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This DXpedition broke many world records and established a new record of 168,722 QSOs. The initial strategy for this DXpedition was formulated after our return from the Spratly 9M0C DXpedition in February 1998. When we visited many UK clubs to present the story of the Spratly DXpedition we were very disappointed that most club members did not hear us and, if they did, they felt they would not have been able to break the pile-ups. This was despite the fact that 9M0C was at that time, the fourth largest DXpedition ever with 65,524 QSOs. We decided that next time we must do better and that we must make a greater effort to work the QRP and weaker stations, the "Little Pistols".

In order to achieve this, we formulated a strategy along the following lines:

• We would try and operate for at least 18 days including three weekends. This compared with 12 days and two weekends on Spratly.
• We would be loud everywhere and have at least six high-power stations (four on Spratly).
• We would have mono-banders for each of the HF bands and get them as close to the sea and as high as possible (mainly tri-banders on Spratly).
• We would ship all the kit in a container to the nearest port.
• We would seek out a location with some reasonable accommodation so that we could concentrate on radio matters and not have to worry about life-support issues.

• We would go in February 2001 with the target of making a record-breaking 100,000 QSOs.
• We would base all our planning on the book "DXpeditioning Behind the Scenes". [1]

At this stage, we formed the Five Star DXers Association (FSDXA) with a simple aim "To organise and undertake DXpeditions". The founder members of the Association comprise the UK-based core team that organised 9M0C. FSDXA owns the various assets left over from Spratly and is the legal body that enters into sponsorship, airline and hotel contracts. It is closely associated with CDXC - (Chiltern DX Cub) – The UK DX Foundation.

Planning started in earnest in early 2000 when we evaluated three alternative locations, T32 – Christmas Island, YK – Syria and D68 – The Comoros. The author had visited Christmas Island and felt that the Captain Cook Hotel would be an excellent location – plenty of space, close to the sea, reasonable accommodation and a supportive management. T32 was also reasonably rare in Europe and elsewhere and we felt we could put on a good show. However, the logistical factors were formidable – we could only ship the container to within around 1000 km of our target location, the costs exceeded our outline budget significantly, and many of the European operators would have to be away from work for four weeks because of the travel time involved. Regrettably, we rejected Christmas Island and we then did a detailed evaluation of both Syria and the Comoros.

Syria was an attractive location as it was much needed by DXers generally, there having been only one previous significant DXpedition. We established that we could get a licence and our sights alighted on Latakia, a Mediterranean resort close to a container terminal with a reasonable hotel close to the beach. Excellent, we thought, for a really major effort, and within a few hours flying time of London! However, the authorities in Syria insisted that we operate from the Syrian Telecommunications building in central Damascus, that we could have only 3 or 4 stations with much fewer operators than anticipated and that 6m was not available. In view of these factors, we decided we could not meet our agreed objectives; also, operating from the Damascus city centre would be potentially electrically noisy, thus causing problems on LF. It would also be more expensive than planned. A smaller operation in the future is still a possibility however.

In parallel with our research on Syria, we carried out a feasibility study on the Comoros. A licence was obtainable, there was reasonable accommodation on the north of the main island of Grande Comore, D68 was an ideal location from which to work into the Far East, Europe and North America. The initial response from the hotel was helpful and we eventually established that we could land a container at Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, and get it moved to the hotel. This was despite the fact that the Comoros were not shown as having container-handling facilities in Croner’s or in any of the other major shipping guides. It was only in July 2000 that we eventually decided to opt for the Comoros, leaving us comparatively little time to get all the kit together and to load and ship the container. The container had to leave the UK in late November 2000 in order to be on site by early February 2001.

The Comoros lie between Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. Most activity in recent years has been by one or two-man ‘holiday’ DXpeditions. Typically, they have been using a single 100-watt transceiver to a multi-band vertical antenna on the water’s edge. This is fine for working relatively small numbers of European and Japanese stations, but it fails to make a significant impact in either North America, or even beyond the top level of DXers in Europe and Japan. There had been no major DXpeditions to the Comoros for many years.

For those who are into statistics, the Comoros stood at number 59 in the 1999 world-wide listing of ‘Most-Wanted’ DXCC entities according to The DX Magazine. However, many of the countries ranking higher on the list - including Bhutan, Tromelin, Clipperton, Tristan da Cunha, Palmyra, Palestine, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Libya - had been very active since the survey was carried out, so in reality the standing of the Comoros was much higher. The Comoros ranked much higher - at number 36 - in the USA Central Zone in the same survey.

We believe that not too much credence should be put on the ‘Most-Wanted’ lists, as only a statistically small number of DXers responds to the annual questionnaire. These tend to be those DXers on or near the Honor Roll, whereas in ‘real life’ very many more DXers will call a DXpedition than would be imagined from its ranking on the ‘Most Wanted’ lists.

At an early stage we allocated the following kingdoms (Why not? – this was a British-led DXpedition!) to members of the core planning team.

The project had started in earnest!

We decided on a team of around 25, some of whom would not be able to stay for the full three weeks. This would give us a capacity of 450 operator-days compared with 144 on Spratly. The team was selected with great care; every team member was sponsored by a member of the core planning team and, in most cases, was known to at least two members of that team. We believed that this was very important; maintaining the cohesion of a team of 25 for a period of over three weeks would be vitally important – and we did not want any personality clashes! We also decided to invite a youngster Mark M0DXR. Mark is a very keen DXer and, at 17, is the RSGB 2001 Young Amateur of the Year. Mark was able to raise all the funds he needed through sponsorship.

At this stage we opened discussions with our major potential sponsors and a business case was prepared entitled ‘A Window of Opportunity’. This proved to be invaluable in attracting sponsorship from both the amateur radio and non-amateur radio corporate marketplace.

The author flew to Japan in August to discuss possible sponsorship with Yaesu. The new FT-1000MP MkV had just been launched and our D68 DXpedition would be an ideal proving ground. We had used the MP and the VL-1000 Quadra linears on Spratly and they were extremely reliable. Discussions were also opened with Nevada, Force 12 and Titanex and various arrangements were formulated with these organisations.

At this stage we produced an attractive brochure to be mailed to DX clubs world-wide. We set out our objectives as follows:

• To provide the possibility for every amateur radio station in the world - even those running QRP or a very simple antenna - to make at least one contact with D68C; and
• To enable top DXers to put D68C in their log on as many bands and modes as possible. We believed that it should be possible for top DXers active on all bands and on all main modes to work D68C on at least 20 band/ mode slots.

We also gave much information about the DXpedition in the brochure:

• The Five Star DXers Association
• Why the Comoros?
• The need for sponsors
• The target audience from the Big Guns to the Little Pistols
• How we will work everyone
• The D68C stations – transmitting equipment, antennas, the DXpedition server
• Location
• Examples of propagation projections
• The team of operators and their profiles.

In September and October this brochure was circulated to around 150 DX clubs throughout the world. This initiative was lead by Steve G4JVG ably assisted by Taizo JA3AER and Wes W3WL.

We also developed our logo based on the coelacanth. This creature, dating back over 400 million years, was thought to have died out with the dinosaurs. However, several coelacanths have been caught off the Comoros in the past 50 years.

Construction of our Web site was started by Nigel G4KIU. This was extremely comprehensive and included:

• About the DXpedition
• About the Comoros
• Antennas
• Beam headings
• Behind the scenes
• Contact us
• DXpedition server
• DXpedition secrets
• Equipment
• Frequency plans
• Modes and focus
• Nevada trophies

• News releases
• On-line logbooks
• Operators
• Picture galleries
• Pilots
• Pilot news
• Presentations
• Propagation predictions
• QSL routes
• Sponsors
• Sunrise/ sunset
• Support team

The Web site proved to be extremely effective as a marketing and information tool. All the sponsors and their logos were shown on the web site together with links to their home URLs. The D68C Web site took a huge number of hits while we were on air. Between 8-28 February, the total number of individual pages viewed was 256,714; best day was Friday 16 February with 22,389 pages viewed. Since the site opened on 1 October over 300,000 pages have been viewed.

An important next step was to undertake a site survey. Don G3BJ (formerly G3OZF) flew to the Comoros for a week. The site survey had the following objectives:

• To deal with many logistical matters once the container reached the island
• To prepare some preliminary plans for the antenna and station locations
• To consider various environmental considerations including security, flora and fauna, medical facilities, state of the hotel’s generators, etc.
• To finalise various issues with the hotel
• To prepare a scale drawing of the site and to scope the cable runs.

As a result of the survey our initial plans changed considerably. We decided to operate well away from the main hotel location and use a number of small bungalows for the stations and for the server. There was much more room for our antenna farm in this area and it became possible to place a number of the beams very close to the beach (although we were not allowed to use the beach itself as this was public property).

There were many valuable outcomes from this site survey including the preparation of a preliminary site plan, the resolution of Internet issues (for uploading logs etc.), container logistics on the island, detailed costings, accommodation arrangements etc. Don also managed to make around 4,000 QSOs as D68/G3OZF using 100 watts to a Butternut.

Don G3XTT led our marketing drive. The D68C marketing machine went into action with the issue of the first bulletin on 4 September. This set out details of our objectives, timing, equipment and team. Four further bulletins were issued prior to our departure to an extremely wide audience that included all the major DX newsletters, the major DX reflectors, potential sponsors and a large number of individuals who requested information. The web pages were continuously updated with the latest bulletins and with developments generally.

The logistics of a major operation such as D68C can be considered under two headings - People and Materials.

Both involved a formidable amount of work lasting several months. For the people logistics we had to deal with flights for 31 people (26 operators and 5 guests), interim hotel arrangements in Mauritius and the flights mainly on Air Mauritius and Air Tanzania. Both Le Galawa Beach Hotel on Grande Comore and Air Mauritius offered favourable group terms for which we were grateful.

As a starting point for the material logistics a very detailed inventory was prepared and circulated to the core planning team. This was based on the model inventory published in our book ‘DXpeditioning Behind the Scenes’.[1] Over 500 inventory lines were listed together with the call of the team member responsible for obtaining each item.

All the items were brought together over a period of four months at the author’s home in Felden, Herts about 25 miles (40km) north of London. During six weekends a number of "AntennaFests" were organised during which we built all the antennas, checked all the radios and fitted numerous PL-259 plugs to many lengths of coax totalling 4,000 metres. Tony G0OPB, our RF king, was a real expert at this! The Force 12 antennas in particular were a dream to build and, after testing, were broken down to just under 20 foot lengths so that they would fit inside the container. All ten masts were built, five were 30 foot telescopic masts and five were 40 foot masts made of heavy alloy tube. All the guy sets were also made at this time and where feasible, were attached to the masts.

The emphasis of our work at this stage was to build and test everything in advance so that we could get on the air very quickly when we arrived on the island. We even made machines to reel up the cable at the end of the DXpedition!

The container was deposited at Felden in early November and packing then started in earnest. A number of heavy wooden frames were fitted inside the container so that the many antennas could be shipped in the roof space. This proved to be a very satisfactory arrangement and enabled us to optimise the use of space in the container. It took three weekends to pack the container securely. There were of course the inevitable last minute deliveries but nevertheless, we kept to the timetable set out several months previously.

We also discovered a phenomenon known as ‘container rain’. Apparently, when shipping a container into the tropics it can start to rain (literally) inside and ruin cardboard boxes etc. We discovered some material called "Cargo Dry" that prevents this. The thought of all our radio kit and computers being thoroughly soaked sent a real shiver up our spines! We were also worried about the high temperatures in the container reaching 45+°C. but this did not in fact prove to be a problem.

At this stage our first major hiccup occurred. We had estimated that the kit in the container weighed 3 to 3½ tonnes: the container itself weighed 2½ tonnes, so we told the shipper that the gross weight was 6-6½ tonnes.

There follows a story of British workmanship by Don Beattie G3BJ, for which we refer you back to p.39 of the January Digest. Fortunately, from then on everything went smoothly, the container arriving at the hotel in Grande Comore about 2 weeks before the team.

During December and January we worked hard to attract funds from both the amateur and non-amateur market places; we drafted the DXpedition manual and formulated detailed installation plans for the stations, the computery and for the 20 antenna projects. It was interesting to note that although we started planning to have six stations, we ended up with ten, only one of which did not have a linear!

The finances for a project like this are extremely complex with numerous currencies involved – Yen, Dollars, French and Comoran Francs, Sterling, Mauritian Rupees etc., and the overall expenditure amounted to over £80,000 a very significant sum. Keeping all this under control was the responsibility of King MoneyBags a.k.a. John G3WGV. And, yes, we did come out in the black – just!

D68C pioneered a number of technical innovations, mainly based on server software developed by John G3WGV. All operating positions were connected by Ethernet to a central server, providing each operator with information not normally available in a DXpedition situation. The logging software, which was part of the total system, also had fully integrated RTTY and CW facilities. So, without giving a full breakdown of the extensive system, imagine one of the DXpedition operators starting a spell after a much-needed rest. On logging on at an operating position, the CW keyer settings at that position immediately reflected his personal preferences. He was able to see, using simple commands, who was operating at each other position, and on what mode and frequency. As he worked the pile-up, because the complete DXpedition log was constantly updated to the server, he was able to list all QSOs made so far by any station he worked, as well as being able to check not only his own run rate, but that of the DXpedition as a whole. A huge amount of other data was available to him from his operating position. When he finished his shift, he could go to the server itself, and see a full statistical breakdown of the DXpedition to date, by band, mode, area of the world, DXpedition operator, etc.

Of course, all this information was made available via the Internet to the DXpedition pilots, allowing them to respond effectively to e-mails and phone calls from around the world. We believe that the level of integration of this operator support/logging/DXpedition management software went well beyond anything that any previous DXpedition had used. We were all delighted with it.

Our journey to Grande Comore via Mauritius was uneventful and we arrived at the hotel in excellent spirits on Tuesday 6 February in the early afternoon. The first task was to get customs clearance for the container, which had remained sealed for the whole of its journey. This took about 15 minutes and went very smoothly. Unpacking then started and the container was emptied in about 3 hours despite temperatures of 35+°C. Mike G3SED, the Antenna King, and Don G3XTT undertook a quick survey of the site and made some changes to the initial plans. These meant being able to put the 85-foot Titanex virtually on the beach and four monobanders within metres of the sea.

Various teams of four were formed to undertake the various antenna projects and at the same time two of the team installed the stations and a further two installed the computers and the network.

Everything went to plan and then the rain came down. It was like working in a car wash! It rained and rained and rained……….for almost four days. We all got very wet but pressed on regardless and in the first 2½ days completed the installation of all the key antennas. Virtually everything was ready by late Thursday evening 8 February and we went on the air at midnight local time.

It had been a great temptation to go on the air after 1½ days when 3 to 4 stations and antennas were ready but we resisted this. We felt once we started operating, we would never get the impetus back into the antenna projects. In the event we opened up with eight stations at the same time, the PacketClusters went mad and we worked 16,412 stations in the first 24 hours of operation, a new world record.

Everything went very smoothly, the pile-ups were enormous and we all had great fun. We worked in four-hour shifts, each operator taking a minimum of two shifts each day. Two of us did all the operator scheduling – we scheduled approximately 50 shifts each day and tried to keep two days ahead. We devised a system whereby we met each operator’s preferences in terms of bands, modes and target areas. Each operator got a fair share of day and night shifts and time off on request. The system was flexible so that if, for example, an operator had had enough of working Europe on 20m SSB, he could be switched to another sector. This scheduling process took the two of us about an hour each day and seemed to work well. Additional shifts were available on a volunteer basis and some operators put in a 16 hour-day on occasions. We used the "magic cards" to do the scheduling but that’s another story! The pile-ups were incessant, right to the end, despite some DX clubs having said to us beforehand that D68 was not much needed. Not by the hardened DX types, perhaps, but certainly by the wider audience. We were delighted to put D68 into the logs of novices, QRPers, those with indoor antennas, even a ham in W6 using a 10m handie-talkie! From a propagation point of view, only a few bands were open during the middle of the day but around dawn and dusk especially, we had ten bands open simultaneously, fully justifying our decision to take so much hardware.

We really did make an effort to give everyone, even the "Big Guns", some new slots. Topband proved to be tough going, due to the constant tropical storms across the African continent. All the storms that hit Mozambique in February seemed to pass over the Comoros! However we worked through to the mid-west of the US on several nights, and the other way into Japan as well as putting a couple of KH6 stations into the log. At the other end of the spectrum, 6m did not offer the big openings into Europe that we had hoped for, but nevertheless we were able to work many stations in Southern Europe and North Africa, as well as across into Japan, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. We held back with RTTY, as demand on the other modes was so high but, once started, put over 4,000 QSOs in the log (a good thousand or so higher than any previous DXpedition), along with over 1,000 QSOs on PSK. Many (over 3,000!) enjoyed the novelty of an FM QSO on 10m. 80m SSB was a particular challenge. The only way to sort out those calling was to select a letter at random and ask for the "station ending in D". This reduced the pileup so that we stood a chance of hearing a callsign fragment. Sadly, we were unable to undertake satellite operation. This was mainly because our plans had been centred around AO-40 which, in the event, was not available at the time of our DXpedition.

It was amazing how quickly some stations worked us on 18+ band-slots. It was also interesting to see how the uniques developed - quickly at first, then a real slow-down as people collected band-slots and finally a rapid escalation to well over 45,000 uniques as stations worked us for the first time during the last week of the DXpedition.

All team members were briefed to identify themselves at least every 2 to 3 QSOs. This seemed to work well and was particularly important as there were 12 other DXpeditions active at the same time. ‘Persistence’ was another key message - keep on trying to get that station that you heard with a partial or full call into the log and ignore other callers until you have done so.

But most important of all was the way we worked split frequency. Even at the start with huge pile-ups we never used more than 15 kHz on SSB and much less on CW. Yet we heard other DXpeditions using 50-100kHz and wiping out much of the band. This is poor operating, unnecessary and selfish and is to be deplored. Most of our splits were 5 to 10 kHz and, if we found we were clashing with another DXpedition, we simply moved frequency and got on with it. With loud signals and the DX clusters this was not a problem.

After a week or so, we sometimes listened on a single frequency and achieved rates well in excess of 200 QSOs per hour. We then started working simplex; it was interesting to note how the pile-ups then re-emerged. Many operators do not like working split frequency even if they have the kit to do so. We never worked by numbers. With good kit and good ears this is completely unnecessary and causes great frustration amongst the DX community. If you use radios designed for mobile working with poor selectivity then you will have problems dealing with a major pile-up -it really is worth investing in a decent radio. With the launch of the MP MkV, second-hand MPs will be becoming increasingly available at reasonable prices. And of course there are other brands.

Another technique we used was to call for "the M5" - the new low-power UK licence. Sure enough, because we were loud, the pile-up would stand by and often there would be an M5 calling. This worked again and again. In fact, we used to work strings of five Gs at a time – the pile-up allowing us to do this. There were other interesting aspects of the operation – PSK31, FM on 10m, working the UK and US Novices and the US Generals. We tried to accommodate everyone.

We were all delighted with the Yaesu kit. We had six FT-1000MP Mk.Vs, six Quadra linears, two FT-900s and two FT-920s. They all performed superbly. The six main stations were on the air continuously for 18 days, a total of nearly 2,600 hours of continuous operation. The local power supply was unreliable with the voltage swinging up to 300 volts at one point. The switch-mode power supplies coped with this admirably. Fantastic!

During the third week we were able to spend a little time comparing the pairs of Force 12 vertical dipoles with the Yagis. The vertical dipoles were very close to the beach; the Yagis were around 60 feet ASL. Whereas we would not claim to have done some highly scientific analysis we concluded that generally the pairs of verticals were between 1 to 2 S points down on the Yagis when firing in the same direction. However, if a DXpedition cannot take masts and mono-banders, then these verticals are a good compromise for low angle contacts providing they are located very close to the sea. Pairs of verticals placed at 90 degrees to each other would be an interesting antenna with which to experiment from a sea-front location.

We also wrote an article for the "Down to Earth" section of RSGB’s RadCom entitled "Working D68C – a ‘How To’ Guide." Our article explained some of the basics for working a DXpedition – best times and bands, working split frequency, suitable aerials etc. and it really seemed to catch the imagination of many UK amateurs. The author personally spoke to around 40 Gs who commented along the following lines "We read the article and decided to have a go, I’m using the sloper just as you described it". Some Gs said that D68C was their first DX contact, others dusted off their rigs and had a go. This gave a tremendous kick to the team and generated a feeling of real confidence in the future of amateur radio in the UK. Our various initiatives had a tremendous impact resulting in over 13,000 contacts with UK stations and around 3,500 UK uniques.

As an encouragement to all established DXers throughout the world as well as to newcomers to DXing, Nevada Communications of the UK sponsored 18 trophies - the Nevada Comoros Trophies. These trophies are for stations throughout the world (high-power and low-power), UK stations (high-power and low-power), UK clubs and SWLs. They will be awarded to the stations that contacted us on the most band/mode slots. There has been great interest in these trophies which we think will be well received; full details can be found on our web pages.

The objective of the D68C pilot team was to be a permanent and established communication link both to and from the DX community. We had a team of four pilots lead by Martin G3ZAY. Reports from the pilots were eagerly awaited and we tried to respond promptly. We really tried to keep the Deserving in the picture although getting the e-mails off the island was a real challenge. Generally, we had to accept a service every two days. Next time we will take a satellite phone!

For logistical reasons we were only able to make a modest showing in the CQ WPX RTTY Contest (although we made up for this later, with our record number of RTTY QSOs!). We had a interesting debate as to whether we should participate in the ARRL CW DX Contest on the second weekend. The issues included: Disruption to the main DXpedition, number of dups., reaction outside the US, antenna and computer configuration issues. In the end we decided to make a serious entry. As a result, we are claiming a new African multi-two record of just under 3.7m points, a 1m point increase on the previous record set in 1997 by V51Z. To our surprise the 4,554 contest QSOs also added over 1,000 unique callsigns to the D68C log, setting our minds at rest as to whether, by entering the contest, we would simply be working the same stations all over again. This initiative was led very effectively by Maury W3EF/G0UHK, and his write-up appeared in the March Digest.

Every day just after lunch we held a team meeting for all operators not on shift. These were always well attended and provided the opportunity to:

• Receive feedback from team members. For example, to identify issues to be resolved regarding inter-station interference or for team members to advise of unexpected propagation openings.
• Review feedback from the pilots.

These meetings were important, as otherwise during the operation, team members may not have seen each other at all. As a result the team as a whole may not have benefited from the advice and input of individuals. There were also projects to be organised at these daily meetings, for example, running out a Beverage or changing the location of an antenna. It was good for all the team to hear the plaudits as well as the criticism from the Deserving.

The commitment of the team members throughout the project was tremendous from the very start. Many, for example, gave up six weekends in order to be at the AntennaFests. On site the support was tremendous and, even when the weather was very wet or very hot, the team members tackled their many tasks with enthusiasm. Two of the team made over 10,000 QSOs during the 18 days; they were Mark M0DXR (11.680) and Jeff 9H1EL (10,869). The team was very cohesive and everyone got on well together for the entire period. Many lifelong friendships were made.

Breaking down took about 2½ days. This was carefully planned so that we maintained a presence on the "edge bands" – 6m, 80m and 160m – until the very last moment. Our last contact was early on Wednesday 28 February when a huge thunderstorm passed over the island. The 85-foot Titanex vertical was one of the last antennas to come down. The container was fully packed by Thursday lunchtime and we all had an uneventful journey home – a tired but elated group!

Over 45,000 separate stations worked D68C. The pile-ups were still there when we left, and we know that there were many others still trying to work us. Our estimate of the potential number of amateurs who have an active interest in working DXpeditions is therefore much higher than the 45,000 we contacted. DXpedition destinations do not need to be very rare but DXpeditioners do need to put out strong signals. If you are only on the air for a single weekend and achieve around 20/30,000 QSOs you will not be giving many stations an all-time new one although hopefully some will gain some new band-slots. So in order to satisfy demand DXpeditioners need to:

• Be loud, with the best antennas possible
• Be on the right bands at the right time
• Use good transceivers with excellent selectivity and sensitivity
• Be on the air for the longest time possible, ideally for a period covering three weekends.

Some further messages:

• When working split use no more than 10/15 kHz on SSB and less on CW
• Persist in getting that calling station in your log
• Do not work by numbers
• Identify yourself at least every 3 QSOs and preferably every QSO.

There were three quotes that the team really liked:

• "This group (D68C) is like the Energizer bunny - they just keep going and going and going!" – Carl, N4AA
• "Not just a DXpedition, more a phenomenon !" – Wes, W3WL
• "What can you say about a group who has now provided over 160,000 Q’s? With over 4,000 RTTY; 1,000 PSK; 3,200 FM, 80,000 CW and 70,000 SSB contacts in their logs, can there be anyone who has not been able to work them on any mode/ band? Signals have been outstanding on all bands and the operators superb. The Five Star DXers Association has set so many DXpedition records, it would take a super-human effort to better the levels that they have set from Comoros. Congratulations to the Five Star DXers." – Carl, N4AA

The Comoros are the "dream islands" of the adventurer in all of us. From their shores, pirates, buccaneers and corsairs sailed out to prey on cargo-laden East Indiamen. Persian and Omani sultans once ruled the islands, amassing huge fortunes from their dealings in the infamous slave trade. Today the Comoros are still filled with an intrigue, mystery and allure that make them irresistible to many travellers.

More than anything else, a Comoros holiday is about people and natural splendour. Meeting the Comorians requires effort. Visitors who try to understand and respect the ways of Sunni Muslims will discover the kind hearts of the hospitable and gracious Comorian natives. Their faith is of paramount importance to them. The Comoros have only recently become an important tourist attraction. Since then they have lost some of their original unspoilt atmosphere; the wilderness and the Comorian culture are dying fast, and may not survive even 20 more years of coups d’etat, industrialisation and mass tourism. Visitors who wish to experience the traditional Comorian way of life should visit these winsome islands in the Indian Ocean now.

Le Galawa Beach Hotel is an ideal location for a family or amateur radio holiday. There are excellent water-sports – fishing, including big game fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving and sailing as well as island trips and dolphin spotting.

Our thanks to all those who called us. We had great fun – we hope you did too! Thanks also to our sponsors without whom D68C could never have happened. Thanks too to the support team and to our wives and girlfriends – some of us were away for almost four weeks. We will be sending Certificates of Appreciation to all those who supported the D68C DXpedition.

• Phil Whitchurch G3SWH, 21 Dickensons Grove, Congresbury, Bristol, BS19 5HQ, England,

E-mail: [email protected]

• For SWLs: Bob Treacher BRS 32525, 93 Elibank Rd, Eltham, London SE9 1QJ, England.

E-mail: [email protected]

Here are the overview statistics:

Overall Rate: 238 QSOs/hr.

UK stations working D68C on 20 or more "slots":

New records in bold.

QSOs Uniques Nine-banders

World 168,722 45,315 571

Germany 16,272 4,110 67

Japan 11,784 3,385 38

Spain 3,848 1,070 1

UK 13,690 3,452 56

USA 45,668 12,953 43

20 stations worked D68C on 10 bands.

• Array Solutions
• Cable Experts
• CQ Ham Radio Japan
• Cushcraft
• Daily DX
• Dog Park Software
• Dunestar
• Force 12
• Funk Amateur
• Linear Amp UK
• Martin Lynch & Sons
• Nevada
• Patcomm
• UK Radiocommunications Agency
• Titanex
• Vibroplex
• World Space
• Yaesu

• Air Mauritius

• Bass Take Home
• Le Galawa Beach Hotel
• London Business School
• Metric AB
• Parfetts
• Sofitour
• States of Guernsey Tourist Board

• Akita DXA
• Alamo DX Amigos RC
• Arkansas DXA
• British Amateur Radio Teledata Group
• Chiltern DX Club, CDXC
• Clipperton DX Club
• Danish DX Group
• Delta DXA
• Echelford ARS
• Eastern IOWA DXA
• Ehime DX Group (EDXG)
• European DX Foundation
• Far East DXploiters
• Fort Wayne DXA
• German DX Foundation
• GM DX Group
• Guernsey ARC
• Horndean & Dist. ARC
• Kermadec DXA
• Lone Star DX Group
• M2000A Team
• Magnolia DXA
• Nara DXA
• North California DX Foundation, NCDXF
• Northeast Wisconsin DXA
• Northern Ohio DXA
• OHDXF
• Oklahoma DXA
• Osaka DX Lovers Group
• Racal Amateur Radio Club
• Reading & District ARC
• RSGB DXpedition Fund
• RSGB IOTA Committee
• Shiga DXers, Japan
• Six Meter International Radio Klub
• Southeastern DX Club
• South German DX Group
• Virginia DXCC
• Western New York DXA

Individual Sponsors

CN8WW DJ9ZB G0WAT G3JNB G3URA G3YMC G4EAG G8FXX JA3AAW JA3CSZ JA3EOP JA7FWR JA7JHT JA7MFL JA7QQQ JA7RHJ JA7SN JA7XVZ JE3AGN JE3USO JE7RJZ JG3KFM JG7AMD JG7LQU JH3OTS JH7BZR JH7NPF JR1VAY JR7WFC JR7FBR JR7HAN JR7JPC JR7VHZ JR7XKN JS3CTQ K8ME KO4RR N7MQ VK5WO VK6LC WA4OBO

• Harlow & District ARS
• BAE Systems
• Johnson Stevens Agencies
• Nortel Networks
• Raytheon

5B4AGC George

5B4WN Marios

9H1EL Jeff

DL7AKC Jens

G0OPB Tony

G3BJ (G3OZF) Don

G3NUG Neville

G3SED Mike

G3VMW Steve

G3WGV John

G3XTT Don

G4JVG Steve

G4TSH Justin

G4VXE Tim

GU4YOX Bob

JA1RJU Kazu

JA3AER Taizo

M0BJL Shaun

M0DXR Mark

N7CQQ John

PE9PE Rob

SM5AQD Hawk

UT8LL Victor

W3EF Maury

W3WL Wes

G4KIU Nigel

AA5XE Dale 6m Pilot

BRS 32525 Bob (SWL QSL Manager)

G3NOM Ray (Far East Pilot)

G3SWH Phil (QSL Manager)

G3WRO Keith (Logistics)

G3ZAY Martin (Chief Pilot)

G4KIU Nigel (Webmaster)

G4PDQ John (EU PacketCluster Server)

G4ZFE Richard (EU QSO Server)

N1DG Don (NA Pilot and QSO Server)

6 el. 6m Yagi (Cushcraft)

6 el. 10m Yagi (Force 12)

4 el. 12m Yagi (Force 12)

4 el. 15m Yagi (Force 12)

4 el. 17m Yagi (Force 12)

3 el. 20m Yagi (Cushcraft)

2 el. 30m Yagi (Force 12)

3 el. A3S 10/15/20m Yagi (Cushcraft)

3 el. A3WS 12/17/30 Yagi (Cushcraft)

Pair of 30m Verticals

Pair of 20m Verticals (Force 12)

Pair of 15m Verticals (Force 12)

4-Square 40m (Gladiator)

4-Square 80m (Titanex)

85ft Vertical 160/80 m (Titanex)

Beverages, Pennants, Rhombic for receiving.

6 x FT 1000MP MkV

2 x FT 920

1 x FT 847

1 x FT 900

Patcomm PC16000 and PC9000

6 Yaesu VL-1000 Quadra linears

3 other linears

14 networked PCs

WEB PAGE: www.dxbands.com/comoros

• Operating at D68C was an awesome experience during the first 24 hours. The pile-ups were enormous and it seemed like the whole world wanted to work us.
• Was called by a G mobile on 10m SSB on the first day. When I responded, you could almost hear the operator drive off the road in shock!
• Roger, G3SXW called me ...... on SSB !
• Pulling weak calls out of the noise was great fun, especially when the response after two minutes of fighting to get the call right was met with "......yes!! yay! wow! wooo!.... 500mW from VE7...yahoo!!"
• One of the most memorable moments was working 2 KH6s in a row early one evening on 160m.
• Trying for weak stations, I asked the pile-up to stand by - and they did - all of them!
• To everyone we worked - thanks for being at the other end.
• One notable 24 MHz QSO for me was with G3XJS who was running just 200mW into a 2m collinear.
• Tony GØOPB was on 29 MHz FM one day and worked a guy in Los Angeles who was stood in a bus queue using a small hand-held transceiver.

• Amazing team at D68C - no friction at all.
• Being with such a great group of people!
• Thanks to all who gave me a chance to enjoy a new experience.

• Came on shift and the band allocated for the next four hours, closed after 20 minutes. No problem you might think - move to another station - we had ten. However, they were all in use on every open band. Rather a short shift that day!
• One night towards the end when I was on 160 at 3am (the only operator awake), there was a big bang and a flash simultaneous with a very big static crash, after which everything went dark. After I got over the initial shock I decided that being on the end of a cable connected to an 87 ft high lightning conductor was not the best place to be and set about abandoning the station after I disconnected the antennas. At this point Don, G3BJ came trotting down the path having been woken up by the bang and a little apprehensive in case he found "A carbonised G4TSH". Glad to say that was not the case.
• We reached the milestone figure of 100K QSOs after about eight days of operation. Tim G4VXE actually made QSO number 100,000 and we decided that we should celebrate with champagne. For two hours, at around 8pm that day, we closed all the stations down and everyone headed for the hotel restaurant where twenty bottles of champagne were chilling nicely in a large icebox. The atmosphere was incredible – like we had won the lottery or something!
• The time just went by in a blur!
• Wow! I never knew SSB could be so much fun.

• Staff at the hotel couldn't be more helpful - and they were really like that - not just chasing a tip.
• I've been wet at Field Days over the years, but never as wet as I was for two days setting up antennas on D68. But hey, no problem, the rain was warm!
• Getting concussion from the raindrops!
• Being permanently damp for about the first week!
• Sun, Sea, Sand and Pileups!
• Wakka Wakka! (the local dance! Just ask GU4YOX for lessons .. – ed.)

• Topband to Ten open to everywhere at night!
• Low band propagation appeared to come and go in "waves" of QSB lasting 5 to 15 mins per cycle. I would sit patiently monitoring the static (S9 plus 20 at times) and gradually hear signals rise out of the noise; work stations for around 5 to 15 mins, just to have them all disappear again for a further 15 mins!!
• We had several three day periods when all signals from EU were arriving via a skewed path to our north east ( The direct path was to our North West ) This was very confusing as the first event occurred just as we arrived and were testing the Beverage antennas. We couldn't understand why the EU Beverage didn't appear to work, whilst the JA Beverage was the best RX antenna for EU. Several days later, things would return to normal and the EU Beverage would be the best rx antenna for that direction. On 80 mtrs, the stations in EU with 4 square directional arrays reported that on those occasions our signals were some three or four S points louder when they beamed North East to JA !!
• The signals at our sunset from KH6, T32 were stunningly loud - over S9 on many days, and consistently there. It broke my heart to hear such loud KH6 signals especially since I had not worked KH6 on 80 or 160 from home in 37 years! Having said that as a result of our D68C LF contacts, Bryce KH6AT kindly offered to run 80 metre skeds with me when I returned home - I worked him on the first attempt !!
• I found that from D68C signals from the USA had a huge peak at their sunset - far larger than I had ever seen from the UK. I'm not sure if that was because our vertical antenna was virtually in the sea giving extremely good response to low angle propagation, or if it was just D68/USA propagation in general. Either way it was most marked - you would be working EU in the late evening, then suddenly out of nowhere a W0 would call in several S points above the EU pile up right at his sunset. The signals from that W0 area disappearing just a few minutes later