cq dx de js6shs Location:   24.35N   124.15E Station:   IC-706, 40m end-fed wire Operator (CW, SSB):   Yuuri (om) E-mail:     js6shs 'at' qsl.net Welcome to Ishigaki Island       Detailed map of the region, showing the countries in the area   *   Distance Calculator A little bit about myself: my home is in the south of Ishigaki Island, near the harbour and the town administration. I used to work as ships's radio operator and in electronics and for some time also tried my hand at car and household electric repair work, but nowadays my life looks very different: in recent years my mainstay has been tourism and language related work (translation, interpretation, tour planning/guiding, teaching) - something that seems particularly fitting for a guy who enjoys communicating with people from all over the world. :-) Of course, my old skills come in handy, not only when a lamp or outlet needs fixing, but also in the context of ham radio... Ah, yes, ham radio. E-Mail:   After tolerating a few (well, a few more than "a few") years of "radioinactivity" on my part, ham radio called me back into service this year. And in exchange for my promise to be "radioactive" from now on, the radio office gave me the callsign "js6shs"! Pleased to meet you, ladies and gentlemen! And a bit about my station: my first station was a FR-50B with a matching FL-50 and a long (well, not so long) wire antenna, and although there have been a few other rigs since, my antennas have always been one or other kind of self-built wire contraption. :-) The rig registered with the radio office as my official station equipment is an IC-706 (our regulations are much stricter than those in many other countries: we have to register the rigs we use by serial number or, if we want to use homebrew equipment, submit the specs and a block diagram and apply for an official approval certificate), and then there is an FT-7B as backup. Both rigs work off a car battery if there is no mains power, something you need to keep in mind when you live on the "Ring of Fire" and see typhoons pass through every year. Let me show you some pictures of my home...   (Photo credit: Ishigakijimaumibe) Ishigaki Island is the transportation hub for the Yaeyama Island Group, which is part of Okinawa Prefecture and includes both Japan's southermost inhabited island, Hateruma, and Japan's westernmost island, Yonaguni (Okinawa was an independent country, at that time called Ryukyu, until 1879, when Japan took over). With a combined population of about 50,000 the Yaeyama Islands have only a handful of ham radio operators.   (Photo credit: Chamomile) (Photo credit: Ishigakijimaumibe) Yonaguni, the westernmost island in the Yaeyama Group, is located over 500km (300miles) away from the prefectural capital, Naha, on Okinawa Island, but less than 120km (75miles) from Taiwan. The island is well-known among insiders not only for its giant moths and small Mongolian horses (ponies) but also for the diving paradise called "underwater ruins". The southernmost island, Hateruma, lies within 65 km (40 miles) of the tropic of cancer, halfway between the northernmost islands of the Philippines and Okinawa Island. And then there is Iriomote Island, much of which protected as nature reserve, with its own species of wild cat and other marvels of nature.   (Photo credit: Ishigakijimaumibe) (Photo credit: Chamomile) How about a DXpedition to our islands? Or just a vacation, to relax? Yaeyama and Taiwan...   Please use this mail form to send me a message...   Last updated: December 2009 atamagawata