On August 22, 1995, as KA7LDN (prior to holding AD7D), I made a contact on the RS-12 satellite in Mode K to Svalbard Island to the station JW8GV.
This was a new DXCC contact for me since Svalbard's main city, Longyearbyen, where most amateurs operate is in a valley. So no one really wanted to give AO-13 a try at the time.
RS-12 (K) – 5,729 km. KA7LDN (now AD7D) in CN87xs <> JW8GV in JQ78tf. 22-Aug-1995 at 13:17 UTC (Source: AD7D)
You can look for the distance and grid details here:
There is a 300v+ year old oak tree near Lohja, Finland. We visited it a few weeks ago. Here is the drone video of it. In Finnish it is the Paavolan Tammi (oak at Paavo's area).
During the 3rd week of October 2021, my wife and I visted Utö ("outer island" in Swedish), Finland, a small yet very interesting island in the very south of the local archipelago for a few days during the 3rd week of October 2021 for some relaxation and exploration.
On the 12th of October, I activated the QO-100 satellite as OG7D in grid-square KO09qs. 74 contacts were logged - participants were wanting the "rare" grid contact since Finland is active regularly itself.
Utö is an old fishing village that has a very nice lighthouse since 1812. The round original lighthouse built a few decades prior was destroyed in the Russo-Swedish war (1788-1790).
About 40 people maintain residence all year round. In the summer months, a few hundred tourists are expected daily.
Pic of the lighthouse and main part of the village:
The island and town bodes extremely well with both bird-watchers and walking tourists. Check out my drone footage I took while there which gives the best panning-view of the island and village:
View from the operating position:
Inside the lighthouse there is a church on the 3rd floor. Tourists can only go up to the very top during 1 weekend each year.
Hanging from the ceiling is a weight used before electricity to make the light magnifier spin - it took about 2 hours before needing to be pulled-up again:
Some sort of beacon device:
Pilot boats ready to take drivers out to navigate large ships through the local rocks:
And, here is one of the new ships going through sea trials. Does the "C" stand for Canard line ?
Here we are heading out from the island back to another island in the archipelago to drive back home:
On the return trip, the ferry first came from Sweden so I had to make sure I had the special A coming from Aland so not to have to get a Covid-19 test.
Having received my ARRL Satellite DXCC award while operating as AD7D near Seattle in the 1990s, I have just received the same award for my Finnish amateur radio station OG7D.
My current standings are:
AD7D 204 countries (with a few more to submit)
OG7D 100 countries (with about 5 more cards to submit
I am wondering if I am the first to achieve this ? Anyone know ?
For AD7D, I used the following satellites:
AO-10
AO-13
RS-12/13
For OG7D, I used the following satellites:
AO-7
AO-91
QO-100
Here is the posting from the ARRL web site for September, 2021.
For satellite references, I like to use this satellite tracking site: https://www.karhukoti.com/
