Nine flights. Loss of luggage. Malfunctioning devices. Smoking end stages. Welcome to the "most underdog" expedition of 2002!
Now let's go back a few months to the beginning of 2002. That's when we received an invitation from
Larry Grandy AH8LG who invited us to visit a very desirable country in Europe - especially on the lower bands and CW - American Samoa. We accepted the invitation and started to prepare….
Larry's invitation was for two or three operators to broadcast from his QTH on Tutuila Island (OC-045). It didn't work for us and we looked around for something else. We found that Ofu Island (OC-077) has serious activity dating back many years. This is how the idea was born to activate both islands, each for a few days.
At the meeting in Friedrichshafen, the team (Roger DL5RBW, Markus DL9RCF and Thomas DL6OI) expanded to five people (Glyn GW0ANA and Doug G0WMW). During the expedition, Dave AH6HY visited us and stayed with us for several days.
Glyn and Doug are experienced expeditioners having previously worked as ZD7K from St Helena and ZD8K from Ascensión. Our expedition was supported by many sponsors - Kenwood, RSGB, CDXC, BARTG and many individuals from different corners of the world. We asked Nigel G4KIU to create a website. The pilots were John G3WGV and Fumio JE4CIL.
The existing AH8LG station equipment meant that we did not need to take any equipment to Tutuila. But why make things easy? We agreed that teams of three would activate both islands simultaneously and switch halfway through. Logistics involved transporting people and material from three countries halfway around the world. We heated the wires to the Internet. A pair of English operators were supposed to bring a transceiver with a PA borrowed from RSGB/IOTA, spare lamps, ATU and Cushcraft R-7000, coax, headsets, three laptops and power supplies for all. The German participants of the expedition also provided one transceiver, a laptop, a vertical dipole borrowed from Titanex, cables, measuring instruments and tools. Dave wanted to bring his transceiver from Hawaii. All the material had to be assembled on site for the first time.
Transport was handled by Doug G0WMW. The German team was to arrive in London, from where we were to fly together to San Francisco. The next stop was supposed to be Hawaii. The baggage limit of transatlantic flights allows only 35 kg per person in two suitcases plus hand bag and computer. The limit from Hawaii to Samoa is even less. We were lucky that Dave AH6HY arranged for Hawaii Airlines to waive this limit. They thus became one of our sponsors. Only six weeks before the departure, Doug canceled his participation for personal reasons. A frantic search for a replacement followed. After several phone conversations, it became Nigel G4KIU, our webmaster.
At the end of October 2002, the day of departure came. We packed the cargo from England into three suitcases, a longitudinal ski carrier and four hand bags. The ski bag brought smiles at check-in (it contained R7000). How many people go skiing in the Pacific Islands? However, the luggage went through and we handed it over to the plane. There was a last minute change and Roger and Markus flew from Munich later. So-so that they managed to fly out of San Francisco. The unusual transport of five Europeans to Hawaii took two nights. Dava was supposed to join us only when we were at Ofa.
After two days, we finally met Dave AH8HY and his wife, Uti KS6FO, at the Pago Pago airport. After explaining what the ski bag contains, we reached his QTH in twenty minutes. Even though it was one o'clock and we had only arrived an hour ago exhausted, we fired up the laptop and the K8T hit the airwaves for the first time. At seven o'clock on the same day, Thomas and Nigel were to fly to Ofa. They arrived at the airport at a quarter to six, where they learned that the only flight was at six, which was impossible to catch. The next one was supposed to be the next day - but it's already full. Disappointed, they returned and went to sleep.
At 9.40 Larry's phone rings... "Could Mr. Nigel and Mr. Thomas arrive at Pago Pago for the ten o'clock flight to Ofa? Samoa Air has extra flight scheduled that day. No, it's not possible for them to come. All the luggage is here, about twenty minutes by car. "No problem": says the voice, we'll leave at 10.30, or whenever they arrive….
Two devastated Europeans are suddenly awakened, we load our luggage back into the car and "fly" to the airport. There they are seated in an eighteen seater plane. After being greeted by the co-pilot, they are told that this is a sightseeing flight between "Tutuila, Tau and Ofa". But actually, the first stop is Ofu. Twenty minutes later, they get into the car and after a short drive, they stop in front of the Asaga Inn, which becomes their home for a few days. Dave, who arrived at Ofa a few days later, already looked for places for antennas, cables and equipment.
However, after turning on the FT-900, a shock came - the receiver is completely out of order! No noise or crackling. We were plugging in Dave's spare RIG when Thomas connected his RIG to the PA - and it produced colorful smoke. That was a serious blow of fate. What else was left - we started the K8O expedition with 100W first connection K8T...
pile-up on both CW and SSB it was massive. Someone commented that it looked like we were broadcasting from North Korea. A few days later, Dave fished the letters "Foxtrot November" out of the pile-up - and then P5/4L4FN! On Tutuila, the K8T team was dedicated to SSB, RTTY, PSK a SSTV. They also found time to build antennas on 80 and 160 m, which they left to Larry. The conditions on the lower bands were not good, after three attempts that were too difficult for the EU stations, they gave up...
According to the agreement, the teams were to be exchanged. We took Larry's ruler so we could have two QRO station. The operation continued, K8T even made attempts at 6 m. However, they only made four connections. Soon it was time for K8O to return to Tutuila. The operators arrived - but the luggage did not. With only one flight a day, Samoa Air couldn't give us an answer as to what happened. The next day, half of the luggage arrived. We only had five hours left before our flight to Hawaii. K8T was on the air until the last minute.
Each of us has our own story about what we have been through. While operating K8T on SSB 10 m, I received a call from a school station from the USA for which I was the last station in the IOTA-100 diploma. They have been trying to connect to K8O for several days. Unfortunately, the best conditions were late at night or early in the morning while classes were in session. Due to the unusualness of the situation, the teacher placed the RIG in the classroom. It was a pleasure to talk to them for almost ten minutes while a number of stations were waiting to connect….
Another positive for the team members was the connections with M3 stations and some excellent SSTV images from Europe. Together we made 27,834 connections. You already have the QSL tickets at home, or they are on their way to you. QSL Managers are GW0ANA for K8T links and AH6HY for K8O links. K8 QSL bureau neither accepts nor wants to forward QSL tickets, therefore the only feasible way is both managers. After nine flights we would like to thank all the sponsors, Larry and Uti on Tutuila, as well as the Asaga Inn on Ofa, where they took excellent care of us. Our thanks also go to you, however long you stuck with us until you broke through the pile-up.
Nigel Peacock, G4KIU