CEØA – La Perouse Bay, Easter Island

Dates: 3 to 10 September 1995

Callsign: XRØY

CEØA – La Perouse Bay, Easter Island 2024-04-02T18:54:00-05:00

Staying on Easter Island

This was my second DXpedition that was with a group besides KH1. All others have been solo. There were several participants for this one.
The trip was organized by Bob, KK6EK and Carlos, NP4IW. A second team headed by Carlos operated from Salas y Gomez using the callsign XRØZ during the Easter Island operation.
Besides ham radio, our expedition also comprised of a team of divers who were not hams.

AirportFront

The front of the airport on Easter Island.

The first night on the island our flight arrived late so we stayed in Hanga Roa (the main town) at a place known as the O’Tai Hotel. The next morning we set up a rather large camp in the Northwestern section of the island. This was a coastal location known as La Perouse Bay.

Campground_Tents

Getting There

Santiago Airport

Our plane. The adventure started here at Santiago Airport in Chile.

 More Airport pics

Boarding

Boarding. Bill, AA6TT

All together

Ok, we’re here. Now what?

Dave

Dave, Wj2O

 

The O’Tai Hotel

Tai Hotel Entrance

O Tai Hotel Entrance

Tai Hotel Morning

♫ Morning has broken … ♫

Hotel Breakfast

Breakfast. John, WØUN, conversing with Enno, PAØERA.

 

Setting up Camp

CE0A_FirstMorning9

The first morning. Loading up the van getting ready to head out to the other corner of the island

Setting Up Camp

Instructions: “Ok crew. unpack these crates and spread out.”

Scoping out the area

Scoping out the area . “I think the 40 meter beam will go well over there.” Joe, N1OCS, and Craig, AH9B.

Antenna Setup

Vincent, GØLMX. The beam is almost together. Time to read the manual.

Expedition leader Bob, KK6EK, on the right giving instructions to Bill

Plenty of work to do. “Yes, that’s right Bill. antennas work better when they’re in the air.” Expedition leader Bob, KK6EK, on the right giving instructions to Bill, AA6TT, while John, WØUN, looks on the the background.

Antennas up

Antennas up. After 3 days of assembly all the aluminum is in the air.

 

Operating

SSB tent

SSB Tent. Albert, HB9BCK, and Nellie, XE1CI, inside the SSB tent. RTTY and SSTV was also transmitted from this location. You can see Luis’, XE1L, digital camera in the foreground.

Nellie

Nellie, XE1CI
Our only YL ham operator

Albert

Albert, HB9BCK.
Working the pile-ups..

CE0A_Operating-18

CE0A_People8-19

CE0A_People9-20

Max, XE1XA

Max, XE1XA

Enno, PAØERA

Enno, PAØERA. A great CW operator and our EME specialist.

Bill, AA6TT

Bill, AA6TT.

 

The People

Al Boosman. One of the non-ham divers

Al Boosman. One of the non-ham divers.

Gail Kruse and barbara

YLs brightened the camp. Gail Kruse, on the left, did a great job managing the dining tent. Barbara, on the right, was another member of the diving team.

John, W3UM

John, W3UM. Who is married to Barbara

Barbara Hilbish

Barbara Hilbish married to John, W3UM

Nellie

Nellie, XE1CI

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Bob, W4UEE. This is the typical reaction to hams reading my book.

People

More of us

CE0A People

Grass

WØUN

WØUN, W4UEE, & AA6TT

camera

Vincent

Vincent, GØLMX

 

The Camp

camp far view

Campground tents

Dawn

 Generator Refueling

Fill `er up please!

Water Closet

Ham Water Closet

Mess tent

The “Living”

Kitchen

“Le Cuisine”

Tent Morning

CW and SSB tents

CW and SSB tents

Satellite antenna set-up

Satellite antenna set-up

Satellite where are you?

Satellite where are you?

VHF Generator

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Why always me!

Easter igloo

Easter igloo

Computer setup

Computer setup

 

Moai Tour

Moai

If hadn´t held that Moai, it would have crushed us all! …You´re welcome!

Dave with Moai

Moai More pics

Moai different angle

Moai Far view

Some Moai still preserve they eye colors

Some Moai still preserve they eye colors

Moai out of focus

Don´t mind the focus, its my artistic taste…

person with Moais

Nobody noticed the difference!

Many Moai with focus

This one´s in focus but its really not that artistic!

Moai Quarry

Excuse me sir, you are breathing on my head!

Taking photos

I´ll carry my camera and pretend I´m taking photos and see if they don´t tell me to refuel the generators again!

Man with camera

Moai material is thought

Most Moai material is thought of coming from this quarry.

CE0A_Moai_Quarry5-65

Moai mountain

4 guys interested and this one guy thinking on his pet cat!

CE0A_Moai_TourGuide-67

Seen one seen them all!

CE0A_Crater-68

Easter lake

CE0A_Horses-69

Wild brown geese with long feet

 

Back in Town

CE0A_Church-70

This church is back in the main town of Hanga Roa.

CE0A_ShoppingMall-71

Easter shopping mall

CE0A_ShoppingMallGoodies-72

What to buy?
Inside there is quite an assortment to choose from.

 

QSLing Chores

CE0A_QSLs-73

Piles of qsls

CE0A_QSL_Printing-74

Qsl printing for the deserving…

XRØY QSL Card

QSL Front
QSL Back

Licensing:

Easter Island is controlled by Chile. To obtain a license to operate here, you can follow the same procedures I detailed in the section on CE.

License

Trip Statistics Report

Dave’s Station

Equipment

Equipment:
We had an extensive list of equipment. Here are some of the main pieces.
Kenwood Transceivers TS-950, TS-940, TS-850, TS-690
Yaesu FT-890
ETO Alpha 91B amplifiers
Force-12 beams for most every band
Cushcraft beams for most every band
Battle Creek Special (160/80/40 m vertical)
Various laptop computers

Customs:

There was no problem with customs. The only airline that flies to Easter Island is Lan Chile. They are very specific about how much weight you take with you. You are allowed two bags but only about 60 pounds total. My gear was well over 150 lbs. With the help of Bill, AA6TT and John, WØUN we successfully “argued” with the attendant until they got tired of us and let my cases go for no additional charge. Returning, however, I wasn’t anywhere near as successful and was charged $57,420 Chilean Pesos which is about $150.00 USD.

CE0A_Map

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