Start: 05-09-2013 End: 15-09-2013, IOTA: OC009, Island: Koror
For the second time I wanted to go to the Pacific to activate one or two islands. For quite some time I explored locations, flight schedules, accommodations and also took uniqueness of local cultural or traditions in consideration. I finally chose Yap Island, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, as the prime destination because it is unique for its stone money and their outstanding navigation skills, which were my personal interests for this trip. To reach Yap I had to fly via Palau and made it an easy choice to be my second destination for this trip. The initial plan was a two and a half week tour but was cut short for personal reasons at the start of my trip.
For my activity on Palau it was a very easy arrangement. The VIP Guest Hotel in Koror offers the use of their radio station when you book a room. The station is fully equipped and with radio’s and amplifiers and antenna’s for 10-160 meters. The disadvantage is that the hotel is in the middle of the town with a very high QRM/QRN level. I booked a room and the radio station for a couple of days before and after the stay on Yap.
When I arrived on Palau at 2 AM, it turned out that the VIP Guest hotel had also rented the radio room to another operator, in this case Nobu Aki, JH1QJU-T88ZD. This was a big disappointment and frustration as the time I was able to operate was already short. However, when we went up to the radio room, I met Yoshi who directly offered me to start operating when he heard about the double booking. Although all kind of radios were available, I preferred to use my own K3 in combination with the JRL2000F amplifier.
Antennas were 4 element beam for 20, 15 and 10m and 4 element beam for 17 and 12 m. For all other bands there were dipoles.
During the short stay of less than 2 days, I did operate and sleep and did a very little sightseeing. Although the QRM level was high, I still could make good runs van various bands. Of course lots of JA stations were works but there was also a reasonable number EU and US stations logged.
On my return trip from Yap, I had only one day to operate. I arrived around midnight and when checking into the hotel, again they had double booked my room and the radio room. This time it was Mad, W5MJ who was operating. As he was mostly interested in operating the low bands and had difficulties to make QSO’s due to the high QRM level, he offered me to operate. This again was great and during my short stay I still could run some nice pile ups.