V62P - V62S - Polap Atoll - Satawal Atoll

[4L5A]

VE3LYC and KO8SCA planning to be active as V62P from Polap Atoll, IOTA OC - 155 and V62S from Satawal Atoll, IOTA OC - 299.
Information from Cezar received 21 February 2020:
I have been working on a new IOTA project for some time, but unfortunately suffered a little bit of a setback. As explained there, we have no choice other than to remain in stand-by, and I chose to inform the community about this development.

Thank you,
Cezar, VE3LYC
20 Feb 2020

The team cannot afford the additional time and expenses associated with the quarantine provision. Consequently, we remain in stand-by, waiting for the respective state of emergency to be lifted. Depending on when this will occur, we will either confirm the existing time schedule or negotiate with the charter provider in order to establish a new time schedule for this project. Any developments will be announced on this website. No financial support will be sought from the community until a firm time schedule can be publicly announced.


31 Jan 2020

The President of FSM has placed the entire territory of FSM under a state of emergency to address the effects of the Coronavirus, following the decision of the World Health Organization to declare this virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As a result, visitors from countries where contamination cases are reported will be denied entry, unless they undergo a 14-day quarantine in Hawaii or Guam.


24 Jan 2020

We approached the local licensing authority, which is open to issue us the callsigns V62P and V62S for activities from each of these atolls, respectively. We are currently working on finalizing a few remaining details before announcing this project publicly.


20 Jan 2020

We chartered a boat for this project at a cost of $20k. Our time schedule is to leave Weno on April 30, and return on May 12. To guarantee this schedule, 50% of the charter cost must be paid by March 15. Flying to Weno will take 3 days each way, with a mandatory overnight in Hawaii or Guam, depending on actual flights/airlines. The team will arrive in Weno at least two days ahead of the boat departure, in order to finalize a number of logistical aspects associated with this operation.

[4L5A]

VE3LYC will be active as V62P from Polap Atoll and V62S from Satawall Atoll.
Information from VE3LYC:
I hope that everyone is doing well, enjoying the remaining part of the summer season to the fullest.

This is to inform you that I applied a while back for my FSM amateur radio licence, requesting the V62P (OC-155) and V62S (OC-299) callsigns for the upcoming operation. I am pleased to let you know that the FSM authority replied to me today, indicating that the licence and respective callsigns will be issued to me later this week. Note that I haven’t posted this information on the expedition website, in order to give you an opportunity to report it first if you wish to do so.

Kind regards,
Cezar, VE3LYC

[4L5A]

V62P from Polap Atoll and V62S from Satawal Atoll will be active 25 October - 12 November 2023.

[4L5A]

V62P Polap Atoll V62S Satawal Atoll News
22 Aug 2023

The Department of Transportation, Communications, and Infrastructure of FSM issued today the licenses AT/28/23 for V62P and AT/29/23 for V62S, which I will use for this project. V62P is intended for radio activity from Pulap (Chuuk), OC-155. This rare IOTA reference was last operated from 19 years ago by Lanny, W5BOS, who was active as V6O. V62S is intended for radio activity from Satawal (Yap), OC-299 New.

I will travel from Canada to Weno (Chuuk) via Guam, from where I will reach Pulap (Chuuk) by chartered boat and operate from this atoll for 5-7 days. Then, I will be picked up by chartered boat and transported to Satawal (Yap), from where I will operate for 5-7 days as well. After the end of this activity, I will return to Weno by chartered boat and fly from there back to Canada via Guam. This is a very expensive project ($26-28K), and I am looking for all possible financial support from the community. This will be a full-time operation, as the sole scope of my voyage is to activate these rare IOTA groups.

[4L5A]

PA3EXX will be pilot of V62P Polap Atoll, V62S Satawal Atoll DX Pedition.

[4L5A]

21 Sep 2023

I just finished a very informative, almost two-hour Zoom meeting with the boat captain and my contacts down in FSM. We reviewed every step of the logistical plan, and the captain confirmed the transportation schedule I already announced, as well as a number of other logistical details. Meanwhile, he indicated that relatively small delays may occur, due to weather conditions and/or other unforeseen reasons that may arise. However, this is not going to shorten my stay on each atoll. If anything, my stays will be longer than originally planned.
VE3LYC V62P V62S.

[4L5A]

The flight out of Syracuse, New York is October 26, to Denver, then Honolulu, arriving October 27 for an overnight at AH6HY. The next flight is to Kwajalein, Kosrae and
Pohnpei. Arrival on Truk is October 28, then over to Weno by boat.
October 28-30 are for local purchases of generator, oil, fuel, extension power cable, food, plus medical and school supplies as gifts to the local communities. October 31 is travel to Pulap and arrival the next day, and radio operations November 1-7. November 8 is further travel, to Satawal and arrival the next day, on the radio November 9-16. November 17 and 18 is the return to Weno, arriving November 19. All the dates are subject to weather conditions and unforeseen things. Departure from Truk is scheduled for November 26, allowing some date flexibility, but he may change to an earlier flight.

[4L5A]

V62P Polap Atoll V62S Satawal Atoll News 9 October 2023.

I am working with my local contacts to have everything ready for the voyage so that I can depart to Pulap as soon as possible after my arrival to Weno. Depending on how things unfold, as well as weather conditions, I expect to head out sometimes between Oct 29 and 31.

The Icom IC-7000 transceivers accompanied me in many radio expeditions. They have been very robust and performed admirably in either very cold or hot and humid environments, while enduring very well rough transportation conditions. However, in the unlikely event that one of the transceivers will get damaged during the operation from Pulap, I may decide to keep the second transceiver for Satawal.

[4L5A]

V62P Polap Atoll V62S Satawal Atoll News 16 October 2023
This morning at 02 am (06 UTC), I received the shockingly sad news that captain Callistus, who was in charge of sailing the boat to Pulap and Satawal, has just passed away. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues. He was in mid 50s, had a very good understanding of this project and obtained the support of the local Chiefs, whom he knew personally. Captain Callistus was truly happy to be part of this project and will be sorely missed.

I am in close communication with his employers, who are distraught by his sudden passing. They are already working toward finding a replacement and asked me to be patient until they have a solution. I may have to change the timeframe of my plane ticket, but I will wait for more feedback from my contacts in Micronesia.

[4L5A]

V62P Polap Atoll V62S Satawal Atoll News 19 October 2023
The group I retained for boat transportation confirmed this early morning that they will be able to provide me with their services as planned. Thus, I will depart to Micronesia on October 26 as originally scheduled.