9T0MD - Democratic Republic Of Congo

Sep 11

8 min read

Updated: Oct 12

9T0MD Update (Oct 11)

We’re Packing Up, but We’re Not Giving Up!

Dear fellow hams, dear friends, and especially all you hunters who had the courage — and perhaps a touch of madness! — to follow us all the way here…

Well, yes, the moment no DX team ever wants to face has arrived: we’ve started dismantling our equipment! 😢

But hold on, it’s not over yet! We’ll keep going until nightfall with two antennas still on the air: one dedicated to 80 metres and the other covering the 30- and 60-metre bands. In other words, as long as there’s a wire in the air and a little RF flowing, we’re not giving up!

As always, taking everything down brings a touch of sadness. After spending days together with all of you on the other side of the radio, sharing calls, pile-ups, endless waits, and the hunt for that much-awaited QSO, the time comes to start packing everything into boxes and realise that this adventure is drawing to a close.

A huge thank-you goes to all of you who called us, hunted us, and followed us with such enthusiasm. And, of course, to the entire team, who cheerfully took turns at the stations, always trying to give their very best — and, above all, to make radio fun for everyone!

Naturally, there have been some epic moments, plenty of laughs, and a few technical surprises along the way. After all, what kind of expedition would it be without a little good old-fashioned electrical suffering?

As you can see in the photo, we’ve managed to use more fuses than bottles of water! 😂

Electrical problems have done their very best to throw a spanner in the works, but that’s a story for another time… and perhaps it deserves an article of its own, preferably written after we’ve stopped chasing short circuits and finally found all the screwdrivers!

For now, no drama and no final reports just yet: we’re making the most of our last few hours in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the antennas still up, the radios switched on, and plenty of enthusiasm left to give you a few more QSOs before the final silence.

Because, in the end, that’s what makes these adventures so special: the contacts, of course, but above all, the people, the shared passion, and the memories that remain long after the antennas have come back down.

Stay tuned: as long as the antennas hold up and the fuses cooperate, we’re still here! 📡

73 to everyone, and heartfelt thanks for sharing this adventure with us!

The team from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD Update (Oct 09)

Mystery on the Bands: You Can Hear Us, but We Can’t Hear You!

Dear friends and fellow radio amateurs,

We keep receiving messages through our pilots telling us that many of you can hear us and are following our activity… but we can’t hear you! And, we must admit, this is becoming quite a mystery.

Could it be the deafening noise of the generator pounding away in our ears? A shortage of operators listening at the right moment? Or perhaps someone is intercepting your signals before they even reach our antennas? At this point, we wouldn’t even rule out some mysterious force of propagation!

Jokes aside, this is a phenomenon we are really struggling to explain. After all, considering that we are operating from a country where grounding is practically an abstract concept, our QRM isn’t actually that bad!

As for antennas, we are certainly not short of listening equipment on the low bands: we have two Beverage-on-Ground antennas, one aimed towards Europe and the other towards the USA, an Aziloop, and a K9. So, we do have ears to listen with, and quite a few of them!

We are genuinely sorry for everyone who tries to work us without success. We would love to answer every single call, really, but if we don’t respond, it’s not because we lack enthusiasm or are ignoring you. It’s simply because your signal isn’t making it through to us. And unfortunately, in radio, even the greatest enthusiasm in the world cannot make up for a few missing dB!

Meanwhile, however, we have some great news: we have just passed the 70,000 QSO mark! Considering all the hours we’ve lost waiting for the electricity to come back on, we think this is already an incredible achievement. To be honest, when we started this adventure, we never imagined we would reach such a milestone.

That’s why we want to thank all of you who call us, listen for us, support us, and patiently keep trying, even when our antennas seem to have decided to become a little too selective!

As for us, we will keep doing our very best until the very last minute, trying to put as many friends as possible in the log.

So don’t give up — keep calling us! We’ll keep listening and battling propagation, the generator, and, whenever necessary, the mysterious disappearance of your signals.

Because, after all, that’s what makes amateur radio so special: you never quite know what will happen when you call CQ next!

A big hug to everyone, and… hope to hear you on the bands — fingers crossed!

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD Update (Oct 07)

100 QSO’s E.M.E.

The 9T0MD DXpedition to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has achieved a historic milestone in Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communications. Operating under extreme conditions Emil Bergmann (DL8JJ) successfully set up and activated the EME station. Despite initial major power struggles and generator failures, he managed to precisely align the complex antenna array to bounce signals off the lunar surface, over 384,000 kilometers away. By logging more than 100 successful EME contacts (QSOs), the team has made amateur radio history, as the rare 9T0 prefix had never been active on EME before.

VY 73! Emil Bergmann, DL8JJ

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD Update (Oct 05)

Without a minute

We’re still here… without a minute of rest between the antennas and the RX antennas! 😅

Yesterday we put up the BOG for Europe, today it’s Japan and North America. We certainly don’t like to make things easy for ourselves! 🌍📡

Meanwhile, we’re still fighting with our AC power… which is so “alternating” that every now and then it decides to give us well over 300 volts! ⚡😱

And, as you can imagine, it’s leaving us a few little presents: we’re using more fuses than drinking water! 😂

Luckily, we have our patron saint of fuses: IZ2GNQ, who has about 100 of them in his bag! 🙏🔧And whenever another piece of equipment decides to give up, good old IU3PMA Paco is immediately on the job, patiently and skillfully bringing everything back to life. 💪🔩

But we keep going, between antennas to install, receivers to keep running, generators to tame, and fuses disappearing at an impressive rate!

So, if we disappear from the airwaves from time to time, don’t blame us… we hope by now you understand the difficulties we’re operating under! 😅

But don’t worry: we’re still here, fighting and staying operational! 📡🌍⚡

See you soon… if the power supply allows it! 😂

"You can see pictures at the link to the source."

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD Update (Oct 04)

When We Used to Do Radio Without the Internet

As if the electrical problems weren’t enough, we also had to deal with another little issue: the network.

We started the trip with one reassuring certainty: the hotel’s Wi-Fi would work.

That certainty was immediately disproved the moment we arrived.

No problem.

We have Starlink with us.

“It works everywhere,” they say.

Well… sort of.

The connection is good enough for browsing. Slow, but it works. The real problem is that our ping times suddenly become three times longer than usual, while all the software we use expects responses much faster than we are able to provide.

Basically, to get onto the Internet, we get there faster by going through the satellite, reaching South Africa, and only then getting out onto the Internet.

But we don’t give up.

We also have local SIM cards.

And, of course, we brought data modems to use with them.

“With a local SIM, we’ll definitely solve the problem.”

So we go out, find a SIM card that works with our modem, put it in and… here we go!

The result?

50% of the stations are online.

And the others?

Well… what do we do now?

Then comes the brilliant idea.

The hotel must have network access points. All we need to do is connect our network to the hotel’s network and reach the remaining stations through it.

Simple.

Easy.

Almost trivial.

Except that this “simple” solution quickly turns into a complete renovation of the hotel’s network.

We have to rewire large parts of the network.

Move the access points.

Find out which connections actually work and which ones have decided to stop cooperating.

And then comes the most interesting discovery:

some of the cables have been eaten by some kind of animal.

We don’t know which one.

We don’t know when.

We don’t even know why.

But apparently the local wildlife decided to take part in our expedition as well.

Eventually, after cables, access points, modems, SIM cards, Starlink, configurations and a not-insignificant amount of swearing…

our log is finally online.

Piece of cake.

Or at least, that’s how it sounds when we tell the story afterwards.

And yet, after this wonderful adventure, after dealing with local networks, satellites, SIM cards, modems, access points, cables and hotel infrastructure…

you know what I think?

I really wish I could go back to the days when the log wasn’t online.

Because, after all, when there was no Internet, at least we couldn’t know that it wasn’t working.

"You can see pictures at the link to the source."

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD Update (Oct 02)

First impressions

A little late, but we’re finally back to writing to you!

We arrived a day ago, but we decided to give priority to assembling and setting up all the equipment.

And there’s something we want to tell you right away: the welcome we received upon our arrival was simply fantastic!

Waiting for us at the airport were 9Q1RE, president of the local association, 9Q1KS, the secretary, along with two other members of the local association.

From the very first moment, they welcomed us with a genuine Ham Spirit — something I hadn’t experienced in quite some time, and it truly made me happy.

It was a wonderful beginning, filled with smiles, handshakes, friendship, and that special feeling of being welcomed not simply as guests, but as old friends.

And this is exactly what we love about amateur radio: beyond the antennas, the signals and the QSOs, there are the people, the friendships and the emotions that radio can create.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for such a fantastic welcome!

Now that the equipment is finally up and running, we’re ready to tell you more… and, of course, to let you hear some signals!

Stay tuned… 73!

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⚡ A little power update… and yes, there are some interesting stories behind all the rumors! 📡

We decided to publish this update because there have been quite a few rumors going around, and we think it’s time to tell you what is really happening here.

When we arrived, we found that the hotel was without local electricity. The staff immediately provided us with a generator, but there was a small problem… the voltage never went above 170 volts!

The local power company technicians arrived quickly and promptly fixed the fault. Problem solved… or so we thought!

To our great surprise, we discovered that this is actually the normal situation here: the local mains voltage is only around 180–190 volts maximum and simply doesn’t go any higher.

So… time for another generator!

Unfortunately, this generator isn’t exactly a powerhouse, and it cannot handle the entire hotel at the same time. That meant another solution was needed.

The technical team stepped in once again and, with great professionalism and in a very short time, built a dedicated power line specifically for our radio stations.

So now we have a rather unusual routine: approximately every four hours, we have to stop briefly to allow the generators to be refuelled.

It’s certainly not the easiest setup, but everything is working, the team here has been incredible, and most importantly…

WE ARE ON AIR!

The adventure continues — one generator, one refill and one QSO at a time!

Stay tuned… and see you on the bands!

73!

"You can see pictures at the link to the source."

Source: https://www.mdxc.support/9t0md/

9T0MD

Ops: IZ2GNQ, IU3PMA, IZ2DPX, IZ4UEZ, I8KHC, IU4HRJ, HB9TOC, DL6LZM, GI4DOH, 9Q1KS, DL8JJ, UA4CC & G4PVM

Bands: 6M - 160M

Modes: CW, SSB, RTTY & FT8