As many of you know, it has been my dream and honor to join the team planning to activate Bouvet Island (3Y0K) in February 2026. To make this possible, I approached K3JO, LU9ESD, RN5M and JT1CO to join me and personally contributed the sum 0,000, which covered both their participation and my own.
In addition, we are together with K3JO, LU9ESD and RN5M made all vertical type antennas yagi, masts and support equipment, which were to be used for 3Y0K — which amounted to additional personal expenses of approx 0,000. It took us more than three months of hard work to complete everything.
I also secured main sponsorship and equipment supplies:
- From Icom America: twelve IC-7610 and four IC-7300 transceivers.
- From ACOM: twelve amplifiers.
I personally provided a complete set of antennas for both camps, including fourteen Yagi antennas, two verticals for 160m, two square arrays (4-square) for 80m and two for 40m, verticals for 30m, tribanders, dualbanders, filters for all bands, dupexers, triplexers and other equipment — as well as almost 30 waterproof transport cases, all paid from my own funds.
All this equipment has been sent to Norway to be loaded into a container which is now on its way to Bouvet. I took full responsibility for the technical success of the expedition — and I fulfilled this responsibility 100%.
Over the past months I have repeatedly asked Ken (LA7GIA) to share with the team about financial report — including a cash-flow statement and a profit and loss statement for the 3Y0K expedition. My goal was just to provide transparency pre všetkých členov tímu a zorganizovať spoločné stretnutie, kde by sme prebrali posledné prípravy a podľa potreby koordinovali finančnú alebo logistickú podporu.
Instead of responding to these reasonable requests and calling a team meeting, Ken demanded an additional ,000 from me to cover the alleged budget deficit. Later he also requested additional contributions of ,000 each from each operator – ie from K1LZ, LU9ESD, K3JO and RN5M. I agreed with this second request because it stated that the same request would be addressed to all team members.
These questions must have made management nervous — but I asked them because I had a feeling they would they really only care about my name, contacts and money. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong.
Furthermore, I repeatedly asked LA7GIA to published the names of private donors a the terms of their contributions at 3Y0K — which are said to be level 0,000.
It is not disturbing to go to such a remote and dangerous island with people, whose names, identity and intentions we do not know at all? Don't we have a right to know who they are, what their role will be and how they will deliver the promised 0,000?
Don't forget that similar situation it also happened during another expedition a few years ago, which had to be terminated prematurely due to serious internal conflicts between the radio amateur team and the external group.
I also asked him to be on the team registered doctor — as is customary with any large expedition of this magnitude. The presence of a medical professional should be an absolute priority. It must not be forgotten that there have already been serious injuries in past events — I myself almost lost my life after falling from a pole that was improperly secured by an inexperienced person.
Finally, I also asked for confirmation regarding the second, higher location of the camp, which was originally supposed to ensure better promotion towards North America.
I later learned that this second location is no longer planned, although it still appears on the official 3Y0K website. In reality, however, both locations are almost identical in terms of topography and signal propagation — and, unfortunately, both are among the most unsuitable places on the island.
The so-called "North American camp” apparently proved to be just that marketing story, which was supposed to attract sponsors from North America. Without this legend, few would probably have trusted the same leadership that had already failed once during their previous expedition to Bouvet.
That's why I decided to get involved, because – whether management likes it or not – our team specializes in such projects. We build some of the most successful radio stations in the world. We are not better than others, we just are experience and proven results.
If anyone felt offended by this, I am truly sorry. But the facts speak for themselves: Roman (RN5M) has been dealing with this professionally for more than 25 years and Manu (LU9ESD) he has been working with him for the last four. Velimir (K3JO), an electronic engineer, is a pioneer of radio station automation and the only person I know capable of solving any technical problem in this area.
On past expeditions he repaired transceivers, amplifiers and various electronic equipment, allowing us to continue operating without interruption. But there is no need to say much about them - the whole world knows these names a respects them for what they have done and are still doing for radio amateurs.
In all the above cases I have only met with resistance and silence. Ken refused to provide the requested information, but continued to ask me pushed to pay another ,000.
This amount arose from informal conversation, which we had last year in Friedrichshafen, where I remarked that if there were no funds at the end, maybe I could help. As the management failed to raise sufficient funds – probably for damaged reputation and lack of trust in the community – Ken this amount later included in the contract as my obligation and added to it special clause.
It was a bold and thoughtful move — and in hindsight, it seems that was the intention from the very beginning. My biggest mistake was signing this contract without reading it carefully because I believed that there is no cheating between team members.
Neither me nor anyone on my team he never received an invitation or notification about participating in workshops or helping to load a container in Norway — which clearly shows that our presence was not welcome.
I was this week officially informed, that I am no longer a member of the 3Y0K expedition, because I refused to provide the additional ,000 and because I "asked too many questions." I was informed that my personal initial investment of ,000 will be returned, and that I have publicly announce, that I am leaving the expedition "for personal reasons".
Since this statement is not true, I have decided reject this request.
K3JO, LU9ESD, RN5M and JT1CO received notification that they can participate if they want, and I will fully respect their decision. To date, however, it appears that none of them will travel to Bouvet.
However, one cannot fail to notice that this decision has been made right after that, as leadership got all the equipment, which was waiting — antennas, radios, and all the equipment that I personally provided. Once they had everything they needed, I became useless.
Of course I am deeply disappointed from this result. I want to sincerely thank the many members of the DX community who supported me and looked forward to seeing us at Bouvet — especially on the low bands where we committed to providing complete worldwide coverage.
I share the same disappointment you will feel after reading this letter. believe me — I too feel used, cheated and deeply disappointed.
To everyone who has supported me for decades - thank you for your trust, friendship and belief in my team. Those who know me know how much I love this hobby, and that I have helped and contributed to its development for many years — but I will do so from now on much more careful, with regard to who I work with.
My name, honor, and dignity remain intact—as does mine love for amateur radio.
73 and goodbye to bands,
Krassy Petkov, K1LZ
[1] https://www.DX-world.net/an-open-letter-to-the-DX-community