Its about a 40 hour boat trip to get from Puntarenas
Costa Rica to Cocos Island.
• April 2001
- N4CD visits Henry TI2HMG at his B&B in Costa Rica - has fun - asks
about "Cocos Island". Henry has large library of books on Cocos Island,
Henry says "almost impossible to get there"
• Summer 2001
- RA9CO and others begin inquiry of how to get to Cocos - wind up
exchanging email with Henry
• Late Summer 2001
- Henry works on plan for Cocos - no one else knows about it
• Fall 2001
- Alan KI7WO and Bill AK0A visit Henry's B&B - have fun...do lots of
RTTY
• August 2001
- N4CD receives email from Henry saying "I'm forming a DX-pedition to
Cocos Island. Interested?“ it takes less than 5 seconds to type "YES"
and hit reply button
• August 2001
- Henry assembles the team, charters the boat, gets the permits
- Discussion on where to operate from Wafer Bay (poor but easy) or
Chatham Bay (great radio but difficult logistics). How many
stations? What can we support with the budget
• Nov 2001
- Bill WS4Y, starts buying supplies and spends two weeks building
plywood crates. We start the equipment list tents generators masts for
antennas
- Antenna / site discussions - What type of antennas to use beams vs
quads vs verticals
- The search for sponsors (Icom and Acom step up) and financial
assistance
• Nov 2001
- Assembling team of 14/15 who have the time (3 weeks), the flexibility
(sometime in Feb/March), and can commit with big down payment early
to charter the boat. Many say yes, but quickly find they cannot commit
• Jan 2002
- The last minute crunch - Henry occupied with very serious medical
emergency. Others pitch in to help with the license with the shipping /
international freight and customs clearance
• Feb 2002
- Things almost put completely on hold Jose, TI2JJP, attempts to
sabotage the expedition and funding license 'wording problems'
• Early Feb 2002
- The first team members arrive (IK3RIY and KI7WO). We suddenly find
several loose ends that need immediate attention
TI9M location
Previous DX-peditions
• Henry - TI2HMG, is our TI sponsor.
• Henry arranged most of the tasks in
Costa Rica like the chartering of the
ship, contacts with the Radio Office and
many more.
TI2HMG
Call:
• Henry managed to assemble a superb
Name:
Henry Grunbeck
team of operators.
Modes:
SSB
Experience: DXCC Hunting
• Bill has arranged most of the logistical
work to get equipment to Costa Rica.
• Bill was elected to be the TI9M team
leader and did a wonderful job.
Call:
WS4Y
Name:
Bill Turney
Modes:
CW
Experience: DX’ing
• Bill wanted to activate RTTY from
Cocos Island and he sure did that!
• He is also our QSL manager and DXCC
contact.
Call:
AK0A
Name:
Bill Boeckenhaupt
Modes:
RTTY, SSB
Experience: Contesting, V3 and
TI2
• Alan is DX-ing and Contesting since
high school 1962. Member of NCCC
and Contest Czar for the CA QSO
Party
• He was one of our fine CW operators!
Call:
AD6E
Name:
Alan Maenchen
Modes:
CW
Experience: Contesting and
DXing; KH9,
KH6, YV, W6
• Bob has transmitted from over 3000 US
counties.
• He has recently been off on mini-DX-
peditions to TI2, 3W, VP5, VP2E and
FM.
Call:
N4CD
Name:
Bob Voss
Modes:
CW & SSB
• He likes to keep up on telecom history,
Experience: VHF, TI2, 3W, VP5,
and get to some exotic ham radio
VP2E and FM
locations.
• Early in his amateur radio career
Richard became interested in
Contesting and has been Contest-
expeditioning since 1977.
• He has made 14 Single-Operator
Call:
N6KT
World-High scores in the major DX
Name:
Richard Smith
Contests. He enjoys station design and
Modes:
SSB
Experience: Contesting and
antenna construction as well as
operating from 12
operating.
different DXCC
countries
• Rich is one of the co-owners of the
HC8A/HC8N super station.
• Matt participated in two DX-peditions to
S92 (Sao Tome & Principe). It was the
first time this country was ever active
on 50MHz. The 1999 & 2000 trips were
an astounding success.
Call:
KA0KKO
• He mainly operates on the 6 meter
Name:
Matt De La Hunt
band.
Modes:
6 Meter, CW & SSB
Experience: Several trips to S9
• Alan has participated in many multi-
operator activities but has never yet
won top honors in any mode or
class. He has operated from V31 and
TI2.
• He is a volunteer Examiner with ARRL
Call:
KI7WO
VEC and W5YI VEC programs
Name:
Alan Homer
and enjoys greatly helping new Hams
Modes:
SSB & Digital
into their first license and upgrades.
Experience: Contests, V3 & TI2
• Larry has always been active in
contests and taking advantage of the
travel opportunities offered through his
employment.
• He managed several DX operations
Call:
N7DF
from such places as Tchad, Guam,
Name:
Larry Strain
Truk, Bahamas, Bolivia and Nauru. He
Modes:
CW & SSB
Experience: Contests, Tchad,
has set several single band records for
Guam, Truk,
Guam and Oceania.
Bahamas, Bolivia,
Nauru.
• Flo enjoys contesting (TM7Z,
F5KBA,TM0T) and achieved a 3rd
place IOTA contest 99 & 00 (Mono op
100w), ARRL 10m 98 (1st F in multi-op
TM0T), CQ WPX 98 (1st F 28 Mhz)
Call:
F5CWU
• He also likes expeditions and specials
Name:
Flo Moudar
call activations: F5CWU/P (EU-032) -
Modes:
SSB and some CW
Experience: TM7Z, F5KBA, TM0T,
TY68F/ TY0CDX /TY22DX - TM8CDX
TY, TM
• Rob is very active at the famous Dutch
contest station PI4COM.
•
Since 1995 he started with DX-
peditions to the Caribbean and enjoys
visiting these islands.
Call:
PA5ET
Name:
Rob Snieder
Modes:
CW, digital modes
•
He likes to work high speed CW and
and some SSB
the pile-ups can't be big enough.
Experience:
HB0, VP5, FG, J7,
FM, J6, 9Y4, 6Y5,
ZF9, PJ7, FS, V4,
VP2E, 8Q, V2, 8P,
•
Rob has build the TI9M web-site and
VP2M, J3 and J8
took care of all statistics during the
Extensive contest
expedition.
experience at
PI4COM, PA6WPX
and PA6HQ
• Ron likes to operate all modes but SSB
is still his preferred mode.
•
He has more than 10 years contest
experience from PI4COM, the biggest
contest station in Holland.
Call:
PA3EWP
Name:
Ronald Stuy
Modes:
SSB, CW and Digital
•
Also Ron has visited lots of islands in
modes.
the Caribbean.
Experience:
HB0, VP5, FG, J7,
FM, J6, 9Y4, 6Y5,
ZF9, PJ7, FS, V4,
VP2E, 8Q, V2, 8P,
VP2M, J3 and J8
Extensive contest
experience at
PI4COM, PA6WPX
and PA6HQ
• Martino's favorite mode is CW but also
manages to works SSB.
• He is a DXer with more than 320
countries confirmed and like to chase
Artic and Antarctic stations.
Call:
IK3RIY
Name:
Martino Rizzi
Modes:
CW and some SSB
• Martino provided the Pactor facilities
Experience: D4, 5A, ZB, HV, HB0,
on board so we could exchange e-
several islands in
TA, G, I and SV
mails to the rest of the world
unfortunately no attachments.
• Simon has a passion to travel. Since
1989 he ran dx-peditions in more than
100 islands in Italy, Greece, Turkey,
Albania, Tunisia, Malta, Madeira, Cuba,
Mexico; and in 18 DXCC entities,
among them are E3, E4, SV/A, ZA, Z3.
Call:
IZ7ATN
Name:
Simon Gadaleta
Modes:
SSB
Experience: E4, CT3, SV8, SV5,
SV9, TA0, LZ, 10
Italian Islands
references, 17 IOTA
references, 3 IOTA
contests.
• Eugene loves contesting. He is a
member of club station RK3AWL
(RL3A ) and the famous P3A team.
• His favorite mode is CW. In his free
time he loves to build BIG powerful HF
Call:
RK3AD
amplifiers for Hams.
Name:
Eugene Kuleskov
Modes:
CW
Experience: Contests and P3A
“The Call sign TI9M reserved for Henry TI2HMG, who is
Responsible, can be used for the entire DX-pedition group”
TI9M License
First time ever they have
Issued individual / TI9
Licenses to non TI Hams.
Landing Permission
“M/V Two-Can will goto Cocos Island with 20 persons”
•
2* IC706
•
5* Icom 756PROII
•
1* rotor
•
4* 2m handhelds
•
4* coax-switch
•
3* Acom 1000 amplifier
•
1* Antenna tuner
•
1* HAL DXP38
•
1* Antenna analyzer
•
3* bandpass filters 10-160m
•
serveral ferrite cubes
•
1* bandpass filters warc
•
2* baluns
•
2* 4 persons tent
•
4* 2el. Quads 10-20m
•
8* chairs
•
2* 30m verticals
•
4* tables
•
1* 160/80m vertical
•
1* ladder
•
4* 40m verticals
•
3* generator 5Kw
•
1* 6el 6m beam
•
1* generator 1Kw
•
2* 2m mobile antennas
•
oil
•
1* G5RV
•
fuel
•
serveral dipoles
•
1000 ft (300m) power cord
•
3000 ft (1000m) Coax
•
3 chargers
•
130ft (40m) low loss coax
•
3 batteries
•
serveral coax connectors
•
8* Rohn 40ft (12m) mast
•
serveral toolboxes
•
6500ft (1950m) stranded wire
•
7* laptops
•
5* external keyboards
First shipment 12 cartons total: 1932 pounds (870 KG)
Team meeting in Costa Rica
and discuss the last issues.
To get earlier on the air antennas are prepared.
Preparing Quad
elements
Preparing PC’s and playing with the radio’s.
Collecting amplifiers,
radio’s and antennas.
Crates with coax
and generators
Unpacking the crate
with the low band
verticals and masts
Loading the bus with all equipment.
Loading the Two-
Can, due to low
tide we had to
wait.
Finally we could leave Puntarenas late in the
afternoon.
Talking about the upcoming
event and meetings of various
teams to discuss the strategy
and details.
Checking out the brand new
ICOM rigs how to use the split
option and how set the filters.
Cocos Island, here we are!
Arrival at Chatham Bay
The Park Rangers clearing our papers.
First landing together with the Park Rangers to
search for the best place to put up the tents.
The “tent” team going on land and on
the ship all equipment is prepared for
landing.
The antenna Team
working very hard
to get the antennas
up asap.
During high tide the 30 & 40 meter vertical
feeding points were under water and couldn’t
be used for at least 1 hour.
Martino swimming around the antennas !
The rock in the tent floor.
One of the 5 ICOM
IC756Pro-II transceivers
Sponsored by:
One of the 3 ACOM
AC-1000 amplifiers.
Sponsored by:
Daily QSO statistics and email updates from the boat.
Bill AK0A, running the RTTY station.
Rob, PA5ET working the CW pile-up.
Twice a day the generators needs to be refueled.
1 Minute
SSB Team had to carry all equipment and fuel
via a steep path to the up hill station.
Lots of equipment had to
be carried upon the hill.
The up hill station, one HF
station and 6 meter station.
The up hill operators stayed 24 hours up hill
living on old bread and warm water !
The up hill operator team
The Southern coast of the Island.
The beach after high tide.
Taking down the up hill station, it
hasn’t been easy as you can see . . .
Relaxing at down hill camp.
Digging out the radials and coax.
Taking down the quad.
Bringing equipment
to the zodiac
Taking down the last antennas
Bring back all equipment to the Two-Can
The Zodiac trip
have been different
every time.
3 Minutes
With low water we
had a big beach,
with high tide a lot
of surf.
We only left our footsteps
Bye from the Park Rangers, they really enjoyed our stay
on the island. Thanks to them we could operate at night !
Stowing all equipment on deck
On the Two-Can TI9M/mm we ran our log
statistics and exchanged e-mail via Pactor.
Our last dinner on the Two-Can, we will miss it.
Early in the morning we
arrived in Puntarenas at
high tide.
Packing Rigs, Amplifiers
and Antennas for shipment
back to the USA
Arrival back to our hotel, unpacking the bus
Collecting the guestbook entries and dx-spots from DX-cluster.
> 43.000 hits on web-site.
> 5.000
DX-spots.
> 400 guestbook entries
At the hotel: reading the guestbook entries and spots in DX-cluster.
All Statistics are calculated with LogStat created by Bob Dorsey K4UVT © 2002
We only made 80.000 QSO’s and
we only used 5 to 10 KC bandwidth.
QSO's per Day & Mode
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
PSK
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
317
57
0
RTTY
0
642
849
848
496
513
380
108
6
308
0
SSB
0
860
4969
4999
6513
6613
3886
3613
4373
4085
2235
CW
2899
2371
3090
3769
4280
2687
3716
4195
3639
2163
390
Notes:
Day 1 up hill station was not build yet, last day was mainly ARRL DX
Contest from down hill station, notice RTTY QSO’s is going down.
Percentage QSO's per Mode
PSK
RTTY
0%
5%
CW
SSB
42%
53%
SSB
CW
RTTY
PSK
Note:
374 QSO’s have been logged in PSK.
Percentage QSO's per Continent
2%
1%
12%
1%
42%
42%
AF
AS
EU
NA
OC
SA
Countries Worked
Totals
CW
SSB
6 Meter
CX
5
1
4
HC
1
0
1
HP
4
3
1
LU
19
5
14
PY
79
32
47
PY0
3
1
2
PZ
2
1
1
TI
6
0
6
TI9
1
0
1
VE
23
15
8
W
237
123
114
ZF
1
0
1
ZP
9
2
7
13
390
183
207
6 Meter Breakdown by State
AK
0
HI
1
ME
5
NJ
2
SD
0
AL
0
IA
0
MI
20
NM
0
TN
0
AR
0
ID
0
MN
15
NV
0
TX
0
AZ
3
IL
23
MO
2
NY
20
UT
2
CA
28
IN
1
MS
0
OH
9
VA
0
CO
0
KS
0
MT
2
OK
0
VT
2
CT
9
KY
0
NE
0
OR
7
WA
2
DE
0
LA
0
NC
0
PA
2
WI
25
FL
3
MA
20
ND
0
RI
3
WV
0
GA
0
MD
4
NH
8
SC
0
WY
0
Total States Worked :
25
QSO's Per Band & Mode Overall by Mode
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
6
10
12
15
17
20
30
40
80
160
CW
187
4646
3704
6097
4036
3939
3117
4330
2180
963
SSB
207
10423
5534
9276
5081
6742
0
2749
1866
268
DIGI
0
505
151
1410
349
1664
0
71
0
0
Notes:
On SSB 10 & 15 meter have been the best bands, on CW 15 meter
QSO’s by Country
USA
32.361
GM
156
JA
8.443
GW
115
DL
5.526
EI
89
I
3.986
GI
85
EA
2.287
GD
21
F
1.896
GU
11
G
1.452
GJ
2
ON
766
PA
700
Direct QSL cards (with > 11.000 QSO’s)
already received after 3 months.
Individuals:
• Frank J. London
W1IVB
• Alan Brown
K5AB
• Mark W. Perrin
N7MQ
• Tom Goldsmith
K3PSK
• Chris Tiller
TI2CDT
• John Brannon
W4RBO
• Alan Homer
KI7WO
• Darran
M0DAZ
• Joe Williams
K2BG
• Nico Ciannamea
IK7ZCP
• Elliot Klein
K7ER
• Raffaele Di Troia
IZ7BNH
• Terry Granger
W4TMM
• Al Cammarata
W3AWU
• Frank
DL8YHR
You ?
Cocos Island DX-pedtion
Robert A Voss, 3133 Charring Cross
Plano TX 75025, USA
More information:
Don’t forget to sign the guestbook!
We all hoped you enjoyed the show, see you next time from
This presentation is made by :
Rob Snieder PA5ET
© 2002 All rights reserved
Cocos Island DX-pedition Team
