Bouvet Island DXpedition (3Y0K)

Like many DXers, I’ve been keeping a close eye on activity from Bouvet Island. The pile-ups for 3Y0K have been immense, so getting through with modest power and a simple wire antenna (58ft of wire fed with a 9:1 unun with one elevated counterpoise wire of about 15ft) was always going to require a bit of patience—and more than a bit of luck!

The breakthrough came on the 15m band after several days of trying and failing to get through.

First came a CW contact at 08:12 UTC on March 10th. I had been monitoring the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) when I noticed that 3Y0K had moved to the 15m band. I moved quickly and called just 700Hz up from their transmit frequency. Amazingly, they came back to me on my second call. Bouvet Island was in the log with just 80w output power into a simple wire antenna.

Later in the morning I managed to work them again, this time on FT8 at 10:34 UTC, confirming the path was still open. In matter of fact, I have only heard them at all on 15m which seems to suggest my antenna favours, and works well on, this band.

Bouvet is one of the rarest places on earth in amateur radio terms, so getting it in the log—especially on both CW and FT8—was a particularly satisfying moment.

 

Working through the pileup: VP6DX (Ducie Island)

As much as you might see and believe that snagging that rare DX is a function of the best radio coupled with the best antenna, I'd like to dispell that myth by relating to you an experience of mine from February 2008 when I managed to work VP6DX on Ducie Island (about 9000 miles distant).

I enjoy DXing and I enjoy the challenge of getting heard when a rare station (often a DXpedition) is working a huge pileup. With my seriously compromised antenna steup this has always been something where I firmly believe that it's not about the radio or the antenna, it's all about operator persistence and guile.

My Ducie Island experience is a case in point. I'd been looking forward to trying to work VP6DX, if nothing else because my wife's name is Dulcie, which isn't a million miles away from Ducie. It was also going to be a new one for me to add to my country count. Your reasons for chasing that particular DXpedition may vary, hihi.

At that time my radio was a Yaesu FT-950 and the antenna was a random (and I do mean random) length wire sloping from an upper floor window down to the back fence of my property. I was using an LDG AT-100 Pro antenna tuner which was able to give me a good match on most bands where I was hearing VP6DX, who were mostly audible to me on 30m and 40m CW in my early daylight hours.

I spent a lot of time listening to the huge pileup trying to sense the VP6DX operator's operating style and management of the pile. How many stations did he work on each frequency before tuning through the pile? What was the extent of the pileup? Where were the quieter spots on the fringes where I might be more likely to be heard? Through all this I would be sending my call where I thought they might be listening, trying to get that elusive contact. I have to admit that it was at times a little demoralising hearing them working station after station close to where where I was transmitting but never coming back to me. This went on for many days on both 30m and 40m with no success.

However, on the morning of the 23rd of February 2008 I got lucky. I was hanging out on the upper edge of the pile (which seemed a little smaller and quieter by this time as they neared the last few days of the DXpedition) sending my call whenever the previous QSO concluded with the usual "5nn tu". 

VP6DX online log showing my 40m CW QSO

I have to say that I was thrilled to hear the beautiful sound of "RIF ?" coming back from VP6DX. I replied with my full callsign and heard what I had long waited for, "G0RIF 5nn" to which I replied "5nn tu" and that was it, VP6DX was in the log.

I then had a nervous wait to confirm that I was in their online log before requesting a physical QSL card from their QSL manager. 

I duly received my VP6DX QSL card and this is now a precious reminders of that QSO and the time and effort that went into securing that contact. More than anything though it is a permanent reminder that no matter your radio and/or antenna, sometimes it's more about your persistence and skill as an operator that yields results. 

So don't despair, even when you feel that you may not have the equipment required to snag those rare ones, you should be motivated by my experience and recognise that it really isn't all about the equipment. It is often very much about the operator. 

Good DX all and 73! 

Radio:  Yaesu FT-950

Antenna:  Sloper

Power:  100w

Location:  Lichfield

Western Sahara (S01R), 2006 DXpedition, 20m SSB

As a keen DXer since obtaining my license in 1991, I developed over the years a liking for working rare DXpeditions. The 2006 Western Sahara expedition, operating as S01R, was one such exciting opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

So it was then that in April 2006, I found myself hunched over my radio, headphones firmly in place, trying to work S01R on 20m SSB. Western Sahara isn't a country you hear on the air every day, and the pileup was, as expected, a bit boisterous to say the least. The band was alive with a cacophony of callsigns, each operator hoping to log this rare one.

I started my attempts in the early evening, knowing that 20m could be quite lively at that time. My station then consisted of a Kenwood TS-480SAT with a simple sloping wire antenna. Not a world-class setup by any means, but sufficient for breaking through pileups with some persistence and a little bit of guile when it came to finding just the right spot to drop my callsign.

For what seemed like hours, I called and called, trying to find that sweet spot in my timing and frequency. The S01R operator was working split, of course, and I kept adjusting my transmit frequency, trying to anticipate where they might listen next. It was a game of patience and strategy, competing with hundreds, if not thousands, of other stations all vying for that coveted QSO.

Just when fatigue was starting to set in, and I was considering calling it a night, I heard it - "golf zero romeo india foxtrot, 59" - my callsign coming back to me through the noise. The surge of adrenaline was immediate. I quickly responded with my report, heard the confirmation, and it was done. Western Sahara was in the log - another new one to add to my DXCC country count!

The feeling of finally breaking through after such a prolonged effort was exhilarating. It's moments like these that make DXing so addictive. The combination of skill, patience, a bit of propagation luck, and that final moment of success - it's what keeps us coming back to the radio, chasing that next elusive contact.

After logging the contact, I sat back in my chair with a broad smile, already looking forward to the QSL card that would eventually make its way to my shack, a tangible reminder of this hard-fought DX battle. 

Radio:  Kenwood TS-480SAT

Antenna:  Sloper

Power:  100w

Location:  Great Barr, Birmingham