Annobon Island lies off the west coast of Africa.
Annobon Island lies off the west coast of Africa. |
NEWINGTON, CT, October 7, 2003--The Annobon Island 3C0V DXpedition ended abruptly October 4. Local officials reportedly ordered the operators to shut down and vacate the tiny, mountainous island in the South Atlantic. The Daily DX reports that at least three of the 3C0V operators have left Annobon--a part of Equatorial Guinea and located in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa's west coast--while one remained at last report. The Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, got word of a very brief telephone call October 6 from the DXpedition to pilot station Gaby Mardiros, OD5NJ.
"Gaby received a 10 second phone call from
EA5BYP, Elmo [Bernabe], who reported that 'the military soldiers allowed only
the three operators to go back to Spain,'" McClenny said, adding that it
appeared that that Franz Langner, DJ9ZB, Victor Polo, EA5FO, and Vicente
Pastor, EA5YN, had been released but that EA5BYP--the team leader--would be
remaining on the island. McClenny said the telephone call was cut off before
Mardiros could obtain additional information. "I don't know how the guys were being sent back home (via plane or boat)," McClenny said. [Update: The Daily DX reported October 9 that Langner is safely back in Germany, but there's no word concerning the other three operators.--Ed.]
 Elmo Bernabe, EA5BYP, the team leader of the ill-fated 3C0V DXpedition, during a visit to OD5NJ in Lebanon. At last report, EA5BYP was still on Annobon Island. |
Some initial reports indicated that local authorities had given the DXpeditioners 24 hours to pack up and get off Annobon "or else," McClenny said. The specifics behind the termination of the DXpedition, however are "still unknown beyond those on the island," he said. On October 5, Mardiros announced that 3C0V had "stopped for some bad reasons and they got a serious warning not to use any of their radios," but that the crew was fine. "Sorry, guys, hope the operators will leave safely from the island," he said, adding, "hope the guys will come back safely."
 3C0V Pilot Station Gaby Mardiros, OD5NJ, at EA8BA. |
The 3C0V operation took to the air September 26. Although struggling with technical, antenna and weather issues, it was expected to remain operational until October 11. The team had managed to log numerous contacts on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters but had not yet activated the lower bands.
Also known as Pagalu, Annobon was the site of
the 1999 3C0R DXpedition
in which EA5BYP and EA5YN also participated.
 Previous: Legendary DXer Danny Weil, ex-VP2VB, SK |  Next: FCC Invites Comments on Additional Morse Code-Related Petitions |