We are up to date on all QSL Cards. LOTW for 3D2RJ should be uploaded the last week of March. T2TT will follow shortly thereafter. Thanks everyone for your support!!
Tuvalu - T2TT
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The Vaiaku Lagi hotel (left) Tuvalu Government Building (right)
Tuvalu is currently the # 67 most wanted DXCC worldwide and #47 most wanted for Europe, according to ClubLog. Even though we are most definitely on the downside of cycle 24, we are hoping to have some propagation on all bands. However, the high bands will probably suffer a bit. We will be QRV 80 meter thru 10 meter for sure. We are still working on a viable offering for 160 meter.
We should arrive the morning of November 24th in Funafuti. We will be staying at the Vaikai Lagi Hotel. This hotel doesn't have a tremendous amount of room for antennas but offers fairly stable power. There is also internet access in some rooms as well as the lobby. Our hopes are to be able to upload our logs to ClubLog several times a day.
Direct and Buro QSL's for T2TT will go to K8NA. We will also be offering OQRS starting on Dec 3rd. Also, we will upload to LOTW approximately 4 months after the dxpedition ends.
We should arrive the morning of November 24th in Funafuti. We will be staying at the Vaikai Lagi Hotel. This hotel doesn't have a tremendous amount of room for antennas but offers fairly stable power. There is also internet access in some rooms as well as the lobby. Our hopes are to be able to upload our logs to ClubLog several times a day.
Direct and Buro QSL's for T2TT will go to K8NA. We will also be offering OQRS starting on Dec 3rd. Also, we will upload to LOTW approximately 4 months after the dxpedition ends.
Fiji - 3D2RJ
December 3 thru December 10
Starfish Blue Vacation Rental on VRBO
Of course Fiji is not a highly sought after DXCC but we decided to take an extended holiday and spend some time there anyway. We arrive in Suva about 2pm local time. Once we get thru customs, we will have a three hour drive to Rakiraki on the northern shore. We hope to get something on the air before nightfall. If not, we will be up at the crack of dawn getting antennas set up and getting underway.
Again, we hope to be uploading our logs to ClubLog several times a day. We will be down one operator on this leg of the trip as Tim NL8F has to head back to Dutch Harbor to tend to his business.
Direct and Buro QSL's for 3D2RJ will go to N7RO. We will offer OQRS beginning December 11. Also, we will upload to LOTW approximately 4 months after the dxpedition ends.
Again, we hope to be uploading our logs to ClubLog several times a day. We will be down one operator on this leg of the trip as Tim NL8F has to head back to Dutch Harbor to tend to his business.
Direct and Buro QSL's for 3D2RJ will go to N7RO. We will offer OQRS beginning December 11. Also, we will upload to LOTW approximately 4 months after the dxpedition ends.
Recent News:Dec 13th, 2015 - I am happy to report that all the team members are back home safe and sound. I first want to thank all of you that were patient with us while we were on Tuvalu. That leg of the trip started out on a few bad notes. Some luggage failed to arrive from Suva. So we operated with just 1 hi-power station for the first 4 days. On day 2 of the operation we were hit with a very strong tropical depression. I believe it was the tailings of Typhoon In-Fa which passed quite a ways from us. We did see 2.5 days of steady 40 knot winds and at times much higher gusts. The storms dropped an estimated 6-8 inches of rain in those couple of days. We battled to keep antennas up and operational. We did lose our 160 meter antenna during this time. The antenna wasn't really a victim of the storm. Instead it was a mechanical failure of the fiberglass pole which had become weakened by the over tightening of a cross arm or spreader. We managed to piece together an inverted L for the remainder of the trip.
Speaking of the low bands, conditions were VERY VERY difficult due to the huge static crashes of the several deep lows and tropical depressions in the central pacific during our stay. If those subsided it only exposed the strong radar and the illegal SSB traffic that is consuming large portions of 40 meters and 80 meters. During our entire stay on Fiji the propagation stayed poor and finickey. We seldom had 2 bands open at one time. This was a much greater deterrant to hi totals than the storm of the first few days. Poor propagation followed us to Rakiraki in Fiji as well. The saving grace of that leg of the trip was a beautiful setting with a pool and an ample supply of adult beverages and gourmet food. Finally a huge THANK YOU to those of you who made a donation to help us off set the cost of this trip. We don't take in much money on these mini-dxpeditions. But what we take in really helps offset the cost of transporting all of our gear 6,000 miles on the airlines. It is NOT cheap to do. We are now going back thru and correcting a few busted calls. We will order the QSL cards for both T2TT and 3D2RJ in the next few days. We will be fulfilling OQRS requests and Direct QSL requests hopefully by the middle of January. PLEASE BE PATIENT. We will begin responding as soon as we get the cards from the printer. 73 for now - Dean KW7XX Oct 14, 2015 - We are very pleased to announce that the CQ-Tuvalu-Fiji Group will be donating an HF transceiver power supply and multi-band antenna to the people of Tuvalu. At this time there is only 1 other working radio sets on the island. Our hope is to get a few folks trained in basic radio operations not only for hobby but for use in emergencies as well. As mentioned before we have had many requests to operate 60 meters from Both Tuvalu and Fiji. We have some hope that this will now happen. Mr. Maui the head of Telecommunications in Tuvalu is open to writing an addendum on to our current license. We have hopes to accomplish the same sort of agreement with the TAF in Fiji as well. We will post more on this as things come into better focus. (which may be once we are in country) Oct 6, 2015 - Today the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji (TAF) officially granted us the 3D2RJ call sign. A big thank you to our friend Mr. Rocky Peters (3D2DD) as well as Mr. Tavita Navila (TAF) for helping me navigate through the TAF licensing process. Oct 1, 2015 - We are very pleased to announce that Steve Wright VE7CT will be joining us on both legs of this trip. Steve is a good friend to all in the group and a well seasoned dxpeditioner. Over the years Steve has been on seven major "Top Ten" Dxpeditions including Conway Reef, Kure Atoll, Kingman Reef and Amsterdam Island....Just to name a few! Welcome aboard Steve... Sept 4, 2015 - As of the beginning of September the 3D2RJ call is not yet confirmed. It has been applied for. Just waiting to hear back from TAF. The T2TT Call has been confirmed and will be used for the Tuvalu operation. We also now have confirmed hotel reservations in Tuvalu as well as the vacation home rental in Fiji. All air travel is booked and confirmed. Aug 29, 2015 - There is a bit of bad news however. Paula NX1P has notified us that she will not be able to join us on either leg of the trip. This is due to some unforeseen circumstances. Paula is an awesome CW op as well as a top notch IT person. She will be dearly missed this go around. This leaves a spot open for both legs of the trip. We will look for a replacement, but are certainly ok to go with just four members. The website is now fully functional. We have added a Donation Button. This was added mainly to help offset the cost of getting all the gear to and from both locations. Those of you who travel often certainly know how expensive extra luggage and over sized luggage costs have gotten. Please consider a small donation. Ever little bit really does help us out. - DEAN KW7XX |
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