if we needed it. While awaiting to board the plane, I had a conversation with Maria, who is the wife of a DPRD (Regional Legislative Body) member of Kabupaten Maluku Barat Daya (Southwest Maluku Regency). She was very supportive of our plan and radio event. She introduced us to her son, Wanto, who would become our guide and companion during our stay on Kisar island.

After arriving in the town of Wonreli, 12 km from Jonh Bakker airport, we visited Wanto’s house and he proposed that his house could be the operating site. Unfortunately, the noise level was too high due to its location which is in the middle of an urban area. We decided to go to Nama port which is located in the western part of the island. We were welcomed by Syahbandar (Port Commissioner) and were allowed to use one of the empty rooms as our operating site. There was electricity service in the building for 22 hours a day, with a break between 16:00 to 18:00 daily for fuel refill. Thank God for electricity on the island.

Without any rest, I went ahead and prepared the vertical antenna ⅝ wavelength with whip 12.5m which would be able to work on 10-15-20-40 with the help of tuner. We planned to assemble HB9CV in the morning the next day. Meanwhile, YB4IR assembled the HX52A. The first QSO in the log was at 13:31 UTC on December 21st with JM1LVN on 20m, then G3KMA came in at 15.13 UTC. In the first two hours, I made over 200 QSOs from 5 continents. I went QRT at 17 UTC because I had been awake close to 44 hours straight since Friday morning when I was in Jakarta. I do not sleep well when I travel. I took a short nap.

On December 22nd, after waking up we went straight to assemble HB9CV 2 EL and operated 15m band. Later in the afternoon, we had our lunch in Wonreli town where Wanto had met us. There was no restaurant around the port. At a local restaurant, we once again met H. Agus and stated to him that we did not need his generator after all and thanked him for his offer. After maghrib (evening prayer time, just after sunset), we had time to contact YB8XM Yoppie, who at that time was in Saparua island and just arrived from Canada. He was travelling back and forth from Jakarta to Ambon and therefore would not be able to join us. In the evening, the performance of HB9CV was tested on 20m which resulted in 500 QSOs during the 5 hour span, our highest record yet. Later that night, a torrential rain and thunder storm took place which took down one of the antennas. Later on the electricity failed and we went to sleep. While sound asleep and dreaming about pileups, we were awakened by cold water that rushed into our operating site. We moved and saved all of the equipments that were on the floor. We slept inside our sleeping bag that night.

On December 23rd morning, we repaired the fallen antenna. There were no serious damage except for one unrepairable part. After lunch, we had time to visit Emanuel church ruin dated back to the 17th century. We also visited the ruin of a Dutch fortress, and a large cross on top of the hill on the southern part of this mostly Christian island near the border of Timor Leste. We also made time to visit the older part of Wonreli town. There we met Rudi who is of mixed race, his eyes were blue with fair skin and taller than most locals. I can safely assumed that he might be the tallest guy in the whole island of Kisar.

In the evening, the propagation in general was very good, with vertical ⅝ wavelength antenna, I made 400 QSOs in 5 hours on 40m band, this is one of my personal best rate. When I was on 20M, Roger G3KMA, IOTA program manager, checked in and we chatted about this Kisar activity from OC272.

On December 24th, we went to the city to reconfirm our return flight on rented motorbikes. We learned that our return flight has been rescheduled to 26th, our tickets were no longer valid because of their “24 hour policy” which we have never heard before. We had to rebook our flight and buy another ticket from Ambon to Jakarta on 26th instead of the original date which is 25th. To our chagrin, Merpati later rescheduled our flight to 27th due to weather. Propagation was pretty decent, with the 10 and 15 M bands open in the afternoon and we operated on 20m and 40m band in the evening.

On December 25th, we went to the city to purchase our return flight from Kisar to Ambon and received a sticker shock; the ticket price had gone up 3.5 times the normal price because the they no longer offered discounted ticket fares. The flight on December 27th would be the last flight from Kisar to Ambon for Merpati airline (All Merpati Airlines flights are grounded as of February 2014 due to heavy debt- Ed). The extra days on Kisar did not yield much more QSOs since propagation tanked with decreased solar flux and increased A and K indexes.

On December 26th, we tried our best to persist on calling CQ and try to make more QSO even though the propagation was pretty lousy. We struggled to break 100 QSOs that day. After maghrib, suddenly we were visited by an uninvited guest, whom the local referred to as “orang gila” alias psychotic person. That was different, we certainly did not expect that. After dinner, YB4IR disassembled the HX52A antenna and I took down the HB9CV and G5RV, packed them for our return trip. The OC272 Dxpedition was coming to an end. I was still making contacts with the vertical antenna that was up until around 18 UTC; ER4DX on 40m was the last QSO in the log. At dawn, I lowered the vertical antenna, disassembled and packed all of the equipments. At 22 UTC, we were all set and ready to go to the airport. Wanto took us to the airport.

Our plane from Kupang was lated due to bad weather but at 03 UTC on December 27 2013, we left Kisar for Ambon for a two hour flight. After a two hour layover, we departed for Jakarta via Makasar. We arrived in Jakarta at 13 UTC safely exhausted but very happy. Another new IOTA in Indonesia has been activated and is now history. We accomplished double mission to activate OC272 (and LH ARLHS IDO-376) and operated from one of the outermost islands of Indonesia (bordering Timor Leste) . The total QSOs was 2420 all SSB with 5 continents and 125 DXCC entities. Thank you for your calls and a special thanks to our supporters.

See ya in the iota pileups, Budi YF1AR




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Sunday, April 6, 2014

OC273 GORAM ISLAND DXPEDITION YF1AR/8 YB0AI/8 JANUARY 25-31 2014.


OC273 GORAM ISLAND DXPEDITION YF1AR/8 YB0AI/8 JANUARY 25-31 2014.

special TNX for W2FB as Editor

http://www.yf1ar.com/2014/01/oc-273-gorong-and-watubela-islands-new.html



After our DXpeditions to Sebatik OC295, Kimaam OC275, and Kisar OC272 received warm reception, I started making plan for the next new IOTA activation. I came across Gorom Island aka Goran, but there was scarcity of information on the island because of its isolated geography. After an extensive online research, we were able to locate a contact person who lives on the island. He visited YF1AR at the end of December 2013.

Based on preliminary information, YF1AR corresponded with Roger G3KMA in early January2014, regarding his plan to activate OC273. Budi YF1AR also asked Steve, W2FB to be the chief fundraiser for this activity. Budi contacted and invited Taufan YB0AI, and Lucky YD9RQX to join this effort. The dates were set January 25-31, with the possibility of an extension till February 2nd if possible. Budi YF1AR secured his boat ticket from Ambon to Geser Island.

On the eve of January 24th, YF1AR and YB0AI left Jakarta International Airport and arrived in Ambon on Saturday January 25 at 6 am local time after a brief stopover in Makasar. YD9RQX was not able to join due to his prior commitment. The team rested and had breakfast at the airport while waiting to board the ship at Jos Sudarso Port for Pulau Geser. The boat was scheduled to leave at 12 noon from Ambon and arrive Geser at 8 am the next day. During the 18 hour sea trip both Budi and Taufan experienced severe seasickness due to the rough seas with high waves on Banda Sea. After arrival in Geser, they secured a chartered speedboat to take them to Goram. It took two hours and it was a pleasant trip, with calm sea and beautiful scenery.

Upon arrival in Goram Island, the team met Mr. Safrudin, the local contact person. After introduction and getting to know each, the team went to work to scout for location. They decided onthe northern part of the island, right on the beach immediately between Namalean and SIkaru. With the help of the locals, the team was provided with the necessary logistics (tents, generator, and food). Without wasting time, the team assembled HB9CV antenna for 10-20M and 43ft vertical for 40m band. YB0AI assembled 2 elements Yagi for 12-17M and GP vertical. The team used  FT450D and Ft950 rigs.

The first station in the log was YC2BYC Agus at 0925 UTC on 20M band. It was truly an honor for the
team when Roger G3KMA made it in the log at 1349 UTC on 20m with YF1AR/8 and later on 15 M with YB0AI/8. Many of the curious local residents visited the team who conducted radio activities right there in the open air tent. We even slept under the stars which is something very unusual for the locals. We explained to them that we needed to be right at the beach to facilitate our transmitted signals; they understood. We succumbed to physical exhaustion and went QRT at 2 am local time and rested. Electricity was available only between 1800-0600 local time, so we utilized a generator between 0006-1000  and 1400-1800 local time. During the afternoon hours we took naps.

On the eve of the January 27, the weather turned very ugly, overcast all day and in the evening a torrential downpour and strong wind ruined our tent and our HB9CV antenna collapsed. We went QRT around 0100 local time. The next morning, we fired off on 15M working JA and NA. In the afternoon we built a larger and sturdier tent to withstand the wind and rain. We relied mostly on the 43ft vertical antenna. YB0AI still had his Yagi and vertical for 40-10M including WARC bands. It was another overcast day and we did not make too many QSO on January 28th. We stayed up all night and into the wee hours and had a great opening on 40M with big pileups.

On January 29th, we visited Port Ondor to check the boat schedule for our return trip which was dependent on the weather. We had no choice but to take the wooden vessel scheduled to leave that Friday morning January 31st to take us back to Ambon. Our initial plan to stay and operate until February
2nd was dashed due to lack of transportation. On January 30th we withstood the bad weather and strong
wind and ended our operation at 1556 UTC with a QSO on 40m OM3DX. We packed up our radio and antennas in the darkness of the night and were ready by 0500 local time.

We left for Port Ondor at 0600 local time using motorcycles. No cars on the island. The wooden vessel was scheduled to depart at 0800 for Bula in Seram Island via Geser Island during the day. At 1900 we arrived in Seram. We had dinner and hired a car to take us back to Ambon. We arrived at 0800 in Ambon and by 1000 we boarded our plane back to Jakarta. The plane landed at 1400 local time safely. In total we made 2500 QSOs from 5 continents. Compared to my prior IOTAs, this one is the most grueling and challenging, almost 2 full days to make it there and 2 days to return. For 4 days during our stay in Goram, we experienced overcast weather during the day and bad storms at night right at the beach where we had our tents and operating site. It was all worth it though. Thank you for your call and donation.

See you in the next pileup. Budi Santoso, YF1AR

special TNX for W2FB as Editor

http://www.yf1ar.com/2014/01/oc-273-gorong-and-watubela-islands-new.html






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OC-177 Payung Besar Island, Seribu Islands



YF1AR/0
ARLHS IDO-236 Payung Besar LightHouse
IOTA OC-177 Payung Besar Island
April 18-20, 2014
LAT: 05° 48' S LON: 106° 32' E Gridsquare OI34ge
Antenna Vertical 43ft put on top of Lighthouse, 40m asl, dedicated QRV 40m band


Pulau Payung Besar LightHouse ARLHS IDO-236






Pulau Payung Besar (Big Umbrella Island) (2)

Date unknown (station established 1890). Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. 30 m (98 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. A 2012 photo and a secondphoto are available, and Google has a good satellite view. The original lighthouse was similar but not identical to the present light. Located on a small island about 32 km (20 mi) east of Pulau Tunda and 90 km (55 mi) northwest of Jakarta. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-236; Admiralty K1058; NGA 23364.


Pulau Payung Besar OC -177 Thousand Island



Umbrella Island , one of a group of islands located in the thousand islands turned out to be the main destination for tourists visiting the island tidung . The reason , in addition to having vegetation beaches with soft sand and underwater scenery is good for sorkelling . The island has an area of ​​about 20 acres also has some fairly prominent object .

One of the object it is this lighthouse as a guide both ships after Island Lighthouse Jakarta Pause to enter the waters of the Sunda Strait . Umbrella of the island is 32 miles east of the island Snooze and 90 km from Jakarta . Big Umbrella lighthouse island accessible only by sea .

Until now , the tower with the white iron frame , still standing strong . With a height of 30 meter lighthouse was first operated in 1890 . As for the technical requirements , the tower is equipped with 2 pieces of white light , which lights every 10 seconds , with a focal plane height of 32 meters .



Thousand Islands (Indonesia)
Kepulauan Seribu

The Thousand Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast. It forms the only regency of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. It consists of a string of 110 islands[1] stretching 45 km north into the Java Sea.
A decree[2] states that 36 islands may be used for recreation. Of these 36 islands, only 13 islands are fully developed: 11 islands are homes to resorts and two islands are historic parks. Twenty-three islands are privately owned and are not open to the public.[3] The rest of the islands are either uninhabited or support a fishing village.[3]




Equipment

YF1AR/0 Radio Yaesu FT 450D with tuner FC 707 power 100W
Antenna Vertical 43ft put on top of Lighthouse, 40m asl
Mode mainly on Phone as well as on CW n Digital
QRV  mainly nitetime 40m band and spare daytime 20m band


QSL Info 

YF1AR/0
OQRS via YF1AR Clublog
QSM via N2OO Bob Schenck
YF1AR/0_OC177_PB
Donation

please use yf1ar@yahoo.com for Paypal account

your donation is welcomed, the fund will be also used for the next DXpedition, TNX

Sponsor



  






Personal Sponsors : YB2TJVW2FB, IN3VZE, DJ3XG, JA4GXX, I8KRC

Ticket:
using speedboat Kerapu from Muara Adem, Muara Anke to Bayung Besar Island

 

Signboard
posing in entrance gate Payung Besar Lighthouse

 

Equipment
Vertical Antenna 43fr on top LH 40m and operatong room

 

View
panoramic jetty payung besar island









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