The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the southernmost island country in the Caribbean Sea, is home to new Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) member 158DA010 Navin.
A skilled Freeband DXer, who was previously known on the 11m band as 158SAB001 (Sierra Alfa Bravo DX Group), Navin connects with the DA-RC family in December 2020.
With Cycle 25 opening its eyes, he’s wasted no time in getting stuck in to some serious intercontinental dx either with his new Delta-Alfa’ callsign!
One of the most coveted IOTA entities in the Caribbean on ANY BAND, Navin’s jaw-dropping QTH — Trinidad & Tobago — is 130 km south of Grenada (195 Division), 11 km off the coast of Venezuela (5 Division) and shares maritime boundaries with Barbados Island (122 Division) to the northeast.
Nicknamed the “Land of the Hummingbird”, Trinidad & Tobago has the island dotted Caribbean Sea to the north, the Atlantic to the east and south, and the Gulf of Paria to the west.
As the name suggests, this eagerly sought after DXCC consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and together they cover an area of just 5128 km2.
According to Google Earth, Trinidad and Tobago are separated by a 30 km strait, plus a number of much smaller islands.
Both main islands, however, have dissimilar South American references according to the framework of the World IOTA Program.
Referenced as SA-011, Trinidad is 4768 km2 in area with an average length of 80 km and an average width of 59 km.
Based on statistics in the Islands Base Online database, SA-011 is claimed by less than 100 Island Hunters.
Meanwhile, it’s sister isle — Tobago (SA-009) — is claimed by less than 50 Hunters.
Surrounding island dxstinations include Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande (or Gasparee), Little Tobago, and Saint Giles Island, and, according to the Islands Base Online database, most of these have never before been active on the 11m band.
158DA010 Navin resides on Trinidad island, in the Port of Spain area, 158 Division’s capital city, with the majority of the country’s population, affectionately known as ‘Trinis’.
The 3 other major municipalities in Trinidad are San Fernando, Arima and Chaguanas.
Not only is Trinidad the TX base for one of the region’s most accomplished 27 MHz DXers, it’s also home to the country’s highest Summits On The Air (SOTA) opportunity — El Cerro del Aripo (See pictured right) — which is roughly 940m above sea level.
The east coast of Navin’s island is noted for its beautiful beaches, most notably the stunning Manzanilla Beach.
Not only is it the perfect place for 158DA010 Navin and his fellow Trinidadians to escape the local maritime tropical WX, this beach is also known as a hatching site of the local leatherback sea turtle.
Trinidad also contains several large swamp areas, such as the Caroni Swamp and the Nariva Swamp which have both been designated ‘Wetlands of International Importance’.
This DXceptional island is also notable for containing Pitch Lake, the largest natural reservoir of asphalt in the world.
The lake covers about 100 acres and is reported to be an astonishing 250 feet deep.
Trinidad and Tobago has a diverse culture mixing Indian, African, Creole, Chinese, Amerindian, Arab, Latino, and European influences, reflecting the various communities who’ve migrated to the islands over the centuries.
“These are reflected,” according to 158DA010 Navin, “in its large and famous Carnival, Diwali, and Hosay celebrations, as well being the birthplace of steelpan, the limbo, and music styles such as calypso, soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and chutney soca….”
158DA010 Navin and his family celebrate the famous Hindu festival — Maha Shivaratri.
This annual festival celebrates the grand marriage of the lord of destruction, Shiva — with the goddess of fertility, love, and beauty — Parvati, who’s also known as Shakti (power).
Special prayers are reportedly offered in all Shiva temples in Trinidad throughout the holy night.
158DA010 Navin’s station consists of Yaesu FT-840 and Kenwood TS-440 transceivers.
A Drake L-4B produces a massive 2000 watts on SSB and combined with a homebrew 4 element yagi antenna, these give Navin’s station extreme DX pulling power.
When he’s not behind the mic of his Kenwood or Yaesu rigs — chasing DX or enjoying a QSO with radio mates in the West Indies — 158DA010 Navin enjoys listening to a wide variety of music; from Guns ‘n’ Roses, Scorpion, ACDC, Bon Jovi to traditional Hindu music.
He also enjoys riding motorbikes and spending time with family in the outdoors.
Like most DA-RC Members, 158DA010 Navin is QRV on the international call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB, where his “CQ” calls are normally snapped up by IOTA frenzied ops.
He also monitors the Caribbean Islands chat frequency which is 27.515 MHz LSB where’s he’s able to utilise his proximity to the water (less than 500m) and ground wave props to his advantage and work many other island nations in the region.
158DA010 Navin is determined to add to his already impressive tally of DXCC entities worked and confirmed and will readily exchange QSL cards via his QSL Manager in Australia.
QSL INFOS
DA-RC HQ Oceania · PO Box 3140 Browns Plains LPO · QLD Australia
Thank you very much for the nice contact. Your signal was very strong with 5/8.
Best 73 from Switzerland, 15 PL, Markus