| |
|
|
THE XF1K STORY PARAJOS ISLAND, SONORA STATE, MEXICO NA-166 (FEB 2004)
The IOTA Southern Sonora Group, NA-166, consists of a few small islands with very limited
access due to jurisdiction issues. This situation had made the group the most wanted in
North America. During his research on possible places to activate NA-166, Hector, XE2K,
discovered that an island off the Port of Guaymas should qualify. There are several
islands within the Bay of Guaymas, but Parajos (Bird) Island was well outside the confines
of the Bay. There are also no restrictions for landing. After assembling the required
documentation, Hector submitted them to the IOTA Committee. The Committee agreed that
Parajos qualified for NA-166. Knowing that the demand would be very high, Hector began
assembling a team of operators and submitted the required licensing proposals that would
be needed. Ray, N6VR, and Hector had assembled a core set of equipment that they had
used on previous XF1K operations. Fred, N6AWD, would again act as the QSL manager and
began to collect support from individuals and the IREF to offset some of the costs of
the operation.
Operation permits for island operations require there to be more Mexican operators than
non-Mexican. All non-Mexican operators must also have valid XE licenses. To fill out
the team, XE2TG - Marco, XE2Q - Gerardo and N6JV - Norm were invited to participate.
Marco, and Gerardo, live in Hermosillo, Sonora which is relatively close to Guaymas.
Inquiries were made with the local hams of Guaymas and a boat and support help were
promised. When Hector had received all the required documentation, the operation date
was set and final preparations began.
On Febuary 3, 2004, Norm met Ray at his QTH near Ventura, California and packed two
transceivers, antennas, batteries, generator and other gear. The next day at noon they
met Hector at his QTH in Mexicali, Baja California and packed the truck that Hector had
rented to haul most of the gear. After midnight, the initial crew arrived at a cottage
near Hermosillo, Sonora, which is owned by Marco and used as a second radio station.
After a nights sleep, they assembled at Marco's home in Hermosillo. Marco's truck was
packed with additional equipment and antennas and after picking up Gerardo, the team
convoyed to Guaymas. In Guaymas, gas, water and additional food was obtained and
everything moved to the Port where XE2TNT, XE2UCT, XE2TVV and his son, along with the
boat captain, Miguel Orozco, were assembled. As it was getting late in the afternoon,
the trucks were quickly unloaded and all the gear was loaded into the boat. The boat
was an 18 foot, open, fiberglass outboard with plenty of power. Hector, Gerardo and Norm
made the first run to the island.
The landing area was very shallow, so the equipment had to be carried through the water
to the beach. As the boat was returning for the rest of the party, the first tribander
was erected. While still on the beach, the first QSO with N6AWD was made on 20 meter SSB
with battery power. The ensuing pileup was run from the beach until darkness. The
tents and antennas were erected with the help of the Guaymas hams who stayed on the island
for the night.
Parajos is of volcanic origin and very steep, rocky and covered with large Cardon cactus.
One end of the island has a 400 foot spit of sand where the operation took place. The
largest tent was put in the center and used for operating an IC706, TS440S and a FT100.
A sleeping tent was placed nearby. A second operating tent was placed further away to
minimize interference and was used to operate an IC706 Mk2 on CW and for sleeping.
Antennas included an A3S, TH3JR, homebrew 6-meter beam, DX88, R7, a homebrew multi band
vertical and inverted "V"s for 30, 40, 80 and 160 meters. Each operating tent had a
choice of a beam or an all-band vertical. Each tent had the option of running with AC
from a small generator or from the deep cycle storage batteries.
For most of the operation, the wind was very strong and required the tents to be held
down by rocks as well as tent pegs. This made dust a problem and cooking a challenge.
Various canned, dried and fresh foods were brought to the island. Also included were
fresh clams dug from the beach. The resulting meals were somewhat unique. The brush
was a minefield of Cholla cactus that made walking, especially at night, a difficult
and often painful experience.
Pile-ups were very large on both modes and everyone was kept busy. Propagation was not
the best to Central Europe. Fred relayed recommendations to the island and operating
schedules were adjusted to try to give a QSO to everyone who needed one. In the last
2 days, propagation improved and many stations throughout Europe were in the log. After
a particularly good last final evening and morning opening to Europe, the stations and
antennas were taken down and everything, including 4 bags of trash, was moved to the
beach to await the boat.
Two trips were required to move equipment and operators back to the harbor. The Guaymas
hams turned out again to help unload the boat and load the trucks. From Guaymas it was
back to Marco's QTH in Hermosillo for much needed showers and a nice meal. About 8 hours
later, Hector, Ray and Norm were back in Mexicali. The next morning, the gear was
separated and the California operators headed back through customs at the border and then
North.
QSO Breakdown:
SSB CW
6 M 17
10 M 372 1
12 M 76 219
15 M 951 754
17 M 297 398
20 M 679 498
30 M 404
40 M 94 1691
80 M 505 82
160 M 6
TOTALS: 2997 4047 DUPES: 177 GRAND TOTAL: 7221
The operators of XF1K would like to thank the IREF, Fred, N6AWD and everyone else who
contributed funds or equipment to the success of the operation and to the hams and boat
crew of Guaymas who made it possible. Also a special thanks to everyone who kept things
interesting with the pile-ups. You don't need sleep when there is still a pile-up to work
down.
|
N6VR making himself useful |
N6JV working the pileup |
unloading the boat |
XE2K making himself useful |
