2005 - Mauritius - 3B8/HA7TM
In September 2004 news appeared that Hungarian tourists would be able to travel to Mauritius in organised groups. The first group was due to leave on 26 December. The idea immediately caught my imagination: what would it be like to operate amateur radio from a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean? I spoke on 10 MHz with Jacky, 3B8CF. He immediately suggested that I apply for a licence and, as secretary of the local amateur radio society, promised to support my application. I sent the paperwork in the usual way. In December Jacky wrote that security officials had visited him asking about my application. It was probably approved, but we would only know for certain once I arrived. So we began the almost 9,000 km journey with quite a bit of uncertainty. I still packed the station: IC-706, AT-180 tuner, Dunax four-band GP, computer and a memory keyer built by HA7CR.
We departed at 22:00 on 24 January 2005. The aircraft was first delayed by 40 minutes, which eventually became 80. The first stop was Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, then the Seychelles (S7), and from there another 160 minutes to Mauritius. We reached the hotel at around 19:00 the following day, where we were welcomed at the gate with lemon-scented towels and a local soft drink. The island was around 35 °C with roughly 90% humidity. The next morning I hired a taxi and headed to the capital to obtain the ICTA licence. The driver looked rather puzzled that, unlike the other tourists, we were going to an office. Fifteen minutes later the licence was in my hand. It cost 1,000 rupees, about HUF 6,500 at the time.
Back at the hotel I installed the station and began operating. I switched on at 21 MHz and after the first CQ a huge pileup developed. Word quickly spread among the HA operators as well, and more and more Hungarian stations called me. During the week I exchanged reports with 180 Hungarian stations. There were calls such as HA7UG, HA5KG, HA5AGS and several others with whom I made QSOs on nine bands and at least two modes. On Saturday there was an RTTY contest. I joined not to win but mainly to give out points, and again a massive pileup formed. It was fantastic to watch the screen with so many stations calling at once. I also worked HG4I on several bands with a very strong signal.
Seeing the giant tortoises in real life was unforgettable. I even sat on the back of one and tried to persuade it to increase speed, without much success, so photography was the better option. Overall it was a wonderful experience. The people on the island were extremely hospitable and the radio side was excellent too, apart from the occasional frustration caused by poor pileup discipline. I closed my one-man DXpedition with about 1,600 QSOs.
The QSL cards were being prepared. I planned to send cards to bureau users through the bureau, and direct cards to non-members against an SAE.
My next trip was scheduled for 20 February 2005 to Fortaleza, Brazil, operating as HA7TM/PT7. Hope to meet many of you on the bands.
73 & DX, Tibi HA7TM