9 May 2019
There are 40 double-folded TX0M QSL cards left. If you are interested in one, please request it directly sooner rather than later, to ensure that you will receive it.
19 February 2019
All direct QSL requests received by this morning have been replied. QSL cards have been mailed late this afternoon. We wish to use this opportunity to thank, once again, everyone who supported this ambitious project.
14 February 2019
QSL cards arrived from the printing house, and I will reply in the coming days to all the direct requests received.
15 January 2019
The QSL designs have been finalized by Alfio (IT9EJW) on January 11, and the printing order is in the queue. It will take about a week for the cards to be printed, and a few more days to dry before being packed and shipped here. Postal delivery will require another 2-3 weeks. Consequently, no QSL cards will be mailed to chasers until sometimes in February. Check the news section for further updates.
21 December 2018 - 22:30 UTC
We returned back home late on Dec 19 (Adrian) and by 1 am on Dec 20 (Cezar). Our flight from Rikitea to Tahiti was delayed by more than three hours, and at some point we were actually told by the airline that the flight will be postponed for the next day. We arrived in Tahiti just under two hours prior to the departure of the flight to San Francisco. I had to wait for my host in Tahiti to bring me the large suitcase I left with him, in which I placed the two pelican cases with equipment. We checked-in and cleared customs with little time to spare. My flight from San Francisco to Toronto landed timely, at 8 pm local time. It was a tough race to catch the bus to Kingston, which I did with only 3 minutes to spare!
I would like to thank everyone who helped us bring this project to life. In particular, we wish to thank the skipper Jean-Yves and his wife Sandrine, as well as Bernard, whose assistance with landing and leaving logistics was absolutely critical. Johan is graciously acknowledged for his tireless effort in relaying us messages from various stations, and posting updates on this website. As a final note, the radio operation was by far easier than landing and leaving the atolls. Both stations operated with 500W, while one of them would be sometimes running 750W. While we experienced total lack of propagation during a few hours of daylight, the torrid temperature made it impossible for us to sleep for even a second. As such, we invariably got tired at night. Both Adrian and I fell asleep in front of the radio a few times, after picking up a callsign and giving out a report. I recall that when I woke up a few minutes later the respective station was still calling us, desperately, most certainly confused as to what must have happened, hi. Small mosquitoes and nonos (tiny, worse than mosquitoes) were relentless at all times, while hermit crabs were constantly 'attaching' us inside our tent during night time. We often had to stand up and clean the inside of the tent, because going back to the rig.
As we enable the Club Log's OQRS, please note that our donors will receive their QSL cards directly, obviously in due course. Meanwhile, we ask them to transmit us their QSO data, for proper validation, by using the bureau request via Club Log. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the QSL manager at [email protected].
19 December 2018 - 0 UTC
We went QRT from Maria Est on Dec 16 at 16 UTC. We started immediately to take down the antennae, pack the equipment, disassemble the tents and attempt leaving by the same place we came in.
Before we finished packing, we were told by our helper and the skipper that because of the high ocean swell at our NE location on the atoll, we won't be able to use that entrance to leave the atoll through it. Instead, we had to carry everything, under a scorching sun, first about 200 m down to the dinghy, push it through the thin water of the respective hoa we used to come up to the lagoon, go across it in the dinghy, disembark there, carry our stuff about 500 m of extremely rough, uneven reef, park it there until we were able to carry the dinghy, lifting it over the reef, then carry the stuff to the dinghy for another 200 m through the partly submerged reef, load the dinghy while someone had to hold it firmly, against the oncoming ocean swell and waves, and finally drive it to the yacht. Not once, but three times!
After we loaded the dinghy for the first trip to the yacht, the engine refused to start, and as the waves started to push it dangerously close to the edge of the reef, we were relieved when the skipper took one of the paddles and started to fight the ocean hard. He was soon at safe distance. Phew! Everyone was on board the yacht by 1 AM UTC on Dec 17, after a very long day of hard, tough work.
We arrived in Rikitea about 15 hours later, and used the time to rest and then prepare for the flight home.
16 December 2018 - 0 UTC
We logged 4300 QSOs with just a little over 3000 stations in 78 DXCC. QSOs with NA 46%, EU 29%, AS 21%, SA 3%, OC 3%, AF < 1%. SSB 6%, and CW 94%. Our departing schedule is dictated by the high tide and we must be completely out of here by no later than 21 UTC. We must QRT by 16 UTC to pack everything up, and do several transports to the boat.
15 December 2018 - 08:30 UTC
3200 QSOs, 2255 unique callsigns, 72 DXCC. Regarding QSOs, we have 46% NA, 28% EU, 18% AS, etc. This results are mostly due to the change in propagation conditions.
We will focus a lot more on AS during our last days here.
It rained a lot, but when the sun comes through the clouds, it is painfully hot – baking us mercilessly during the day. There is some breeze in the evening, allowing us to recover a bit. There were no mosquitoes on Morane, but there is plenty on Maria Est.
All equipment is in excellent condition, so everything works as originally planed
13 December 2018 - 16:30 UTC
EU signals are often low or under high QRN. Also we are fighting with a very strong radar at times on 30 & 40 m. It takes time to pick up a call, and then we notice quite often that it was the third band where that station worked us. Also, many NA stations calling when we ask for EU and when we decide to pick up a few, many of them were dupes. Very disappointing operating practice.
13 December 2018 - 08:00 UTC
The team would kindly ask the IOTA chasers and DXers to refrain from working us on every band and mode. We understand it's their right, but we are looking for those who never logged us from this IOTA group. We hope that everyone will kindly give more IOTA chasers a chance to put this very rare one in the log. At times, we may explicitly request ‘new stns’ to underline this. We appreciate everyone's cooperation.
12 December 2018 - 18:30 UTC
The rain was very intense all night long. We had to dry ourselves out in the morning, set up the antennas, the second tent, keep drying things out, eat something, and now testing all the equipment. It shouldn't be long now before we get on the air. We'll obviously be on 17 and 20 m.
12 December 2018 - 07:30 UTC
Both generators are now running fine. Waiting for a little brake in the rain, while setting up our equipment. If the rain doesn't show any sign of slowing down, will go and attempt setting the antennae up under it.
12 December 2018 - 06:30 UTC
We landed fine, but it was a lot of work. Once we finished the transports, the rain started, and the night fell. Had finally put one tent up, but the extension cords with power strips got completely wet, had to be opened by force and cleaned. We wanted to install just one gen tonight, but couldn't start it at first. We're working on it, but took a brake, since the rain is pouring. We haven't installed the antennae yet, but hope that the rain will stop for just a few minutes. We are completely soaked, but once we have the generator running, our morale will improve.
11 December 2018 - 20:00 UTC
The weather improved suddenly yesterday. Our friend Bernard, a knowledgeable Mangarevian was able to find a good spot in the coral wall for the skipper to take us and the equipment back to the yacht. We were able to get safely on the yacht and started navigating right away to TX0A.
Long story short: the skipper and his friend (who lives in the Gambier islands) assessed the situation and concluded that the wind won't change over the next day, so we won't be able to leave how we came, even a day later, so they came with a plan to find a place to leave the atoll on the opposite part, over the lagoon! It was very challenging, but successful. As such, we are now back on the original schedule! We can be tracked, so everyone should be able to see us approaching Maria Est. We don't know exactly the landing conditions, but we'll try out best to land if we can do all the transports in daytime.
Landing conditions are critical though, and we must be during the high tide, but hopefully not during just the highest tide window, which is only 45 min long. It takes four transports to bring everything to the island, and the forecast says that it will rain. This may slow us down a bit, because we cannot install antennas at the same time with the tents. We must have the tents up first and open all equipment boxes inside. If everything goes well, we hope to be QRV by 5 UTC on Dec 12. If so, we'll be on 30 & 40 m.
10 December 2018 - 15:30 UTC
Important update: we had very strong wind all day yesterday and into this morning. As such, we cannot leave the atoll today. We hope that the wind will calm down this evening, so that we can depart tomorrow. 7300 QSOs with 99 DXCC and 4600 unique stations.
10 December 2018 - 05:30 UTC
We had very strong winds today and torrential rain, in several episodes. Managed to hold on to the operating tent, and kept equipment from getting wet. We'll be on 30 & 40 m from 3 to 13 UTC, then on 20 m, until shutdown.
8 December 2018 - 17:30 UTC
Last night we stayed for EU on 20 until 11:30 UTC but worked only 2 EU… We will move tonight first to 30 and then to 20. EU came ver strong on 40 m, but later in the night we had a ver strong radar, making the copy difficult. Have 4600 QSOs with NA 37%, AS 31%, EU 27%, OC 3%, SA 2%. Worked 84 DXCC and 3040 unique stations.
7 December 2018 - 16:30 UTC
It is extremely hot here, but we have everything we need and are in good spirits. We have now 3000 QSOs in the log.
The plan is to end operations from TX0M on December 10 at 20:00UTC. If all goes well we hope to start operating from TX0A on December 12 around 05:00UTC. The operation from TX0A will probably end on December 16 around 20UTC.
20M was unfortunately not too kind to EU. We will keep checking but we will be on 30M & 40M daily looking for EU.
6 December 2018 - 05:30 UTC
TX0M is active.
4 December 2018 - 23:30 UTC
We are on the boat. All OK so far. Departing right away to Morane Atoll. So, first operation will be TX0M.
4 December 2018 - 17:30 UTC
We boarded the plane to Mangareva with all our luggage of 100 kg!
3 December 2018 - 06:30 UTC
Just landed in Papeete. At 8:30 pm local time it is 31C, and feels hot. All luggage arrived in good condition. Our host for the next two nights awaited for us on the airport, and we were able to reach our residence shortly. His house is high up on the volcanic hills, offering a very nice view of the central Papeete, the commercial harbour, and the surrounding Pacific Ocean.
2 December 2018 - 22 UTC
Flight from San Francisco to Papeete departed as scheduled, and we are on our way to French Polynesia. Chasers can track us now by going to the Track Us section.
2 December 2018 - 12:20 UTC
I drove from home to the Toronto airport on a torrential rain, but it with little the Toronto airport on a torrential rain, but it with little traffic so early morning. Adrian has already boarded his flight from New York to San Francisco, which must be now ready to take off. I am now in front of the gate, ready for boarding my flight to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 13 UTC.
25 November 2018
Time flew very fast, and we have less than a week before boarding our flight to Tahiti. Our skipper has already arrived in Rikitea, and is waiting for us to get there soon.
All the radio equipment components have been inspected, tested, and carefully packed. Additionally, everything else we are taking with us was cross-checked and packed too. Since our luggage allowance on the Air Tahiti flight from Papeete to Rikitea is limited, we eliminated everything redundant, but kept all the components indicated on the equipment section of this website, including the spares. Overall luggage weight remains well above our allowance, so we'll have to do our best to ensure that everything will accompany us to Rikitea! No pressure, of course, hi.
We invite all IOTA chasers to check this website periodically for possible updates. Please note that any posts between Dec 4 and 18 will be made through Johan's (PA3EXX) assistance, our pilot station. If you have any message for us, please forward it to Johan, and he will ensure that is delivered.
We wish to use this opportunity to express once again our deepest gratitude to all the group and individual sponsors of this ambitious project!
31 October 2018
After the website was visited by a few thousands of hams from 59 DXCCs, we decided to change how traffic is tracked. This decision explains the current low figures in the view counter.
26 October 2018
In just a little over 5 weeks, we will head down to French Polynesia for the challenging activation of these rare IOTA groups. Time flies quickly now, as we try our best to calmly hold our excitement in check as we prepare in intimate detail how best to reach the atolls.
The landing plan consists of two stages. In the first stage, the two of us will occupy one of the zodiacs, in which we need to secure the radio equipment, power components, and camping gear. This zodiac will be tracked close to the reef by a second zodiac, manoeuvred by the skipper. From there, the second part of the landing will require that we paddle hard to go across the reef, trying to be in synch with the incoming waves, keeping the boat well balanced. We will obviously scout in advance for the best location to undertake it, hoping for a low ocean swell, with little to no wind.
In order to best mitigate the hazards, we will wear diving suits and gloves, as well as hiking boots. I think that it will be necessary to take at least two trips in order to bring all the radio, power, and camping equipment to the atoll. Depending on the actual sealed drums available, we may leave some spare radio components on the yacht, at least one rig and one antenna, maybe one generator too.
We are grateful to those who have already provided us with financial support. At a price-tag of $28.5k, if we can resell the power components upon our return in Rikitea, this is truly a very costly endeavour. Since French Polynesia ranks low among the Most Wanted DXCC, we know that virtually all the support will come from the IOTA community. Consequently, we are looking for more island chasers, particularly from EU and NA, who are willing to help us out. We need your assistance!
14 October 2018
We are please to announce an IOTA Expedition to the remote Acteon and Morane Groups, in the southeastern French Polynesia, during the first part of December 2018. The licensing authority have graciously approved the special callsigns TX0A and TX0M, which we had requested for radio activity from each of these groups, respectively.
There are 40 double-folded TX0M QSL cards left. If you are interested in one, please request it directly sooner rather than later, to ensure that you will receive it.
19 February 2019
All direct QSL requests received by this morning have been replied. QSL cards have been mailed late this afternoon. We wish to use this opportunity to thank, once again, everyone who supported this ambitious project.
14 February 2019
QSL cards arrived from the printing house, and I will reply in the coming days to all the direct requests received.
15 January 2019
The QSL designs have been finalized by Alfio (IT9EJW) on January 11, and the printing order is in the queue. It will take about a week for the cards to be printed, and a few more days to dry before being packed and shipped here. Postal delivery will require another 2-3 weeks. Consequently, no QSL cards will be mailed to chasers until sometimes in February. Check the news section for further updates.
21 December 2018 - 22:30 UTC
We returned back home late on Dec 19 (Adrian) and by 1 am on Dec 20 (Cezar). Our flight from Rikitea to Tahiti was delayed by more than three hours, and at some point we were actually told by the airline that the flight will be postponed for the next day. We arrived in Tahiti just under two hours prior to the departure of the flight to San Francisco. I had to wait for my host in Tahiti to bring me the large suitcase I left with him, in which I placed the two pelican cases with equipment. We checked-in and cleared customs with little time to spare. My flight from San Francisco to Toronto landed timely, at 8 pm local time. It was a tough race to catch the bus to Kingston, which I did with only 3 minutes to spare!
I would like to thank everyone who helped us bring this project to life. In particular, we wish to thank the skipper Jean-Yves and his wife Sandrine, as well as Bernard, whose assistance with landing and leaving logistics was absolutely critical. Johan is graciously acknowledged for his tireless effort in relaying us messages from various stations, and posting updates on this website. As a final note, the radio operation was by far easier than landing and leaving the atolls. Both stations operated with 500W, while one of them would be sometimes running 750W. While we experienced total lack of propagation during a few hours of daylight, the torrid temperature made it impossible for us to sleep for even a second. As such, we invariably got tired at night. Both Adrian and I fell asleep in front of the radio a few times, after picking up a callsign and giving out a report. I recall that when I woke up a few minutes later the respective station was still calling us, desperately, most certainly confused as to what must have happened, hi. Small mosquitoes and nonos (tiny, worse than mosquitoes) were relentless at all times, while hermit crabs were constantly 'attaching' us inside our tent during night time. We often had to stand up and clean the inside of the tent, because going back to the rig.
As we enable the Club Log's OQRS, please note that our donors will receive their QSL cards directly, obviously in due course. Meanwhile, we ask them to transmit us their QSO data, for proper validation, by using the bureau request via Club Log. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the QSL manager at [email protected].
19 December 2018 - 0 UTC
We went QRT from Maria Est on Dec 16 at 16 UTC. We started immediately to take down the antennae, pack the equipment, disassemble the tents and attempt leaving by the same place we came in.
Before we finished packing, we were told by our helper and the skipper that because of the high ocean swell at our NE location on the atoll, we won't be able to use that entrance to leave the atoll through it. Instead, we had to carry everything, under a scorching sun, first about 200 m down to the dinghy, push it through the thin water of the respective hoa we used to come up to the lagoon, go across it in the dinghy, disembark there, carry our stuff about 500 m of extremely rough, uneven reef, park it there until we were able to carry the dinghy, lifting it over the reef, then carry the stuff to the dinghy for another 200 m through the partly submerged reef, load the dinghy while someone had to hold it firmly, against the oncoming ocean swell and waves, and finally drive it to the yacht. Not once, but three times!
After we loaded the dinghy for the first trip to the yacht, the engine refused to start, and as the waves started to push it dangerously close to the edge of the reef, we were relieved when the skipper took one of the paddles and started to fight the ocean hard. He was soon at safe distance. Phew! Everyone was on board the yacht by 1 AM UTC on Dec 17, after a very long day of hard, tough work.
We arrived in Rikitea about 15 hours later, and used the time to rest and then prepare for the flight home.
16 December 2018 - 0 UTC
We logged 4300 QSOs with just a little over 3000 stations in 78 DXCC. QSOs with NA 46%, EU 29%, AS 21%, SA 3%, OC 3%, AF < 1%. SSB 6%, and CW 94%. Our departing schedule is dictated by the high tide and we must be completely out of here by no later than 21 UTC. We must QRT by 16 UTC to pack everything up, and do several transports to the boat.
15 December 2018 - 08:30 UTC
3200 QSOs, 2255 unique callsigns, 72 DXCC. Regarding QSOs, we have 46% NA, 28% EU, 18% AS, etc. This results are mostly due to the change in propagation conditions.
We will focus a lot more on AS during our last days here.
It rained a lot, but when the sun comes through the clouds, it is painfully hot – baking us mercilessly during the day. There is some breeze in the evening, allowing us to recover a bit. There were no mosquitoes on Morane, but there is plenty on Maria Est.
All equipment is in excellent condition, so everything works as originally planed
13 December 2018 - 16:30 UTC
EU signals are often low or under high QRN. Also we are fighting with a very strong radar at times on 30 & 40 m. It takes time to pick up a call, and then we notice quite often that it was the third band where that station worked us. Also, many NA stations calling when we ask for EU and when we decide to pick up a few, many of them were dupes. Very disappointing operating practice.
13 December 2018 - 08:00 UTC
The team would kindly ask the IOTA chasers and DXers to refrain from working us on every band and mode. We understand it's their right, but we are looking for those who never logged us from this IOTA group. We hope that everyone will kindly give more IOTA chasers a chance to put this very rare one in the log. At times, we may explicitly request ‘new stns’ to underline this. We appreciate everyone's cooperation.
12 December 2018 - 18:30 UTC
The rain was very intense all night long. We had to dry ourselves out in the morning, set up the antennas, the second tent, keep drying things out, eat something, and now testing all the equipment. It shouldn't be long now before we get on the air. We'll obviously be on 17 and 20 m.
12 December 2018 - 07:30 UTC
Both generators are now running fine. Waiting for a little brake in the rain, while setting up our equipment. If the rain doesn't show any sign of slowing down, will go and attempt setting the antennae up under it.
12 December 2018 - 06:30 UTC
We landed fine, but it was a lot of work. Once we finished the transports, the rain started, and the night fell. Had finally put one tent up, but the extension cords with power strips got completely wet, had to be opened by force and cleaned. We wanted to install just one gen tonight, but couldn't start it at first. We're working on it, but took a brake, since the rain is pouring. We haven't installed the antennae yet, but hope that the rain will stop for just a few minutes. We are completely soaked, but once we have the generator running, our morale will improve.
11 December 2018 - 20:00 UTC
The weather improved suddenly yesterday. Our friend Bernard, a knowledgeable Mangarevian was able to find a good spot in the coral wall for the skipper to take us and the equipment back to the yacht. We were able to get safely on the yacht and started navigating right away to TX0A.
Long story short: the skipper and his friend (who lives in the Gambier islands) assessed the situation and concluded that the wind won't change over the next day, so we won't be able to leave how we came, even a day later, so they came with a plan to find a place to leave the atoll on the opposite part, over the lagoon! It was very challenging, but successful. As such, we are now back on the original schedule! We can be tracked, so everyone should be able to see us approaching Maria Est. We don't know exactly the landing conditions, but we'll try out best to land if we can do all the transports in daytime.
Landing conditions are critical though, and we must be during the high tide, but hopefully not during just the highest tide window, which is only 45 min long. It takes four transports to bring everything to the island, and the forecast says that it will rain. This may slow us down a bit, because we cannot install antennas at the same time with the tents. We must have the tents up first and open all equipment boxes inside. If everything goes well, we hope to be QRV by 5 UTC on Dec 12. If so, we'll be on 30 & 40 m.
10 December 2018 - 15:30 UTC
Important update: we had very strong wind all day yesterday and into this morning. As such, we cannot leave the atoll today. We hope that the wind will calm down this evening, so that we can depart tomorrow. 7300 QSOs with 99 DXCC and 4600 unique stations.
10 December 2018 - 05:30 UTC
We had very strong winds today and torrential rain, in several episodes. Managed to hold on to the operating tent, and kept equipment from getting wet. We'll be on 30 & 40 m from 3 to 13 UTC, then on 20 m, until shutdown.
8 December 2018 - 17:30 UTC
Last night we stayed for EU on 20 until 11:30 UTC but worked only 2 EU… We will move tonight first to 30 and then to 20. EU came ver strong on 40 m, but later in the night we had a ver strong radar, making the copy difficult. Have 4600 QSOs with NA 37%, AS 31%, EU 27%, OC 3%, SA 2%. Worked 84 DXCC and 3040 unique stations.
7 December 2018 - 16:30 UTC
It is extremely hot here, but we have everything we need and are in good spirits. We have now 3000 QSOs in the log.
The plan is to end operations from TX0M on December 10 at 20:00UTC. If all goes well we hope to start operating from TX0A on December 12 around 05:00UTC. The operation from TX0A will probably end on December 16 around 20UTC.
20M was unfortunately not too kind to EU. We will keep checking but we will be on 30M & 40M daily looking for EU.
6 December 2018 - 05:30 UTC
TX0M is active.
4 December 2018 - 23:30 UTC
We are on the boat. All OK so far. Departing right away to Morane Atoll. So, first operation will be TX0M.
4 December 2018 - 17:30 UTC
We boarded the plane to Mangareva with all our luggage of 100 kg!
3 December 2018 - 06:30 UTC
Just landed in Papeete. At 8:30 pm local time it is 31C, and feels hot. All luggage arrived in good condition. Our host for the next two nights awaited for us on the airport, and we were able to reach our residence shortly. His house is high up on the volcanic hills, offering a very nice view of the central Papeete, the commercial harbour, and the surrounding Pacific Ocean.
2 December 2018 - 22 UTC
Flight from San Francisco to Papeete departed as scheduled, and we are on our way to French Polynesia. Chasers can track us now by going to the Track Us section.
2 December 2018 - 12:20 UTC
I drove from home to the Toronto airport on a torrential rain, but it with little the Toronto airport on a torrential rain, but it with little traffic so early morning. Adrian has already boarded his flight from New York to San Francisco, which must be now ready to take off. I am now in front of the gate, ready for boarding my flight to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 13 UTC.
25 November 2018
Time flew very fast, and we have less than a week before boarding our flight to Tahiti. Our skipper has already arrived in Rikitea, and is waiting for us to get there soon.
All the radio equipment components have been inspected, tested, and carefully packed. Additionally, everything else we are taking with us was cross-checked and packed too. Since our luggage allowance on the Air Tahiti flight from Papeete to Rikitea is limited, we eliminated everything redundant, but kept all the components indicated on the equipment section of this website, including the spares. Overall luggage weight remains well above our allowance, so we'll have to do our best to ensure that everything will accompany us to Rikitea! No pressure, of course, hi.
We invite all IOTA chasers to check this website periodically for possible updates. Please note that any posts between Dec 4 and 18 will be made through Johan's (PA3EXX) assistance, our pilot station. If you have any message for us, please forward it to Johan, and he will ensure that is delivered.
We wish to use this opportunity to express once again our deepest gratitude to all the group and individual sponsors of this ambitious project!
31 October 2018
After the website was visited by a few thousands of hams from 59 DXCCs, we decided to change how traffic is tracked. This decision explains the current low figures in the view counter.
26 October 2018
In just a little over 5 weeks, we will head down to French Polynesia for the challenging activation of these rare IOTA groups. Time flies quickly now, as we try our best to calmly hold our excitement in check as we prepare in intimate detail how best to reach the atolls.
The landing plan consists of two stages. In the first stage, the two of us will occupy one of the zodiacs, in which we need to secure the radio equipment, power components, and camping gear. This zodiac will be tracked close to the reef by a second zodiac, manoeuvred by the skipper. From there, the second part of the landing will require that we paddle hard to go across the reef, trying to be in synch with the incoming waves, keeping the boat well balanced. We will obviously scout in advance for the best location to undertake it, hoping for a low ocean swell, with little to no wind.
In order to best mitigate the hazards, we will wear diving suits and gloves, as well as hiking boots. I think that it will be necessary to take at least two trips in order to bring all the radio, power, and camping equipment to the atoll. Depending on the actual sealed drums available, we may leave some spare radio components on the yacht, at least one rig and one antenna, maybe one generator too.
We are grateful to those who have already provided us with financial support. At a price-tag of $28.5k, if we can resell the power components upon our return in Rikitea, this is truly a very costly endeavour. Since French Polynesia ranks low among the Most Wanted DXCC, we know that virtually all the support will come from the IOTA community. Consequently, we are looking for more island chasers, particularly from EU and NA, who are willing to help us out. We need your assistance!
14 October 2018
We are please to announce an IOTA Expedition to the remote Acteon and Morane Groups, in the southeastern French Polynesia, during the first part of December 2018. The licensing authority have graciously approved the special callsigns TX0A and TX0M, which we had requested for radio activity from each of these groups, respectively.
