Semporna sits at the eastern tip of Sabah, where the Celebes Sea meets a scatter of reef islands inside the Tun Sakaran Marine Park. For IOTA reference OC-133, team 9M1Z ran a moving station across four of them — packing the rig into a boat, setting up on sand, working the world for a few days, then moving on.
The operation carried the momentum of the earlier Borneo Island activation, this time with younger operators taking the keys alongside the regulars, in the spirit of Youth on the Air. Everything ran barefoot or with a single amplifier, on wire and vertical antennas pitched a few metres from the water — 80 metres down to 6, in CW, SSB, RTTY and the FT digital modes.
- Reference
- IOTA OC-133
- Location
- Tun Sakaran Marine Park, Sabah
- Grid
- OJ94
- Islands
- Mabul · Timba-Timba · Mataking · Pom-Pom
- Dates
- 1–15 September 2024
- Modes
- CW · SSB · RTTY · FT8/FT4
The island run
Fifteen days, four landfalls, moving eastward across the park.
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01
Mabul
1–4 September 2024 · OJ94
A dive-famous island a short hop off Semporna town — the campaign’s first base, water bungalows strung along the reef edge.
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02
Timba-Timba
5–7 September 2024 · OJ94
A slender sand cay deep inside the Tun Sakaran reef, reached by speedboat and all but empty beyond the operating tents.
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03
Mataking
8–11 September 2024 · OJ94
A long, reef-fringed island with a sandbar tail — the most sheltered station of the run.
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04
Pom-Pom
12–15 September 2024 · OJ94
A forested, turtle-nesting reef island off the eastern edge of the park, and the final stop before heading home.
Band plan
Frequencies in MHz, current from 26 June 2024. Listen first, then call.
| Band | CW | SSB | FT8 | FT4 | RTTY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80m | – | – | 3.573 | – | – |
| 60m | – | – | 5.357 | – | – |
| 40m | 7.011 | 7.145 / 7.195* | 7.056 | 7.047 | 7.044 |
| 30m | 10.111 | – | 10.131 | 10.140 | 10.143 |
| 20m | 14.011 | 14.245 | 14.090 | 14.080 | 14.083 |
| 17m | 18.076 | 18.135 | 18.095 | 18.104 | 18.091 |
| 15m | 21.011 | 21.285 | 21.090 | 21.140 | 21.083 |
| 12m | 24.906 | 24.955 | 24.911 | 24.919 | 24.921 |
| 10m | 28.011 | 28.485 | 28.090 | 28.180 | 28.083 |
| 6m | – | – | 50.313 | 50.318 | – |
LSB on 40–80 m and USB on 6 m are worked simplex, no split. 60 m and 6 m FT8 and all FT4 run standard MSHV, not Fox/Hound. The 7.195 MHz slot marked * is a reserved backup for 40 m SSB. Live CQ status is posted at marhazk.com/9m1z/cq.
Confirming a contact
Worked 9M1Z on the islands? Here is how to get the card into your log.
Look up 9M1Z on QRZ- Direct
- Via 9W8ZZK or 9M8WIN with return postage.
- Club Log
- OQRS for direct and bureau; each island is filed as its own log.
- LoTW
- Uploaded after the run — the quickest confirmation.
- Also
- QRZ Logbook, eQSL and Ham365. No paper bureau.