The Dx Adventure Radio Club is delighted to announce that the rare south-eastern Asian country of Papua New Guinea will be active during the month of June 2023 and beyond by avid dx adventurist 101DA981 Giovanni.
A fascinating island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of Australia (43 Division) and east of Indonesia (91) and Malaysia (58/113), 101 Division encompasses the eastern half of New Guinea, the world’s second largest island.
Also known as 41DA981, Giovanni has been allocated a unique home callsign for his DX work in 101 Division, rather than a 101/41 holiday callsign.
The reason is that he resides in PNG for employment purposes several times throughout the year, and for more months at a time.
DA-RC HQ can reveal that Giovanni will stay on New Guinea Island, which is part of the OC-034 referenced (New Guinea (Papua New Guinea / Indonesia West Papua) IOTA group.
The western half of this island is made up of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua; the Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and several others); Bougainville and Buka (part of the Solomon Islands chain); and small offshore islands and atolls.
Papua New Guinea is home to eight million people who speak more than 800 languages, native tribes and boasts a plethora of magnificent coral reefs and pristine lagoons sprawled across 600 islands.
Volcanoes, and hiking routes like the Kokoda Trail, traditional tribal villages, hidden Highlands tribes, war cemeteries, the Sepik and Fly rivers, sleepy port towns and seaside villages are just a handful of this country’s attractions.
According to the atlas, the national capital of PNG, Port Moresby, is located in southeastern New Guinea — on the shores of the Gulf of Papua — and this sprawling city with a population of roughly 300,000 is where 101DA981 Giovanni will reside.
Referred to as “Pom City” or simply “Moresby”, it’s one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific outside of Australia and New Zealand (41).
Port Moresby is a city where sandy islands, beach suburbs and untouched national parks meet a thriving metropolis of small cafes and bars, a diverse food scene and a unique blend of fine art and artefacts.
On the city’s outskirts are traditional fishing villages such as Boera, along the coast line, a far cry from the first-world infrastructure of 5 star hotels that typifies the city centre.
Local landmarks here include Parliament Haus (National Parliament) — modelled in the style of a Sepik spirit house – “haus tambaran”, the Botanic Gardens, the National Museum, the stilt towns of Koki and Hanuabada and the local markets such as the one at Four Mile which are abundant with fresh seafood and vegetables.
Outside his home, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula, a skypper antenna (Seen pictured above) erected more than 10m above the ground provides excellent directional access to all major DX markets — including Europe, Asia and the Americas.
In fact, the only activity from 101 Division in the last decade, according to recognised cluster databases such as Islands Base Online (IBO), has been courtesy of 43DA001 Darren who undertook an IOTA Tour of PNG islands back in 2017 and 101DA010 Alberto whom is QRV occasionally from this very rare DXCC.
On the Freeband, you’ll hear 101DA981 Giovanni on the International call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB.
QSL INFOS
For any IOTA Hunter fortunate enough to work him, a magnificent double QSL card, designed by 14DA010 Stef, is available DIRECT from Giovanni’s New Zealand address — PO Box 45 Matangi 3260 New Zealand.
The contribution is $3 US or 3 Euros + SAE thank you.
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