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!
The Dominican Republic Active in December
The last month of 2021 kicked off with a DXpedition from the Dominican Republic by DL2SBY (December 1-14) operating on the HF bands in CW, FT8, and SSB. Hope you were able to make contact!
Located on the island of Hispaniola (NA-096), the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island. The other portion is Haiti. Area-wise, the Dominican Republic is the second largest nation in the Antilles behind only Cuba. It has a population of 10.8 million, with roughly a third of its inhabitants living in Santo Domingo, its capital city. The most-visited spot in the Caribbean (its average temperature is a ham- and golfing-friendly 78.8 degrees F), the Dominican Republic has been an inviting location for DXpeditions. It ranked as the 265th Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of November.
Amateur Radio on the Island
The Dominica Amateur Radio Club Inc. (DARCI) was founded in November 1968 with a mandate to “advance the art of amateur radio on the island and create a social environment.” One of the club’s stated goals is to “provide radio communications before, during and after disasters when other means have failed, and in peace time to assist social and other groups requiring radio communications.” In addition to educating the public about the role of amateur radio, the club has a history of providing vital assistance when emergency communication was needed, including helping out during these notable events:
- Hurricane David, 1979
- Hurricanes Marilyn and Louis, 1991
- Tropical Storm Erica, 2016
- Hurricane Maria, 2017
Visit the club’s Facebook page for many more details.
Another organization, Radio Club Dominicano Inc. (RCD), celebrated its 95th year in June 2021 with a special operating event from Santo Domingo using the call sign HI95RCD. Learn more about the RCD on its Facebook page.
While radiosport has its place in the Dominican Republic, the country’s passion for another sport, baseball, is king. The Dominican Republic boasts a number of diamond greats who sprung from this baseball hotbed, including Juan Marichal, Albert Pujois, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Bartolo Colon, and Adrian Beltre, to name a few.
QSL Cards
Here are a few of the QSL cards from the Dominican Republic collected by the active operators at DX Engineering over the years.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, reached HI3CCP in December 2009 on 10M SSB.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, contacted HI3TEJ operating from Puerto Plata in 2010/11 on 80, 20, and 6M SSB. A trading port and popular resort area, Puerto Plata is the Dominican Republic’s third largest city. He also reached JA6WFM/HIC on 15M SSB (March 2005) and 10M SSB (December 2003).
David, K8DV, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, contacted HI3NR in March 2005 on 15M SSB.
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