JJ5IZX !!

20150222 Z81X(South Sudan) on 10m CW

Z81X

South Sudan

Radio Arcala Adventures 2013
Mission Goodwill South Sudan
Juba
South Sudan

QSL: OH0XX

Page managed by OH0XX Lookups: 149251

20150222 1409UTC 28070.3kHz Z81X

Date : 22/Feb/2015 1409UTC
Freq : 28070.3kHz CW
Rig : SDR(PI4THT)
ANT : Mini-Whip(PAORDT)
PC recording

Radio Arcala Adventures 2013

;

; K6SSS story

Juba, South Sudan, November,25,2013

LIFE IS GOOD IN SOUTH SUDAN AFTER CONTEST WEEKEND

Now that the CQWW CW contest is over, life is getting back to normal in this African Republic. The two local hosts, Z81B and Z81D, have embarked on trips abroad, leaving the Missionary team in charge of wrapping up their duties before heading home tomorrow Tuesday. As a thunderstorm hit the area yesterday at dawn, there went their beverages for the night. The wires were running outside the guarded area and thus there was no way to repair them last night. Apologies for last night with no RX antennas and with high atmospheric noise which left many calling in vain... So, with a fresh mind the team has now repaired the western beverage and will reappear tonight still with three stations -160, 80 and 30M.
The contest effort on four bands resulted in 9000 QSOs. Kindly follow the individual QRZ.com sites for Z81R and Z81Z for further QSLing instructions. The plan is to have ClubLog updated before 0000 UTC tonight.
The team is healthy and in high spirits but also looking forward to returning home for a reunion with their dear ones ahead of a well deserved Christmas Season.
The team departed Tuesday, 26th at 1500 UTC to Nairobi, Kenya and back to Europe. Diya, Z81D is left with an 80M vertical plus a new FTdx3000 and Acom 1000 to boost his activity on all bands but specifically on 80M. DX will be plentiful from South Sudan.

Juba, South Sudan, November,21,2013

LIFE ENTERS ROUTINE PHASE AT Z81X IN SOUTH SUDAN

As it is still the end of the rainy season on the Equator in Africa, members of the gang at Z81X have been spared many potential problems. With only a few rain showers experienced, main outdoor activities were completed in record time, and no rain or mud is bothering further efforts. But even more important, mosquitos spreading malaria are few and far between. However, team members use mosquito nets --- to keep out mosquitos during the night hours. Agreement was reached on power, and nighttime juice is now available with extra compensation agreed for the cost of fuel. Also, with some private space added, life is now so much better than at the outset.
Regarding the radio mission, initial low-band (160 and 80M) targets - 1500 and 2500 QSOs respectively - are exceeded with a total of 933 USA and 595 JA QSOs on those two bands, but every effort will be made to push the numbers even higher tonight before contest traffic takes over all bands on CW.
During the contest weekend, the team will have two dedicated stations with a focus on 80 and 40M SSB and the still much needed 30 and 17/12M. Keep an eye on those bands as the Z81X crew will keep running there DXpedition style.
The CQWW CW contest will see the team making three (3) single-band entries for your Zone 34 multiplier pleasure:
Z81R by OH2PM on 10M, via OH2BH
Z81X by OH0XX on 15M, via OH0XX
Z81Z by DL3DXX on 40M, via K4ZW
As these efforts are only semi-serious, you shouldn't be surprised to see one of the Z8s appear on other bands as well.
There will be pictures available of this operation on the Z81X QRZ.com page later today.
Following the weekend, site teardown will start on Monday and the team will be heading home on Tuesday.
Best regards from the newest African country, the Republic of South Sudan.

NEWS FROM SOUTH SUDAN, SUNDAY 17-NOV-2013 What a wonderful occasion it was when twenty-one Ministry of Telecommunication and Postal Services administrators, led by Director General Meshack Madol Yol, arrived for a full-day Amateur Radio training session organized by International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) R1 and Radio Arcala s Mission Goodwill South Sudan. The session was conducted by Hans, PB2T, IARU R1 President together with Wayne, N7NG and Martti, OH2BH. The memorable occasion took place at the European Union compound in the capital Juba. A joint working group was formed and the day was capped with the interview by local broadcasters in the nation's capital. The program is sponsored by IARU R1, ARRL, EUDXF, DX University and YASME Foundation. The next day and with some 600 QSOs under his belt, Hans departed to resume his subsequent duties at ITU in Geneva.
The low-band operation also got underway for the first night with no receiving antennas but 160M and 80M verticals gave a good start, with a full footprint for the United States and the first 50 JA station logged on the first shot indicating the same for the Far East. Now both directions are also covered by beverages. It is now expected that 160, 80 and 30M will be active every night on CW for the next six days and then providing an 80M SSB toward the weekend.
The team of Dietmar, DL3DXX; Wayne, N7NG; Pertti, OH2PM; Olli, OH0XX, Martti, OH2BH and Veijo, OH6KN with valuable support from Diay, Z81D and Massimo, Z81B are at the controls.
They use three Yaesu FTdx3000s with no interaction between the bands in operation. Yaesu is their radio provider while Acom and Italian SPE amps are employed on the low bands.
With the low-band QSO total now exceeding 2000, it is also noted that both nights were different with regard to the overall propagation profile. Therefore one bad night may be followed by a good night, requiring a sharp ear and great patience. So far the split is Europe 67%, NA 19% and ASIA 13%.

Helsinki, November, 13.2013 from N7NG/OH2

THE Z81X GROUP IS DEPARTING TODAY, WEDNESDAY AT 11UTC

The group consists of DL3DXX, N7NG, PB2T, OH0XX, OH2BH, OH2PM and OH6KN.
Upon their arrival they will team up with Z81B and Z81D and start doing two projects simultaneously. They will set up their low-band antenna field and start a series of workshops for the government of South Sudan.
At least on one station should be operational by late Friday evening. Their selected low-band operating frequencies are 1826.5 KHz and 3523 KHz.
On the other house-hold bands 7MHz thru 28MHz you can find them at suitable portions of those bands. Check Internet spotting for current frequencies.
As the operation will be running for two-weeks, SSB operation on low-bands will come on-line later during the stay – specifically during the 2nd weekend with CQWW on CW. During the contest there may be as many as three single- band stations activated.
OQRS is functional at Z81X at QRZ.com. All support for the high freight cost of the equipment will be highly appreciated.
Z81X QSL via OH0XX

Helsinki, Finland, October 23, 2013

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN, Z81X

A multinational group of Dietmar, DL3DXX; Wayne, N7NG; Hans, PB2T; Olli, OH0XX; Martti, OH2BH; Pertti, OH2PM and Veijo, OH6KN and Tevfik, TA1HZ (team doctor) will be in Juba, South Sudan from November 14 to 28, 2013 and will activate Z81X with an emphasis on low bands, 160m and 80m. The period includes the CQWW CW contest with some single-band entries and low-band SSB focus during the contest weekend.
Hosted by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the group led by Hans, PB2T, President of IARU R1, will conduct a series of workshops and establish a sound amateur radio spectrum management regime and related regulations. It will also introduce Amateur Radio to Ministry of Education. Also participating in these efforts are two local amateurs; Massimo, Z81B (IZ0EGB) and Diya, Z81D (YI1DZ). This part of the program is supported by Yasme Foundation Inc.
The plan is to activate three FTDx3000 stations & amps and low-band verticals and beverage antennas. Two different radio locations may be used. The operation will be generator based.
Z81X team will use their QRZ.com pages for providing further updates and recognizing their supporters with Vlad, UA6JD as their webmaster.
The Z81X Project Goodwill South Sudan is organized jointly by Radio Arcala, DX University, IARU Region 1 and Rock City Investments Co., and the equipment sponsor is Yaesu Musen Co. Ltd of Japan.
In support of the DX University we will observe specific relationships between pileup behavior and operator technique. Additional information will be available before the expedition begins.
The highest cost item is equipment transport, with courier service the only reliable means of transportation. The group welcomes support from individuals, clubs and foundations to offset some of the high equipment transport expenses. You may contact any of the group members for your potential support or use Paypal at Z81X QRZ.com.
Z81X QSL via OH0XX

Helsinki, Finland, May 15, 2013

PROJECT GOODWILL SOUTH SUDAN INTERIM REPORT – Z81X

As part of the April 2, 2013 visit to South Sudan by a delegation headed by the Foreign Minister of Finland, several supporting elements were discussed. Just three weeks later, following a series of meetings focusing on practical matters in Juba, there was a high-level presentation, with relevant endorsements, made to the South Sudan government. The presentation was made with a view toward enlisting support on telecommunications matters in general and Amateur Radio’s role in society in particular. Ultimately, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed specifying several elements of Amateur Radio as a study case for local administrators. These elements include Amateur Radio’s role in society, frequency allocations, regulatory matters and promotion of Amateur Radio as part of an educational agenda. The MoU calls for a workshop to be held for the senior staff of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services. Members of the Ministry of Higher Education and the Research and Technology agency will also attend the workshop.
In early June, a senior South Sudan telecommunications official will attend an IARU Administrator’s Course in Accra, Ghana to observe ITU and IARU. This travel will be made possible thanks to the valuable support of the Yasme Foundation www.yasme.org
As Amateur Radio is only provisionally regulated in South Sudan, the Radio Arcala Fellowship Group of Finland, OH8X, was granted a provisional license – Z81X – to facilitate operating events during visits by the project representatives. We expect that Z81X will be activated several times during the course of this project, notably on low bands and in CQWW Contests.
Just today, the initial Z81X activity, with one radio only, was concluded with more than 20.000 QSOs. QSOs were split evenly between the three major population areas of the world - Europe 8693 (43%), North America 5774 (29%) and Asia 5162 (26%). The Finnish duo - Olli, OH0XX and Martti, OH2BH - has now returned to their native Finland.
As the entire project is carried out on a voluntary basis, the group will accept donations to be used solely for offsetting direct project expenses incurred in South Sudan. ClubLog OQRS is now active for QSL requests (bureau or direct) and project support..
We are pleased to acknowledge the support of Mr Pekka Haavisto, the Finnish Foreign Minister’s Special Representative to the Horn of Africa and Sudan. We also acknowledge the supporting efforts of Mr. Amul Behera of Rock City Investments, Juba, Dr Anu Kantele of Helsinki University Central Hospital, Massimo, Z81B (IZ0EGB), Diya, Z81D (YI1DZ) and Ken, Z81Z (K4ZW) for supporting the project and welcoming the latest country of the world to the valued ranks of Amateur Radio.
Z81X QSL manager is OH0XX

Wednesday, May,8th, 2013 SEARCH FOR POST OFFICE AND FINDING MINT STAMPS Sometimes we take for granted the practices, services and cultures we live with. But it is educational to be faced with different cultures and practices – they make you more adaptive to whatever lies ahead in life. While in the latest new country of the world, we experienced many wonderful moments that may be worth sharing with our friends and radio folks.
It would be nice to send a postcard home when visiting a faraway distant land. We decided to ask our driver to take us to buy some stamps and perhaps a few nice postcards to delight the folks back home.

But we ended up at a place we had not expected – a rubber stamp shop. When we mentioned postage stamps, it turned out that those did not exist, nor any postal services as such. When we enquired about sending mail to a foreign country, the answer was short and simple: use FedEx. And indeed, thinking about future trends even in our own countries, we are inclined to give less and less thought to our post offices or their services. Discussing our mission at the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services (MOTPS) that we called at regularly, it turned out that they had designed an initial series of postage stamps but these were only partially released as the country’s coat of arms was still under development. So, a deal was done and we bought the remaining stamps to treasure as potential collector's items. Not in every country have we have bought up the very first release of stamps or exhausted the country’s stamp inventory.
So, the stamp here is featured as the very first one – dedicated to President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan.
Z81X activity continues as Olli, OH0XX is pumping out cw QSOs on several bands until next Monday, 13rd of May.

Monday,May 6, 2013 With 12K QSOs in the books, part of Sunday was devoted to some well deserved rest while Juba was hit by a heavy thunderstorm Monday night which kept the operators in bed and their radio disconnected. Monday's meeting with the Ministry folks suggested that the first phase of Mission Goodwill South Sudan 2013 will require more dayst than anticipated. Therefore Olli, OH0XX decided to extend his stay in South Sudan by another week and he will not be departing until May 13 - doing Mother's Day duties remotely next weekend.
The good news is that Olli can be found regularly on CW following peak propagation openings specifically to Japan and USA, others duties permitting. Here's a list of frequencies that will get you closer to those band pointers:
10107, 18075, 14030, 21030, 24895 and 28030 kHz
Martti left today for Nairobi (5Z4) and it is expected that the second phase of this project will bring Olli, Martti and others back to Juba within the next several months.
Prospects for Amateur Radio in South Sudan are looking good.

Friday, May,3rd, 2013 With the rainy season now underway, transportation of the Z81X team is taking up much more time as the team heads every morning to the Ministry of Telecommunications for various meetings and functions. Today Friday upon their return from Juba, the team members prepare for some rest and then increasing on-air activity at Z81X. Look for them at the peak propagation hours to all key areas of the world as they will try to ramp up their QSO total to reach 12K in a balanced way. As they are running a generator and are subject to thunderstorms almost every day, it is no surprise that power failures have occurred concurrent with voltage spikes. Earlier in the week, their solid-state KW amplifier was snuffed out and they were left with nothing in hand. Massimo, Z81B gave the Z81X crew a helping hand with a vintage KW1000 amp manufactured almost 50 years ago. But with a pair of 572Bs they are now receiving excellent reports from all over the globe. The radio they are running is a Yaesu FT-950.
As the rainy season may potentially bring malaria mosquitos into the region, the operators are sleeping in netted beds - looking almost like those in for a honeymoon experience. The beds are pink colored. This makes a huge contrast as the actual sleeping quarters are located in local huts of at least of 4 stars - not counting those twinkling in the sky here in this exciting Juba outpost.
The team's length of stay will be finalized after another meeting at the Ministry on Monday but it is expected that Z81X will remain active well into the coming week. More information is to follow. With the old amplifier now hooked up to the FT-950, there is no band position for operating 160M nor WARC bands, but it is possible that an inverted-L will be used on 80M. This late in the season, not much is heard on the low bands, and the rainy spell is not helping these efforts, either.
Operating continues as much as possible, but it needs to remembered that this is not an all-out DXpedition. The two ops do as much as they can with the time and equipment available. QSL via OH0XX. Moreover, OQRS will be set up soon and is expected to go online detailing the objectives of the overall mission.
Olli, OH0XX and Martti, OH2BH

April 24, 2013

Latest on South Sudan - Z81X on the air

New countries are born rarely these days but such is the case with the Republic of South Sudan (SS). Initial activity (STØR) from the newly created DXCC entity largely met worldwide demand for "a new one". That operation was followed by a handful of hams working in the country on behalf of humanitarian and other international organizations plus assisting their Ministry of Telecommunications. They include the Z81B, Z81D, Z81X, Z81Z activities.
Meanwhile, no full-fledged amateur radio infrastructure is yet established in South Sudan. This includes amateur radio regulations, licensing procedures and ways of calling on locals to get involved. Currently licensing is available only to individuals permanently based in South Sudan.
With these considerations in mind, Radio Arcala is undertaking an initiative to work closely with the local telecommunications administrators and provide them with assistance and a helping hand.
Olli, OH0XX and Martti, OH2BH are currently in Juba, the capital, and during their spare time they will also put the newly licensed Z81X on the air.
Mission Goodwill South Sudan is pleased to recognize the support of Mr. Pekka Haavisto M.P., Finnish Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and Sudan, who played important United Nations and European Union roles in the negotiating process leading toward South Sudan's independence.
We also wish to acknowledge the backing of the Embassy of South Sudan in Oslo, Norway and the valuable assistance provided by Jim, Z81A (K7QI), Massimo, Z81B (IZ0EGB), Diya, Z81D (YI1DZ) and Ken, Z81Z (K4ZW).
Z81X QSL via OH0XX

Team at Z81X from Fred, K6SSS I tuned up on 80 CW about 0320 GMT thinking your sunrise was about 0330 Z. Heard the pileup on 3.505, but did not hear Z81X. Knew it would be a victory just to be able to hear your callsign, but heard absolutely nothing. The frequency was very noisy, but then after about 5-10 minutes, thought I did hear you. The station was not sending as fast as I expected. Perhaps 20 WPM. So I listened and listened. The station was getting louder (peaking S-3), answering calls up 1-2. The entire USA was calling you -- W1, W4, W0, W7, W9.
Knew I had only one or two chances against that competition, since I no longer had the miniature 4-element I used for 20 years in the 1980s and '90s. So I called not 1 or 2, but 3 up. There were no stations calling that far up. It was a long, long shot but I had to risk it.
My only chance in a million. "K6SSS K6SSS K6SSS BK" "/*SSS*/" Did I hear my callsign? So replied "??? K6SSS ??? BK" Again I heard "/*K6SSS K6SSS*/" "R R QSL K6SSS 599 K6SSS BK" "/*K6SSS TU*/"
He confirmed my call. How was that possible in the middle of a giant pileup? With my terrible antenna? A miracle. It had to be a miracle!!
Antennas are strictly forbidden at my QTH, so I use a 15-meter spiral wire out the window to a pine tree in my front yard. It is #18 Copperweld and totally invisible from the garden. But it just transmitted my signal 14,607 kilometers to Juba. And the operator heard me !!!!!!!
What remarkable ears the operator must have !!! I was thunderstruck. I just sat there in a trance. In 60 years of DXing never has anything like this happened to me.
I stayed on the frequency for 5 more minutes, but Z81X faded out and I never heard him again. Only for about 90 seconds at 0343 GMT. Later I checked on the Internet and found that sunrise was not at 0330, but actually at 0342 GMT. There was only a one-minute peak that allowed us to QSO.
Again, my deep appreciation to the entire team for their enormous hard work, skill an determination to persevere on the low frequencies to give us the thrill of a lifetime and # 330 on 80 meters.
All I can say is that thanks to the Z81X team, they delivered a miracle, a true miracle. I'm still in shock. And probably will be for many months to come.
Congratulations again, and wishing you a safe journey home.
vy 73, Fred, K6SSS

;