September is a particularly busy month for DXpeditions this year. That’s good news for the hobby and even better news for DXers like you hoping to record ATNOs or fill bands. We featured a few of the September 2025 activations earlier this month at OnAllBands. Here are a few more along with QSL cards collected over the years by the active operators at DX Engineering.
Christmas Island
It’s Christmas in September! SP9FIH as VK9/SP9FIH is scheduled to be operating from Christmas Island (IOTA OC-002) Sept. 19-Oct. 3 on 30-10M in SSB and FT4/8.
As of September, Christmas Island—an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean about 840 nautical miles from the Australian mainland—was ranked as the 76th Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog. The 52-square-mile island has a population of around 1,600. It received its festive name from English sea captain William Mynors, who discovered it on Christmas Day 1643.
Its flag displays the winning design of a competition held by the Christmas Island Assembly in 1986. The design was adopted as the official island flag in 2002. It features a golden bosun bird, a map of the island, and the Southern Cross constellation. Endemic to Christmas Island, the golden bosun is a subspecies of the white-tailed tropicbird.
DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist Mark, W8BBQ, worked the VK9X/K7CO Christmas Island DXpedition on 10 and 15 meters in SSB. It’s always a thrill to have DX Engineering gear operating from the far-flung corners of the world. The front of this QSL features one of DX Engineering’s TW Antennas—powerful and portable HF antennas that can be set up in minutes and provide exceptional coverage from 80 to 10 meters, depending on the model you choose. How easy is it to deploy a TW antenna? Check out this video.
Réunion Island
F1TEQ as FR/F1TEQ will be on 20 and 15 meters from Réunion Island Sept. 20-28. You can reach F1TEQ on SSB and FT8 from this overseas department and region of France (slightly smaller than Rhode Island) in the Indian Ocean, 422 miles east of Madagascar. As of September, Réunion Island was ranked as the 221st Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, reached FR/DJ7RJ in October 2013. This spectacular card displays the shield volcano known as Piton de la Fournaise—one of the world’s most active volcanos and a major tourist attraction.
Palau
JK1CEK will be operating holiday style for the T88SF activation of Palau scheduled for Sept. 18-22. You can reach JK1CEK on 160-6M in FT4/8 and possibly SSB and CW. The operation’s QTH is Malakal (IOTA OC-009), an island in the state of Koror, Palau. Koror Island is Palau’s commercial center, containing the majority of its population (11,000 out of 17,600). Reality show buffs will remember that the tenth season of Survivor was filmed in Koror—one of about 340 islands (12 inhabited) which make up the republic.
Tom, KB8UUZ, worked the January 2016 T88SM DXpedition from Koror Island on 15M CW.
Seychelles
Here’s a chance to make some magic with DL2SBY, who will conducting an HF activation with a focus on 6M from Sept. 28-Oct. 12 from the Republic of Seychelles, 115 islands in the Somali Sea portion of the Indian Ocean, 860 miles east of Kenya. Only eight of the islands are inhabited. Seychelles ranks as the 173rd Most-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, made contact with S79SAL from Mahe Island in July 2010 on 20M SSB.
There are a variety of turtle and tortoise species in the Seychelles archipelago, including hawksbill, green, leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, and the Aldabra giant tortoise. There are more than 100,000 giant tortoises on Seychelles’ Aldabra atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. As one of the world’s largest tortoises, these reptiles can grow up to four feet long and weigh as much as 700-plus pounds.
Visit DXEngineering.com for everything you need to upgrade your station to make sure you’re ready when entities like Seychelles poke out of their shells. 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!
