Update January 21: Video available

Update September 27: The beverage and Mosley beam has been taken down. Ken will QRT on the 28th at 0315 UTC shortly after 40m NA session. He is running only on African dipoles on 20/17. 160/80/40/30 will be up until tomorrow as well> Ken says this trip included trenching a DX Engineering RX coax 250 meter (buried 4″ or 10 cm). He had to cross a public street, and obtain a permit to install on public ground.

Update September 22: Here is Ken’s usual schedule!

0700-1000: sleeping
1000-1200: maintenance, repair or try to work EU/Asia even bad conds
1200-1230: lunch
1230-1900: DXing. Bad conds.
1400 Asia. 40m is good!
1600 low band antenna system inspection.
Check beverage and verticals with armed guard.
1700 LP to W6. SS W6. Beam VK
1800 SP W6
1900-1930: dinner. Chicken or pasta?
1930-2230: EU/Asia. 30m is good!
2240-2350: Japan SR
0100: NA 20m. No conds!
0200-0700: NA low band. Poor or good conds?
0500: try to stay awake even if you are tired.
0550: sunrise
0600-0700: 40m
0700: go to bed, no breakfast!

Update September 21: Good news is that my favorite 2el Mosley beam is now up and running after a 2h repair. Broken parts has been replaced. Same time I fixed the beverage which had its wire broken from the beverage unit box in the field by a goat. This caused weak reception. The guard who is protecting the beverage did not want to “wake me up” because he thought I was sleeping during nights!!

Update September 20: My favourite 2 el Mosley is down, it probably broke during high wind gusts. Last time it broke was in Central African Republic in 2016. But will be fixed some day. In meantime 10-12-15m bands are QRT. Yes, this keeps me busy!

Update September 17: "Good morning from Somalia! I had some issues with the K3 and sub-receiver ERR message. I also try to check conditions on 160m often, so far 120 stations worked on top-band. Some stations are very strong, so setup is working. S1-3 noise on beverage. 30m antenna is not up yet, will be later. Conditions are very poor on 20-10m during the day! No conds to NA in evening on 20m. Mosley beam failed on 20/15 so running on my Jan Mayen dipole on 20/17. Never forget backup…Took some time to repair and setup. But can run 1kW and not 500 W."

Update September 15: “All is good except Spiderpole collapsed last night. Very strong wind all night/day. Spent day in sun and fixing pole and tuning 160/80. This is much easier at home! Vertical is located on neighbour’s property, and I am escorted by armed guard during the tuning process and much security in place means this takes longer time. I wish I also had more hands, then this would have been easier. Armed guard also look after the beverage all day. Two armed guards each on 12hr shifts. Last night S2-3 noise on 160 and 80 very good. I copied mni stations as SWL…poor propagation on 20m this morning, but much better in afternoon. I hope to try 160/80 later if pole is ok”.

Update September 14: “Arrived safely today. All well here. All antennas installed except 30m after 5 hours. Low bands need more tuning tomorrow to be perfect, high SWR now but had to stop due to sunset. S2-3 noise level on 160 is promising. Seems propagation is poor. Called on 20m no signal. RX coax is trenched 150m away from noise sources and is buried abt 4–5 inch. More info later.”

Update September 13: Ken is on his way to Somalia. ALL GEAR CHECKED-IN! 98 KG, 4300 FEET OF WIRE, 1200 FEET OF COAX, 13 KG OF RX COAX. 200+230M BEVERAGE, TOP-LOADED 160M VERTICAL. 2 KG OF CLOTHING.

Update September 8: Make sure you read Ken's "QSO & QSL Policy" on his Web page.

Update August 22, by LA7GIA: “This trip has proved to be very difficult to plan, but finally after 3 site visits all details are sorted out. I have all permits in hand – and look forward to returning to Somalia after 18 months.

I will particularly focus on working NA this time, as well low bands. I have some good vertical low band antennas, and some good RX antennas. The RX antennas will hopefully be located far away from noise sources. There will be a guard protecting the beverages 24/7. Please follow my instructions when it comes to calling for geographical areas. Because there is a very short opening to NA on low bands, in particular western part of NA. If there is propagation I will only call for NA when we approach my sunrise. EU will have the best conditions and shall try to work me during their evening time on low bands.

I have some additional security related expenses like armored car, armed guards etc. If you would like to contribute to protecting the low band antennas from being stolen, cut or moved – make a donation to paypal: kenneth[at]opskar.no”

Ken, LA7GIA is returning to Somalia in September 2019. In his own words:

“For a long time I have been planning where to go next. This time I decided to return to Somalia which I also activated in 2018. I really look forward to this trip! Planning a trip to Somalia involves many limitations and challenges wrt obtaining permissions, logistics, operation as well safety & security wise. I have obtained the license 6O7O, and LoTW is already received by ARRL.

I have a better QTH than last time. This time also with more space for beverages to NA/EU and Asia. Everything is booked and in place like accommodation, flight etc. I will be operating solo for exactly 14 days on all bands 160-10m using mainly CW. If possible also digi mode. If someone can send me an original Elecraft mic I might do some SSB as well…

I will be using my upgraded Elecraft K3, 1 kW amplifier and various TX/RX antennas.

160m: toploaded vertical

80m/40m: fullsize verticals

30m, 17m, 12m: dipole

20m, 15m, 10m: My favourite 2 el Mosley beam

RX antennas: 200-230m beverage to NA/EU and asia. K9AY loop as backup. RemoteQTH.com equipment and controller

QSL via M0OXO. Log will be uploaded to Club Log.

Donations is very much appreciated to paypal kenneth@opskar.no

Anyone donating upfront will receive direct QSL and express LoTW!”