- [VIDEO] –
Exclusive video shot by Vasily, R7AL for DX-WORLD readers showing the C93RRC QTH / shack and surrounding areas. Auto-generated transcript below video.
Hi, it’s Vasili R7AL, and this is the special video for DX World readers from Charlie 93, Radio, Radio Charlie QTH on Chiloane Island, Africa 098. So, this is our QDH. 17m VDA antenna and the other VDA for 15m are far, far away from here. QTH is an old fishing factory. Locals allowed us to operate from here. You can hear the power generator. The generator is not too well. This is a very old one and and we can operate only one station on 400 watts, and the second station barefoot, 100 watts. This is the QTH. I will show you inside. OK, this is the operators and Slav, Oscar Kilo 8 Alpha Uniform and Victor, Uniform Alpha 3 Queen Lima Charlie.So here we are on the island. Conditions Conditions more or less good here.
- [QRV] –
A few hours after reaching the island, C93RRC hit the airwaves. Again, similar to C94RRC, they were initially denied permission to operate by the local governor but after a 2 hour meeting with district chief’s they were allowed. So far activity has been on 30m FT8 and 28 CW. They plan to be on 15 & 17m CW later today. Audio recording by DX-WORLD.
- [JULY 14 @ 1915Z] –
Just received word that they are now on the island. C93RRC should be on air in coming hours.
- [JULY 14 @ 1530Z] –
After a very long road trip to the departure point for Chiloane island, the team are now on the way to AF-098. No word as yet on when they will be QRV.
- [JULY 13 @ 1445Z] –
A quick update from Vasily, R7AL to say the team departed AF-103 at 2am local time today. Not long ago they arrived in Marromeu (a town in central Mozambique on the south side of the Zambezi River.) Vasily goes on to say that the voyage against the Zambezi river current took ~10 hours. They are very tired, but continue their journey to Chiloane Island.
- [INITIAL INFO] – Russian DX Team members (OK8AU, UA3QLC, R7AL) will be active from Chiloane Island, AF-098 as C93RRC during July 13-19, 2025.
We have been planning this trip since 2022, but had to postpone each time due to the lack of logistics. Please note, that we are not giving any promises to anyone because it’s quite a difficult and risky project! The success of this activity will highly depend on many factors: road conditions, local assistance, etc. We’ll try to spend 6-7 days on the island, depending on local conditions.
NOTE: Chiloane is a tropical island in the Mozambique Channel. The highest elevation on the island reaches approx ~4 meters asl. It belongs to "Sofala District group” (AF-098) according to the IOTA directory. Activated only once (C93DY back in 2006), this IOTA group is in the Most Wanted List with only 19.5% credit. The island is even more isolated then AF-103 and is truly a tough nut for DXpeditioners!
