[UPDATE] – A little info and some pictures from Vlad who is on his way home (Addis Ababa then onto Vienna). Vlad says he donated an IC-7300 and Spiderbeam antenna to the national radio club ARAC and hopes they will be QRV soon, too.

NOTE: Vlad was the only 9Q2 callsign issued in history that worked out of Bas Congo province, he says. 

QSO overview

IC-7300 donated to Mr Cyprien, 9Q1KS – Vice-president ARAC.

With Clipperton DX Club flag

Local helper with MDXC flag


 
[QRT] – With almost 27K QSOs, 9Q2WX went QRT today at 10:04z. Logcheck here. Some audio recordings found here. 

[SEPTEMBER 1] – Power shutting down is becoming more of an issue for Vlad. Just today, the electricity went off 5 times in 15 minutes. Apparently, the turbine that generates the electricity occasionally throws a tantrum and forces Vlad to turn off his radios so as not to damage them and other equipment. 

[AUGUST 26] – Vlad gives an update:

Now the emergency generator running has been for hours. To continue operating I have to use CW and SSB at this time.  Also, we have stopped water turbine to accumulate the volume above the hill. After 5 hours we have maybe enough electricity for next 24 hours. 

[AUGUST 24] – Yesterday, Vlad finally managed to build the Spiderbeam antenna, but SWR on 12m is not satisfactory. Meanwhile, he mentions that one of the two power supplies he has overheated and stopped working.

The internet connection is very weak and slow and is available for only a few hours per day. Further, a problem has arisen on the CAT link to FT8 and is now “looking with the back office to see what happened”.

Vlad goes on to say it’s difficult at his QTH with hardly any internet, no warm water, and lot of mosquitoes.

[AUGUST 20] – Vlad is now QRV from D.R.C and sends us this update including exclusive pictures:

I arrived at the final destination on Friday at midnight after 7 hours in a jeep. The traffic situation is terrible; 20 km from Kinshasa we drove 3 hours. Yesterday and today I set up antennas on 80, 40 and 30 meters. Unfortunately, there is no internet access, the area is far away in difficult terrain and there is no signal coverage.

Bandplan is also included below:

[AUGUST 17] – Vlad has started his journey to D.R.C. He has 120kg of luggage (pictured at Vienna airport). Next stop is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then continuing to Kinshasa, D.R.C tomorrow (August 18). 

[JULY 24] – Vlad has been busy getting organised for his upcoming D.R.C DXpedition. He sends some pictures. In just under one month, 9Q2WX will hit the airwaves.

Preparations are in full swing. Now I am waiting for the 5-band Spiderbeam from Germany and testing DXcommander Expedition. I am also preparing special PELI Air Cases for transporting of transceivers and amplifier.

[MAY 10] – Vlad, OK2WX informs DX-World that he will be active as 9Q2WX from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C) between August 20 to September 9, 2023. He will operate on HF bands; CW, SSB, DIGI. QSL via IZ8CCW. Website