First, many thanks to Berni for making these notes possible. Last month’s illustrations that he found helped a great deal.
The first few days of July were quiet with my first DX with Philippines on the 3rd, then mostly locals till the 8th when Brazil, Asiatic Russia and Borneo went into the log. Close by Borneo I worked Hayling Island! Then San Salvador for a new one this year, the icing on the cake was C94RRC on Inhacamba Island off the Mozambique coast for a rare IOTA, AF-103.
On the evening of the 17th the same group were activating a second Mozambique island, AF-098. Their generator had gone AWOL the day before, so the team had a day on the beach. After much hunting around the bands, I heard a signal on 30M that was a steady strength, I set the computer to call in 'Fox & Hounds' mode and sat in front of the screen while the 'management' was watching England playing Sweden. After an hour I needed a short break for comfort and a beer. When I returned, the screen was showing my call with 'RR73'. Whooppee! Another new one in the log.
The weekend of the 26th and 27th was the annual IOTA contest that I like to have a go at, however this year I had to give it a miss. As a consolation prize, I was able to work the last two Brazilian subdivisions for the 'Worked All Brazil'. This is not too easy as some of the areas include the Amazon rain forest, and some very low inhabited coastal strips. So now to try for all the Argentine areas as my next challenge.
This month’s illustration (below) is from 9M1Z, not the card but the envelope! The stamp must have cost more than the $3 postage, however I doubt this is made of real gold.
So to sum up, another quiet month for DX but the Russian Polar ship is always worth a call.
Cheers & good DX, Chris
G4ZCS
