South Pacific Dx-Pedition

South Pacific Dx-Pedition

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This page is a short summary of a recent excursion I went on, to four islands in the south pacific. Five other guys and myself had an adventure of a lifetime!!

We were drawn together by a common bond,,,Ham Radio.

My friends were Mac McIntyre WA4FFW,,Joe Young N4DAZ,,Mark Kennedy KA4IST,,Chuck Brady N4BQW,,Pat Guerin NH6UY,,and myself, Harold Manasco K4AU.

To get our trip started we came from all parts of the world to meet in Honolulu Hawaii. Mac came from Burlington NC,,Joe came form Mebane NC,,Mark from Houston TX,,Chuck from Oak Harbor WA,,Pat from Waipaha Hawaii,,and Harold from Ringgold VA.

After meeting briefly with Kimo Chun, KH7U in Honolulu,,a great friend and advisor/organizer of the trip,and clearing customs,we were off by charter airplane to our first island.

Palmyra Island,,,,It kinda put you in mind of Gilligan`s Island, a virtual paradise!!

We didn't get to stay here but about a day and night,,but it was beautiful. With no commercial power available,,we operated our Ham radio`s from diesel generators. Mark Kennedy had been on the island about 3 weeks ahead of us,,and he had made about 5000 contacts over the air around the world,,we made another 600 contacts while we were there.

Yours truly,,Harold Manasco,,onboard the ship SS Midway ,,with Palmyra Island in the background ,,last sight of land we would see for about 6 more hours!

The next island we would see is Kingman Reef. This is a barren piece of sand and sea shells,,not much of a place to visit. Chuck N4BQW,,spent the night here alone on this reef. He operated the Ham radio threw the night and we picked him up the next day on our way to Howland Island. Chuck made about 1000 contacts while he was there. Chuck is an Astronaut when he is not flittering around the world playing radio,,he flew the recent space shuttle mission STS-78.

That is the whole Island ,,or Reef of Kingman,I shot this picture from about 300 feet out as we were leaving after picking up Chuck,,I think he was glad to see us!! hehe

Our next stop was 5 days and nights away. The SS Midway was doing an average of 10-12 knots. We fished and chatted and told great Radio and fishing tales for the next few days as we steamed toward Howland Island.

Finally !! Howland Island. These are the Zodiacs we used for unloading over 2000 lbs of Radio and camping equipment. That is Chuck, N4BQW, in the foreground steering the zodiac in with Mark Razon,the US Fish And Wildlife official. This guy has nerves of steel!

After getting the gear on land,,we started the setup project! The antenna on the left of the picture is Mosley TA-33 Triband ,,I used it on 10-15-20 meters. On the ground in the foreground is a Force-12 Triband antenna for 12-17--30 meters. The antenna in the background is a Homebrew Vertical designed and donated to our group by a good friend Charlie, K4OTV. This antenna was for 30-40 meters. Joe Young N4DAZ added more bands,10-12-15-17 meters to this vertical as we needed them. Notice the path worn in the heavy grass,,we must have made a million trips back and forth ,setting up antennas and carrying equipment!

The completed site after all antennas and tents are set up! The grass on the Island was beautiful,but contained many small briar or thorn-like plants which were quite painful when they stuck you,,which was many times for each of us.This was our home for the next 6 days,,we operated Ham Radio from the big tents and lived/slept in the small ones. We set up 5 large beam and vertical antennas.

This is my radio and computer for logging,,with a set-up like this we were able to talk home to our wives and family every night and day. Note the empty water bottles,we were a few miles from the equator and the daytime temperatures were around 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit,,it was hot!

This a pic of me,,with the Amelia Earheart Memorial in the background. Amelia Earheart on her fateful quest to fly around the world was suppose to make a landing here on this island to refuel,,but never made it. This would have been the last leg of her flight,,but she was lost in the pacific.

Here is a closeup shot of the Welcome Sign! It says NO trespassing in about 4 languages,,we were here with the permission of,,and the guidance of the U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service.

Here is a couple of uglies after several days in the "wild" with no shave or shower! The top is me and the lower is Joe Young,,,Mebane NC.

This is a sunset on Howland Island,,,sure made me miss Bonnie Lou!

Here is the complete camp with antennas. These are the Call Signs we used from the island. K4AU/WH1 for all SSB calls,,and WA4FFW/NH1 for all CW calls.

We loaded the 2000 lbs plus of cargo back up onto the SS Midway and headed out for our last stop,,Johnston Island. We made a brief stop by Baker Island,but we did not go ashore. After 6 hours of back-breaking work loading and unloading equipment we were once again ready to brave the mighty seas of the Pacific Ocean. We encountered 20 foot seas on our voyage from Howland to Johnston Island,,it was a rough ride for everyone. Many of the 20 people on-board the Midway got really sea-sick,,Chuck who is also a doctor,had to give them shots to help with the sea-sickness. Our group was lucky,,not a lot of sea-sickness,,but the wildlife people were not so lucky.

This is an aerial view of Johnston Island,,not real big!! But after seeing almost 3 weeks of Pacific Blue Ocean,,,it looked real good to us,at least it was land,and it didn't move! We used Joe`s Call-Sign while on Johnston,,N4DAZ/KH3.

Here is the Gang!! Left to right Joe N4DAZ,,Mark KA4IST,,Captain Bill,,Mac WA4FFW,,Chuck N4BQW,,Harold K4AU,,and Pat NH6UY.

Here is a group picture of some of us in front of the Club Station on the island. From left to right are Mac-WA4FFW,,Pat-NH6UY,,Mark-KA4IST,,Harold-K4AU,,Mel Pratt-KE6DHJ/KH3,a local ham,,and Joe-N4DAZ.

Here is a shot of the club station on Johnston,,a very nice installation. Left to right are Mac on Kenwood 940 working cw,,,Mark on a Yaesu ft-1000 on ssb,,and Chuck taking a break.

Here is a shot of my buddy Pat NH6UY,working Yaesu 736-R ,,Uhf/Vhf ..Pat was the nearest one to home ,,he is from Hawaii,,and we were getting ready to see home again,,,

We were only on Johnston for a day and part of the night,,we flew out at 1:00 am that night. But while there we managed to make about 1500 contacts.

I would like to say "Thanks" to all the Hams and Non-Hams around the country and the world who helped to make this trip a reality and all the Clubs who supported us.

I would especially like to "Thank" Chuck Brady N4BQW for asking me to be one of the lucky few to get a chance to go on this trip and Mac McIntyre WA4FFW,,for making sure my name was on the list to be ask. This was an expedition of a life time,,one most Hams only dream of and we got to do it!!

"This is truly a Dream Come True"

"Hey guys,,,Where do we go next!"