Expedition Info
HomeNewsTeamStoryPhotosOnline LogQSL InfoRelated Links
GulfBase Info on Round Is
Lighthouse Restoration
Lighthouse Friends Link
K5R - Round Island, Mississippi
IOTA NA-082, US Islands MS-001, ARLHS USA-711
By Glenn Lowery, K2FFJust sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a radio trip, which started from this coastal port aboard a tiny ship..... skiff actually. Most all of us have heard the story of Gilligan's Island and the crew that was ship wrecked and stranded hundreds of miles from civilization. Well, the story of Round Island is just the opposite in most all accounts with regards to location, access, its inhabitants, and especially notoriety. However, over the weekend of October 1 - 3, 2004, it burst onto the ham radio scene in grand style. So, sit back once again and hear another island tale..... a tale of a little different sort.
It all started earlier in the year when several members of the Magnolia DX Association (MDXA) were once again looking for something to do or somewhere to go. During one of their monthly breakfast meetings, Glenn/K2FF, Randy/W5UE, and Terry/W8JE suggested going to West Ship Island and participating in the annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW) slated for late August. Well, it only took a matter of days before more serious plans began to be made. However, those quickly came to a halt when it was realized that the ILLW event would be held the same weekend as the Huntsville, AL hamfest, and several club members already had plans to attend. So, the members went back to the drawing board in search for a fall activity.
The MDXA had already operated from Cat Island (NA-082) in September 2002 and again in April 2003. Since both of those trips had been successful, the group quickly turned their attention to other Mississippi islands now that participating in the ILLW from West Ship Island was out of the picture for 2004. Within a week, the team was floating ideas of going to either Horn Island or Petit Bois Island, the two remaining state islands with any ham radio status.... that is, they both at least fall into the NA-082 group. After some discussion the final decision was made to go to Horn Island. However, it was soon obvious that Murphy's Law was alive and well. The National Park Service disapproved the request to visit Horn Island for an amateur radio adventure due to restrictions contained in their national wilderness/wildlife refuge policy. It seemed like the group was being told to forget about going anywhere that was even close to water. So, scratching heads, once again the members went back to the drawing board.
Feeling somewhat disappointed, K2FF broke out the world atlas, local maps, and reviewed the Islands On The Air (IOTA), US Islands, and Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society (ARLHS) websites yet again. Suddenly he noticed Round Island... it was listed on the US Islands web page and on the ARLHS web page, but, it wasn't listed on the IOTA page as part of the Mississippi Group (NA-082). Plus, there was no indication it had ever been activated within the two programs where it was listed! Immediately several internet search engines were being pinged for information on Round Island. It was soon discovered that this tiny little island would be a major hit for the amateur radio community. So armed with websites, longitude and latitude coordinates, recent lighthouse restoration work info, etc., Roger/G3KMA (RSGB IOTA Manager) was contacted and provided as much information as possible to have Round Island officially added to the NA-082 group. Before long, and after numerous e-mail exchanges, Roger greeted the team with wonderful news which stated in part, "Everything looks fine and Round Island will be immediately added to the list of qualifying islands for NA-082! Like you I am surprised that this one has not previously come to our attention. The reason is that despite its quite respectable size the island is not shown on the two highly regarded world atlases (National Geographic; and The Times), nor in the Rand McNally and AAA road atlases, which are all used when constructing the official IOTA list. The omission of an island well out in the gulf is quite amazing. It is however shown on the Topozone website!" Well, you can guess it didn't take but a few keystrokes for additional e-mails to start flying between the team members as they began to put some real efforts into making final plans. Plus, during all the discussions with the various radio societies and island managers, Jim/WB7RBN with the US Islands program informed the group that there were no records of MS-001 ever having been activated, and Ted/W8TTS from the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society helped manage the official status change of the Round Island Lighthouse from historical to active.... this was and is due in large part to the ongoing private and commercial efforts to totally restore the lighthouse over the next few years. This trip by no stretch of the imagination was truly beginning to turn into a real gem and history making event for everyone concerned..... the team couldn't wait to turn a small dream into a big reality!
Boat transportation would be needed of course, operation dates had to be chosen, and any additional operators needed to be solicited from among the other MDXA club members. Bern/KK5EW wound up joining the team as their technical advisor, thus rounding out the 4-man expedition crew. Then came the equipment list for radios, generators, camping equipment, food, and of course some cold drinks! Surely everyone can understand that living on an island is hard work hi hi. When all was said and done the team would put two Yaesu (FT-920 & 990) and one Icom (706) HF rigs on the air. Three Cushcraft antennas (A3S, A3WS, & R7) would handle most of the RF, while a Windom and BuddiPole would take care of the rest. Of course laptops would be used for computer logging and all AC/DC hungry equipment would get their necessary power from a couple of Honda generators (EU 2000i & EX 800). Most of this equipment still had some grains of sand hanging around from the last island trip.... so everyone was confident that all the gear and equipment would once again perform flawlessly!
The team settled in on the weekend of October 1 - 3 for the event since it fit nicely into everyone's work and holiday schedules. No major DXpeditions, weeks well before CQWW SSB stations fire up for testing, and simply a great trio of dates.... 1, 2, 3... kind of like the Olympics.... on your mark, get set, GO! However, one item that almost sank the trip was of all things the boat requirements. This "do or die" topic went through several stages.... and to make a long story short, the final (aka guaranteed) watercraft was not 100% confirmed until just days before the event was to take place! Talk about getting the cart before the horse... the back and forth ordeal of this main/got to have requirement almost made the team seasick before ever putting it in the water. But in the end it too turned out to be a perfect fit.... couldn't have planned it better.
So there the team was, checking off items on the equipment list, sending out announcements via the various DX and IOTA bulletins, when once again Murphy's Law appeared on the scene. This time it was in the form of Hurricane Ivan! How could this happen.... just when things were finally coming together? Man did this remind everyone of the 2002 Cat Island trip when Hurricane Isidore came calling and helped run that crew home early. Was this Round Island trip finally going to be all washed up by a category 5 storm? Well, a combination of prayers and Mother Nature helped steer Ivan to the northeast during the last few hours before making landfall on the Alabama and Florida coastlines. However, everyone still wondered what the close call had done to the island? The National Park Service had closed all of the Mississippi barrier islands until further notice. Luckily for the team, Round Island is actually owned by the city of Pascagoula, MS and is not governed by the park service, therefore, no permission was necessary to visit the island. Immediately the suggestion was made to conduct a quick scouting trip and first time view of the island in order to go forward with the planned event. So on September 18th, Glenn/K2FF and Randy/W5UE were able to hitch a ride to the island from a co-worker who owned a small speedboat... just right for "running" the islands on the weekend, but, not large enough to take out equipment and team members. Special thanks to Shari and Brad for providing their fast and sweet transportation to and from the island for the quick scouting trip. And to everyone's delight the island was in great shape... only a few trees had been uprooted and some minor beach erosion had taken place. Other than that the newly discovered value packed island was ready for action! And get this, while walking around the island, a small radio board with components and wires was found washed up on the beach... finally, a positive sign that this is it! Upon returning home the "green light" e-mail was dispatched to Terry/W8JE and Bern/KK5EW.... simple message was pack your bags K5R is a go!
The next couple weeks actually flew by as all required items were secured and checked off the list... yes, even the necessary boat transportation... thanks again to David Kilbern and his dad! So at 1300Z on October 1st, the team members met at the boat dock, loaded up the boats, and set off for the short ride to Round Island. It took a couple trips to get everyone and all the gear there, and plenty of trips back and forth from the anchored boat to the island shore. Once all equipment was unloaded, the team began to set up the operating tents, antennas, generators, etc. Before anyone realized what all had been accomplished, it was shortly after 2000Z and the bands were ready for action. The operators made their last minute antenna checks and adjustments, synchronized the laptops/logging programs, and away they went. W4ABW was first in the 20m SSB log at 2015Z, while K1IK joined the action on the CW side and entered the 17m log at 2037Z. This continued for the next 40+ hours with stations being worked on all bands 10m through 80m. It finally came to an end on October 3rd with KB1HSA closing out the SSB log at 1304Z, and the CW rig running until 1329Z when DL2DXA grabbed the final and closing contact to send K5R QRT.
As you'll notice from the stats listed on the web page, K5R reached out and touched the entire world. EU led the pileups, NA came in second, and the other areas around the globe made their presence known as well. All in all 1,476 QSOs were logged, 799 on SSB and 677 on CW. The team members were thrilled every time an operator would come back with, "thanks for the new island," or "thanks for the new IOTA," and "thanks for putting the lighthouse on the air." During one of the island meals, the team members remarked that it's really they who were thankful.... thankful for the operators around the world answering the K5R CQ's. Otherwise the whole trip would have been nothing more than an overnight camping trip!
Then with the same lightning speed that began the weekend, came the tearing down, packing up, and eventual leaving of Round Island. The team gathered on the shore for a final toast to a job well done and a trip that will be remembered for quite some time. Then before anyone could get a good night's sleep, the web page was being constructed, the QSL card was being designed, and the dreams of the next adventure were being pondered! And in a matter of days the team was reminded once again of the trip's absolute perfect timing. For it was crazy Ivan that had almost ruined the planned adventure just prior to it's beginning, well, just one week after K5R pulled the plug, along came tropical storm Matthew and it's sights were set right on the beautiful Gulf Coast areas. With it came high winds, lightning, thunderstorms, and massive amounts of rain that killed any and all outdoor activities... especially those involving the coastal waters of Mississippi and her barrier islands. But that was okay, because K5R had enjoyed perfect WX and conditions just one week prior!
All in all it couldn't have been better. And therefore the team members would like to once again thank everyone who helped make the event a success. To all the operators who worked K5R, to the numerous spots on the DX clusters which kept the QSOs coming, to the bulletins and reflectors that helped spread the word of the planned trip, and surely to the Magnolia DX Association which drives the interest of the operators who brought you this value packed expedition... a truly heart felt thank you! And since you'll never know what the Magnolia DX Association might be up to next.... don't be one to miss out... simply keep your eye on their home page by pointing your web browser to http://www.mdxa.org. And while there make special note of the K5R link which contains an online log, photos, and several additional links with great information about Round Island. Please take a few minutes to visit the web page and share in yet another little action packed adventure story brought to you by the MDXA GOPACK!
Randy, W5UE,Webmaster