Welcome to 224DA008 Jeremiah
March 20, 2010 by Darren
224DA008 Jeremiah is the newest addition to the DA-RC Team in the northern part of the Western Kiribati island chain. Previously known on the airwaves as 224IR008 and a member of the International Radio Club, Jeremiah is one of his country’s most prolific and skilled 27 MHz radio operators and well known to most DXers in the Pacific Ocean region.
224DA008 Jeremiah’s QTH in the western-central Pacific Ocean is the picturesque coral atoll of Abaiang (sometimes called Apiaia, Charlotte, Matthews or Six Isles) which has a total land area of just 6 square miles. Carrying the IOTA reference number OC-017 in accordance with the Radio Society of Great Britain’s IOTA Program, this tiny postcard perfect atoll is ring-shaped coral reef which is made up of 30 closely spaced islands on it encircling a beautiful tidal lagoon.
Jeremiah’s village is Tabontebike which is located on the point of the cape on the Bingham Channel, the basic conjunction between the lagoon and the Pacific. According to DA-RC’s newest member, “Abaiang Island (the main island), Ribono Island and Nuotaea Island are inhabited. All the other islands are uninhabited,” he continues, “And two have now been reduced to just rock due to climate change, storm surges and rising seas in the last 40 years…
(See http://www.climate.gov.ki/ )
When he’s not behind the microphone of his Ranger 2950 working DX or chatting with friends and family on nearby islands on 27.335 MHz USB, 224DA008 Jeremiah is employed as a Minister of the Catholic Church which has had strong ties on the island since the early 1900’s.
Beside his church that was built in 1859 which overlooks the ocean (See http://wikimapia.org/2102202/The-Catholic-Church ), the Council-owned guesthouse lodge on Sunset Beach is a common visiting place on the island says Jeremiah and more comfortable than most of the simple grass huts with thatched rooves which sit high on stilts to avoid high tides.
In addition to his important community role with the Catholic Church, Jeremiah also enjoys boat building, fishing, cultural dancing, singing and listening to music.
Though DA-RC’s newest member in the Gilberts has no internet access on his far-flung Pacific island, he is sure to keep in touch with other members in the future via the radio transceiver and hopes to work much DX in the coming years with his new Delta-Alfa callsign on the international call frequency.
Welcome to the Club, 224DA008 Jeremiah.
Welcome to 224DA010 Edward
September 25, 2009 by Darren
Reputable Oceania based DXer 224DA010 Edward is the Dx Adventure Radio Club’s most recent member from the remote north-central Pacific Ocean’s Gilbert Islands. Earlier known on the eleven meter band as 224ET001 and remaining a member of the Echo Tango Club through life membership, Edward’s QTH in 224 Division is picturesque Nonuiti Atoll (the third largest in the group).
38 km north of Tabiteuea and 250 km south of Tarawa Atolls, Edward’s remote island (which shares the IOTA reference number OC-017 with 16 other islands in 224 Division in accordance with the Radio Society of Great Britain’s IOTA program), is bow shaped with a half loop at each end and is made up of countless diminutive islets.
To the northwest of a central lagoon with blinding white beaches, for instance, lies the uninhabited Noumatong Islet.
“This islet is a protected nesting place and sanctuary for several sea bird species,” says Edward, a self-proclaimed nature enthusiast, “Such as brown noddy, brown booby, white tern, lesser frigatebird, great frigatebird, black-naped tern and sooty tern.”
The eastern area of the Nonouti atoll, though, is a continuous line of tiny islets — one of those ‘Abamakoro Islet’ being Edward’s peaceful home, as well as his parents’ home island for over 70 years.
A world away from the expensive amateur equipment used by DXers in developed countries, 224DA010 Edward’s simple IOTA station consists of a faithful Ranger RCI-2970 transceiver and a half-wave vertical antenna mounted on a coconut tree some 20 metres off the ground.
It might be straightforward but it sure is effective with a powerful signal often generated to other far-flung islands in the Pacific, including mainland 43 Division and the Americas.
Away from the radio communications hobby, the club’s newest member works for the Kiribati Government as a primary school teacher at the small Abamakoro Primary School.
“I achieved my 4 year teacher education degree on the capital Tarawa,” he explains. “And now I’ve been teaching for almost 10 years on my little home island Nonuiti.”
Happily married and with 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys), Edward’s family home is reportedly very close to the school — so close in fact that he encourages children in his class to visit and use his radio so that they can communicate with other students in other schools in the Gilberts on 27.335 MHz USB.
In addition to his work in the community, 224DA010 Edward also enjoys waking up early to go fishing in a canoe, diving for turtles and gardening. (Note: The name Nonouti means to “wake up early to go fishing hihi”). On the subject of his beloved vegetable garden which consists of among other veges… bright red tomatoes and big leafy cabbages…, Edward says it not only keeps him busy but, along with regular catches of fresh fish on the island’s reefs, also helps his family sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Having worked many other Delta-Alfa members in the past from his island on the air station, Edward is tremendously excited at joining the club he has heard so much about from friends and looks forward to logging many contacts with his new Delta-Alfa callsign in the future.
On behalf of the HQ Team and all DA-RC members, welcome to the club 224DA010 Edward. It’s a privilege to have you in the team moving into the exciting times of Cycle 24.
Welcome to 224DA101 Taakei
January 9, 2009 by Darren
The Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) is pleased to welcome its second member from the isolated west-central Pacific Ocean nation of Western Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), 224DA101 Taakei.
Formerly with the International Radio Club as 224IR027, Taakei lives on a small coral atoll named Butaritari (previously known as Makin, Pitt Island, Taritari Island or Touching Island) which has a total land area of just 13.5 square kilometres. The Kuma Village, in which Taakei lives, is one of five small settlements on the island which include Butaritari, Keuea, Tanimaiaki and Tekabetete.
Possessing a population of about 3,280 people, the island itself comprises a central lagoon 18 km wide ringed by small islets. Most of the islanders, says Taakei, live on two main islets, Butaritari and Kuma. The central lagoon provides a good deep anchorage for large ships with three narrow passages to the open sea. History tells that this also made it an attractive port for the invading Japanese forces during World War II who occupied the atoll from 1941 to 1943.
Outside of the radio communications hobby, Taakei is a Minister of Religion with the Kiribati Protestant Church (K.P.C.) and his work on the island in areas such as youth work and Sunday School have a powerful impact on the lives of local islanders.
According to Taakei, his Church has its own transport infrastructure, its own communications infrastructure, its own Department of Education, its own press, its own industries or projects, and even its own national public holiday. Despite these developments, the Church in Kuma Village has few, if any, resources and this is one of the confronting challenges which drives Taakei in his everyday life.
In addition to his passion for the Church, Taakei has a love of radio communications and spends much of his spare time DXing or enjoying QSOs with friends and colleagues on islands such as Banaba, Makin, Tab-North, Tarawa, Marakei, Samoa and Tonga. One of the most well known DXers in 224 Division and a participant in the 2009 Oceania Contest, Taakei has an impressive island station with a Ranger RCI-2970-DX 150w transceiver, as well as an Antron 99 vertical antenna by Solarcon and a SY-3 yagi antenna by Syrio.
On behalf of the World Headquarters Team and all DA-RC members, welcome to the Dx Adventure Radio Club, 224DA101 Taakai. We look forward to working your rare IOTA station in the near future and hearing stories of your fantastic Ministerial work on the island.
Welcome to 224DA111 Donnie
January 7, 2009 by Darren
The Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) is delighted to introduce to you its latest member from the northern Pacific Ocean area, 224DA111 Donnie. An avid radio communications hobbyist and a former member of the International Radio Group, Donnie operates daily from his primitive straw hut in the Rawannawi Village, a tiny uncomplicated settlement at the northern tip of Marakei Island in Western Kiribati, about 74 km from Tarawa.
Falling under the RSGB IOTA reference number OC-017, Marakei Island is located in the North Gilbert Islands covering an area of 13.5 km², with a population of fewer than two thousand people. A small atoll straddling the equator, Marakei’s central lagoon consists of numerous deep basins and is surrounded by two large islands. These are separated by two narrow channels called Baretoa Pass and Reweta Pass which are inaccessible at low tide.
[Note: An atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef usually surrounding an interior body of water called a lagoon].
Normally found on the upper side of 27.335 MHz – his nation’s call and chat frequency – but occasionally venturing to 27.355 MHz and 27.555 MHz in pursuit of International DX – Donnie enjoys conversing with other island stations in the Kiribati region in his native Melanesian tongue, including those in 266 (Eastern Kiribati) and 265 (Central Kiribati) divisions respectively. He is also enjoys testing the capabilities of his Magnum S-9 transceiver and Antron 99 vertical antenna by Solarcon with 41 and 43 Division operators chasing IOTA contacts in the Pacific area.
Outside of the radio hobby, Donnie’s life centres around his family, the church and the sea. He also enjoys folk music involving chanting and body percussion, traditional Kiribati martial arts, hunting and story telling with dances such as the Ruoia’s te kemai, Bino, Kaimatoa and Tirere. Interestingly, the Frigate bird (Fregata minor) on the Kiribati flag refers to this bird-like style of Kiribati dancing, one of Donnie’s favourite pastimes!
On behalf of your new radio club Donnie, welcome! We hope you enjoy your new callsign 224DA111 and look foward to working you in the Kiribati Islands Contests each year.
