A35YZ

Tonga - March 2012

Operation

Our DXpedition to Tonga as A35YZ takes place between March 7 and 24, 2012. We are active with several stations on 160m through 6m on CW, SSB. One station will be exclusively dedicated to RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV. Please check our News Page.

 

Our equipment consists of 5 transceivers (4 x K2, 1 x FT875D), 2 x 18 m Lowband Vertical, a 2 elem vertical for 40, a 2 elem vertical for 30, 2 Spiderbeam for 20/17/15/12/10, a 5 elem. Yagi for 6m, some Beverage antennas as well as some laptop computers.

Team

Our experienced crew includes:

Pilot for this DXpedition was Bernd, DF3CB.

Statistics

A35YZ Continent Breakdown
  160m 80m 40m 30m 20m 17m 15m 12m 10m Total
QSOs 4 1607 4871 7223 7057 4816 5090 5468 5039 41175
EU 25.0% 44.8% 43.3% 52.2% 49.5% 45.7% 23.8% 18.1% 3.1% 35.6%
AS 50.0% 39.1% 36.8% 31.3% 26.8% 33.3% 28.6% 31.8% 33.4% 31.7%
AF 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% 0.5% 0.7% 0.3% 0.5% 0.3% 0.5% 0.4%
NA 0.0% 12.5% 17.3% 13.9% 19.4% 18.4% 43.6% 47.0% 59.0% 29.3%
SA 0.0% 0.1% 0.6% 0.4% 1.1% 0.9% 1.6% 1.0% 1.8% 1.0%
OC 25.0% 3.4% 1.8% 1.7% 2.5% 1.5% 1.8% 1.7% 2.2% 2.0%

Sponsors

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all our sponsors for this DXpedition:

www.funkamateur.de www.QSL-Shop.com
Bert - DJ2BC Sid - DM2AYO
Spiderbeam Rudi - DM2XO
ex. DL7VFR
German DX Foundation European DX Foundation
Clipperton DX Club Nippon DX Association (NDXA)
Danish DX Group Passau DX Club
SDXG - Süddeutsche DX-Gruppe Lynx DX Group
GMDX Group Chiltern DX Club: The UK DX Foundation
Northern Ohio DX Assosiation Radioclub Jessen / Herzberg e. V.
 
SP DX Club  

Individual sponsors

Bernd - DF3CB   Robert - AI0O   Scott - KG9Z   Jon - NQ4A
Igor - RA9CMO   Holger - DL7AU   Fred - W0PE   Simone - IZ5DKJ
Hugo - LA5YJ   Thomas - DK3DUA   John - ND0N   Neil - G0JHC
Juergen - DF3OL   Duncan - KF6ILA   Krishna - W4VKU   Fred - W0PE
Oskar - DL3OF   Robert - K3UI   TCSWAT   GITRAD

About Tonga

 
Country name: Kingdom of Tonga
National capital: Nuku'alofay
Location: Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
Area: total: 747 sq km
land: 717 sq km
water: 30 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 0 km
Coastline: 419 km
Climate: tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December)
Terrain: most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic base
Natural resources: fish, fertile soil
Population: 105,916 (July 2011 est.)
Ethnic groups: Polynesian, Europeans
Religions: Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents)
Languages: Tongan (official), English (official)
Independence: 4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate)
Economy:

Tonga has a small, open, South Pacific island economy. It has a narrow export base in agricultural goods. Squash, vanilla beans, and yams are the main crops. Agricultural exports, including fish, make up two-thirds of total exports. The country must import a high proportion of its food, mainly from New Zealand. The country remains dependent on external aid and remittances from Tongan communities overseas to offset its trade deficit. Tourism is the second-largest source of hard currency earnings following remittances. Tonga had 39,000 visitors in 2006. The government is emphasizing the development of the private sector, especially the encouragement of investment, and is committing increased funds for health and education. Tonga has a reasonably sound basic infrastructure and well developed social services. High unemployment among the young, a continuing upturn in inflation, pressures for democratic reform, and rising civil service expenditures are major issues facing the government.

Reference: CIA - The World Factbook -- Tonga