• [UPDATE] –

At the end of September, DX-World first published info about Paula’s (NX1P) activity from the Marquesas Islands. Here’s a new update from Paula via QRZ.com:

I activated Marquesas on the island of Hiva Oa. I found a spot high on the volcano facing north and looking out over the Pacific. My original plan was to operate 10 meters for as many hours as possible. However I did not have a place to stay, not even a tent. That meant setting up and tearing down each day, returning to my boat, then doing it all over again on Saturday. I was too burnt out to activate on Sunday. Basically two expeditions!

Station operating conditions were not much better. I had to operate from the back seat of a little 4×4 Suzuki Jimny with my laptop on my lap. My expedition key was magnetically fastened to the top of my IC7300. Total setup took 30 minutes and 20 minutes to tear down.

The station used the following equipment:

IC7300
Micro Winkey
MSI laptop
SG250 auto tuner
A modified Bravo vertical using the SG250 tuner
Honda 2K generator

The results were unexpectedly good. Ten meters was on fire Friday. Saturday the signals were down but there was no noise so I could use preamps. I operated a total of 8 hours. 2 hours on Friday as I got a late start and 6 hours on Saturday. Except for the final hour on Friday I had a continuos pile up. As this was a dx contest I couldn’t operate split so there was a lot of me repeating call signs to get over the pile up.

I worked 620 contacts, 23 zones and 36 countries.

This was a low power operation. search and pounce from my location was really not an option. Except for 3 contacts I was on a run frequency.

Log has been submitted and contacts uploaded to LoTW.

  • [SEPTEMBER 27] –

Paula, NX1P has been active recently (17 & 20CW) from Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands as FO/NX1P. She’s been sailing around that region for a few months, but has just landed ashore. She says:

Since September 25th I have been back on dry land for a few days. I have managed to rent a car and I operate my equipment from Hiva Oa for a few hours a day with my wire antenna submerged in the vegetation. I can hear fairly well, but few people can hear me.

More info here and here