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V84SMD – DXpedition to Brunei Darussalam by Mediterraneo DX Club DL3GA's story
During the ham radio 2012, I'm catching fire for another trip to an interesting DXCC entity. An email via GDXF reflector sounds interesting: The Mediterrano DX Club needs CW operators for an activity in Brunei (V8). Only one reply email and I'm part of it. The other ops are from Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Indonesia and Germany. There will also be strong support by local hams in Brunei. I'm using the time until departure to get a little familiar with the IC 7000 and the QARtest software. My friend DF3GY is not only very helpful on that, he also lends me a FA interface for ICOM transceivers as spare part, just in case. Thanks, Hardy! I'm also taking my Bencher paddle and Idiom keyer, a headset and a german USB keyboard with me. With all that, plus clothes and accessories, I'm still well below my baggage limits.
___Friday, 09 Nov 2012 At 09:30 I walk to the railway station. Including two stopovers in Offenburg and Bern, the trip to Milano takes seven hours. The weather is beautiful, making the train ride through Switzerland and northern Italy worthwhile. The train from Bern to Milano offers a nice gimmick: A monitor at the ceiling shows the train and the surrounding landscape from a bird's view in real time. In Milano, I buy a ticket to the Malpensa airport and take the next train. MDXC members pick me up, take me to our hotel and then to the radio club. Most of the team members are already here and the party has begun. Club members serve a two-course dinner, cheese, dessert and lots of red wine. What a start !
___Saturday, 10 Nov 2012 I check out from the hotel before breakfast, later MDXC members take us to Malpensa airport. The last team members join the group now. Karl, OE3JAG, arrives with a flight from Vienna. With our group and lots of baggage, we occupy our own check-in office for a while. But obviously there are no problems, as well as on our way on to the airplane. We board a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER which takes us to Singapore in “only” twelve hours. I can't find sleep, but I have a window seat and there are many nice views on the way. Especially the nightly final approach to Singapore is a blast.
___Sunday, 11 Nov 2012 Right after arrival, we clear another carry-on baggage check and go on to the gate of our connecting flight. There is time for some sleep, but only while sitting on a bench or laying on the floor. The flight to Brunei is a little delayed but we don't care. On arrival, members of the Gemilang radio club give us a very warm welcome. Some good old friends see each other again this morning. The support of the local hams is also very helpful when clearing the last airport checkpoints. Exiting the building, we dive into the humid heat – my clothes are full of sweat in no time... We load our luggage into one minibus, another one takes us to our hotel at Tutong in about 45 minutes. On arrival, we find that our personal bags are already waiting for us in our rooms. I share a room with Karl, OE3JAG. Later that afternoon, a shuttle bus takes us to the QTH at the beach, where most team members are busy with the antennas and radios. The distance between hotel and QTH is significant, so the shuttle will be with us for the entire stay, but only a few people are entitled to drive it. The Gemilang radio club has prepared an impressive QTH: The shack is a large air-conditioned tent, an open-air tent invites for dining or relaxing after an operator shift. Monoband beams for 20 and 15m are ready for action. I help erecting a vertical antenna for 160m. A spectacular sunset offers plenty of opportunity for photos. I check the conditions on 20m, but the band is virtually dead at this time of the day. Back at the hotel, we get a delicious dinner. But then it's time to see the bed after a loooong day.	Dining are (front/left) and shack tent (right)
___Monday, 12 Nov 2012 We get up at 07:00 to get a breakfast before we return to the beach. I can see the jet lag in every European face. The QTH is rather busy with preparations for the opening ceremony. As the guest of honor arrives, the ceremony begins. After a prayer, the presidents of the Gemilang and Mediterraneo radio clubs hold their welcome speeches. The guest of honor cuts a ribbon, officially starting our activity. Radio and television are here to cover the event and explain to their viewers/listeners what we are going to do in the next days. Since I am with this group for the first time, I have the honor of the first shift right after the ceremony. But most antennas are not ready yet. I try my best on the 20m beam, but the conditions allow for merely 100 QSOs in three hours. Two IC 7000s lose most of their output power. Gerard, F2JD, knows problem and cure – a SMD capacitor would have to be replaced. But that takes time... Spare transceivers are installed to reactivate the SSB and RTTY stations. Later, Karl and I cover the shift of Norbert, DJ7JC, who is still on the way to us from another appointment in China. He arrives a little later and after welcoming him, we return to the hotel for dinner. I get very tired afterwards and go to bed, but I can't sleep. My next shift will begin at 02:00...	Opening ceremony
___Tuesday, 13 Nov 2012 I get up at 01:30 and walk down to the hotel entrance, but it is locked. I find an open side door and go to our shuttle bus, but there is nobody else – no trace of the other ops of my shift, and no driver for the shuttle bus either. After a while I go back inside and take the lift to the top floor – missing the other ops who use the other lift down... But then I catch up with them and we drive to the beach. I replace Karl, continuing with a heavy EU pileup on 80m. I do my best to log as many callers as I can, but the jet lag makes it very hard to drag the weaker signals out of the noise. After the three hour shift, Gerard takes over. Back at the hotel, I plunge into bed and sleep until breakfast time. Later Karl and I take a shuttle to the beach QTH, although our shifts are hours away. I help here and there, also by replacing Heye, DJ9RR, at the CW station – he needs more time to erect his 40m foursquare. My regular shift starts at 17:00 and I work on 15m, now with Heyes K2 transceiver. Two hours later, the other stations switch to 12 and 10m, unfortunately causing heavy phase noise on my receiver. So I QSY to 30m, working JA with occasional EU and NA. At the same time, Norbert starts working with the IC 7000 CW station and the 40m foursquare. I log over 300 QSOs in this shift – not really good but not bad either. I return to the hotel and go to bed right after dinner.
___Wednesday, 14 Nov 2012 I wake up early, obviously still struggling with the jet lag. There's little time for breakfast because the restaurant opens 07:30 and my shift begins 08:00. However, the shuttle bus is also late, giving me some extra time for breakfast and I replace Karl a bit later than planned. I catch the spider beam and start running on 17m. Many callers from JA, some from NA and even some from PY allow a high rate. After two hours, only a few weak signals are left and I change to 12m. I run only 100W there because this limits the noise on 15m to a level that the SSB op can live with. At the end of the shift, I added 350 QSOs to the log – not bad. When Gerard takes over, the pileup on 12m is also “done”, so I suggest that he changes to 10m. I return to the hotel and meet Karl. We stroll the busy roads of Tutong and have a snack in a Cafe. For lunch, we check out the restaurant across the road from the hotel entrance. Some italian team members are also here. The menu is a voluminous book with countless meals, each with a photo. Karl has to leave for his shift, I take another walk in the hotel's vicinity. I notice that the team hast started assembling a spider beam on the hotel roof, so I visit them and take a few photos. After dinner, it's time to drive to the beach QTH and begin my shift at 23:00. The 30m vertical is available and soon I work on a tremendous pileup from EU. Unfortunately, there is a considerable lack of discipline. It seems that my signal in Europe is good, but many callers just don't listen - maybe there is deliberate QRM on me. I have to take a break several times. On the way back to the hotel, the RTTY op reports that he didn't make a single QSO in his shift.
___Thursday, 15 Nove 2012 The alarm clock stops my sleep, I want breakfast before the restaurant closes. Then I join Karl on the way to the beach QTH. The weather is rather bad today, it's cloudy and it rains from time to time. But that's normal for this time of the year, so we've been lucky in the past few days. Together with some of the german ops, I spend some time in a near Cafe. Then we notice that wind and waves nibbled on the 40m foursquare radials, so we rearrange them. Other team members went to the capital city for some sightseeing today – did they pick a bad day ? Stefano, IZ5GST, has improvised a vertical antenna for 12m directly at the waterfront. I use it in my shift. Obviously, it doesn't produce a big signal in Europe, but I can still work very fluently. A thunderstorm stops us for short while. The following rain pounds heavily on the tent's roof, so I can't even hear the SSB ops sitting to my left and right... And some team members assembled a 6m yagi antenna that is now tested in SSB, causing heavy QRM in my radio. The tests are canceled after a few minutes. I add 360 QSOs to the log during this shift, a few more than yesterday. Not bad, but the number could be significantly higher without all the natural and man-made hurdles. The overall log reaches 10000 QSOs today. Both SSB and CW contribute over 40% each, digital modes are a bit disappointing with 14%. But digital QSOs take their time, so their share will probably rise once the demand in CW and SSB goes back.	Gerard, F2JD, operating V84SMD
___Friday, 16 Nov 2012 I have to get up early for my shift starting at 05:00. Karl has optimized the receive antenna for 160m and logged lots of QSOs. I can only log a few more, then I switch to 80m although it's already past sunrise. There are no takers, so I convince the RTTY operator that he should run 15m on the monoband yagi rather than the spider beam. I start running on 17m with few takers, but the pileup keeps growing continuously. When Gerard arrives to replace me, there is an imposing number of US stations calling. At breakfast, I meet all CW ops (except Gerard who is working his shift) and discuss achievements and plans with them. We believe that we need to focus on 40m and JA on 160m. The log search page in the internet now provides statistics that confirms this. The CW share of the overall QSO number has fallen to 39%, mostly in favor of RTTY. The weather is a bit better today, no more rain but not much sun either. I go to sleep for while. The late shift is very exhausting. Taking over from Karl, I continue working on 40m. There is tremendous QRM by local fishermen on the band. And it seems that our SSB operators have logged all the big guns by now, so it's time for the little pistols. Unintentionally, they speak louder in order to get through the noise or keep control of their crowd of takers. Moreover, there are several local visitors this evening. Kids use their mobile phones and their transmissions are buzzing in my headphones. By the way, my headphones are rather open, so I have to increase the volume to hear my takers. I decide that I need something better next time, but for now I have no better solution. Fortunately, every shift has an end and I go to bed as soon as I can.
___Saturday, 17 Nov 2012 My morning starts with a relaxed breakfast and check of my emails. My shift would start at 11:00 but the shuttle arrives late and so I arrive at the beach QTH at 11:30. The best bands for this time of the day are occupied by the other stations, so I work on 20m. QSOs occur every now and then, it's not as boring as on the first day. During longer periods of Auto-CQ, I get a password for DX-Scape in order to spot myself. Then I switch bands with the RTTY station. After a few CQs on 12m, several takers show up and soon I have to use split because someone spots me before I have time to spot myself. In the next 90 minutes, I log over 200 QSOs. When Gerard takes over, the pileup is significantly reduced. But he continues on this band because a continuous stream of callers from western Europe keeps him busy. I join the other CW ops for a drink in the restaurant next door. Later I help repairing the K9AY antenna – its telescopic mast has partly collapsed – and I repair the connector at the bottom of my paddle. Finally I return to the hotel for a shower, some internet, dinner and amusement. I go to bed and try to rest before I have to get up for that unpopular night shift.
___Sunday, 18 Nov 2012 I force myself out of bed and go to the parked shuttle bus. The driver arrives a while later and takes us to the beach QTH. I continue Karl's efforts on 160m, it's hard to isolate a callsign from the static noise. Five ops are in the shack, but only one SSB op silently calls CQ with rare QSOs in between – this is very helpful while I try to identify those tiny signals in the top band static. After one hour, nothing is left and I go to 30m. Here I work takers from Asia, Australia and also a European from time to time. So far, Gerard always arrived on time, but today he's late. He goes back to 160m because it's daybreak. I return to the hotel but I'm not really tired. I go to the 9^th floor and find the second station unmanned. The spider beam “looks” to EU and consequently my CQ on 20m remains unheard. So I change to the vertical and call CQ on 40m. This is not so easy because this station doesn't have a computer interface, hence I call by paddle. But it's not a type of paddle I'm used to, so I probably sound like a beginner... Moreover, the band is busy with contest, but I can work on 7000,5 up1 for a while, until the local QRM grows too big. So I try on 30m, but here's a lot of QRM also. Nevertheless I can pilot the callers to empty split frequencies and work about 80 QSOs. I'm ready for QRT, but Adhi, YB3MM, suggests to check 12m. In fact, there is an opening to the USA and a quick cluster spot lets me log another 60 QSOs. Slowly, I move to the edge of the table in order to avoid direct sunlight. At the end of the opening, I leave the station for breakfast. Later this day, it's photo shooting day in our Gemilang shirts at the beach QTH. Another open door event was announced, but few visitors show up. Karl suffers indigestion and returns to the hotel during his shift and Eric, ON7RN, replaces him. When it's time for me to take over, a huge pileup on 10m awaits me. The band is wide open to EU, but according to cluster remarks, QRM on my transmit frequency doesn't allow top QSO rates. Moreover, many takers waste lots of time in their QSO by giving verbose texts instead of a simple “5NN TU”. After about 90 minutes, the band suddenly closes. And this seems to affect all bands because the other ops report the same. I try my luck on lower bands, but with little success until Gerard arrives to take over. We can't return to the hotel now because a thunderstorm unloads tremendous amounts of rain on us. We observed the building of this storm for hours, now it's here and it's a wild thing. A leak in the tent wall over the CW station forces temporary QRT to avoid water damage. At the end of this day, I set the alarm clock for 06:00. I want to see if I can catch the USA opening on 12 or 10m again.
___Monday, 19 Nov 2012 My plans become reality. Early this morning at the K2 station in the 9^th floor, I start working on 30m to JA and USA. Later I switch to 12m and then 10m. In spite of drastic phone QRM on 28025, I log 120 QSOs in two hours – hard work for me without computer-aided CW and with an unfamiliar paddle. After breakfast, my sightseeing tour starts. With Heye, DJ9RR, Eleonore, Karl and Norbert, DJ7JC, we are not just the German group, but also a major part of the CW team. A young hotel employee and his friend take us to the city. Visiting the Sultan's palace, museums, a shopping mall (for lunch), and a mosque offers new impressions virtually every minute. We also find picture postcards and stamps for families and friends at home. Finally we take a speed boat to Kampong Ayer, one of the early roots of Brunei's history. But before we visit the historic village, the speed boat skipper shows us the surrounding rain forest on a round trip. After this, we are rather finished and return to Tutong. Half way, it starts raining heavily – obviously we were very lucky with the weather during our trip. After a shower, some internet update and dinner, I run my regular shift at the beach QTH. The rain is pounding on the tent roof again while I work on 80m with almost maximal audio volume... But the condx are bad today, most signals don't make it over the QRN. After a while, I find out that I listened on the 30m antenna – Karl must have arranged the station that way. Other available antennas don't improve anything, so I try to listen on the 80m vertical itself – and it works better than expected! After a self spot, many takers from EU get into the log until it's time for another break due to lack of discipline. To work some 160m, I have to get out into the rain and rearrange the coax to the antennas. The noise is even more terrible than on 80m, but I manage to work some stations from JA, R7 and R8. When Gerard arrives to take over, I'm really happy to quit – I'm more than ready for bed...	Speed boat trip
___Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012 I sleep until ten o'clock, just right for a last minute breakfast in the restaurant. The weather is nice and sunny, as if it had never rained... Karl has to leave for his shift, I stay in the hotel to get some things done and relax. The first heavy rain shower occurs before noon, good thing that I'm not in the shack now. In my afternoon shift, I can only have the 12m vertical antenna. We have plenty of QSOs in CW on this band, only few callers come to be a part of it. Norbert suggests a change to the 40m foursquare. I have my doubts because it's a while until sunset, but I give it a try. It works better than I expected, but I'm not really busy either. Gerard is on his sightseeing tour today, so Norbert continues after my shift. It's still dry while we drive to the hotel, but when I arrive in our room it's pouring down again. Again, I'm happy that I'm not in the shack tent. I go to bed early, my next shift starts at 05:00 tomorrow morning.
___Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012 The shuttle bus is not at the hotel this morning. After a while, it arrives with the night shift ops. Karl says he couldn't work many QSOs. The shuttle takes us to the beach QTH and I continue working on 160m. I find the band in rather good condition due to reduced thunderstorm activity. I can add many European calls to the log. When it's over, I try to catch the high-band opening to USA. But the beams are already in use and the condx don't seem to cooperate. Stefano is not busy on 15m and agrees to switch bands with me. And now a big pileup starts! I ask the JA ops to QRX because there many small signals from NA. Gerard arrives in company of only two ops, so one station would be left unmanned. I decide to stay and use it. The 20m monoband yagi reflects lots of output power, so I try to borrow the coax of the 80m vertical. This works much better, but nobody comes back on my CQ. Gemilang club members are present at the beach QTH almost 24h in order to help out in case of problems. I ask him to help checking the beam, but we don't find anything. So I drag the borrowed coax back towards the 80m vertical, but use it for another improvised vertical for 17m which is attached to the guys of the 80m vertical. I'm rewarded by QSOs with USA and JA until the ops for the next shift arrive. It's too late for breakfast at the hotel now, so I join a group of ops from France and Belgium for a snack in the near italian restaurant. Later I return to the beach QTH which is busy with the preparations for the closing party. The RTTY op leaves the shack tent for a few minutes, while the auto-CQ keeps calling on 80m. I notice a taker, run the QSO and log him before the RTTY op returns. When it's time for my shift, all stations go QRT and the closing party begins. After speeches of the club presidents, numerous gifts are handed over to us operators. A big metal plate with the callsign, a plaque, baseball cap, a small towel embroided with callsign and much more will make sure that we won't forget the enormous hospitality of the Gemilang radio club. Finally some Gemilang ops present their Karaoke skills. Around midnight, I take the shuttle back to the hotel with most of the other ops, while some reactivate the stations.
___Thursday, 22 Nov 2012 I wake up when Karl leaves for his shift. I go to the restaurant for breakfast, take a shower, prepare for packing and finally walk down to the shuttle bus. Many other ops want to go to the beach QTH now. I take over from Karl and continue on 15m, but there are only few takers from Asia. So I also write this diary and check my emails in parallel. Then I hear the first stations from UA3, so I decide to turn the antenna to Europe. After a short time, I have a nice pileup with a QSO rate above 100/h. Most signals are rather weak, so I'm probably serving smaller stations, e.g. with 100W and dipole. On another station, Feri, YO5OED, is operating CW on 6m with many callers – a rare opportunity these days. Gerard comes on time, but operates the SSB station on 10m, I continue with the pileup on 15m. After a total of five hours, I am ready for a break. Gerard takes over and a regular SSB op replaces him at the SSB station. I don't want to leave without a swim in the ocean, even if it's only for a few minutes, and Karl joins me. Heye and others reported painful contact with jellyfish, but we can enjoy the warm water and the gentle waves without incident. Back at the hotel, our German group celebrates the “victory” of CW in the overall log. With 40%, we did a few more QSOs than SSB (38%). With 20%, the digital modes reached a very good share now. Karl is thinking about idling about his night shift in favor of enough sleep before the trip home. But he changes his mind and doesn't regret it – many callers keep him busy.
___Friday, 23 Nov 2012 The alarm clock forces me out of bed and I go to the 9^th floor. Only two ops join me, this must do. I take over from Karl on 80m. First, every signal must be peeled out of the noise, but the intensity of the pileup is rising. For a short time, I can push the QSO rate over 100/h with loud signals from JA. But the closer we get to sunrise, the weaker the signals. Gerard takes over and logs the remaining callers. I return to the hotel and try to get some sleep. I took the German keyboard and my headset with me, but the paddle is still needed at the shack. After breakfast, Karl and I pack our bags, then we ask for a shuttle to the beach. When it arrives, many ops get off with lots of luggage. They announce that the beach QTH has already been cleared. Eleonore brings my paddle, so Karl and I go back to our room and finish packing. We go to the italian restaurant across the street, but it must close now. However, we can have two take-away pizzas and eat them in our hotel room. Soon after that, we hear that the coach has arrived which will take us to the airport. The trip is rather quiet, most of us are just tired. Members of the Gemilang radio club have waited for us at the airport. They help us with check-in and the various formalities. Finally it's time for a hearty good-bye from our new friends and we board the Boeing 777-300 to Singapore. We use the stopover there to have a beer, the first one after two weeks. We log on to the airport's internet access point to view the final statistics of our activity. We logged over 39000 QSOs. With 42%, the CW share is now significantly higher than SSB (37%) and digimodes (21%) - this justifies our little celebration. A Boeing 777-300ER takes us back to Milano. After the meal, I watch the remake of “Total Recall” but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I spend most of the 13 hours on board sleeping.
__ Saturday, 24 Nov 2012 We land in Milano as we took off in Singapore – 20 minutes late. But nobody is angry about it. All our luggage has arrived as well, so we say goodbye right at the baggage claim. Gerard, Stefano and I go on by train, others have connecting flights and many team members can simply drive home by car. The connecting flight of Michel, F5EOT, has been canceled, he has to spend an extra day in Milano. I take the train back to Milano Centrale, here I have two hours to explore the area before my Eurocity leaves. The weather is as beautiful as on my journey out. I have to change trains at Brig and Bern in Switzerland, no problems whatsoever. It's almost dark when the ICE leaves Bern towards Baden-Baden. Its restaurant is closed for technical reasons, good thing I bought enough supplies in Milano. In the last train from Baden-Baden home, I can't find my keys. Did I pack them into my bag ? Or the backpack ? At the door of my house, I find it in the backpack and decide that I should add it to my packing list. Another snack, a shower and then it's bed time. It doesn't take long until I fall asleep, happy to be back home, with fresh memory of an amazing adventure. Thanks to the members of Mediterraneo DX Club and Gemilang Radio Club who made this happen ! V84SMD Operators: Norbert DJ7JC, Heye DJ9RR, Andreas DL3GA, Henri F1HRE, Gerard F2JD, Michel F5EOT, Marco HB9OCR, Gabriele I2VGW, Pino I8YGZ, Fabio IK2LTR, Dario IT9ZZO, Paolo IW2ETR, Marco IZ2GNQ, Antonio IZ8CCW, Karl OE3JAG, Eric ON7RN, Roslan V85AVE, Nizam V85AX, Mohammad V85TX, Adhi YB3MM, Feri YO5OED, Ovidiu YO9XC
Back to homepage: Deutsch English

Back to homepage: Deutsch English

V84SMD – DXpedition to Brunei Darussalam by Mediterraneo DX Club
DL3GA's story

During the ham radio 2012, I'm catching fire for another trip to an interesting DXCC entity. An email via GDXF reflector sounds interesting: The Mediterrano DX Club needs CW operators for an activity in Brunei (V8). Only one reply email and I'm part of it. The other ops are from Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Indonesia and Germany. There will also be strong support by local hams in Brunei.
I'm using the time until departure to get a little familiar with the IC 7000 and the QARtest software. My friend DF3GY is not only very helpful on that, he also lends me a FA interface for ICOM transceivers as spare part, just in case. Thanks, Hardy! I'm also taking my Bencher paddle and Idiom keyer, a headset and a german USB keyboard with me. With all that, plus clothes and accessories, I'm still well below my baggage limits.

___Friday, 09 Nov 2012

At 09:30 I walk to the railway station. Including two stopovers in Offenburg and Bern, the trip to Milano takes seven hours. The weather is beautiful, making the train ride through Switzerland and northern Italy worthwhile. The train from Bern to Milano offers a nice gimmick: A monitor at the ceiling shows the train and the surrounding landscape from a bird's view in real time. In Milano, I buy a ticket to the Malpensa airport and take the next train. MDXC members pick me up, take me to our hotel and then to the radio club. Most of the team members are already here and the party has begun. Club members serve a two-course dinner, cheese, dessert and lots of red wine. What a start !

___Saturday, 10 Nov 2012

I check out from the hotel before breakfast, later MDXC members take us to Malpensa airport. The last team members join the group now. Karl, OE3JAG, arrives with a flight from Vienna. With our group and lots of baggage, we occupy our own check-in office for a while. But obviously there are no problems, as well as on our way on to the airplane. We board a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER which takes us to Singapore in “only” twelve hours. I can't find sleep, but I have a window seat and there are many nice views on the way. Especially the nightly final approach to Singapore is a blast.

___Sunday, 11 Nov 2012

Right after arrival, we clear another carry-on baggage check and go on to the gate of our connecting flight. There is time for some sleep, but only while sitting on a bench or laying on the floor. The flight to Brunei is a little delayed but we don't care. On arrival, members of the Gemilang radio club give us a very warm welcome. Some good old friends see each other again this morning. The support of the local hams is also very helpful when clearing the last airport checkpoints. Exiting the building, we dive into the humid heat – my clothes are full of sweat in no time... We load our luggage into one minibus, another one takes us to our hotel at Tutong in about 45 minutes. On arrival, we find that our personal bags are already waiting for us in our rooms. I share a room with Karl, OE3JAG. Later that afternoon, a shuttle bus takes us to the QTH at the beach, where most team members are busy with the antennas and radios. The distance between hotel and QTH is significant, so the shuttle will be with us for the entire stay, but only a few people are entitled to drive it. The Gemilang radio club has prepared an impressive QTH: The shack is a large air-conditioned tent, an open-air tent invites for dining or relaxing after an operator shift. Monoband beams for 20 and 15m are ready for action. I help erecting a vertical antenna for 160m. A spectacular sunset offers plenty of opportunity for photos. I check the conditions on 20m, but the band is virtually dead at this time of the day. Back at the hotel, we get a delicious dinner. But then it's time to see the bed after a loooong day.

Dining are (front/left) and shack tent (right)

___Monday, 12 Nov 2012

We get up at 07:00 to get a breakfast before we return to the beach. I can see the jet lag in every European face. The QTH is rather busy with preparations for the opening ceremony. As the guest of honor arrives, the ceremony begins. After a prayer, the presidents of the Gemilang and Mediterraneo radio clubs hold their welcome speeches. The guest of honor cuts a ribbon, officially starting our activity. Radio and television are here to cover the event and explain to their viewers/listeners what we are going to do in the next days. Since I am with this group for the first time, I have the honor of the first shift right after the ceremony. But most antennas are not ready yet. I try my best on the 20m beam, but the conditions allow for merely 100 QSOs in three hours. Two IC 7000s lose most of their output power. Gerard, F2JD, knows problem and cure – a SMD capacitor would have to be replaced. But that takes time... Spare transceivers are installed to reactivate the SSB and RTTY stations. Later, Karl and I cover the shift of Norbert, DJ7JC, who is still on the way to us from another appointment in China. He arrives a little later and after welcoming him, we return to the hotel for dinner. I get very tired afterwards and go to bed, but I can't sleep. My next shift will begin at 02:00...

Opening ceremony

___Tuesday, 13 Nov 2012

I get up at 01:30 and walk down to the hotel entrance, but it is locked. I find an open side door and go to our shuttle bus, but there is nobody else – no trace of the other ops of my shift, and no driver for the shuttle bus either. After a while I go back inside and take the lift to the top floor – missing the other ops who use the other lift down... But then I catch up with them and we drive to the beach. I replace Karl, continuing with a heavy EU pileup on 80m. I do my best to log as many callers as I can, but the jet lag makes it very hard to drag the weaker signals out of the noise. After the three hour shift, Gerard takes over. Back at the hotel, I plunge into bed and sleep until breakfast time. Later Karl and I take a shuttle to the beach QTH, although our shifts are hours away. I help here and there, also by replacing Heye, DJ9RR, at the CW station – he needs more time to erect his 40m foursquare. My regular shift starts at 17:00 and I work on 15m, now with Heyes K2 transceiver. Two hours later, the other stations switch to 12 and 10m, unfortunately causing heavy phase noise on my receiver. So I QSY to 30m, working JA with occasional EU and NA. At the same time, Norbert starts working with the IC 7000 CW station and the 40m foursquare. I log over 300 QSOs in this shift – not really good but not bad either. I return to the hotel and go to bed right after dinner.

___Wednesday, 14 Nov 2012

I wake up early, obviously still struggling with the jet lag. There's little time for breakfast because the restaurant opens 07:30 and my shift begins 08:00. However, the shuttle bus is also late, giving me some extra time for breakfast and I replace Karl a bit later than planned. I catch the spider beam and start running on 17m. Many callers from JA, some from NA and even some from PY allow a high rate. After two hours, only a few weak signals are left and I change to 12m. I run only 100W there because this limits the noise on 15m to a level that the SSB op can live with. At the end of the shift, I added 350 QSOs to the log – not bad. When Gerard takes over, the pileup on 12m is also “done”, so I suggest that he changes to 10m. I return to the hotel and meet Karl. We stroll the busy roads of Tutong and have a snack in a Cafe. For lunch, we check out the restaurant across the road from the hotel entrance. Some italian team members are also here. The menu is a voluminous book with countless meals, each with a photo. Karl has to leave for his shift, I take another walk in the hotel's vicinity. I notice that the team hast started assembling a spider beam on the hotel roof, so I visit them and take a few photos. After dinner, it's time to drive to the beach QTH and begin my shift at 23:00. The 30m vertical is available and soon I work on a tremendous pileup from EU. Unfortunately, there is a considerable lack of discipline. It seems that my signal in Europe is good, but many callers just don't listen - maybe there is deliberate QRM on me. I have to take a break several times. On the way back to the hotel, the RTTY op reports that he didn't make a single QSO in his shift.

___Thursday, 15 Nove 2012

The alarm clock stops my sleep, I want breakfast before the restaurant closes. Then I join Karl on the way to the beach QTH. The weather is rather bad today, it's cloudy and it rains from time to time. But that's normal for this time of the year, so we've been lucky in the past few days. Together with some of the german ops, I spend some time in a near Cafe. Then we notice that wind and waves nibbled on the 40m foursquare radials, so we rearrange them. Other team members went to the capital city for some sightseeing today – did they pick a bad day ? Stefano, IZ5GST, has improvised a vertical antenna for 12m directly at the waterfront. I use it in my shift. Obviously, it doesn't produce a big signal in Europe, but I can still work very fluently. A thunderstorm stops us for short while. The following rain pounds heavily on the tent's roof, so I can't even hear the SSB ops sitting to my left and right... And some team members assembled a 6m yagi antenna that is now tested in SSB, causing heavy QRM in my radio. The tests are canceled after a few minutes. I add 360 QSOs to the log during this shift, a few more than yesterday. Not bad, but the number could be significantly higher without all the natural and man-made hurdles. The overall log reaches 10000 QSOs today. Both SSB and CW contribute over 40% each, digital modes are a bit disappointing with 14%. But digital QSOs take their time, so their share will probably rise once the demand in CW and SSB goes back.

Gerard, F2JD, operating V84SMD

___Friday, 16 Nov 2012

I have to get up early for my shift starting at 05:00. Karl has optimized the receive antenna for 160m and logged lots of QSOs. I can only log a few more, then I switch to 80m although it's already past sunrise. There are no takers, so I convince the RTTY operator that he should run 15m on the monoband yagi rather than the spider beam. I start running on 17m with few takers, but the pileup keeps growing continuously. When Gerard arrives to replace me, there is an imposing number of US stations calling. At breakfast, I meet all CW ops (except Gerard who is working his shift) and discuss achievements and plans with them. We believe that we need to focus on 40m and JA on 160m. The log search page in the internet now provides statistics that confirms this. The CW share of the overall QSO number has fallen to 39%, mostly in favor of RTTY. The weather is a bit better today, no more rain but not much sun either. I go to sleep for while. The late shift is very exhausting. Taking over from Karl, I continue working on 40m. There is tremendous QRM by local fishermen on the band. And it seems that our SSB operators have logged all the big guns by now, so it's time for the little pistols. Unintentionally, they speak louder in order to get through the noise or keep control of their crowd of takers. Moreover, there are several local visitors this evening. Kids use their mobile phones and their transmissions are buzzing in my headphones. By the way, my headphones are rather open, so I have to increase the volume to hear my takers. I decide that I need something better next time, but for now I have no better solution. Fortunately, every shift has an end and I go to bed as soon as I can.

___Saturday, 17 Nov 2012

My morning starts with a relaxed breakfast and check of my emails. My shift would start at 11:00 but the shuttle arrives late and so I arrive at the beach QTH at 11:30. The best bands for this time of the day are occupied by the other stations, so I work on 20m. QSOs occur every now and then, it's not as boring as on the first day. During longer periods of Auto-CQ, I get a password for DX-Scape in order to spot myself. Then I switch bands with the RTTY station. After a few CQs on 12m, several takers show up and soon I have to use split because someone spots me before I have time to spot myself. In the next 90 minutes, I log over 200 QSOs. When Gerard takes over, the pileup is significantly reduced. But he continues on this band because a continuous stream of callers from western Europe keeps him busy. I join the other CW ops for a drink in the restaurant next door. Later I help repairing the K9AY antenna – its telescopic mast has partly collapsed – and I repair the connector at the bottom of my paddle. Finally I return to the hotel for a shower, some internet, dinner and amusement. I go to bed and try to rest before I have to get up for that unpopular night shift.

___Sunday, 18 Nov 2012

I force myself out of bed and go to the parked shuttle bus. The driver arrives a while later and takes us to the beach QTH. I continue Karl's efforts on 160m, it's hard to isolate a callsign from the static noise. Five ops are in the shack, but only one SSB op silently calls CQ with rare QSOs in between – this is very helpful while I try to identify those tiny signals in the top band static. After one hour, nothing is left and I go to 30m. Here I work takers from Asia, Australia and also a European from time to time. So far, Gerard always arrived on time, but today he's late. He goes back to 160m because it's daybreak. I return to the hotel but I'm not really tired. I go to the 9^th floor and find the second station unmanned. The spider beam “looks” to EU and consequently my CQ on 20m remains unheard. So I change to the vertical and call CQ on 40m. This is not so easy because this station doesn't have a computer interface, hence I call by paddle. But it's not a type of paddle I'm used to, so I probably sound like a beginner... Moreover, the band is busy with contest, but I can work on 7000,5 up1 for a while, until the local QRM grows too big. So I try on 30m, but here's a lot of QRM also. Nevertheless I can pilot the callers to empty split frequencies and work about 80 QSOs. I'm ready for QRT, but Adhi, YB3MM, suggests to check 12m. In fact, there is an opening to the USA and a quick cluster spot lets me log another 60 QSOs. Slowly, I move to the edge of the table in order to avoid direct sunlight. At the end of the opening, I leave the station for breakfast. Later this day, it's photo shooting day in our Gemilang shirts at the beach QTH. Another open door event was announced, but few visitors show up. Karl suffers indigestion and returns to the hotel during his shift and Eric, ON7RN, replaces him. When it's time for me to take over, a huge pileup on 10m awaits me. The band is wide open to EU, but according to cluster remarks, QRM on my transmit frequency doesn't allow top QSO rates. Moreover, many takers waste lots of time in their QSO by giving verbose texts instead of a simple “5NN TU”. After about 90 minutes, the band suddenly closes. And this seems to affect all bands because the other ops report the same. I try my luck on lower bands, but with little success until Gerard arrives to take over. We can't return to the hotel now because a thunderstorm unloads tremendous amounts of rain on us. We observed the building of this storm for hours, now it's here and it's a wild thing. A leak in the tent wall over the CW station forces temporary QRT to avoid water damage. At the end of this day, I set the alarm clock for 06:00. I want to see if I can catch the USA opening on 12 or 10m again.

___Monday, 19 Nov 2012

My plans become reality. Early this morning at the K2 station in the 9^th floor, I start working on 30m to JA and USA. Later I switch to 12m and then 10m. In spite of drastic phone QRM on 28025, I log 120 QSOs in two hours – hard work for me without computer-aided CW and with an unfamiliar paddle. After breakfast, my sightseeing tour starts. With Heye, DJ9RR, Eleonore, Karl and Norbert, DJ7JC, we are not just the German group, but also a major part of the CW team. A young hotel employee and his friend take us to the city. Visiting the Sultan's palace, museums, a shopping mall (for lunch), and a mosque offers new impressions virtually every minute. We also find picture postcards and stamps for families and friends at home. Finally we take a speed boat to Kampong Ayer, one of the early roots of Brunei's history. But before we visit the historic village, the speed boat skipper shows us the surrounding rain forest on a round trip. After this, we are rather finished and return to Tutong. Half way, it starts raining heavily – obviously we were very lucky with the weather during our trip. After a shower, some internet update and dinner, I run my regular shift at the beach QTH. The rain is pounding on the tent roof again while I work on 80m with almost maximal audio volume... But the condx are bad today, most signals don't make it over the QRN. After a while, I find out that I listened on the 30m antenna – Karl must have arranged the station that way. Other available antennas don't improve anything, so I try to listen on the 80m vertical itself – and it works better than expected! After a self spot, many takers from EU get into the log until it's time for another break due to lack of discipline. To work some 160m, I have to get out into the rain and rearrange the coax to the antennas. The noise is even more terrible than on 80m, but I manage to work some stations from JA, R7 and R8. When Gerard arrives to take over, I'm really happy to quit – I'm more than ready for bed...

Speed boat trip

___Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012

I sleep until ten o'clock, just right for a last minute breakfast in the restaurant. The weather is nice and sunny, as if it had never rained... Karl has to leave for his shift, I stay in the hotel to get some things done and relax. The first heavy rain shower occurs before noon, good thing that I'm not in the shack now. In my afternoon shift, I can only have the 12m vertical antenna. We have plenty of QSOs in CW on this band, only few callers come to be a part of it. Norbert suggests a change to the 40m foursquare. I have my doubts because it's a while until sunset, but I give it a try. It works better than I expected, but I'm not really busy either. Gerard is on his sightseeing tour today, so Norbert continues after my shift. It's still dry while we drive to the hotel, but when I arrive in our room it's pouring down again. Again, I'm happy that I'm not in the shack tent. I go to bed early, my next shift starts at 05:00 tomorrow morning.

___Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012

The shuttle bus is not at the hotel this morning. After a while, it arrives with the night shift ops. Karl says he couldn't work many QSOs. The shuttle takes us to the beach QTH and I continue working on 160m. I find the band in rather good condition due to reduced thunderstorm activity. I can add many European calls to the log. When it's over, I try to catch the high-band opening to USA. But the beams are already in use and the condx don't seem to cooperate. Stefano is not busy on 15m and agrees to switch bands with me. And now a big pileup starts! I ask the JA ops to QRX because there many small signals from NA. Gerard arrives in company of only two ops, so one station would be left unmanned. I decide to stay and use it. The 20m monoband yagi reflects lots of output power, so I try to borrow the coax of the 80m vertical. This works much better, but nobody comes back on my CQ. Gemilang club members are present at the beach QTH almost 24h in order to help out in case of problems. I ask him to help checking the beam, but we don't find anything. So I drag the borrowed coax back towards the 80m vertical, but use it for another improvised vertical for 17m which is attached to the guys of the 80m vertical. I'm rewarded by QSOs with USA and JA until the ops for the next shift arrive. It's too late for breakfast at the hotel now, so I join a group of ops from France and Belgium for a snack in the near italian restaurant. Later I return to the beach QTH which is busy with the preparations for the closing party. The RTTY op leaves the shack tent for a few minutes, while the auto-CQ keeps calling on 80m. I notice a taker, run the QSO and log him before the RTTY op returns. When it's time for my shift, all stations go QRT and the closing party begins. After speeches of the club presidents, numerous gifts are handed over to us operators. A big metal plate with the callsign, a plaque, baseball cap, a small towel embroided with callsign and much more will make sure that we won't forget the enormous hospitality of the Gemilang radio club. Finally some Gemilang ops present their Karaoke skills. Around midnight, I take the shuttle back to the hotel with most of the other ops, while some reactivate the stations.

___Thursday, 22 Nov 2012

I wake up when Karl leaves for his shift. I go to the restaurant for breakfast, take a shower, prepare for packing and finally walk down to the shuttle bus. Many other ops want to go to the beach QTH now. I take over from Karl and continue on 15m, but there are only few takers from Asia. So I also write this diary and check my emails in parallel. Then I hear the first stations from UA3, so I decide to turn the antenna to Europe. After a short time, I have a nice pileup with a QSO rate above 100/h. Most signals are rather weak, so I'm probably serving smaller stations, e.g. with 100W and dipole. On another station, Feri, YO5OED, is operating CW on 6m with many callers – a rare opportunity these days. Gerard comes on time, but operates the SSB station on 10m, I continue with the pileup on 15m. After a total of five hours, I am ready for a break. Gerard takes over and a regular SSB op replaces him at the SSB station. I don't want to leave without a swim in the ocean, even if it's only for a few minutes, and Karl joins me. Heye and others reported painful contact with jellyfish, but we can enjoy the warm water and the gentle waves without incident. Back at the hotel, our German group celebrates the “victory” of CW in the overall log. With 40%, we did a few more QSOs than SSB (38%). With 20%, the digital modes reached a very good share now. Karl is thinking about idling about his night shift in favor of enough sleep before the trip home. But he changes his mind and doesn't regret it – many callers keep him busy.

___Friday, 23 Nov 2012

The alarm clock forces me out of bed and I go to the 9^th floor. Only two ops join me, this must do. I take over from Karl on 80m. First, every signal must be peeled out of the noise, but the intensity of the pileup is rising. For a short time, I can push the QSO rate over 100/h with loud signals from JA. But the closer we get to sunrise, the weaker the signals. Gerard takes over and logs the remaining callers. I return to the hotel and try to get some sleep. I took the German keyboard and my headset with me, but the paddle is still needed at the shack. After breakfast, Karl and I pack our bags, then we ask for a shuttle to the beach. When it arrives, many ops get off with lots of luggage. They announce that the beach QTH has already been cleared. Eleonore brings my paddle, so Karl and I go back to our room and finish packing. We go to the italian restaurant across the street, but it must close now. However, we can have two take-away pizzas and eat them in our hotel room. Soon after that, we hear that the coach has arrived which will take us to the airport. The trip is rather quiet, most of us are just tired. Members of the Gemilang radio club have waited for us at the airport. They help us with check-in and the various formalities. Finally it's time for a hearty good-bye from our new friends and we board the Boeing 777-300 to Singapore. We use the stopover there to have a beer, the first one after two weeks. We log on to the airport's internet access point to view the final statistics of our activity. We logged over 39000 QSOs. With 42%, the CW share is now significantly higher than SSB (37%) and digimodes (21%) - this justifies our little celebration. A Boeing 777-300ER takes us back to Milano. After the meal, I watch the remake of “Total Recall” but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I spend most of the 13 hours on board sleeping.

__ Saturday, 24 Nov 2012

We land in Milano as we took off in Singapore – 20 minutes late. But nobody is angry about it. All our luggage has arrived as well, so we say goodbye right at the baggage claim. Gerard, Stefano and I go on by train, others have connecting flights and many team members can simply drive home by car. The connecting flight of Michel, F5EOT, has been canceled, he has to spend an extra day in Milano. I take the train back to Milano Centrale, here I have two hours to explore the area before my Eurocity leaves. The weather is as beautiful as on my journey out. I have to change trains at Brig and Bern in Switzerland, no problems whatsoever. It's almost dark when the ICE leaves Bern towards Baden-Baden. Its restaurant is closed for technical reasons, good thing I bought enough supplies in Milano. In the last train from Baden-Baden home, I can't find my keys. Did I pack them into my bag ? Or the backpack ? At the door of my house, I find it in the backpack and decide that I should add it to my packing list. Another snack, a shower and then it's bed time. It doesn't take long until I fall asleep, happy to be back home, with fresh memory of an amazing adventure.

Thanks to the members of Mediterraneo DX Club and Gemilang Radio Club who made this happen !

V84SMD Operators: Norbert DJ7JC, Heye DJ9RR, Andreas DL3GA, Henri F1HRE, Gerard F2JD, Michel F5EOT, Marco HB9OCR, Gabriele I2VGW, Pino I8YGZ, Fabio IK2LTR, Dario IT9ZZO, Paolo IW2ETR, Marco IZ2GNQ, Antonio IZ8CCW, Karl OE3JAG, Eric ON7RN, Roslan V85AVE, Nizam V85AX, Mohammad V85TX, Adhi YB3MM, Feri YO5OED, Ovidiu YO9XC

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