Update October 20, 2026: QRT

 With more than 61,000 QSOs, we believe we achieved a solid result during the 10.5 days we were active.

Tomorrow morning, we will start dismantling and packing our equipment. At 16:45, flight QF358 will take us from Honiara to Brisbane. After an overnight layover in Brisbane, we will continue our journey to Croatia and Germany.

A big thank you to everyone for your support, help, and, of course, all the QSOs!

We would also like to express our special thanks to our sponsors and supporters, because without their support, this activity would not have been possible.

Update October 18, 2026:  Our team has passed the 50,000 QSO milestone! A big thank you to everyone who helped us reach this goal ahead of schedule.

Health bulletin: Some team members who have been battling a cold are feeling much better. However, this is still having an impact on our human-mode operations, with the operators who are fit doing their very best to keep CW and SSB well represented.

The 160m antenna is performing excellently, and we have made a large number of QSOs with Europe and the eastern USA. The 80m and 40m bands are also performing very well.

10m is working reasonably well towards the USA, although QSB is very strong.

Unfortunately, we have not yet seen any openings on 50 MHz, despite regularly transmitting and listening for activity.

For the remainder of the DXpedition, we will do our best to be active on bands where we have been less active so far, including 60m.

Update October 17, 2026: Today is our 8th active operating day, and we are approaching 50,000 QSOs, which was our original target.

Unfortunately, some team members have caught colds, so please bear with us if we are occasionally unable to cover all three operating positions with human modes.

This morning, we finally had a good SSB run towards the USA and Canada.We are constantly monitoring the CONDX and doing our best to maximize activity in that direction.

Last night, conditions on 160m were rather poor. We plan to give 80m and 160m another try tonight, although the 80m vertical antenna needs some adjustments due to high SWR.

In general, at least one of our antennas requires some attention every day, whether it is adjusting guy lines or correcting SWR issues. This is something we expected, as our antennas are installed right on the oceanfront, where the conditions can be quite challenging.

On a positive note, our 20/15m VDA antenna is holding up remarkably well! The current score is Ocean vs. VDA: 3–3!

We know that many of you are hoping for an extra slot, and we are doing our best to accommodate as many requests as possible with our three stations.

Update October 16, 2026:  Our team is still in good shape, although fatigue is slowly catching up with us. Propagation during the day, as well as towards the USA/VE, has been quite unusual. We are doing our best to maximize the number of QSOs in that direction.

Last night, we operated on 80m and 160m simultaneously, and both bands performed exceptionally well. During our first night on 160m, we logged more than 500 QSOs, including over 120 stations from Europe. Over the following nights, our location at Dolphin View Beach has continued to prove excellent, with a remarkably quiet noise level. Human mode 160m lovers – more to come.

Our hosts have been incredibly welcoming and helpful. Mr. Alister has given us valuable advice on several occasions, and we really appreciate his support.

We are getting closer to the 40,000 QSO milestone!

Some of the team members also visited the War Museum, located very close to our QTH. It offers a fascinating insight into the history of WWII in the Solomon Islands. The open-air museum, brought to life through one man’s vision to create something truly special on Guadalcanal Island, left a strong impression on everyone who visited.

Our VDA on 20/15m is putting up a great fight against Ocean, narrowing the score to 3:2.

CU in the pileups!

Update October 15, 2026:  Everything is going according to plan so far. Conditions are pretty poor today, but we’re hoping things will improve this evening.

Last night, we logged over 60 QSOs with European stations on 80m CW. We also enjoyed some fantastic pile-ups on 24 and 28 MHz SSB, with Europe coming in strong!

Today, if the wind cooperates, we’ll be putting up the 160m GP antenna. So far, there’s been no opening on 50 MHz.

The tropical climate is starting to take its toll on the team, but everyone is doing their best to keep us active on as many bands as possible. A big thank-you to everyone calling us and keeping us motivated to make as many QSOs as we can. We really appreciate the support!

P.S. The VDA antenna is holding up just fine, with no problems so far. That means the Pacific Ocean is still winning, but the score is getting closer: Pacific Ocean vs. VDA — 3:1!

Update October 13, 2026:  We have now entered our fourth active operating day. Here are a few updates.

The 15/20m VDA antenna has been put back up, and this morning we operated CW on all three stations simultaneously, as we mentioned that we also wanted to make some human-mode QSOs. The VDA has survived another fall without any problems. The current score is Ocean – VDA 3:0.

Unfortunately, our 80m antenna is causing problems when used with the power amplifier, so we expect to be active on 80m tomorrow.

Today, we operated on 40m SSB towards the East Coast. Propagation to the East Coast is not particularly good, but we will do our best to remain as active as possible.

ClubLog issue: Starlink occasionally causes us some problems, and some SOs are not uploaded directly to ClubLog. There is nothing we can do about this. We are simply happy to have access to a fast internet connection at all! All logs are re-uploaded within 24 hours of the QSO at the latest, so we kindly ask you to check your QSOs again after that time.

Other than that, we have no further problems, and the team is in good spirits!

Update October 5, 2026:  The team is very excited, and the final preparations are currently underway. The team leader has collected all equipment from the other members, and the final packing into the checked luggage is now in progress.

Bernhard, H44MS, has already arrived in Honiara and is helping us with various logistical matters. Thank you, Bernhard, for your selfless support and assistance!

Our first leg is on Wednesday morning from Zagreb (ZAG) to Istanbul, where we have a 12-hour layover before boarding TK60, our onward flight to Kuala Lumpur.

We are ready for any challenges ahead, and hopefully Murphy’s Law will stay away from us this time.

We would also like to thank Mate, 9A4M, Mirko, 9A6KX, and Robert, S58Y, for their generous donations in support of our DXpedition. Their support is greatly appreciated and helps make this project possible.

Update September 30, 2026: Part of the team is ready to depart. Final preparations are underway, and the equipment checklist is being reviewed once again, as we are aware that we are limited to just six suitcases.

We would also like to thank Bernhard, H44MS, who generously shared a lot of valuable advice with us regarding the activation in the Solomon Islands.

The latest news is that the Solomon Islands have introduced electronic tourist visas, so we have all submitted our visa applications. So far, five out of six visas have been approved, and we hope that the sixth visa will also be approved sometime today.

Mirko, S51RE, will bring some of the equipment shown in the picture to the Istra Contest Conference and hand it over to our team leader. If you happen to be in Poreč this weekend, several members of our DXpedition team will be there, and you can talk to them about our journey. It is worth mentioning that the ICC is growing into an interregional gathering of radio amateurs.

Although this is not directly a foundation or corporate sponsor, the Mainz Radio Club (OV K07 DL0MZ) organized a fundraising campaign for our H49A expedition. By doing so, they are not only supporting their club member DK8ZZ, but they also know that part of the money raised will be donated to the Catholic Mission in Boma. Thank you very much, Meenzer! Mainz remains Mainz <3

We would like to thank all individual sponsors who supported our DXpedition:

Stephan DF6PA, Torsten DL8TV, Bill AJ8B, Janko S57L, Karlheinz DK8KK, Simon & XYL Sinja DO1SRM, Thomas DL7FBT, Karlheinz DK8KK, Hans SM6VZX, Dragan E77EA, Val 9A2V, Rudi DF9PM, Simon S53ZO, Holger DL1MTK, Zimba 4O4A, Drago S59A, Chris DK2CL, Mario DJ2MX, Sven DJ4MX, Hans SM6CZX, Andreas DL1IAY, Rado S59ZZ, and Sven DA6SF.

Thank you all for your support!

73, The H49A Team

Update August 27, 2026:  Preparations are continuing as planned. Last week, the ACOM power amplifiers that will be used for our DXpedition arrived in Croatia. The final arrangements and all the small details are also progressing as planned.   We should not forget that we are a low-profile DXpedition team that carries everything with us as airline luggage. This means we have to optimize the
luggage, antennas, and the overall setup as much as possible for the three stations that are planned to be QRV.

We would like to thank Dez, 9A5TW, for his individual donation.

Update July 25, 2026: Just a little over two months remain until our H49A adventure begins.

Although we haven’t posted many updates recently, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy behind the scenes. Part of the team (9A3MR and DK8ZZ) recently tested two multiband VDA antennas on the Adriatic coast in Bilice, Croatia. The objective was to optimize their performance and make the final decision regarding our antenna setup. We have now confirmed that we will take two VDA antennas covering the 20 to 10-meter bands.

Our QTH has now been finalized: Dolphin View Beach, located on the north-eastern coast of Guadalcanal Island. We will have three bungalows at our disposal, one of which will serve as the radio shack. In addition, we have approximately 100 meters of beachfront available for antenna installation directly along the shoreline. Our QTH locator is QI90VQ. The location was chosen for one simple reason—it offers an excellent takeoff toward North America, Europe, and Japan.

As for the power generator, which is essential for the success of the DXpedition, the final agreement is currently being completed. We are confident that it will provide reliable electrical power, allowing us to operate three stations simultaneously.

The H49A team would like to express its sincere appreciation to INDEXA, GMDX Group, and Mediterraneo DX Club for their generous support. We are especially pleased that our DXpedition has been recognized not only for its amateur radio objectives but also for its humanitarian aspect, as part of the funds raised will be donated to the Catholic Mission in Boma.
During the HAM RADIO exhibition in Friedrichshafen, DK8ZZ had several productive meetings with representatives of DX clubs and DX foundations, many of whom have already confirmed their support for our expedition.

The ACOM power amplifiers are scheduled to be delivered at the beginning of September.

Our QSL policy remains unchanged from TX9A:

* Bureau QSL cards are completely free.
* LoTW confirmations will be uploaded free of charge six months after   the end of the DXpedition.
* Direct QSL cards with immediate LoTW confirmation are available for EUR 5.

Our youngest team member, Frane (9A3CJY), has a great passion for history. He has promised to find some time during the DXpedition to give us a short presentation about World War II and the Guadalcanal Campaign.

Update May 18, 2026: The team will begin its journey on October 7 from Zagreb and will fly via Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, and Brisbane to Honiara. Tne return journey is scheduled for October 21 in the afternoon from Honiara to Brisbane, where the following day the team will continue via Singapore and Istanbul on their way back. DK8ZZ will continue onward to Frankfurt, while the rest of the
team will fly to Zagreb.

Equipment:
3x ICOM 7300
3x Power Amplifiers from ACOM

Antennas: VDAs, verticals

We plan to have our log available on ClubLog Live Stream. Of course, this will mostly depends on the quality of the internet connection at the location itself. We also plan to use a power generator, as the electricity supply in the Solomon Islands is not reliable.

This time, our DXpedition also has a humanitarian aspect, and part of the donations will go to the Sisters of Charity mission in Buma.

Update April 12, 2026:  DXPedition to Guadalcanal Island (Honiara)
October 9th - October 21st 2026
Operators: Rolando/9A3MR (Team leader),  Zik/DK8ZZ (co-leader), Mladen/9A2NA ,  Frane/9A3CJY,  Kristijan/9A4WY and Livio/9A7Y 
QSL via DK8ZZ

Rolando, 9A3MR, reports: "The Solomon Islands Telecommunications Commission (TCSI) has officially assigned the callsign H49A to our expedition.

This choice is significant, as it commemorates the 15th anniversary of the mission of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Croatia in Buma (Malaita Island) and represents the friendship between our two nations. We have also decided to allocate a portion of the expedition's donations directly to the mission's charitable projects."

For more information about the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Croatia mission, see:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-09/sisters-of-charity-saint-vincent-de-paul-croatia-solomon-islands.html