DX Engineering has provided a range of equipment—including best-of-class DX Engineering coaxial cable assemblies—for the upcoming remote activation of this rare entity in January/February.
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Ready to record your first All-Time New One for 2026? You won’t have long to wait for the opportunity, but, rest assured, you won’t be alone in your pursuit.
The DXing year starts off in rousing fashion with the remote KP5/NP3VI activation of Desecheo Island—the 14th Most Wanted DXCC Entity as of December 2025, per Club Log. The DXpedition is being done in collaboration with the Vieques Island Amateur Radio Club (NP3VI) and the Manyana DX Foundation.
Two self-sustained Remote Deployable Units (RDUs) will be set up on Desecheo—a heavily restricted National Wildlife Refuge which has been administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1983. The RDUs, which will operate 24/7, were provided by the Manyana DX Foundation and Remote Ham Radio.
The KP5/NP3VI team plans to deploy the RDUs between Jan. 12-14 (weather permitting) and run the DXpedition for 30 days. This will mark the first activation of this uninhabited island 13 miles off the west coast of Puerto Rico since the 22-operator, 13-day K5D DXpedition in February 2009. That operation logged 115,590 SSB, CW, and Digital QSOs.
DX Engineering Joins the Effort
The goal of the 2026 Desecheo DXpedition is to provide operators worldwide with as many ATNOs as possible, according to the KP5/NP3VI team. To make this a reality, they will be relying on high-quality equipment provided by sponsor DX Engineering, including:
Other gear provided by DX Engineering includes:
- M2 6M3 6 Meter Yagi Antenna
- Comet CA-52HB4 Wide Band Beam Antenna
- Alpha Delta UHF Connector Coaxial Cable Surge Protectors
- WiMo Heavy-Duty Fiberglass Telescopic Masts
- Chameleon 9:1 UNUN (below)
More About Desecheo Island
Desecheo Island is located in the Mona Passage, a strait that separates Puerto Rico from Hispaniola. Featuring rugged terrain, dry forests, and grasslands, the island measures slightly more than half a square mile, or about 360 acres.
Once a nesting haven for thousands of seabirds, Desecheo has a history of invasive species (goats, rhesus monkeys, and rats), along with U.S. military activity, that led to habitat degradation and the virtual elimination of seabirds from the island. In 2016, a joint effort by several organizations resulted in the removal of species that damaged the ecosystem and made the refuge inhospitable for seabirds, which are slowly returning to Desecheo. Read more at the American Bird Conservancy website.
QSL Cards
Desecheo Island has been activated a handful of times since it was designated a DXCC entity in 1979. While it will hopefully be an ATNO for some members of the DX Engineering team who will be in the KP5/NP3VI pileups, here are a few of the QSL cards from those who were fortunate enough to capture this rare one:
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, provided us with the QSL card from the K5D DXpedition mentioned above.
You can watch a slide show of the K5D operation below:
In addition to contacting K5D, Scotty, KG9Z, DX Engineering customer service/technical support specialist, reached KP2A in June 1981. The card mentions that the island was used as a bombing range during World War II. This lasted until 1952, but it left a legacy of unexploded bombs still on the island—one of the reasons authorities are reluctant to grant permission for boots-on-land ham radio operations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website notes: “Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge is closed to the public due to the presence of unexploded military ordnance.”
Scott, N3RA, DX Engineering sales manager, received this QSL card from KP2A/D in June 1981 when his callsign was WB3KKX.
Visit DXEngineering.com for everything you need to upgrade your station to make sure you’re ready when entities like Desecheo Island are on the air.
You’ll find transceivers, antennas, amplifiers, CW keys and paddles, headsets and speakers, reference books like “Ham Radio DX: A Complete Guide,” and much more.
Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
