The OJØC 6-Meter DXpedition to Market Reef

This month, I am turning the keyboard over to Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA, who will be giving us a wonderful inside look at operating from Market Reef during the recent activation of OJØC with a special emphasis on 6 meters. This magical little place has always been a place that has intrigued me. I hope you enjoy the visit.–De N2OO

Motto: To begin is half the work. If half still remains, begin again. Soon you will have finished
–Ausonius (Roman Poet)

My love for DXpeditions and pileups brought me in 2021 to the land of Santa Claus. I had the joy of seeing some incredible landscapes and of getting to meet many wonderful people, inhabitants of the happiest place on earth: Finland!

During the period of June/July 2021, I had the chance to operate as OJØC from Market Reef island as part of the OJØC 6-meter DXpedition (Photo A), as OFØHQ as part of the OH IARU 2021 contest team from Aland Islands, as OHØSCA from Brando Island (part of the Aland Islands group IOTA EU-002), as OHØSCA/8 from the Radio Arcala OH8X superstation <www.radioarcala.com> located in the Far North of Finland at the Arctic Circle, and as OHØSCA/2 from OH2BH, the station of my wonderful host and friend, Martti Laine.

This ham radio outing which resulted in more than 22,000 QSOs was a trip of a lifetime and I will cherish it forever. Unfortunately, the international COVID situation made the logistics of the trip even more complicated for my Finnish hosts and organizers, and I thank them for their immense effort.

What follows is the story of the 2021 OJØC 6-meter DXpedition to Market Reef as seen through my eyes. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did being there.

Market Reef

A lot of places that you read or imagine about as a child remain with you forever; and then you spend much of your life trying to recapture that experience. Market Reef is one of those places, a little speck of land frozen in time, a lonely rock in the middle of the cold Baltic Sea, incessantly sculpted by wind and sea. It is a place that inspires awe, is veiled in mystery, and has instilled fear in many generations of mariners sailing the stormy seas that surround it.

The Island

Market Reef is located between Sweden and the Aland Islands, and is shared by both Sweden and Finland. It is the smallest sea island shared by two countries. “Market” is the Swedish word for “boundary marker.” The border was created in 1809 between Sweden and Russia, as Finland at the time was part of the Russian empire. The border was last adjusted in 1985 and it is resurveyed every 25 years by officials representing