*DXPEDITION REPORT* 253DA0, Nicobar & Andaman

One of the most eagerly sought after dxpeditions of Cycle 25, 253DA/0 from the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, took place in November, 2024.

With shimmering turquoise waters fringed by primeval jungle, fantastic diving, and sugar-white, sun-toasted beaches melting under flame-and-purple sunsets, this ‘Most Wanted’ DXCC is a union territory of India at the southeastern edge of the Bay of Bengal.

Here’s the report from 1DA003 Filippo, with accompanying proofs, station pics and landscapes from this spectacular QTH which consists of a mind-blowing number of 836 islands and islets.



The plan for 253 was born in January 2024 and brought to realization when I joined the “mythical” DA-RC.

Coming from the experience of 164 TOGO, I told myself that it had been a radio holiday and that I wouldn’t do anything else in the future.

The problem is that when you return from an expedition you say “that’s enough now”, but after a while you already want to leave again so you organize and throw down on paper many hypotheses.

I’d never been to Asia and the memory of the 2004 tsunami – recorded as 15m high – which struck the Andaman Islands was alive and led me to evaluate this destination.

I found a nice house/hotel, cheap and with a nice free roof for the installation of antennas, and everything was available.

The host even sent me a video to see the 360° view.



The flight bought on October 7th just one month before departure was a expensive but to be expected to such a remote corner of the globe.

The setup was the same as I’d used in Togo, with the addition of a transistor amplifier from RM Italy that also works for the HF bands.

For the HF license I fought hard but without success, as the government institutions that issue authorization are non-existent, or, at least exist only with the presence of gifts.

So I was forced to concentrate on the only band available: the beloved 11 meter band.



The flight plan with Air India includes a not so short route: Milan-New Delhi-Calcutta-Andaman.

The return flight is Andaman-New Delhi-Milan and unlike the outward journey, the return flight took place in a single day.

On the evening of November 6, I left Milan with my trusty TS-590SG transciever in my suitcase and FT-450D in my hand luggage.

A hard case also carries a Spiderbeam support and a reduced Skypper and power supply for the amplifier.

The hard case weighs 30 kg and I buy the extra weight online for about €147. Then the oversized Spiderbeam bag weighs 21 kg.



In India’s capital city, New Delhi, I board everything without problems.

In Calcutta for the connecting flight to Port Blair, I’d decided to book the hotel closest to the airport and with acceptable conditions.

Some hotels in India wouldn’t even have half a star.

10 min from Calcutta airport I find a beautiful hotel which doesn’t exist on Google Maps yet, only photos of the skeleton.

I’d booked the hotel to rest and sleep a bit and instead I didn’t sleep a wink.



During my stay on the top floor there were 6 construction workers drilling and hammering at absurd hours of the night, to complete a complex renovation project.

The incessant noise of jack-hammers continued until midnight and I voiced my frustration at the reception staff the following day.

If I’d been in Italy, I would’ve refused to pay and maybe I would’ve even called the CC.

But this situation wouldn’t happen in Italy hihi.



We leave late at night for the airport and I find a taxi driver who was sleeping in the car.

With two euros the ride was done.

Early in the morning of November 8th, I find myself at Port Blair airport.

It’s 4 and a half hours later than Italy but I don’t suffer the time difference at all.

The taxi driver picks me up when I leave the airport without any customs checks, although I had to go through strict checks in Calcutta upon entry; a thousand doubts and questions from the customs officers.



I arrive on South Andaman Island and meet the family who owns the hotel that I prefer to call B&B and immediately head to the room with my 55 kilos of luggage.

4 flights of stairs and I’m in the room in the attic soon to be QRV for 253DA/0.

I immediately inspect the terrace on the roof and I’m enchanted by the landscape for about 10 min.



I start to open my bags and the first thing I do is take out the reduction for the electrical socket that in India is absolutely not similar to the European one.

The host had informed me and, on the internet months before, I’d already taken care of buying double reductions: 1 for each suitcase (if I lose one at least)

3 hours later the station is completely set up with an antenna SWR that reads 1:1.4; everything works wonderfully.



At 12.05 local time, I launch the first CQ on 27.420 MHz USB and am listening via split mode above 5, later also 10 above.

Imagine the furious pileups that will last only until Monday, then it will become acceptable without needing to do splits.

There was also the split frequency for supporters that I took care of badly and sometimes I forgot about it due to the commotion of the pile ups.

I managed the calls with Yalog which told me who was already in the log, then, a moment later, logged the station on the online log.

It’s a service that’s still not well understood by some so let’s hope everything will be ok soon.



The radio ops are carried out without surprises, mostly positive experiences but some negatives.

If I called forward only the station xxRRyy, 100s of others continued to call; it’s a common problem on 11m with guys not showing manners and listening until a QSO is complete before calling.

Many guys think they are smart by operating in this manner but they’re just pathetic and take away the opportunity for other “little pistols” to contact the dxpedition station.



Days on the radio began at my local dawn when in Italy it was midnight but the body clock handled the challenge okay.

Connections with operators in Brazil (3 Division) via the short path (SP) and then the 43s began and very few 41s.

The first Europeans, those from the north, arrive and at 10.30 local time, followed by the first southern Europeans as well as compatriots in Italy.



I must say that every day, as soon as I got up, I tried with the Skypper to the north to connect the west coast of the USA (2 Division) and Canada (9) with poor results.

Low signals from Mexico (10) and the Americas were reported also, but unfortunately, I had too much QRM above their signals to be able to listen to them.

Fortunately, I managed to connect the west coast on the penultimate day — there’s a Mexican who is still jumping for joy hihi!

On the radio, Europe was breaking my eardrums with huge signals until 16:45 local time, the start of sunset.



Speaking of midday on the island, I never stopped for lunch: only breakfast and dinner.

This was to ensure more hours on the radio.

Breakfast in this remarkable IOTA destination was strange for a European guy as I wasn’t used to drinking milky coffee after a fish cooked with turmeric.

When the fish had run out, cook prepared me a delicious omelet; then everything was accompanied by fruit, banana, kiwi, mango, a pudding/jam.

There were 3 mornings when they made me French fries with homemade sauce too.

Tasty!



To break up the shack time, I always enjoyed dinner at a luxury restaurant, just 300 m from my B&B to conclude long days on the mic.

Except for the first day when I chose dishes that were too spicy, the meals here were delicious.

They consisted of chicken in a thousand sauces, mostly with rice and even pasta like mezze penne and pasticciate.



Strangely, carbonated water doesn’t exist here so I went for beer or Coca Cola to quench my thirst when pile-ups made the throat dry.

Once I tried what they call SODA and it was the drink that came closest to carbonated water, even if a little bitter.

It was a satisfying dinner that managed to cover the skipped lunch, and never more than 10 euros (approx. 11,000 Indian rupees).



My days were not only about radio and the occasional meal but tasting some of the local culture too.

Being in Port Blair, I didn’t visit beaches or nearby islands for swimming etc.

Instead, with the help of cheap mini taxis, I took a few trips in the morning to various sites.

Sometimes, I walked in search of beer (2 beers of 66cl 1.5 euro) and one day I bought some slippers for the shower.

Another day I went to visit the fascinating Cellular Jail — a gigantic prison that, in the last century, hosted prisoners of war and revolutionaries.



On the third day, I also travelled to the post office where, alas, I didn’t find postcards there or anywhere else.

There was only a pseudo postcard style which I sent via registered mail to the first 50 supporters whose address I’d already written on white envelopes.

At the post office, the taxi driver helped me to remove the stamps and attach them to the plates!

In the end, I was at the local post office for 2 hours to send about 55 envelopes.

We’ll see how many will come but I did my best as the sole operator on this dx adventure.



On the radio, every day, the power went out at least 3 times with average blackout durations of 15-20 min, both during the day and at night.

During the day, temps reached 29 degrees with 90% humidity, whereas in the evening it was 24 degrees but always hot and sticky.

But I never used the air conditioning.

In the morning I woke up all wet from sweat so a good shower was a must.

With so much propagation to work through, let’s say that the day light hours seemed to flow by and it was immediately evening.



The fun both on the radio and the beauty of driving in new landscapes was hilarious.

For instance, driving in Andaman— just as it was in India—was impacted by heavy traffic and the constant honking of horns.

Every time on the roads, it seemed as if India had won the soccer World Cup!

During my stay, I never bought an Indian mobile SIM because, even though I wanted to, because I couldn’t find a supplier.

Instead, I used the good wifi connection both in the B&B and in the restaurant where I enjoyed my meals.



The last day at the radio, when it was time to unplug and disassemble, was not easy.

It took 2-3 hours to prepare everything and add an HF antenna bought in India by Dev, however, I chose to leave some details in Andaman for a resident ham Mr Manoj that could be useful to him.

Early in the morning, I headed to the airport, satisfied with the results of this Most Wanted dxpedition.

It was a nice check in with customs officers who were dubious about the contents of the hard suitcase but I was allowed to pass through okay.



Once in Delhi I waited for the flight to Milan and unfortunately I ended up near a large Indian family with a hysterical little girl and a small, cute but very annoying boy.

I didn’t sleep a wink this time either!

In the end I put on my headphones and watched an entertaining movie.



When I arrived in Milan my fears of external interference had become reality.

Alas, my suitcases did not appear on the conveyor belt as they’d remained in Delhi, stopped by the Customs officers.

After some conversations with airport personnel, I filed a complaint by filling out the PIR form and returned home, this time much lighter.



I returned to Milan, in the northern part of Italy, the following week to collect the suitcases and with everything inside.

I was really afraid that my Yaesu FT-590 would be missing, however, my fears were allayed when I opened the case to see it still intact.



During my stay in Nicobar & Andaman, I had immense fun both on and off the radio.

The beauty of being alone for a dxpedition of this magnitude is that everything really depends exclusively on yourself: on the decisions you make or don’t make.

It’s a really fascinating process!

Who knows if there will be another dx adventure?!?!

In the meantime, on paper, I’m thinking of another activation that isn’t AS and that’s not AF; who knows maybe even a country not most wanted but one that’s pleasant to live in and, maybe, with a beautiful calm and warm blue sea.



Thank you to everyone for their wonderful support of this activity, particularly to the sponsors for their commitment.

Congratulations to everyone who made the log!

73’s Filippo 1DA003