[ADXA] An Open Letter to the DX Community from Krassy Petkov, K1LZ 21 October 2025

[The Romagni's]

Interesting post... this is becoming more and more of a Melrose Place
episode... I am old enough to remember some of the Romeo stories... will
this be part of those????

Steve
W4DTA


 An Open Letter to the DX Community from Krassy Petkov, K1LZ 21 October 2025


As many of you know, it was both my dream and my honor to join the team
planning to activate 3Y0K Bouvet Island in February 2026. To make this
possible, I recruited K3JO,LU9ESD, RN5M, and JT1CO to join me in this
effort, and I personally contributed $120,000 to cover both their
participation and mine.
In addition, K3JO, LU9ESD, RN5M, and I built all the Yagi vertical
antennas, towers, and supporting equipment that were to be used at 3Y0K —
representing an additional personal out-of-pocket expense of about
$100,000. It took us over three months of hard work and dedication to
complete everything.
I also secured major sponsorships and equipment deals:
• From Icom America, twelve IC-7610 transceivers and four IC-7300s.
• From ACOM, twelve amplifiers.
• I personally provided a full set of antennas for both camps, including
fourteen Yagis, two verticals for 160 m, two 4-square arrays for 80 m and
two for 40 m, verticals for 30 m, tribanders, dual-banders, filter sets for
all bands, duplexers, triplexers, and more — plus nearly 30 waterproof
cases, all purchased out of my own pocket.
All this equipment was shipped to Norway for loading into the container
that is now en route to Bouvet. I took full responsibility for ensuring the
technical success of this expedition — and I fulfilled 100% of that
responsibility.
Over the past several months, I repeatedly asked Ken (LA7GIA) to share with
the team a financial statement — including a cash-flow report and a
profit-and-loss summary — for the 3Y0K expedition. My intention was simple:
to ensure transparency for all team members and to organize a collective
meeting to review the final preparations — and, if necessary, to coordinate
financial or logistical support.
Instead of responding to these reasonable requests and calling a team
meeting, Ken asked me for an additional $90,000 to cover a supposed budget
shortfall. At other times, he also asked for extra contributions of $7,000
per operator from K1LZ, LU9ESD, K3JO, and RN5M. I agreed to this second
request because he said that all team members would be asked to do the same.
These questions apparently made the leadership uncomfortable — but I asked
them because I began to feel that what they really wanted from me was my
name, my contacts, and my money. Sadly, it seems I was not wrong.
Additionally, I asked LA7GIA several times to disclose to the entire team
the names of the private donors and the specific contractual terms under
which they were contributing to 3Y0K— reportedly at a level of $800,000.
Isn’t it concerning to travel to such a remote and dangerous island with
people whose names,
identities, and intentions are completely unknown to us? Don’t we have the
right to know who they are, what role they will play, and how they will
provide the $800,000 pledged to the expedition?
Let us not forget that a similar situation occurred during another
expedition a few years ago,
which had to be terminated prematurely due to serious internal conflicts
between the amateur radio team and an external group.
I also requested that a team doctor be added to the roster — something
that, to my knowledge, every major expedition of this magnitude has always
included. Having a medical professional should be an absolute priority. We
must not forget that serious accidents have already happened in past
operations — I almost lost my life after falling from a tower that had been
improperly secured by an inexperienced person.
Finally, I asked for confirmation regarding the second, higher camp
location that had originally been planned for better propagation toward
North America.
I was later told that this second site was no longer being considered, even
though it continued to appear on the official 3Y0K website. In reality,
from a topographic and propagation perspective, both sites are nearly
identical — and unfortunately, both are among the worst possible locations
on the island.
The supposed “North American camp” appears to have been nothing more than a
marketing narrative to attract NA sponsors. Without that story, it is
doubtful anyone would have trusted the same leadership team that had
already failed once before in their previous Bouvet attempt.
That is why I decided to get involved — because, whether the leadership
likes it or not, my team specializes in this field. We build some of the
most successful radio stations in the world.
We are not better than anyone else — we simply have experience and proven
results.
If anyone felt offended by that, I sincerely regret it. But the facts speak
for themselves: Roman (RN5M) has been doing this professionally for over 25
years, and Manu (LU9ESD) has worked alongside him for the past four.
Velimir (K3JO), with his background as an electronic engineer, has been a
pioneer in radio station automation and is the only person I know who can
solve absolutely any problem that arises in that field. In past
expeditions, he has repaired transceivers, amplifiers, and all kinds of
electronic equipment, allowing us to continue operating without
interruption.
But I don’t need to say much more about them — the whole world knows these
names, and they have earned the respect of the community for what they have
done and continue to do for amateur radio.
In all the above situations, I was met with resistance and silence. Ken
refused to provide the requested information, yet continued to pressure me
for an additional $90,000.
That amount originated from an informal conversation we had last year in
Friedrichshafen, where I mentioned that if funding was still short toward
the end, I might be able to help.
Since the leadership group failed to raise the necessary funds — perhaps
due to their damaged reputation and lack of trust within the community —
Ken later included that $90,000 as a contractual obligation for me, adding
a special clause in the agreement.
It was a bold and calculated move — one that, in hindsight, seems to have
been part of the plan from the very beginning. My biggest mistake was
signing that contract without carefully reading it, believing that
amongteammates, we would never deceive one another.
Neither I nor anyone on my team ever received an invitation or
communication to attend the workshops or participate in the container
loading in Norway, which makes it clear that our presence was never truly
welcome.
This past week, I was officially informed that I am no longer a member of
the 3Y0K DXpedition, because I refused to provide the extra $90,000 and
because I was “asking too many questions.” I was told my personal $30,000
initial contribution would be refunded, and I was instructed to publicly
announce that I was leaving the expedition “for personal reasons.”
Since that statement is not true, I have chosen not to comply with this
request.
K3JO, LU9ESD, RN5M, and JT1CO have been told they may still participate if
they wish, and I will fully respect whatever decision they make. As of this
writing, however, it appears that none of them will be going to Bouvet.
Still, I find it highly suspicious that this decision came immediately
after the leadership group received everything they had been waiting for —
the antennas, the radios, and all the equipment I personally ensured
reached them. Once they had everything they needed, I suddenly became
expendable.
Obviously, I am deeply disappointed by this outcome. I want to sincerely
thank the many
members of the DX community who supported me and looked forward to seeing
my team and me on Bouvet — particularly on the low bands, where we were
committed to ensuring complete worldwide coverage.
I share the same disappointment that many of you will feel after reading
this. But please believe me — I, too, feel used, deceived, and profoundly
disillusioned.
To all who have supported me for decades: thank you for your confidence,
friendship, and faith in my team. Those who know me understand how much I
love this hobby, and that for many years I have been helping and
contributing to make it better and better — but from now on, with far
greater caution about who I choose to work with.
My name, honor, and dignity remain intact — as does my love for amateur
radio.
73 and see you on the bands,
Krassy Petkov, K1LZ
*https://dxnews.com/k1lz-3y0k/ <https://dxnews.com/k1lz-3y0k/>*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/adxa/attachments/20251023/87ac1dd9/attachment-0001.html>