172/14AT340 Pines for Home
43 Division DXers and others in the Oceania neighbourhood have been treated in recent times to rare IOTA action courtesy of 14AT340 Marc’s trip to a diminutive, lesser known island in the Pacific Ocean.
Active since the 30th of January 2008 as 172/14AT340 thanks to a President Jackson transceiver and a Bambi antenna loaned from 172AT101 Philippe and stowed away in his suitcase, the 43 year old family man with 2 children has been transmitting for 3 months from the Iles of Pines (FK-020), a tiny speck of sand off the coast of New Caledonia with majestic expanses of white sand beaches, rainforest and turquoise lagoons.
Like Australia, this small island in the Azure Sea was named by Captain James Cook after its beautiful 60m high Columnar Pine trees. Measuring 18km long and 14km wide, it is a favourite spot for divers eager to get up-close-and-personal with turtles, crayfish and myriad tropical fish.
During his time on the island, Marc has made many contacts with 43 Division stations and others in the Southern Hemisphere but is reportedly yet to secure a path into Europe. Residing on the island due to his employment with the French Federal Police and an important case he and a partner are working on, Marc is due to finish up his stay on the island in a matter of days and is therefore eager to add to his already impressive log.
Those operators fortunate enough to work his station in the last few months should send their QSL cards via his home address in order to receive a special postcard from the island and therefore cross off the IOTA ref in their island logs.
73 de Admin
