May 2000 QST

The Crystal Symphony at anchor off Pitcairn Island.Tom, VP6TC and Per, LA3FL, exchange QSLs for Per’s“Eyeball DXCC.”mutiny on the Bounty. Books have beenwritten and movies made about this incidentthat took place in 1790, which resultedin Fletcher Christian and his mutineers settlingon Pitcairn. They hoped the islandwould be a safe haven where they couldescape the long arm of British law forever.The islanders of today are mostly descendantsof the mutineers.The island measures only two squaremiles, it is very rocky, and it is difficult tocome ashore. There are no beaches and thesurrounding seas are often quite rough withstrong undercurrents. A landing area has beenmade for the islanders to launch their bigwooden longboats and they come out to greetthe occasional cargo and cruise ships.Dave and I sent a fax message to the island,inviting Tom, VP6TC (ex VR6TC)and Jukka, VP6BR/OH2BR (who was operatinga DXpedition on the island), to joinus on the Crystal Symphony, but they didnot respond. Once again we were a littleunsure of our chances of completing therendezvous.Meeting VP6BR, VP6TC & VP6YLNone of the ship’s passengers were allowedashore, but quite a few islanderssailed out to meet us, carrying souveniritems that they wanted to sell on board.These sales are a major source of incomefor the islanders. You can imagine our surprisewhen we saw Tom Christian comingaboard along with his wife, Betty, VP6YL,and Jukka!Tom was terribly busy at his souvenirstand. He had to sign dozens of Mutiny onthe Bounty books that he sold, and chat withthe passengers. We managed to get himaway for a few minutes for a group photothat included another ham passenger, Duke,K2MZ. Dave showed Tom a QSL card fora QSO that took place 43 years ago when76 May 2000Dave was W8BRA and Tom was VR6TC.After a few pictures were taken I hadto report to the captain to join him, and asmall party of his choice, ashore. The islandcouncil only allowed the captain andhis party to go ashore on Pitcairn. All othershad to remain on board.It is a very steep and narrow dirt roadup to the small settlement calledAdamstown, half way to the top of PitcairnIsland. The vehicles used on the island areHonda 4-wheel ATVs. A seat is arranged infront of the steering wheel and two personscan sit behind the driver, each with halftheir bottoms sharing a seat, holding on towhatever they can grip.Because Tom, Betty and Jukka were onboard the Crystal Symphony, I did not getto see their stations. Jukka’s QTH was on amountain range on the top of Pitcairn, whilethe others had their shacks in their homesin Adamstown.I visited the elementary school, museum,cemetery and a few other places.Then I joined the local engineer to see theelectrical powerhouse where two big dieselgenerators supplied power to the entireisland. To conserve fuel the generators onlyoperate a few hours in the morning andevening. The voltage is 240 V ac.I also checked the commercial communicationfacilities on Pitcairn. They have anInmarsat terminal that can be used for e-mail if necessary. The terminal only operatesat about 9600 baud in the data modeand the charge is $6 to $7 per minute. Longmessage uploads and downloads are definitelydiscouraged!As for fax messages, the sending partiespay the charges, so it costs nothing forthe islanders to receive faxes. Respondingto a fax is another (and quite expensive)matter, which explains why no one repliedto our arrival message.After returning to the Crystal SymphonyI met again briefly with Tom and Jukka. Bythat time I had already received from them,as well as from Betty, QSL cards confirmingour “Eyeball QSOs.” It certainly was apleasure to meet these amateurs in person!Dave, N4SU, ended his trip aboard theCrystal Symphony on February 24 inSydney, Australia.—EdVK9WI – WILLIS ISLANDA DXpedition to Willis Island has beenscheduled for May 2000. The crew, headed byDavid Gemmell, VK4ZEK, will set sail aboardthe 43-foot catamaran Bach and Byte aroundMay 6 and expects to land on May 10. Joininghim will be David (Harry) Holton, VK4DHand Alan Meek, VK4BKM.Willis ranked #47 in the ARRL’s 1999 Top100 list and is located in the Coral Sea at 16°17′ South 149° 57′ East. There is a mannedAustralian weather station there. Planned frequenciesare 3504, 7004, 10104, 14024,18074, 21024, 24894, 28024 and 50115 kHzon CW and 3790, 7085, 14195, 18145, 21295,24945, 28480 and 50115 kHz on SSB. TheVK9WI web page will include photos, logs andother interesting information at http://www .qsl.net/vk9wi/index.htm. On 6 meters,VK9WI will have a 24-hour CW beacon on50.009 MHz from the boat. If you can hearthe beacon, try calling them on 50.110 or50.115 MHz. QSL via VK4APG, P.J. Garden,58 Minerva Court, Eatons Hill, Brisbane,Australia. Bureau cards will be answered also,after the direct cards.WRAP UPRumor has it there may be a DXpedition toSan Felix (CE0X) in May. Keep your ears openon the air and your eyes on your favorite DXbulletin.That’s it for this month. Special thanks toKE3Q, LA3FL, N4SU, OH2BR/VP6BR,VP6TC and XQ0YAF for making this month’scolumn possible. Becky, N3OSH, and I lookforward to seeing everyone in Dayton. Pleasestop by The Daily DX booth (520) to have aneyeball QSO. Until next month, see you in thepileups!—Bernie, W3UR