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!
Cape Verde QRV in January
While you’re preparing to hopefully log a couple of All-Time New Ones with the Crozet Islands and Bouvet Island DXpeditions in the coming days, don’t forget there are other, albeit less rare, fish in the sea—or in this case, the central Atlantic Ocean. Here’s a great opportunity to work the archipelago of Cape Verde, a country 350 miles off the west coast of Africa near Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania. From January 3 to January 21, the D44TWO DXpedition operated by DF2WO will be on HF+6 FT8 with some SSB and CW. Satellite operations will be through QO-100. Find more details and photos on D44TWO’s QRZ page.
About Cape Verde
Ranked as the 215th Most-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of November, Cape Verde (D4), officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde, has a population of nearly 562,000. The combined land area of the archipelago’s ten volcanic islands (all but one are inhabited) is 1,557 square miles, placing it 50th out of 54 African countries based on size. For the sake of comparison, Rhode Island—the smallest state—is 1,034 square miles. Santiago, the site of Cape Verde’s capital city, Praia, is the largest of the archipelago’s islands both in size and population. A former colony of Portugal until achieving independence in 1975, Cape Verde’s official language is Portuguese, but Cape Verdean Creole is also widely spoken throughout the country. Today, Cape Verde is recognized as one of Africa’s most democratic nations. Lacking natural resources, tourism plays a major role in its economy.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting Cape Verde over the years (a good reason to contact them for help with your gear if you’d like to do the same). Here are a few of the QSL cards from their collections.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, made contact with D44TIB (January 2013, 20M CW) and D44AC (October 2009, 20M SSB; March 2010, 10M SSB). D44AC was operating from Sao Vicente—a 925-square-mile island with a population of around 81,000. Its desert climate sees about five inches of rainfall annually.
George, K3GP, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received this card from D44AC in February 2003.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, reached the D44TD DXpedition from Santa Maria—a city in the southern portion of Cape Verde’s Sal Island. Sal (population of around 40,000) is a tourist hotspot known for its white sandy beaches and perpetual sunshine. Also below is a card from the Monteverde Contest Team.
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, and George, K3GP, reached D44TC from Sal Island.
Dave, N8NB, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, contacted D4B operating from Sao Vicente Island.
Dave, K8DV, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, and Dave, N8NB, both received this card from D4C.
Scott, N3RA, DX Engineering sales manager, received these two cards from the Monteverde Contest Team. Monteverde, “green mountain” in Portuguese, is a 2,441-foot mountain in the eastern part of Sao Vicente.
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