Did you worked 5U2K, 5U3T or 5U5A in February/March 2001? We have been on the air from Feb. 26 until March 14 operating on SSB (5U2K, 5U5A), CW/RTTY/PSK31 (5U3T). Operations were on all bands from 6 to 160m and we took part in the ARRL DX SSB Contest (5U5A).

It was a low profile DXpedition. While everybody talks about monster-DXpeditions that set new records by raising multi monoband antennas in remote corners of the world, we decided to mount an old fashioned DX adventure using very basic tools. We relied upon simple antennas, relatively low power and our commitment to hit the airwaves as mush as possible to give everybody a chance to work this rare country.

We want give credit to the following people who made this DXpedition a real success: H. E. the Ambassador of Niger in Italy; Monsieur Amadou Maliki, the Director of DRPT; the Associazione Radioamatori Italiani; I1UJX; IK2CIO; W6OAT; W8JI.

Everything started when Silvano, I2YSB, decided that - for some unknown reason - he had to apply for a 5U license! Silvano started in October 2000 bothering the Niger Ambassador in Rome asking for permission to operate. He called this poor guy 3 times a week for 3 months and it worked because the Ambassador, who probably was really tired of talking with Silvano on the phone, was able to get a fax from the Niger Foreign Office securing the permission to operate. It was not a license yet, but it was close. Silvano was planning to go with another friend but this guy gave up so he asked I2UIY to join in for a DXpedition in Niger. While they were discussing if this project could work, another guy arrived to visit, he was Marcello, IK2DIA. They involved him in the discussion and he agreed to join in.

Anyway we had never been involved organizing a DXpedition on our own so we were worried not knowing what could wait for us in Niger. But sometimes you can be lucky and so it happened. As some of you might know, I2UIY is full time busy sorting cards for the Italian QSL Bureau and on January 3, just 2 days after the decision to go, sorting a pile of US QSLs, he found a card from 5U7DG. They thought that there were no local operators in Niger but here was one and – look! - he put his n Email address on the card. The same night Paolo sent an Email to him asking if he could help and the next day he received his positive answer.

We decided from the beginning to put on a low profile activity because it was our first operation and also to keep low the costs. For these reasons we did not plan to bring a lot of stuff. Our luggage consisted of a ski-bag with all antennas inside, a suitcase with all the hardware, feed lines and radials and a second suitcase with all the clothes and personal belongings of 3 of us. Transceivers, linear amplifier, computers and other electronic gear were stored in hand baggage. We were only 7 Kg over the allowed weight so we were quite sure to have no problems at the Check-In. The last strong emotion was when the phone at 5U7DG’s was ringing with no answer for over 2 days just before our departure. We were desperate when, only 4 hours before leaving from home, I2UIY got an Email from 5U7JK saying that he was in Niamey and that everything was ready for us. Well, another radio amateur in Niger. The country started to become crowded!

...this is the beginning of the Niger-2001 story. If you are interested to know what happened, you can ask to receive the CD Rom with the PowerPoint© presentation of our DXpedition. It is a 40 minutes long show with over 130 slides. On the same CD Rom you will find 500+ digital pictures that we took during our trip.