From the Republic of Indonesia, the Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) is proud to introduce to you 91DA019 Purnama.
An intelligent, well-educated guy, and a licensed ham radio operator, Purnama is an excellent addition to DA-RC’s 91 Division Team in April 2020.
Pictured left and below, 91DA019 Purnama began his curiosity in radio comms in the 1980’s through citizens band radio (CB).
He remains active on 27 MHz now but is QRV right across the spectrum.
“I’ve always been interested in shortwave listening and radio communication since I was in a high school,” disclosed Purnama.
Purnama is a member of the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organisation (ORARI) and the local CB Club — RAPI (Indonesian Citizen Band) — with good friend 91DA007 Eko who lives in the same city.
His station consists of Yaesu FT 897D and ICOM IC-7300 transceivers, in-line with a Collins 30L-1 (80-10m) 1KW PEP linear amplifier, plus a number of high-end DXcessories.
Above the roof of his house are a nice collection of antennas which ensure his TX signals are able to punch through pile-ups on most bands.
They include a Mosley 3 element Yagi (Pictured right), a Diamond W735 inverted-V dipole for 40/ 80m bands a Diamond X520M omnidirectional for 70cm/ 2m bands and an Avanti Sigma4 vertical which is more than 27 feet long.
Possibly the world’s IOTA hotspot, 91DA019 Purnama’s DXCC — Indonesia — is spread across a chain of 17 thousand islands between Asia and Australia (43 Division).
Within this volcanic archipelago, is the island of Java, the 4th largest island DXstination in Indonesia, home to the capital city of Jakarta and also to many of south East Asia’s most active DX Hunters.
According to the atlas, Java (also spelled Djawa or Jawa) (OC-021) lies southeast of Malaysia (113/58 Divisions) and Sumatra (OC-143), south of Borneo (Kalimantan) (OC-088), and west of Bali (OC-022).
Here, 91DA019 Purnama resides in Bogor City.
This city was reportedly known during the Dutch colonial era as “Buitenzorg” which translates to “Without worries”.
Situated on the western part of the island, Bogor has a presidential palace, administrative buildings and universities.
These regularly host art exhibitions, festivals of folk art, conferences and culture-related seminars.
Nicknamed “Kota hujan” which means “Rain City”, Bogor is more humid and rainy than in many other areas of West Java.
“The main tourist attraction,” tells 91DA019 Purnama, “is the Bogor Botanical Garden.”
“This is one of the oldest and largest in the world, and it thrives in this tropical rainforest climate…”
Founded in 1817, the Botanical Garden is located in the city center and adjoins the presidential palace compound of Istana Bogor.
Amazingly, it covers an area of 87 hectares (210 acres) and contains almost 14,000 different kinds of trees and plants.
Other historical places of significance include numerous ‘places of worship’.
The Bogor Cathedral (Pictured below), for instance, was built in 1750 and is one of the oldest operational Catholic Churches in Indonesia.
Another, the Buddhist temple Hok Tek Bio (Pictured above), was built in 1672.
It’s the first Buddhist temple of Bogor and one of the oldest in all of Indonesia.
Interestingly, Purnama’s city is also noted for its tropical aquarium fish such as the Guppy which are exported in large numbers.
91DA019 Purnama works as a Lecturer in Entomology for the Faculty of Agriculture at IPB University, the main educational and scientific center in Indonesia and home to dozens of research centers and laboratories..
Entomology is the study of insects and their relationship to humans, the environment, and other organisms and with the Botanical Garden located in his city, this is arguably of the best places to study this field in the world.
When he’s not writing papers or researching insects and plants, OR, chasing international DX behind the mic in his radio shack, 91DA019 Purnama enjoys nature and outdoor activities.
“I like traveling, camping, countryside walks, bicycling,” he says.
No doubt hiking the long pathway to Jaksa Waterfall, which is located in a lowland rainforest near Taman Safari Park, has been accomplished more than a few times in the past!
On 11m, you can meet 91DA019 Purnama on-the-air on the international call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB, or on 27.305 MHz USB which is his country’s chat frequency.
On ham bands, he might catch him in one of the contests such as the CQWW SSB. He often works at 15, 20, and 40m bands on the digital (PSK31, PSK63, JT-65, and FT8 lately) or phone modes also.
QSL INFO
Purnama Hidayat
Bogor Raya Permai Blok FC 6 No 28
Kota Bogor barat, 16113
West Java, INDONESIA
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