News - VP6WR Pitcairn

A minor wrinkle was that whilst I arrived back home on the 24th of September, my main checked bag and antenna ski-bag were only delivered to me on the 26th of September, having failed to be transferred at LAX! I could see these items were there from my 'Tile' trackers, and that provided useful information to locate them. I had my Icom 705 and Juma PA1000 in my hand luggage, so I'd have had some backup if this had occurred on the way out.

The picture on the right shows my three main bags (I also have a small backpack containing my Icom 705). The large blue suitcase contains my FT710 and a lot of wires and other parts for the DX Commander, and some tools. The weight is just a bit over the 'standard' allowance of 23kg but the check-in agent was kind enough to ignore this. The blue ski-bag contains the BTV antenna, the DX Commander collapsed pole and more wire for radials (this bag is around 17kg). The smaller suitcase is my carry-on bag, with the Juma PA1000, two tablets and a few other sundries. This is also a bit overweight for carry-on but so far it hasn't been checked.

When I got to LAX, I had to retrieve all my cases and re-check them. At that point, I noticed that the larger blue case had lost one pair of wheels, with them having been completely broken off. I didn't fully inspect the case until after I'd arrived in Tahiti, but then I found not only was a pair of wheels missing, but another set of wheels had apparently been treated so roughly that the case was actually cracked. I took a taxi later on to a nearby 'Carrefour' and found a reasonable (although expensive) replacement. I have to add that I claimed the cost of the replacement from Air France and they reimbursed me only two days later!

I arrived here at the uncivilised hour of 0510 this morning, after travelling from LHR to LAX for 11 hours, followed by a 3 hour 'layover' at LAX and the 8 hour flight on to PPT. I have allowed myself two full days in case of luggage problems, but I glad to say all bags arrived (although unfortunately not in good condition). I've got tomorrow to maybe look around a bit and then have to go back to PPT at 0400 for the 0630 flight to Mangareva on Tuesday followed by the connection to the boat to Pitcairn and planned arrival on Pitcairn early on Thursday morning. The following picture is the front of the airport.

The BTV antenna (lower) also covers 30m so I'll probably extend the

DX Commander 30m element to cover 60m as an inverted-L.

The traces below won't be totally accurate but I plan to tune the

Mulit-band Vertical BTV antenna assembled and being tested.

Temporarily supported on Clark Pump-Up mast tripod base.

(I am obviously not taking the tripod mast base to Pitcairn)

Flights booked (Air France and Air Tahiti)

Boat to and from Pitcairn booked

Accommodation on Mangareva and Pitcairn booked

Please use the last page (contact and comment) to make suggestions!