News
News #5 (October 1, 2024)
The C21MM team is looking forward to its next adventure. This DXpedition to Nauru is already the most expensive and complicated expedition ever for us. Hopefully we won’t encounter any more nasty surprises.
In a few days, on October 7, the first six team members will leave Germany and plan to arrive on Nauru on October 10, after an overnight stay in Brisbane, Australia. After their arrival there are still some things to organise, so limited operation (high bands only) will take place. Full operation with 5 stations 24/7 can be expected starting October 15 in the evening (local time, UTC +12). We will pay special attention to our sunrise and sunset for low band openings.
The whole team is grateful for the generous donations from early supporters. Thank you!
Our QSL manager has received the LoTW certificate for C21MM. QSLs and LoTW confirmations will be sent out after our return in November.
Further news and pictures will be published on our website. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter a.k.a. X: https://x.com/C21MM_2024. We will also provide DX World and Daily DX with updates during the DXPedition.
We are looking forward to working you! If you have any hints during the DXPedition, please drop us an email at c21mm.info@mydx.de. Note: This email is not meant for QSL inquiries!
News #4 (September 11, 2024)
Less than 4 weeks to go. Team members DG2RON, DJ5IW, DJ7TO, DJ9KH, DK3CG, DK5WL, DL1KWK, DL2RNS, DL4SVA, DL6KAC, DL6KVA, DL7JOM, DL7VEE and DL8LAS are ready.
We follow our main principles being light weight and cost effective. As always, only transceivers from Elecraft will be used. All equipment including antennas will be transported by the team members using “traditional luggage” partly oversized. However, this does not mean that we compromise on the antennas. For the high bands we are going to use our 2-element full size wire beam from LZ Antennas. That provides us with some dB more gain compared to a vertical. By using the LBS Pentaplexer we can operate 3 high bands together at the same time on this antenna.
As always, we follow our strategy to use resonant and full-size single band antennas on all bands (except 160 m). No grounded verticals will be used. Verticals with an elevated radial are even better for reception, also known as Up & Outer. This time we will carry two 22 m (72 feet) Spiderbeam fiberglass poles for 160 m & 80 m (compared to 18 m poles on our last DXpeditions). That is perfect for 80 m and an improvement for the top band as well. We will also bring the brand new 14-m-HD-fiberglass pole from Spiderbeam which gives us 2 m more height compared to the 12-m-HD-pole. This one is perfect for bands from 60 m and up. For low band receiving we plan BOGs. Jan, OK2ZAW (QRO.CZ), supported us with RX band filter boards for splitting one BOG to different receivers on different bands. For 40 & 30 m we try loops this time.
We always use small band pass filters for each band between transceiver and amplifier and additional bigger band pass filters to the antennas.
We will run our proven shift system with radio and free time slots 24/7, ensuring that our experienced operators will have full concentration in their shift. 5 stations between 160 and 6 m in CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 are planned. Starting with a first group of 6 men from October 10th only on high bands for few days. Second part of the group will arrive October 15.
News #3 (August 29, 2024)
To operate ham radio from Nauru has become extremely difficult, especially for larger groups. Our first attempt going to C2 started already in 2018. None of the mostly full booked hotels allow ham radio operation anymore. Additionally, it’s rather difficult to find a perfect ham radio location in the mountainous island.
Nauru is the least visited country in the world. The actual Most Wanted DXCC list on Club Log shows Nauru worldwide on rank 77 Mixed, in Phone on rank 48. In North America it ranks 113 (Phone 67) and in Western Europe Nauru ranks 38 Mixed (Phone 32). Since more than a year, Phill, C21TS, is doing an excellent job in FT8. He provides LoTW and paper QSLs via his manager. We will therefore try to focus more on CW on all bands from 160 m to 6 m as well as SSB and RTTY on several bands. Nevertheless, getting to the island proves rather difficult.
Out of nowhere, Nauru Airlines cancelled all our confirmed flights due to a change in their flight schedule! As you can imagine, the last week was therefore rather stressful as the whole group with 14 OPs had to rearrange all flights incl. those from Europe to Australia as well as our accommodation.
These rearrangements produced unexpected additional costs of around 8,000 US-$. C21MM has already become the most expensive “light weight DXpedition” ever for us. We are grateful for the support we have received from individuals and foundations to date. However, these unexpected costs will put an additional burden on our pockets. We therefore hope to get special support from the DX Community to bring this rare DXCC country on the air. Apart from PayPal we also have other support options available. Please contact our QSL manager Georg, DL4SVA.
Despite this bad news we also have some positive things to share. We are in very productive negotiations with a promising QTH in the north of the island – with direct beach access and a clear take off to the north (Europe) as well as to the northeast (USA). Hopefully it will work.
The new DXpedition period will be from October 10 to 29, 2024. That gives us the possibility to take part in the 2024 CQ WWDX SSB contest which takes place on October 26 & 27.
News #2 (August 10, 2024)
As a reminder: Our C21MM homepage has been online since July 28, 2024. In between we all got our visas for Nauru and Australia. On our way from Germany to Nauru there is an overnight stay in Brisbane.
Today we would like to give you some insights on our logo. If you try to find something typical for Nauru, you always come across phosphate mining, which is a story about colonialism and how fast wealth can fade away. This is what the excavator stands for.
However, there is still beautiful nature on the island like the endemic bird, the Nauru Reed Warbler which can be seen on the left side of the logo. We have to admit it’s a slightly beautified version of it. The original can be seen on one of the stamps of the small island:
To make the logo complete, the famous 5 band LZ beam is of course a must.
Thanks to Vincent, F4CVQ for the artwork of the logo and Fred, DH5FS, for the idea.
News #1 (July 22, 2024)
Our team (T2C in 2023 and P29RO in 2022 and other activities in the years before COVID) has decided to announce its next DXpedition. We will return to the pacific and travel to Nauru (C2) in October 2024. We are planning to operate with 5 stations, 24/7 from 160 to 6 m in CW, SSB, FT8 and RTTY.
Our group has extensive experience with travelling to pacific islands, but Nauru gave us some challenges. Getting all the necessary permissions and finding an usable location for the antennas is no easy task – especially for larger groups. We are grateful to Phill, C21TS, for his support on the island.
Flights, accommodation and a radio shack room are booked and confirmed. These are prerequisites for the necessary visa to enter Nauru. We also have acquired the necessary radio licence. The call sign will be announced soon. Going to Nauru isn’t cheap. Each of our team members spent several thousand Euros.
Due the complicated logistics, we plan to arrive with two teams: 6 team members will arrive on October 11, 2024. They will bring 2 stations. This includes the LZ wire beam and the LBS-pentaplexer. This means that operation in the first days will only occur on the high bands. The rest of the team will arrive on October 14 for another 12 days.
More details including a website will be available soon.
Rolf, DL7VEE
