DXing. Somebody let the air out of the Ham Radio balloon ’round here. Coming on the heels of Bouvet 3Y0K & Desecheo KP5/NP3VI, “DXing” has fallen off a cliff.
But it sure was fun chasing those two DXpeditions all around the airwaves for several weeks earlier this year!
The planning and reactivation of Bouvet took years. It was fun to watch the progress of LA7GIA’s Team fighting through months and months of never ending obstacles. The logistics, the vessel, the sea voyage, raising the money, the videos of the chopper in action, and yes it was also enjoyable watching several naysayers eating crow as 3Y0K racked up over 102,000 Q’s.
For Desecheo KP5/NP3VI and their low power battery only operation it was fun to chase them around the bands on CW and Phone too. The DXpedition seemed to come out of nowhere and land squarely in the sights of thousands of hams. Watching their batteries charge daily was frustrating at times because no battery power meant no “on the air time” but over an “extended” stay KP5/NP3VI still made over 109,000 Q’s.
So for now we wait for the next big DXpedition, Peter I Island 3Y0L. In the meantime it’s time to lift some steel and ride my motorcycles.
See you on the highway (or in the gym). Not to worry fellow “Real DXers” – we’ll see you in the Human Mode pileups again soon enough!
yea…..for now I have to be satisfied going after “smaller fish”…..VJ2L, 3G0Z, T31TTT (well, the few times you can catch them on cw or ssb!), S09S, XT2AW….etc. Hey, gotta’ keep the pileup busting skills honed for the next big one…………..