From the sleepy village of Cipinang Muara in East Jakarta resides Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) member 91DA052 Agung who joins with our club in late March 2021.

Agung adds to our long list of outstanding radio operators in this part of southeast Asia.

91DA052 Agung is a licensed amateur radio operator since 2016 and a keen 11m DX Hunter as well; one whom is well-known across the Indonesian archipelago for his professional operating conduct and passion for radio comms.

On ham bands and with friends in ORARI 5, Agung is heavily involved in contest and special event stations in which he’s always successful.

Pictured both above and below, 91DA052 Agung’s station is considered ideal for 11m DX work…

On his shack benchtop rests a Yaesu FT-757GX HF transceiver covering 160 to 10 meters, with ten memories and 100 watts of output power.

Outside, some 12 meters above his home and overlooking nearby streets of timeless colonial style buildings, are classic Avanti Sigma IV and Ringo antennas.

These verticals ensure his TX signal is a prominent one on the Indonesian chat frequency — 27.305 MHz USB — as well as the international call frequency — 27.555 MHz USB when propagation is flowing.

Google Earth confirms that 91DA052 Agung’s village is situated in the district of Jatinegara in East Jakarta, bounded by North Jakarta to the north, Bekasi to the east, Depok to the south, and South Jakarta and Central Jakarta to the west.

Jatinegara is historically known for its cosmopolitan character, dominated formerly by indigenous Christians from the so-called Outer Islands, but also with sizeable Chinese and Arab communities (Foreign Orientals).

A historic mix of cultures – Javanese, Malay, Chinese, Arab, Indian and European – is said to have influenced its architecture, language and cuisine.

Established in the 17th century, this district is known to be one of the oldest areas in Jakarta, and contains a number of buildings from the colonial period.

A place of interest, according to 91DA052 Agung, is the Jatinegara railway station, located on the boundary between the districts of Jatinegara and Matraman.

This is one of the biggest railway stations on Java and is the main entrance to Jakarta from cities east of Jakarta.

Others are numerous churches such as Saint Joseph’s, Koinonia, Bethesda Church and St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church; temples such as Fu De Gong Chinese Temple and Shia Djin Kong Chinese Temple, plus fabulous markets such as the Jatinegara Regional Market (Pictured above).

Best known for its birds, the market also has various cats, fish, monkeys and other animals, which come from regions across the archipelago.

Another major feature of 91DA052 Agung’s local area is the Cipinang Penitentiary Institution, pictured above and below, which is regarded as a top-security prison.

Built by the Dutch colonial administration, during the Indonesian National Revival, this jail reportedly holds 4000 prisoners in a facility designed to hold just 1500.

Jakarta, Indonesia’s massive capital, sits on the northwest coast of the island of Java — one of the country’s 17,504 islands.

Referenced as OC-021 in accordance with the World IOTA Program, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the perfect launchpad for budding dx adventurists to outer lying island dxstinations.

Dxpeditions to islands in Jakarta Bay such as Pulau Demar Besar, Pulau Ayer and Golf Island could well be on Agung’s itinerary in the coming years.

When he’s not behind the microphone of his Yaesu rig calling “CQ DX”, 91DA052 Agung works as an engineer.

He lists sports and travel as his favourite past times and there’s no doubt this adventurous spirit will translate into some exciting radio endeavours in the future for his new radio club.

QSL INFOS

Agung Gunawan — 13420 / Cakrawijaya XII no.B-6, Cipinang Muara, Jatinegara, East Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia