=  NOW 40 WPM  =

BORE WITNESS TO THIS INCREDIBLE PHENOMENON.  WE FOUND THIS LOCATION
AFTER MONTHS OF RESEARCH, IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WE COULD HAVE
A LINE OF SIGHT CONNECTION WITH THE QO 100 SATELLITE OVER AFRICA.
REMEMBER, WE ARE 78 DEGREES NORTH AT THE END OF THE QO 100
FOOTPRINT, AT AN ELEVATION ANGLE OF ONLY 3 DEGREES.  EVEN THOUGH WE
HAD ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS, WE KNEW IT WAS POSSIBLE.
AFTER BEING WELCOMED WITH A DELICIOUS MEAL FROM ISFJORD RADIO
STATION MANAGER MAAIKE GRO JW0X/JW100QO.  AN UNFORGETTABLE
DXPEDITION IN THE ARCTIC.   DURING A MEMORABLE HAM RADIO ADVENTURE
IN SVALBARD, THIS DX CREW MADE MORE THAN 32,000 CONTACTS, ONE OF
WHICH BEING THE FIRST EVER FROM THE QO 100 SATELLITE.  ISFJORD RADIO
IN KAPP LINNE, WHERE THE TEAM STAYED DURING THE QO 100 DXPEDITION,
IS NO LONGER ACTIVE, BUT THE MASTS AND LARGE SATELLITE ANTENNAS ARE
STILL THERE.  AFTER NEARLY 16 MONTHS OF HARD WORK AND PLANNING, THE
DX ADVENTURE TEAM WAS READY TO HEAD TO SVALBARD FOR THE
JW0˜X/JW100QO DXPEDITION ON APRIL 19 TO 26, 2022.  THE FIRST PART OF
OUR DXPEDITION INCLUDED OPERATING AS JW0˜X FROM LONGYEARBYEN.  THEN,
A HANDFUL OF TEAM MEMBERS WERE SET TO TRAVEL TO KAPP LINNE FOR THE
SECOND PART OF THE OPERATION TO ATTEMPT TO MAKE THE FIRST EVER
CONTACT FROM SVALBARD WITH THE QO 100 SATELLITE.   OUR TEAM MEMBERS
INCLUDED, ME, ERIK DE MEY, ON4ANN, JELMER VOS, DJ5MO, WILLY GHYSENS,
ON2BDJ, CARLO HOUBEN, ON4BR, CEDRIC BAELEMANS, ON4CKM, PATRICK
BLANCQUAERT, ON4DCU, ANDRE JOOS, ON4DTO, ERIK CRABBE, ON4EC, PASCAL
LIERMAN, ON5RA, MARC COSEMANS, ON6CC, FRANKY BEUSELINCK, ON7RU,
FRANCIS BALCAEN, ON8AZ, MARC CELIS, ON8AK, AND MIKE VAN HOORICKX,
ON2MVH, WHO JOINED THE TEAM AT THE LAST MINUTE TO REPLACE MARC
WULLAERT, ON4MA, BECAUSE OF A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.  JWØX OPERATIONS.
OUR ADVENTURE STARTED ON APRIL 17, 2022, WHEN WE, AND ALL OF OUR HAM
RADIO EQUIPMENT, FLEW FROM ZAVENTEM, BELGIUM, TO OSLO, NORWAY.  FROM
OSLO, WE CONTINUED NORTH TO TROMSO AND LANDED SAFELY IN
LONGYEARBYEN, SVALBARD, ON APRIL 19.  AFTER GATHERING OUR LUGGAGE,
WE QUICKLY NOTICED THAT THE SUITCASE WITH OUR HIGH POWER BAND PASS
FILTERS WAS MISSING.  WE SENT A COMPLAINT TO THE AIRLINE, AND THEY
PROMISED IT WOULD ARRIVE WITH ONE OF THE NEXT FLIGHTS.  THE WEATHER
WAS PERFECT, SUNNY AND ONLY A FEW DEGREES BELOW FREEZING.  WE
CLEARED OUR 4 BY 4 RENTAL TRUCK OF SNOW SO WE COULD DISTRIBUTE ALL
OF OUR EQUIPMENT AMONG THE THREE LOCATIONS WE WOULD BE STAYING AT.
WE ALSO HAD ACCESS TO THE SVALBARD AMATORRADIOKLUBBS, JW5E,
LOCATION.   WE WERE EAGER TO GET JW0˜X ON THE AIR AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE. BY EARLY EVENING, IT WAS GETTING CONSIDERABLY COLDER, AND
THE ICE WAS INCREDIBLY SLIPPERY, WHILE PLACING THE DX COMMANDER
ANTENNA, WILLY HAD A SERIOUS FALL ON THE ICE AND NEEDED MEDICAL
ATTENTION.  A HELPFUL MAN PROVIDED US WITH FOIL TO KEEP HIM WARM
WHILE WAITING FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES.  THE EMERGENCY SERVICES IN
SVALBARD ARE MADE UP OF VOLUNTEERS, SO IT TOOK SOME TIME FOR THEM TO
ARRIVE.  LUCKILY, WILLY WAS ABLE TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL LATER THAT
EVENING, WHEN OUR FIRST TWO

= END OF 40 WPM TEXT = QST DE W1AW  <