5J0X test page

CQWW SSB 2003

The Story of 5J0X

The 5J0X Team The Red Crab Villa

For most Dxers preparing for the CQWW SSB test means checking out your station a day or two before the contest. For members of the Florida Dxpediton Group (FDXPG), preparation for the World Wide began in January of 2003 at our regular meeting. We wanted to put on an effort for the CQWW from a really sought after location. Bill W4WX FDXPG President and our Dxpedition leader suggested we try San Andres island in the far western Caribbean sea. San Andres is not heard on the air all that often, and we all agreed it would be an ideal location if we could secure lodging, licenses, and transportation. Bill W4WX had found a web site for the Red Crab Apartments on San Luis beach on San Andres Island. After emailing the owner and inquiring about prices and permission to erect antennas, we committed and reserved all four apartments for 8 days in October of 2003 for the CQWW SSB contest. The next problem was licensing. Bill W4WX emailed the Liga Columbia Radio Aficionados or LCRA in Bogota, Columbia inquiring about securing licenses for operating on San Andres Island which is Columbian Territory. He also inquired about the chances of getting a special call for use during the contest. Ms. Maria Theresa Rodriguez of the LCRA replied and advised Bill to send her photocopies of our licenses, the picture page of our passports, and a color photo of each operator to her in Bogota, and she would begin processing our application. We as licensed US hams in Columbia could use our calls with HK0 either before or after our call to operate for up to 60 days. What we really hoped for was a special call for the contest. We put in a request for 5J0J or 5J0X in early February of 2003. The last obstacle in getting the San Andres operation into high gear was air transportation. Our leader Bill W4WX searched the internet and found a flight out of Miami International to El Dorado International in Bogota with a connecting flight to San Andres at a reasonable price.

With these problems solved the team started to firm up with 7 members of the FDXPG signing on for the operation. They were Bill W4WX FDXPG President and Dxpediton Leader, Clarence W9AAZ FDXPG VP/Sec, Larry W1LR, William N2WB FDXPG Treasurer, Jan K4QD, Bob KR4DA, and Cory N1WON. These 7 Dxers would be the dream team for CQWW 2003 from HK0 land. After several months of silence Bill W4WX again contacted Maria Theresa at the LCRA. She advised all was in order for issuance of a special call for us as 5J0J. She said to go ahead with our plans as the license would be issued around the end of August and would be mailed to Bill W4WX. We were overjoyed to say the least. William N2WB got a web site up and running for our Dxpedition. We solicited support from various ham radio manufacturers. We received a commitment from Heil Sound for 4 of their new Pro-Plus headsets plus four of their new foot switches and Kenwood adapters for the headsets. Acom came through and generously supplied us with one of their Acom 1000 one KW amplifiers to use. William N2WB also had an Acom amp which we also used on the Dxpedition to San Andres. ELLI QSLs in the Czech Republic said they would supply us with 10,000 QSL cards after the contest. We also received many monetary donations from the DX community. Later as the time to depart neared, we realized that without the support of so many people the Dxpedition to San Andres would have literally never gotten of the ground. The reader will see what I mean a little later on!

After Labor Day Bill W4WX secured airline tickets for the group. We would fly Avianca out of Miami to Bogota. We would then fly Soc. Aero De Medellin from El Dorado International in Bogota to Aeropuerto Rojas Pinilla on San Andres island. Now it was almost the middle of September and still no license. Bill W4WX frantically emailed Maria Theresa at the LCRA in Bogota daily. Her emails were bouncing back because her mail box was full. Bill tried to call the LCRA on the phone, but he knew little Spanish and kept getting transferred and gave up in complete frustration. He then contacted a Columbian ham who was working in the states in Houston Texas, Mr. Roberto Rey, HK3CW. Rob agreed to help try to speed things up, and he spoke fluent Spanish as well as English, so the language barrier was at last broken! After a few phone calls he advised us that the license for all 7 of us had been approved, but had not been issued yet because Maria Theresa was in the hospital with pneumonia. It would be issued as soon as she returned to work. Bill kept calling Rob in Houston, and Rob would call the LCRA and kept getting the same story, manyana! It was now the first week in October and we only had 3 weeks until we left. Finally, the President of the LCRA, Senor Ignacio Barraquer, HK3CC, graciously arranged to have the license issued. Senor Barraquer advised he would send the license to Bill W4WX via DHL Air Courier. It was sent out at last on October 6, and Bill received it on October 10, only 9 days before our departure! The call we got was not 5J0J, but instead was 5J0X. At this stage of the game we could have cared less! Twenty days before our scheduled departure Avianca Airlines decided to cancel the flight out of Miami to Bogota. We were now between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Our only recourse was to book on American Airlines to Bogota, and then board the Soc. De Medellin flight to San Andres. The only fly in the ointment was an additional cost of $322.00 per person, OUCH! We bit the bullet and each antied up for the AA tickets. As I said earlier, if it had not been for the generous donations we received, the Dxpedition would have crashed and burned right here! To all of those who donated, THANK YOU from all of us on team San Andres 2003!

On Sunday Afternoon October 19, Bill W4WX and I rented a 15 passenger Ford van to take the 7 of us, and our luggage to Miami International Airport. This was a drive of 350 miles. Five of us gathered at Bill’s house and loaded up the van and headed south on I-95. We stopped in Ormond Beach, Fla. And picked up William N2WB, and headed south once more. We then stopped in Melbourne, Fla. And picked up Jan K4QD and steered a course due south on I-95 to MIA. Once we got into Miami we stopped at an IHOP for breakfast, and then headed for the Miami International Airport. We unloaded our mountain of luggage onto several carts and waited while Bill W4WX, and Bob KR4DA turned in the Van. We had 14 check bags as well as 7 carry ons. As luck would have it just a few days earlier, some idiot had planted a box cutter, some clay, and some bleach on a Southwest Airlines plane in Texas. This caused a major security alert all over the country. After we got our boarding passes the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, not wanting to look bad, proceeded to open and check every one of our bags, both checked and carry on. yes, ALL 21 of them! It took what seemed like an eternity, but finally our luggage and we were cleared. We then proceeded to the boarding area, and once again had our carry on bags x rayed, and we were finally allowed to board AA flight 913 to Bogota, Columbia.

After take off we soon cleared the Florida Peninsula and were out over the Straits of Florida, and then were over Cuba, and the Isle of Pines, and the Caymans. We soon reached our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet and headed out over the Caribbean Sea due south. After about and hour and a half the South American continent loomed below us. As we kept flying south the terrain grew very rugged and mountainous. We were now flying over the Andes mountain range headed for Bogota. As we began our approach to Bogota or BOG, the view of the mountains shrouded in clouds was awesome. Soon we felt a thump and had touched down at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Columbia. It was only 52 degrees in Bogota because the city is located on a high plateau of the Andes Mountains, at an altitude of over 8,500 feet above sea level. As we landed I could see that Bogota is a very large city of over 8 million people, with many tall buildings and high rises. It also had lots of traffic, the roads were clogged with vehicles. I was glad I was not in a car! We then deplaned and passed through immigration and had our passports stamped. We then collected all our checked luggage and proceeded to customs. Here we had some problems, mainly due to language, No Habla Espanol! Finally Bill W4WX found someone who could speak some English. He explained that we were ham radio operators or Radio Aficionados en route to San Andres. He presented a list written in Spanish by Mr. Roberto Rey, HK3CW, to the customs officer, as well as a copy of our Columbian license for 5J0X. The list had the serial numbers of all our gear and explained what we were going to San Andres for, and that we would be taking all the gear back to the USA with us. The customs officer was satisfied and we were allowed to proceed without any further delay. They did not even bother to open up any of our bags. After Miami this was a nice surprise indeed! We then proceeded to the check in area for the Soc. De Medellin, or Summa as it was now being called and checked our bags in and obtained our boarding passes for the flight to San Andres. Since we had over 2 hours before take off we decided to look for someplace to have lunch. Low and behold we spotted the very familiar golden arches of a McDonalds right inside the airport, and there was a Dunkin Donuts right beside it! I opted for McDonalds and headed to the counter to order. I figured I would have a hard time because I did not speak hardly any Spanish. The lad behind the counter said in almost perfect English “Yes Sir, may I take your order?” I was amazed and gave him my order and asked where he had learned such good English. He told me it is taught in most of the schools in Columbia. The burgers, fries and coke tasted as good as any I have ever had in the states. The price was 15,300 COPs, or Columbian Pesos, around $5.00 USD. After lunch we headed to the boarding area for the flight to San Andres. Before we reached the boarding area we were all looking for the men’s room. We soon found one, and walked through the door marked Caballeros. It was a typical men’s rest room, except for one small detail, there was a female washroom attendant cleaning out the urinals! No one else there even took notice of her, so as the old saying goes “When in Rome do as the Romans do”. So that’s exactly what we did, and she did not even seem to notice us! When we got to the boarding area for our flight we were advised we would each have to buy a tourist permit for San Andres for $7.00 USD. We took off on time and had an uneventful 2 hour flight. As we approached San Andres the Captain announced we were flying over the south end of the island and would then circle to the north towards the landing strip at the airport. We really got a good look at the island, which is about 10 miles long and 3 to 4 miles wide. With a bump we touched down at 4:35pm right on time.

We gathered up our copious luggage and had our passports and tourist permits checked, and that was it, as there is no customs on San Andres itself. We then proceeded outside where we were meet by Pedro and his lovely wife Adriana who manage the Red Crab apartments where we would be staying for the next 8 days. Luckily Pedro had a full size Ford F-150 pickup truck which we quickly filled up with all of our luggage and gear. We hailed two cabs and proceeded in a caravan to the Red Crab Apartments on San Luis beach, just north of the famous San Andres blow hole. It is a rock formation near the beach with a hole in it to the ocean. When the waves roll in, water shoots out of the hole in the rock and high into the air. The magnificent seven of San Andres unloaded the luggage and stowed it in our four apartments. We had two on the ground floor, and two on the top floor. These are really fabulous accommodations with a grand staircase in front, and a balcony around both floors, the two levels are connected by a spiral staircase. The Red Crab is air conditioned, and even includes daily maid service, and a private swimming pool.. It looks as though we were really going to have to rough it for the next 8 days! Also each apartment has satellite TV and a full kitchen.

We then took time to unpack and to change into the uniform of the day, shorts, T shirts, and sandals. We then got down to serious business. We unpacked and set up four complete operating positions, We placed two positions in each of the ground floor apartments. Each position consisted of a Kenwood TS-570 HF transceiver. A laptop running CT for logging, and also for use for RTTY, PSK-31, Hell, etc. Also each position had a rigblaster to interface the transceivers to the computers. In between the two rigs in each apartment went an Acom 1000 One KW amplifier to be used alternately by each rig in the apartments. By now it was starting to get dark as one group of us assembled the four stations. Another group outside put together two Sigma 5 HF vertical antennas. One was placed in a bucket of sand by the far end of the pool. The other was lashed to the second floor balcony railing with duct tape. Coax was then run from the two rigs to the Sigma 5’s. As it was now totally dark we would erect all the other antennas tomorrow morning after breakfast. While the two groups were doing this, Cory HK0/N1WON, had Pedro take him to the local Supermercado, or Supermarket to stock up on provisions using the list we provided him with. This way we would have supplies on hand for breakfast in the morning. Finally all was ready with the two stations and verticals. I had the honor of making the very first QSO from San Andres Island. I got on 14.195 and called “QRZed from the 2003 San Andres Island Dxpedition, this is HK0/W9AAZ. I instantly got a call from W4AWP, Don, in Green Cove Springs, Florida, which is about 10 miles from my home QTH in Middleburg, Florida. Don was kind enough to call my wife and let her know we had arrived safely, and to have her call all the other guys wive’s and let them know we were OK. Talk about luck to get someone back home on the very first call right out of the box! After that I turned to rig over to Cory HK0/N1WON to work the deserving. He got an instant pileup going! By this time I had been up with no sleep for a day and a half so I crawled into the rack and was soon sawing BIG logs!

I awoke at 5:30 am the next morning and finished unpacking and stowing my personal gear. I then made a pot of coffee. Cory HK0/N1WON was also up reading a book. Slowly the rest of the guys started to stir once they got a whiff of the aroma of the strong Columbian coffee as it brewed. Bill HK0/W4WX and I rustled up a world class breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast for the lads. There was not even any bread crumbs left, so I guess the guys liked it. Now it was time to put up the rest of the antennas. Cory HK0/N1WON put up a 6 meter delta loop in a tall palm tree in the front yard. Jan HK0/K4QD and William HK0/N2WB also put up Jan’s home brew 30/40 meter vertical in the front yard. We then all assembled a Mosley TA-33 Jr. for 10-15-20 meters and put it up on a push up pole about 20 feet high out in the field next to the Red Crab. On the other end of the second floor balcony we assembled a ZX Mini-Beam for 10-15-20 meters and secured it to the balcony railing with more duct tape. We all once again were out in the field next to the apartments where we put up a low band Vertical for 80 and 160 meters. We then spread radials on the ground around it. Jan HK0/K4QD then strung up a 40 meter delta loop in the rear of the apartments in the back yard. By now it was afternoon, in the heat of the day, and the temperature was almost 100 degrees. As we started back to the Red Crab, all of us just kicked off our sandals and jumped into the pool with our shorts and T shirts still on. Boy did it ever feel good, the heat was almost unbearable this close to the Equator. During our 8 day stay on San Andres it was hot very day, and rained almost every day. The heavy rains caused some problems with the ZX Mini Beam. If it rained heavily the traps on the Mini Beam flooded out and the SWR went sky high!

Then we got down to the task at hand, working pileups! All four stations quickly were manned and hundreds of stations were logged by all on SSB, CW, RTTY, and PSK-31. We all noticed that band conditions were not good at all. That evening we were watching CNN on the satellite TV and learned there had been a major solar flare, which was disrupting communications worldwide. It was the 3^rd largest flare ever recorded. Boy how lucky can we get! In spite of very poor band conditions we all made a lot of contacts, all with the USA, Canada, and South America. We could not get to Europe for any reason. We could work EA8, CT, and Spain, but that’s as far as we could get. It’s as if a brick wall had been erected keeping Europe out of our range. This continued for several days. Oh well, if the bands were flat we would jump in the pool, or go sight seeing. Sight seeing was easy, all we had to do was stand out by the road and hop on one of the buses which ran by about every 20 minutes. For 1,000 COP, or 40 cents USD we could go anywhere on the island! After enjoying the pool for several days I realized I hadn’t checked out the pristine beach. It was just beautiful with sugar white sand and crystal clear water. I swear you could see the bottom in 75 to 100 feet of water! It was off-season on San Andres and the beaches were totally deserted. Between the pool, the beach, and the sights, it’s really amazing any contacts were made at all. There were just too many distractions to keep us off the radio. San Andres was indeed paradise! I stayed up late that night and got on 160 meters. I had one of the Acom amps tuned for smoke with one kilowatt out to the low band 160/80 meter vertical. I called CQ time after time and finally got a reply. The noise level was really bad. I could barely copy anyone, and the signals were all down right into the noise. After two hours of trying I had only logged 41 QSO’s on 160. Then some thunderstorms began moving in and the static crashes started to pin the S meter, so I finally gave up. It was very disappointing, as top band from the Caribbean is usually much better!

Operating from San Andres Bob KR4DA and Bill W4WX

Soon Friday afternoon rolled around and it was time to prepare for CQWW SSB 2003. We moved the two Acom amplifiers together to use them with the run 1 and run 2 stations. We would be in the high-power multi 2 category for the CQWW. All the antenna coax was run into the apartment with the two contest stations. The other two rigs would still be available for use on the WARC bands if anyone of the guys cared to use them during their off time during the CQWW. We would all be working according to a schedule drawn up by our Dxpedition leader Bill HK0/W4WX. We would work two hours on, and four hours off, then on again for two hours, then four off and two on, and then 6 hours off. This schedule gave us all ample time to get some rest. We checked and rechecked all the gear and antennas. We set up two laptops with CT for logging and linked them up with a null modem cable. Finally everything was ready as the clock ticked down the last seconds before the CQWW started. Bob HK0/KR4DA and Jan HK0/K4QD were the first hapless victims to sit in the hot seats and begin the contest!

After almost a year of planning the CQ World Wide was here. Bob and Jan starting calling CQ Contest from Five Japan Zero X Ray and the QSO’s started to flow into the two laptops. Then the unthinkable happened, the computers refused to talk to each other. We could not figure out what to do. In desperation they were both shut down and rebooted. Mercifully they then started working. Someday computers will be perfected, but not just yet! After a false start out of the gate we were at last off and running. My first shift was not until 0400 Zulu so I went and took a snooze for a while. All too soon it was time for my tour of duty in the hot seat of the run one station. I quickly slipped on the Heil Pro-set Plus and mashed the foot switch and called CQ contest from 5J0X. The din of the pileup was almost deafening. I logged QSO’s as fast as I could talk and type. 20 meters was HOT! It was like this for my entire two hour shift. In the back of my mind I kept wondering why I was not working hardly anyone outside the USA. I thought hopefully things would improve by my next shift and some DX would start showing up. In what only seemed like a few minutes my two hour shift was over and I was relieved by Larry HK0/W1LR. I went and took a rest and was back at 1000 Zulu on the run 2 station. I was now on 40 meters working split and my frequency. I logged a ton of Stateside, Caribbean, and South American stations, but alas, NO Europe at all. Boy conditions were really stinky because of the solar flare. On my next 2 hour shift I worked 10 and 15 meters, and conditions were still pretty dismal! My shift soon ended and I then had six long hours off. I did not have to come back until 1800 Zulu. When I returned I was on run one and Bill HK0/W4WX was on run two station. I was on 10 meters and Bill was on 15. Finally I was working some EU stations, but there were no big EU pileups like there usually was this time of day. It was pretty much the same for Bill on run 2, EU stations but no pileups to speak of. You had to really work for each contact. Conditions were really poor! My next shift was with William HK0/N2WB as my partner. It was the same old story, slim pickings, no big pileups, just steady QSO’s which you had to call several times for. By now it was early Sunday morning and Bill and I were together at 0800 Zulu. It was really the pits. It was without doubt the worst contest shift I have ever experienced, and this is after 9 years of operating the CQWW from a DX location outside the USA. The bands were almost flat out dead. Bill tried 160, 80 and 40 with little results, in 2 hours he made a total of 10 contacts! I was on 20 and was only making a contact every few minutes by calling until I was hoarse! Bill and I were both very glad when this graveyard shift was over. On Sunday after sunrise the bands came back to life somewhat. The other guys at last started to work some EU stations. They even got a few JA and VK’s in the log. My last tour of the contest was the final two hours of the CQWW with Bill as my partner once again. I was on 15, and Bill was on 10 and then 20 meters. Finally we started to log some real DX contacts including C5Z, A61AJ, and Bill snagged an A45 station in Oman. Finally the clock on CT rolled over to 0000 Zulu and the CQWW SSB 2003 was history. Bill HK0/W4WX quickly saved the logs from both stations to floppies. Later after we returned home Bill massaged the logs and removed the bad calls. We ended up with 5,308 contacts, which was very disappointing for us. The solar flare had taken a real toll on us. We took some small comfort in the knowledge that we were not the only entry hit by the flare. We had a lot of other Caribbean contest stations all asking us repeatedly if we could hear Europe. Contesters live and die by the SFI and the A and K indexes.

After the contest was over we cooked steaks out on the grill. I then had had enough and called it a night. Die Hards, William HK0/N2WB and Jan HK0/K4QD got back on the air. Cory HK0/N1WON got on 6 meters and made a few contacts. Cory and Bill worked over 60 stations total on 6 meters. None were from the states, but were all Caribbean and South American contacts. Cory even worked CE0, Easter Island on 6.

Larry W1LR and Bob Operating

On Monday morning after the CQWW I got up around 6 AM and stumbled into the radio room and found Jan HK0/K4QD working a nice pileup on 30 meter CW. I then got on 40 CW and had a nice pileup going in short order. Around 8AM we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and everyone pretty much did want they wanted. Bill HK0/W4WX and Bob HK0/KR4DA got on RTTY and made a bunch of contacts. Later Larry HK0/W1LR got on 20 meter PSK-31 and worked a bunch of guys. Late in the afternoon I got on 14.080 and called CQ using Hellschreiber. I got an immediate reply from KA4RAB, Julio, in Hialeah, Florida. I then worked several more stations using Hell. These might have well been the first ever Hell contacts from San Andres. Bill HK0/W4WX and I were even fortunate enough to work two guys back home, Jake K5WTA, and Greg KG4IAL.

We would be leaving the tropical Paradise of San Andres on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday afternoon we took down the low band vertical and packed it up. We left all the other antennas up until Tuesday in order for anyone who wanted to could operate. Finally on Tuesday morning before breakfast while it was still cool all the antennas came down and were packed up. Our antennas and luggage were placed in a large pile in front of the Red Crab in preparation for us leaving. We enjoyed a late breakfast, and took one last dip in the pool, and then cleaned up and dressed for the trip home. At 100PM Pedro and Adriana with two taxis pulled up to take us to the airport. After we unloaded everything at the airport we bid a fond farewell to Pedro and Adriana. They were great hosts who looked after our every need. We then went up to the Summa ticket counter, to check in our bags, and get our boarding passes. The lady at the counter said we were overweight with our luggage and would have to pay $161.00 USD in overweight charges. We asked how this could be. We were not overweight on the inbound trip, so how could we be overweight on the outbound trip, as we had less in our bags because we had eaten all the food we brought with us. Bill HK0/W4WX asked to speak to the supervisor, and once again Mr. Silver Tongue (Bill) came through for us. The supervisor said that seeing we were on an international flight returning to Miami via Bogota we would not be charged any overweight fees. The only thing we would have to pay was a departure tax of 8,100 COPS, or $3.00 USD. This was fine with us, and as we departed San Andres it was raining heavily.

After another uneventful flight we touched down in Bogota at the El Dorado International Airport. We had lots of time to kill, as we had a 14 hour lay over until our AA flight left at 800Am Wednesday. We checked our bags into a locked secure storage area for $22.00 USD and went to find some supper. I again visited the golden arches of McDonalds. Some of the other guys found a couple of different places to eat. We then found a passenger lounge with nice hard benches to stretch out on. We all tried to sleep, but it was difficult, as the benches were so hard. After a fitful night on the rock hard benches we got our bags and went to check in with American Airlines for our flight to Miami. We were checked and frisked four times, and our carry ons were x rayed twice. Finally we lifted off and were on the way back to Miami. I have no idea if the flight was smooth or not as I fell fast asleep for the entire 3 hours of the flight. Once we landed in Miami, we went through immigration, and then fetched all our bags and headed for customs. We figured we would be hassled, but to our surprise we were whisked right through without having to open a single bag. Bill and Bob went to get the van we had reserved for the drive home. After we loaded the 7 of us and all our bags we headed north on I-95. We dropped Jan and William and Cory off, and headed for Bills house where the rest of the team was let out along with their luggage. I drove the van home as Bill and I would return it in the morning. Finally at 900PM I pulled into my driveway. I gave the wife a big hug and a kiss, and went to bed. I had now been up for over 39 hours and was just plain beat. It amazing what Dxers go through for the CQWW!

San Andres is without a doubt a Paradise Lost. It is difficult to get to as there are no direct flights in or out. Maybe this is why it is not on the air all that much. We all took some degree of personal risk getting there, as we had to go through Bogota. If you are thinking about going to San Andres, please get on the internet and go to the US Department of State web site and click on the travel warnings for Columbia. The State Department warns US citizens against travel to Columbia. Terrorist and Criminal violence by Narcotraffikers, Guerrillas, Illegal Para-Military Groups and others effect all parts of the country. This includes attacks on civilian targets in urban areas. Last spring a bomb was detonated in downtown Bogota near the airport, killing 33 people. Also there have been several other bombing in which many civilian casualties have been inflicted. According to the travel warnings there is a greater risk of being kidnapped in Columbia than in any other country in the world. Kidnapped victims are being held for ransom by Guerrilla Groups. The Dept. of State web site advises the US Governments ability to help US citizens is limited, and describes Columbia as “one of the most dangerous places on earth”. The man who owns the Red Crab apartments in which we stayed was kidnapped and held for a year until a large ransom was paid. Shortly before we left for San Andres Island, a group of 8 archeologists were kidnapped and have not been heard from since. The Rebels are also still holding 3 American soldiers hostage to this day. The El Dorado International Airport has many heavily armed soldiers and Policia walking around. When you land or take off you cannot help but notice the sand bagged machine gun nests and soldiers that surround the airport. San Andres was much safer, or so it seemed. The Red Crab villa, is surrounded by a high concrete wall, and high chain link fence. The only way in is through a heavy locked iron gate. Also at night 2 rottweilers are turned loose on the grounds to act as watch dogs. During our stay on San Andres Island, Columbia was holding national elections and there was a heavy Military and Police presence on the island. Several unpopular candidates had already been assassinated. The Military had a large Garrison of troops stationed on the island to keep order, and to guard the Government radio station. There were concerns the Columbian rebels would try to blow it up! Luckily we had no security problems, but if you decide to go, be advised, that the possibility does exist! Remember, while you are sitting in the comfort and security of your radio shack back home, there are Dxers who are taking risks to give you a contact!

Again the Seven members of the 2003 San Andres Dxpedition would like to thank all our supporters. Without YOU the 5J0X operation would not have happened. A special thanks, to Acom and Heil. The amp and the headsets all performed flawlessly. And last but not least a special thanks for ELLI for supplying the 5J0X QSL cards. The entire 5J0X team would like to extend a very special thanks to Mr. Roberto Rey, HK3CW. Without his assistance we would have never gotten the special call to use during the contest. To you Rob, Mucha’s Gracias Colega! Even though you were not with us, as far as we are concerned you were part of the team! We would also like to thank a very special lady, Karen Adamitis WB9YBL of Good Buy Travel and Cruises in Orland Park, Illinois. She went the extra mile in arranging our air transport not once, but twice, after Avianca cancelled their flight out of Miami. Thank You Karen! Also a special thanks to Ron N4GFO who would work us daily and pass messages to our wives and families, advising them of our well being.

During our 8 day stay on San Andres we made a total of more than 12,000 QSO’s with atrocious band conditions. Hopefully we are in your log!

From the CQWW 2003 San Andres team, Thanks for working us! See you all in the pileups next year!

5J0X CQWW SSB totals…….

Band QSO QSO Pts Pts QSO Zones Countrys

160 45 98 2.18 6 18

80 69 160 2.32 14 29

40 474 996 2.10 14 49

20 1370 2852 2.08 19 61

15 1516 3212 2.12 21 67

10 1834 4088 2.23 22 72

Totals 5308 11406 2.15 96 296

4,471,152 points