*REPORT* Spargi IOTA, 165DA/M-014

This July, DXpedition addict 165DA101 Alex (Shown above) undertook a journey to picturesque Spargi Island in the illusive EU-041 group for Islands On The Air (IOTA) DX work.

Travelling by boat to activate an entity never before present on the Eleven Meter Band presented many challenges, together with a collection of unforgettable memories, not only for himself but also for the DX Hunters fortunate enough to have made the log.

Here’s his report…

Our dx adventure began under the sign of a typical, scorching July day in Sardinia…

From the very early morning, the sky showed a yellowish tint, heavy with that haze typical of Saharan dust at high altitudes.

Fortunately for us, the marine microclimate of the La Maddalena Archipelago mitigated the temperature, keeping the maximums around 31 degrees.

After a hearty breakfast in Palau to fill up on energy, we took the 07:30 ferry to La Maddalena, where we had our appointment with the skipper at 8:30.

The town was already bustling, teeming with tourists ready to sail!

Our skipper, Paolo, was swiss-like in his punctuality: with a full tank of gas and all the radio equipment loaded on board, we set sail…

Compared to last year’s activation on Budelli, the conditions were much better, with a calm sea that made the crossing very pleasant.

During the journey, we planned our positioning strategy.

Spargi is a mountainous and rugged island, and it is anything but easy to find an accessible spot that guarantees good radiant openings toward the horizon.

In the end, the choice fell on the area of Cala di Punta Rossa Corsara: an excellent compromise that ensured a clear semicircle from obstacles between 290 and 90 degrees, with the mountainous terrain behind us to the North.

Once on site, we met the park ranger Renzo…

With great helpfulness, he suggested we position ourselves on a sheltered little beach right behind Punta Rossa, recommending that we stay in a set-back position.

He warned us that, throughout the day, the island would be literally invaded by waves of beachgoers dropped off in shifts by tourist boats.

Just when everything seemed ready to start, here came the cold shower during testing: extremely high SWR!

Visually, there was no anomaly on the cables.

Dismantling the components, we discovered the culprit: on the SO239 connector of the Skypper’s choke, which I had recently replaced, the solder securing the hot pin had completely vanished, probably snapped by the vibrations of the trip.

With the panic of the debut and the real risk of the entire activation failing, I armed myself with patience: I widened the internal section of the hot pin, folding it back on itself to make mechanical contact.

A risky and precarious trick, but fortunately, it held up for the entire duration of the event.

At 10:55 local time, the first CQ call as 165DA/M014 went on the international call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB…

Propagation immediately proved to be generous: a very strong European opening and, surprisingly, excellent signals from North Africa.

The latter also gifted a fantastic backscatter reflection, thanks to which we managed to log our friends from Southern Sardinia – a usually very difficult distance to cover on the 11m band via ground wave or line of sight.

As predicted by Renzo, the beach filled up with tourists in waves…

Many, intrigued by that strange antenna shaped like an upside-down umbrella, came over to ask what we were doing.

Someone even joked asking if we were setting up a set for a photo shoot, haha!

Among the crowd, we also received a visit from a few radio operators on vacation, who greeted us warmly and asked for a direct QS0.

In the hottest hours, a small beach umbrella as a shield and a few quick, refreshing dips in the crystal-clear waters of Spargi allowed me to resist the burning sun.

It was a memorable day, a fantastic experience that I will cherish forever in my heart.

Spargi is officially conquered!

OFFICIAL LOG STATISTICS

The lightning operation ended with extraordinary numbers considering the tight time window and the initial technical hitch.

Below is the real data analysis extracted directly from the station log file:

Total QSOs: 217 valid contacts
Start Time: 10:55 Local (08:55 UTC)
End Time: 17:00 Local (15:00 UTC)
Exact Duration of Activity: 4 hours and 5 minutes (perfectly within the promised 5-hour limit!)

Thanks to the great opening and the fantastic performance of the Skypper antenna with horizontal polarization, the pile-up saturation saw the following divisions dominate the log…

France (Div. 14): 77 QSOs
Italy (Div. 1): 33 QSOs (including the difficult backscatter contacts with Southern Sardinia)
England (Div. 26): 20 QSOs
Spain (Div. 30): 16 QSOs
Germany (Div. 13): 14 QSOs

Significant contacts were also made with more distant European countries such as Belgium (Div. 16), Switzerland (Div. 15), Austria (Div. 35), and Poland (Div. 161), alongside sudden openings towards the Mediterranean basin.