Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. Some of our favorites are displayed on the cover and inside our 2018 Fall/Winter Catalog, along with stories 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!
From the South Pacific to Africa and Back Again
This month we’re highlighting QSL cards from three DXCC entities that will be active in March: Lesotho, Niue Island, and South Cook Islands. The avid DXers at DX Engineering have had great success over the years making these locations All Time New Ones or filling needed bands. Here’s information about the DXpeditions, plus a few QSL cards we’ve collected over the years.
Niue Island
The E6ET DXpedition to Niue Island, ranked 90th on Club Log’s DXCC Most Wanted List as of February, is scheduled for March 18-April 2. Alex 5B4ALX will be operating on 160-6 meters using SSB, CW, RTTY, and FT8. During the CQ WPX SSB Contest, he will be active as SO20LP. Alex 5B4ALX will be taking along the ICOM 7300 transceiver and solid state amplifier while operating from Niue, a South Pacific Island country about 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand with a predominantly Polynesian population of 1,600. Read more details of the DXpedition here.
Mark W8BBQ, customer/technical support specialist, successfully worked the September 2011 ZK2AB DXpedition to Niue Island on 20 meter SSB.
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Four years later in September 2015, DX Engineering technical writer, Tom KB8UUZ, scored this QSL from the E6GG Niue DXpedition, making contact on 20 and 40 meters CW. The E6GG DXpedition, made up of six UK DXers, netted 46,500 QSOs over 12 days.
Bob W5OV, DX Engineering sales manager and member of the DXCC Honor Roll, earned this QSL more than 30 years ago by making a QSO on 15 meter CW with the ZK2AA DXpedition in November 1988.
Lesotho
Our next DXpedition takes us more than 8,888 miles west of Niue Island across the Indian Ocean to the Kingdom of Lesotho, an enclaved country within the borders of South Africa. The eight-operator 7P8LB 2019 Lesotho team is scheduled to be QRV on all bands from March 8-16. They will be using CW and SSB, with the focus on low bands and FT8—a great opportunity since Lesotho is new for this digital mode. Lesotho sits at #100 on Club Log’s DXCC Most Wanted List. Read more about the 7P8LB DXpedition here.
This QSL card comes from Dave N8NB, technical support specialist and member of the DXCC Honor Roll. He worked the 7P8RU DXpedition on 20 meter SSB in 2010.
George K3GP, customer/technical support specialist, received this scenic QSL card after contacting the 2016 7P8C DXpedition on 20 meter SSB.
South Cook Islands
For our final DXpedition, we sail back to the South Pacific. The South Cook Islands (ranked #173 as of February on Club Log’s DXCC Most Wanted List ) will be active thanks to the E51HMK 2019 DXpedition to Rarotonga (population 14,000). Hans-Martin DK2HM will be QRV on HF SSB as well as FT8. Coming along for the trip to Rarotonga—only 670 miles from Niue Island—will be an ICOM 706MK2G, which will be used from March 14-22 to reach Hams around the globe. Read more about the DXpedition here.
Tom KB8UUZ worked the 2015 E51RAT DXpedition to Rarotonga on 15 meter SSB.
This QSL card, also from Rarotonga, was received by Mark W8BBQ in 2010 from the E51JD DXpedition. He made contact on 15 meter SSB. The card arrived in his mailbox along with a South Cook Islands coin.
Dave N8NB pulled out this South Cooks Island QSL card from his ample collection. He worked the 2006 ZK1NOU DXpedition—an effort of the Willamette Valley DX Club—on 40 meter CW.
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Coming up next month: QSLs from two African DXCC entities that will be active in April: Djibouti and Burkina Faso.
