UPDATE by Gil, IZ2DLV /8Q7GB – Customs checked my baggage but with Maldivian license and serial numbers on it was an enough to explain why I was traveling with 60kg of equipment.

Nika Island is a wonderful location, owner is Ham Radio friendly and bungalows are secluded enough to have your equipment hidden.

The 2 antennas (30, 20, 17; 40m are 4 mts away from water and seems my signals are pretty good). Radials are resonant, 1 mt above the ground for the tri-bander and 4 buried for the 40m one.

Propagation is poor, I made some QRS CW QSOs and a couple of SSB. FT8 was interesting, with good pileup on 20m and I was forced to try FH mode (this log is not real time updated on Club Log). Last night (local) I made 240 QSOs in 1h 30min..even if many OM call under the 1000hz limit, causing QRM and not getting caught from the system. All continents are covered – with a bit of difficulty for NA, but we made it!

Weather is windy, warm and humid and family is enjoying both this wonderful place and the Maldivian lifestyle.

Antennas by sea

MAY 14, 2019 — Gil, IZ2DLV informs DX-World that he will be active from Nika island, Maldives as 8Q7GB during August 6-18, 2019. QRV (holiday-style) on 80-15m, CW/SSB/FT8. QSL via LoTW.