Kota Kinabalu: Sebatik Island will soon be known all over the air waves of Asia, Europe and America, thanks to the Borneo Amateur Radio Club (BARC).
A 12-member team led by BARC President, James Gaditis, will be travelling to Pulau Sebatik off Tawau today (Friday) for a four-day amateur radio DXpedition from 14 July 2006.
"The DXpedition is being mounted following The Radio Society of Great Britain - Island on the Air (RGSB -IOTA) Committee's recent announcement that Sebatik Island, whose sovereignty is split between Malaysia and Indonesia, would count as a new IOTA group (OC-295)," he said here Thursday.
"The main reason we selected Sebatik Island is that the island's location to air our radio frequency is the best," he pointed out.
"Apart from that, the island has been classed separately from Sabah's other offshore islands as it uniquely shares sovereignty with Indonesia.
He further said that two of their team members are from United Kingdom, namely Steve Telenius Lowe and John Plenderleith, 62, while the rest are from Kota Kinabalu and Tawau.
"We hope to make several thousand contacts with radio amateurs in Asia, Europe and America, and really put Sebatik and Sabah on the map" said James.
He said the DXpedition members would also be conducting community projects and radio workshops for the Sebatik folk.
James revealed that for the event they will be using the call sign 9M4SEB, a special call sign issued by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, especially for the Dxpedition.
Radio amateurs are licensed to use short-wave frequencies that can travel all around the world, as well as the VHF band which allows Sabah's radio enthusiasts to talk to each other via the club's repeater station atop Mount Kinabalu.
Amateur Radio is a technical hobby governed by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), an agency under the United Nations which functions as an intergovernmental organisation established to standardise and regulate international radio and telecommunications through which the public and private organisations develop telecommunications.
Meanwhile, James expressed his gratitude to the Sabah Tourism Board, The Radio Expedition Foundation, (IREF Inc. USA) and other contributors and club members for their financial support to Dxpedition.
A 12-member team led by BARC President, James Gaditis, will be travelling to Pulau Sebatik off Tawau today (Friday) for a four-day amateur radio DXpedition from 14 July 2006.
"The DXpedition is being mounted following The Radio Society of Great Britain - Island on the Air (RGSB -IOTA) Committee's recent announcement that Sebatik Island, whose sovereignty is split between Malaysia and Indonesia, would count as a new IOTA group (OC-295)," he said here Thursday.
"The main reason we selected Sebatik Island is that the island's location to air our radio frequency is the best," he pointed out.
"Apart from that, the island has been classed separately from Sabah's other offshore islands as it uniquely shares sovereignty with Indonesia.
He further said that two of their team members are from United Kingdom, namely Steve Telenius Lowe and John Plenderleith, 62, while the rest are from Kota Kinabalu and Tawau.
"We hope to make several thousand contacts with radio amateurs in Asia, Europe and America, and really put Sebatik and Sabah on the map" said James.
He said the DXpedition members would also be conducting community projects and radio workshops for the Sebatik folk.
James revealed that for the event they will be using the call sign 9M4SEB, a special call sign issued by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, especially for the Dxpedition.
Radio amateurs are licensed to use short-wave frequencies that can travel all around the world, as well as the VHF band which allows Sabah's radio enthusiasts to talk to each other via the club's repeater station atop Mount Kinabalu.
Amateur Radio is a technical hobby governed by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), an agency under the United Nations which functions as an intergovernmental organisation established to standardise and regulate international radio and telecommunications through which the public and private organisations develop telecommunications.
Meanwhile, James expressed his gratitude to the Sabah Tourism Board, The Radio Expedition Foundation, (IREF Inc. USA) and other contributors and club members for their financial support to Dxpedition.
