Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa until 1997) is a Polynesian island nation in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, located approximately halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. It consists of two main islands, Savaiʻi and Upolu, two smaller inhabited islands, Manono and Apolima, and several other small uninhabited islands. The capital and largest city is Apia, which lies on the northern coast of Upolu. Polish radio amateur Jacek, SP5EAQ, is heading to the area around Apia with his expedition under the call sign 5W0AF.
Expedition 5W0AF
Jacek, SP5EAQ is not a newcomer to Samoa - in 2017 he was active on these islands twice, during a trip to Tokelau, under the callsign 5W0AF. He originally planned a three-week stay starting March 22, 2026, but shortly before the planned departure, he had to change his plan. According to his own words, all his flights with Qatar Airways through Doha and Brisbane to Apia were to be canceled, and the only reasonable solution was to change the route and postpone the expedition. The new route from Europe is planned for fall 2026, with activity in Samoa from September 21 to October 12.2026. The callsign 5W0AF remains unchanged.
QTH expedície sa nachádza tesne mimo Apie, vo Vaiale, ktorá spadá pod IOTA reference OC-097. Jacek plans to operate exclusively in SSB mode on bands 10 to 40 metrov s vertikálnou anténou GP7, ktorú poskytol SP7GXP, a na pásme 80 metrov with a delta antenna. The setup is complemented by FT710 transceiver together with a homemade amplifier.
This was a very difficult decision as all preparations were already completed. My callsign 5W0AF remains unchanged. (Jacek, SP5EAQ)
The expedition is supported by several amateur radio clubs and foundations, including the Polish DX Club (SPDXC), European DX Foundation (EUDXF), Mediterraneo DX Club (MDXC), Polish Amateur Radio Union (PZK), Clipperton DX Club (CDXC), German DX Foundation (GDXF) and Swiss DX Foundation (SDXF). Among individual supporters is listed SP5GMM. Contributions can be sent via PayPal, with card payments possible directly through the button for Polish bank accounts on page; foreign interested parties paying by card are invited to contact Jacek directly via email at sp5eaq@gmail.com. This payment button is exclusively for donations to the expedition, not for covering postage for QSL lístky.
QSL information 5W0AF
Pre expedíciu 5W0AF bude k dispozícii systém OQRS, through which participants can check their log record and order a QSL card – either for free via the bureau or directly for a fee of 5 USD or EUR to cover postage. The QSL manager is Marek, SP7DQR. The OQRS system is available at sp7dqr.pl/en/oqrs.php.
Čiastočné denníky (partial logs) budú počas expedície zverejňované online približne raz denne, čo umožní účastníkom priebežne kontrolovať, či bolo ich spojenie zaznamenané. Kompletný denník bude po skončení expedície nahratý do systému LoTW, a to bezplatne.