[?]R Pacific Radio Amateurs

Conducted by Ex ZK-1-AC/YR-2-AK

ERE is some particularly interesting news in a welcome letter from Les ZM6AS this month. The cardsters be disappointed to know that official e has been received in Apia that the au prefix, in the past unofficially ZM7, more recently rumoured as likely to ;K3, is forthwith ZMO same as srn Samoa. view of the fact that Western Samoa Trust Territory and will some day i Independent self-governing country, »as the Tokelaus are a New Zealand idency, the decision is unexpected, but it is, at least for the foreseeable e. ; ZMO ranks have been temporarily ted, with the departure of Ivan and Irian Tarlton, ZM6AQ and 6AP, who sold their radio servicing business returned to ZL, where Ivan was ;rly ZL2ACC and Brian ZL2AAB. It t yet known whether the man from Zealand who is taking over their ess is a Ham. Des, ZM6AB, late RI, long-time commercial operator in /ZM6 area, also recently retired from NZ Post & Telegraph Department •e and returned to ZL. In recent he has not appeared on the air much. the four remaining ZM6 Hams, Les is QSL manager—address: C/o Bank w Zealand, Apia. Norm 6AT is active ) phone and should have a vfo in tion instead of the 14,160 kc/s rock e time this appears. Ron 6AR, whose we believe is the radio station at 10-Satapuala at the north-western f Upolu Island, 20 miles out of town, ive on 15 and 40 metres, CW/phone.

L, fourth man, is inactive. Les re that he keeps 6AS warm on 20 /40/80 s CW. oss at Pago Pago, Eastern Samoa, Caldwell, back from leave in the i, and in charge of the commercial la Radio again, still remains the American Samoa Ham KS6AB. ver, no one has so far persuaded 0 show up on the Ham bands since ;turn. 6AS knows of no Tokelau activity ding in the near future. The RNZAF ft makes its usual quarterly flights Suva via Apia of course, and the •n Samoa Government vessel “Manu’a does a charter trip up several times year, so there are opportunities for ;ring Hams, but now that the Group een dubbed with the ZM6 prefix the iterest will probably have vanished, interesting might be a little activity Tonga, long silent. ‘n South Pacific Airlines’ flying-boat Sydney early June on delivery to ulu for the Hawaii-Christmas Island -1 service, the company still expected ; operating by “about September”, tfflcial surveyed the situation on mas Island in January and returned molulu. It is anticipated that there )e “about two” Europeans and the nder Hawaiians or Gilbertese, ned there to provide radio, meteoro 1, and refuelling services. e Hamming activity seems reasonably n, probably under the KP6 call, h Britain apparently disputes can rights in the big 35 x 24-mile and only British Government repre ives are at present stationed there, is conceivable, if unlikely, that a icence would be involved, three war-time airstrips with asso

dated radio facilities and settlement for staff were located on the north-west side of the atoll (Casady Field). The seadrome camp is more likely to be near the British settlement at London, on the north side of the lagoon entrance, 15 miles by road west of Casady Field. This north-western part ef the lagoon is the only portion clear of coral heads, and there are some facilities for landing fuel and stores at London.

The former French-Tahiti plantation staff lived at Paris. 3Vz miles by sea across at the south side of the entrance, and probably 50 miles by road from Casady Field.

Doug Berry, ZK-l-BG, of Rarotonga, the Pacific’s 80-metre king, mainly on CW, is keen to make contact with other Islanders, especially ZMO and VR3, with his 35 watts of phone. You’ll find him on 3010 kc/s between 0500-0800 GMT most days.

Seems there’s a new one in the New Hebrides—YJ-l-DL—though mail inquiries for the latest from that area have so far failed.

There’s a lot doing in VK9 according to “Amateur Radio’’. A Ham traffic link has opened, with Doug Lloyd, VK9QQ in charge, and a new QSL manager has been appointed—Doug Beadel, VK9DB, PO Box 107, Port Moresby.

Other news from there: Bill Holland, VK9BW, plans to come south next year to view the Olympics; 9DB, now with a rotary BJK, has increased his 31 mc/s score to 151 countries; Chas, 9CR, has been transferred to Madang; Don, 9DS, still on leave; Ron, 9RG, going on leave very soon; Roy, 9AU, has a portable rig ready for use when on vacation in October; Trevor, 9TC planning to get on the air later in the year; Bob, 9BS, build ing a rotary for 14/31 mc/s.

Wan has formed a club with 18 founda tion members, and lots of donated equip ment as the result of a mention at one of the New Guinea Sunday, 0000 GMT, round tables on 7080 kc/s.

There’s a new call to report—VK9VW, Geoff. Officially cancelled is 9VG, H. A.

Vining. 9CR’s new address is C. W. H.

Rasmussen, C/o Lutheran Mission, Madang, NG.

Roland, late FOBAD, who probably did more towards letting the world know where Rapa Island is, has got himself a job at a Paris television station, after doing some shack-visiting in the States en route to France.

According to a recent “QST” VR6AC is still threatening to put Pitcairn Island on the radio map.

W3ZK who went south to the Antarctic with Admiral Byrd in 1934 is going south again late this year with the 1955 Byrd Expedition.

According to the Swiss short-wave b/o station, the sunspot average for May was 29.8, ranging from as low as zero on May 9/13/14 to as high as 55 on May 33.

Predicted averages for coming months are: June, 17; July, 19; August, 30; September, 23; October, 24; November 36. Those interested can listen to the ionispheric report on the first Sunday of the month on 6055/9535 kc/s at 0420 GMT, and probably also at other times on that day. tl Mr. and Mrs. A. E. T.' Corrie left Fiji in May to make their home at Sydney. Mr. Corrie’s Suva-based agency business has been turned into a limited liability company.

fl Monsieur Jean Ceran Jerusalemy, Conseiller de I’Union Francaise— representative of French Oceania in the French National Assembly, Paris, returned to Papeete in May from a periodical visit to France. He was welcomed in Tahiti style by dancing girls with flower leis as he stepped ashore from the flying boat.