[NEWS UPDATE] – At 17:35z today, T30UN went QRT. The last generator died. Tomorrow (May 1) the team head back to Fiji to get prepared for the upcoming T31TT Kanton Island DXpedition. It appears a number of world records (QSOs) have been broken by the Rebel DX Group which will be confirmed soon on their Facebook page. 

[APRIL 27] – It looks like the rental generator will be joining the other broken ones soon. Dom reports it’s hard to use even 3 radios at the same time, therefore they will have to reshuffle plans.

Priority is now 30m with 10 and 12m going all day, then at 5pm local time switch to 40 or 80m. At night they will try to use 160m but only FT8 at 100w.

[APRIL 24] – LoTW uploaded. One station running on solar and truck battery. Regarding generators issues. They will not buy new generators due to super high price of $4500AUD each. Team will need to buy another 2 big generators for T31TT Kanton next month so it has no economical sense to spend that much money now. They found a used one for rent and will allows them to use 3 to 4 stations with 100W.

[APRIL 22] – 2nd generator died. Team now QRV with one station using truck battery. Solar power during the day. Waiting until Monday to find and replace dead generators. 

[APRIL 21 @ 1215z] – For the last 2 days T30UN team is using 7 radios with 100w only due to 1 generator left and available for now. There is a chance to get new one on Monday in South Tarawa. From North Tarawa to South Tarawa it’s a hell trip due to flooded roads and only at low tied. Maybe able to make the trip faster by boat but only at high tide.

Dom 3Z9DX says take a look at the picture. There’s about 1500m to walk with a 100kg generator from the edge of the reef to the shack if you miss high tide by boat. If they don’t find a decent generator they will need to reduce operation to 3-4 radios. Last remaining generator works on the edge and burning brushes very quickly.

Dom 3Z9DX and Kaam T33KC @ T30KC

[APRIL 20] – Photos courtesy Dom 3Z9DX @ T30UN

[APRIL 19 @ 1700Z] –

Another generator issue @ T30UN. Brushes gone again. 4am local time. Team is using now one generator only. Power limited to 100w on each band. It looks like we will need to go to South Tarawa and look for another generator to buy. Not easy to find big diesel one there.

[APRIL 17] –

Team mention it takes a long time to upload logs from all laptops. If you do not see your callsign in the log yet, then try to call again regardless of dupe QSO or not. Final log upload for first week likely completed later today due to the previously mentioned generator issues and changing of QTH at the start. So far approx 80K QSOS made. Some pictures to follow of QTH. Also look for activity on 60m later this week.

80m antenna, credit Rebel DX Group

[APRIL 15] 

Dom, 3Z9DX reports it’s not been a lucky day on Tarawa: Very heavy rain over the island and earlier today both the 6.5kw and 7kw generators died. Brushes were burned out, although one has since been repaired.  T30UN had been running one station on truck battery. He says they hope to find spare brushes and fix other generator during the day.

We added 2 other stations on 15m and 17m running on car batteries. Will trying to connect them to solar panels as we don’t know when spare brushes will be here. North Tarawa is basically separated by ocean from South Tarawa where “normal” life is ongoing. Easiest way to come here is by boat… But only at high tide due a massive reef and very shallow waters. Same way by car, and only on low tide because most of the time road is covered by ocean. 

Dom also sent some pictures which show North Tarawa is not entirely the paradise island we all think it might be:

[APRIL 14]

Here is one of the T30UN operators (Kaam T33KC). Rebel DX Group say: “thanks to Simon IZ7ATN for radio and 10m quad antenna donation for Kaam; he is extremely happy and will be able to use it from Banaba next month after T30UN activity. Kaam is now fully equipped with radio, power supply generators, 200m of coax and all bands antenna system. He is the only emergency radio operator on Banaba for 283 residents on this remote islands“.

Kaam T33KC @ T30UN (credit Rebel DX Group)

[APRIL 11]

42deg C. 100% humidity. No wind. 5 stations working. 3 generators exposed to massive heat. Radios and laptops should survive this WX condition. Hoping amplifiers will stay alive for 5 weeks. Partial log from today on Club Log.

[APRIL 10 @ 1800Z] – Now arrived at new QTH. As soon as they set up camp and move 10-20m antennas to new QTH, all stations will QRV from there. 500L of diesel already in-situ for generators. Pictures courtesy 3Z9DX of new QTH:

[APRIL 10 @ 1500z] – Dom 3Z9DX @ T30UN says: “Unfortunately, we are not able to do anything with local solar inverters and led lights (QRM). Moving to another QTH in some hours. Noise level is S9 plus on most bands. We are using 1 station now on FT8. Expect 3-4 hours QRT until we relocate to another place in North Tarawa“.

[APRIL 10 @ 0530z] – Received signals on all bands were being plaqued by local 59+60 noise. This is why CQ calls were going unanswered. Now the source of QRM has been identified, and soon eliminated, T30UN should be more active.

[APRIL 9] – Just before 0700z, T30UN started activity on 10m FT8. More antennas are being built, so more stations on air soon. 

[APRIL 7] – Dom, 3Z9DX mentions that the Rebel DX Group will fly out to T30 land very soon. Activity should start early afternoon on April 10th, local time. Half of the equipment already in western Kiribati after recent Banaba expedition. A reminder to check their frequency plan here. They will use FOX mode on standard and expedition frequency at the same time! Example 14.091 and 14.074 simultaneously. All depends of traffic. They will have very limited internet. Log update when possible.

MARCH 31 – Kaam, T33KC is already in Tarawa after leaving Banaba recently. He is making preparations for the upcoming T30UN DXpedition; setting up antennas and getting generators working. In addition, he will be operating with the team to gain more experience and practice – straight after the DXpedition he will sail back to Banaba and be QRV from there more often now that he has a donated radio (thanks to IZ7ATN).   

Kaam T33KC & Dom 3Z9DX

[MARCH 25] – Dom 3Z9DX provides the latest info on the upcoming Rebel DX Group DXpedition to Tarawa. 

After short discussion, we decide to wait a little bit until current 5 different activities will be on the way back home. There is a jungle on expedition frequencies. We are trying to avoid adding another walls of FT8 signals and create more drama. There is no rush and we need much more freq. channel space for our experiments. We will start 1st week of April.