22. Aktivierung - 9M2/PG5M

19.-23. April 2007

In the weeks before my scheduled trip to Layang Layang, I started to organize my equipment, logging software, transportation, etc. However, the final booking for the resort would depend on the approval of the Navy, as without that approval, I would not be able to operate legally. The Layang Layang Resort was very helpful in this process, but it was very hard to reach the right person in the navy. Only a few days before my scheduled trip, the approval was received. Actually, at the same time I was writing my mail to the resort that I had decided to cancel the trip due to the fact that I did not receive a naval approval, the message came in that the approval was on hand. Now I had to quickly make my final transport and hotel arrangements to secure my scheduled trip. Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu was arranged plus a one night in Kota Kinabalu.
After a few days the trip could start. I arrived in the evening in Kota Kinabalu and it turned out that my hotel booking was not arranged but was able to get a room. The hotel was good and even with free WiFi which was really fast. I even could get my breakfast at my room at 04:00 hr. It was only 10 minutes by taxi tot the airport, terminal 2. It was not clear where the Layang Layang counter was but after some searching I spotted a sign post. Later some people of the Layang Layang resort showed up but the lady who had to do the check-in (and had all the relevant documents) came too late. Gradually more people (divers, mostly from Hong Kong, Japan and some Europeans) showed up and they started to check in.
The check-in procedure was funny. After processing of the documents, you also have go on the scale yourself together with the hand luggage. In my case, it turned out to be easy as the scale goes only till 100 KG and gave an error. No extra charge for me! However, you have to be prepared not to bring too much excess luggage as it might be refused or charged for. Imagine that you are flying on a small plane and every kilo is important. I had carefully selected what I absolutely needed and what I could leave home. That had resulted in a total weight of 35 KG of luggage. This consisted of radio, antennas, coax, laptop, photo camera, all other equipment and tools and as less as possible cloths.
Once we were ready to board, we walked to the plane. Once in the plane I discovered that it was a Russian plane, including 2 Russian pilots and their Russian instructor. I got the impression that the pilots still had to learn how to fly as the instructor always spoke to them and most of the time hung into the cockpit, even during take-off and landing. Nevertheless, we managed to reach the island but it was a strange experience.
We arrived at the island at about 08:30 local time. I first got room 1326 which was absolutely a disaster for me, so I asked the management if I could get one on the other end of the block. Later I got room 1302 which was at the end of the block and gave me a good position to place the antenna in the garden next to the building and run the coax cable easily into the room.
In the meantime I handed over my papers to the resort manager who was going to submit them to the commander of the naval base on the island. Not long after I had established my radio and erected the vertical in the garden, I got the approval and could start the operation.
During the first day on the island I was also able to use the WiFi internet access of the lobby, but already the next day problems occurred with the WiFi router which left us without internet for the rest of the stay.
After operating for about half a day I discovered that the vertical antenna probably did not radiate well and decided to relocate it further from the housing block and more closer to the sea. I first rolled out the coax to mark the maximum distance I could cover with the coax. Next I erected the vertical again, fixing it with guy wires to whatever I could find (piece of concrete, old tree trunk, etc.). After some operating I had the impression that the antenna was much better performing. The same day I also hung the G5RV dipole in a tree next to my room. I was unable to get it at a good height but it was more for the case that something would happen to the other antenna and could switch directly to the dipole. This switching was done by loosening the coax from the vertical and connecting it to the dipole.
One of my concerns was the coax to the vertical, which was running over a small concrete road. This road was used by the military personnel to go from the base to the quay where a big navy vessel was anchored. They crossed this road sometimes with small but heavy lorries that could easily crush my small coax cable. Fortunately, the coax remained in good shape till the end of the operation.
In general, the conditions during the day were poor and tried to use those times for leisure, going out on a boat trip with divers or making photos of the island. Food was served 4 times a day which was good, but I made sure I had something to eat and to drink also during the evening and night hours. I maintained a bit odd schedule and this was also recognized by some of the other guests. I did not even join them for diving, so what was I actually doing on the island. Most of you may have come across people asking this question and it always nice to see the reactions when you try to explain about this strange hobby, although diving for far from home will help a little bit to understand.
One of the problems I encountered during this operation was the interference with other DX stations. Because of my weak signal the started their CQ close or on top of me. This was sometimes quite troublesome and confusing for the other end. In other cases I had to use the 2nd VFO intensively and tuning the pile-up, which is a practice I use rarely. Normally I prefer to work split but do not tune the VFO a lot and stick to one or few frequencies instead.
One day, we had an enormous rain shower. After a while I discovered that the SWR went high on a few bands. I suspected the connecting barrel half way the coax, but even after thoroughly drying it did not change the situation. It must have been a problem with the antenna as after a few hours the situation improved and went back to normal again.
My departure from the island was scheduled for Tuesday, 23 April. During the Monday I prepared most of the packing but left the necessary equipment so I could operate till the last moment. On Tuesday morning at 06:00 hr I had packed everything and ready for departure. Again we had to do some weighting after which all the luggage was moved to the runway. After the plane arrived, I met the same Russian instructor next to the plane. I asked him if he could make a nice circle around the island to allow me to make a nice picture. He said he would consider it. Once everything was packed, we were ready to go at about 08:00 hrs and the plane taxied to his position. Just 5 seconds after the pilot started to release the breaks, he had to stop. I turned out that a goat or small animal was crossing the runway. Quickly he continued his take-off and we made a safe landing the Kota Kinabalu airport around 09:00 hrs. From there I took the plane to Kuala Lumpur where I arrive at home the same day.

9M2/PG5M CW, 21.04.2007 (Mit Dank an K8CX) [MP3 , 2.1 MB]

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