The Intrepid DX Group has announced that plans to activate Temotu Province from October 26 to November 9 have been postponed due to delays in shipping of equipment. Tentative dates for the DXpedition have been set for February 22 through March 7, 2024.
Get up-to-date details at the DXpedition’s Facebook page.
About Temotu Province
Temotu Province (“Temotu” translates to “the island” in Polynesian) has a population of more than 21,000 and consists primarily of two chains of islands (Santa Cruz Islands and Reef Islands) that cover 346 square miles. The team will be operating from the Reef Islands chain—also known as the Swallow Islands or Matema Islands (IOTA OC-065). At one time, the entirety of Temotu Province was known as the Santa Cruz Islands.
The capital of Temotu Province is Lata located on Nendo Island—the largest of the Santa Cruz Islands (25 miles long, 14 miles wide). Nendo’s population is around 5,000. The 16 islands that comprise the Reef Islands lie about 50 miles north of Nendo and have a total population of around 5,600.
Cyclones and activity from Tinakula, a two-mile-wide, 2,792-foot-tall conical stratovolcano/island in the Santa Cruz Islands group, make the Reef Islands vulnerable to tidal surges. Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana reported the first known eruption of Tinakula in 1595. An eruption around 1840 killed all of Tinakula’s inhabitants, and a major eruption in 1971 forced most of the island’s 160 inhabitants to evacuate. According to Tinakula.com, Tinakula is the most active volcano in the Solomon Islands. The website reported an October 2017 eruption in which an ash plume rose to an altitude of 4,500m.
H40WA Relies on DX Engineering Gear
As an equipment sponsor for H40WA, DX Engineering provided the DXpedition with the following:
- DX Engineering RG-8X 50-ohm Coaxial Cable
- DX Engineering Coaxial Prep Tools for Crimp Connectors
- DX Engineering Ultra-Grip 2 Crimp Connector Tool Kit
- DX Engineering Next Generation Crimp/Solder 8X PL-259 Connectors
- DX Engineering Next Generation Crimp/Solder 8U PL-259 Connectors
- DX Engineering Maxi-Core® 20 1:1 Balun and Mount Kits
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting Temotu Province over the years—a good reason to contact them for help with your gear if you’d like to do the same. Here are a few of the QSL cards from their collections.
Dave, K8DV, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, worked H40KJ on 15/10M CW in October 2011, and H40GC (by Stan, LZ1GC) on 17/12M CW in October 2016 and 20 CW and 17M RTTY in October 2017. With support from INDEXA (the International DX Association), LZ1GC combined ham radio activities with humanitarian aid efforts for the people of Temotu Province during the 2017 DXpedition. Read more about it here.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, reached H40FN on 40/30/20 CW.
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received this card from the HF0FN DXpedition from Ngarando Reef.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, received the QSL card below from the H40T DXpedition from Lata.
Want to upgrade your DXing capabilities? Find everything you need at DX Engineering, including transceivers, amplifiers, antennas, headsets, CW keys and paddles, coaxial cables, and more.
Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
