Frozen and foreboding Bouvet Island, the most remote spot in the world, remains an elusive quarry for legions of DX hunters who well understand the logistical nightmare of operating from there and the disappointment stemming from the noble but failed attempts to activate it in recent years.
This coveted DXCC entity, second to North Korea on Clublog’s Most-Wanted List, has seen only a handful of successful DXpeditions, including 3Y5X in 1989 and the noteworthy trip of the late Dr. Charles “Chuck” Brady, N4BQW, a retired astronaut and DXpeditioner who traveled to Bouvet Island (3Y0C) as part of a research team in December of 2000 and logged 17,000 QSOs during his three-month stay.
Attempting to add to this legacy is the 3Y0J DXpedition. Two members of the team, Otis, NP4G and Dave, WD5COV, discussed what it’s going to take to pull off the activation of what interviewer, DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR, called “the worst place on Earth.” DX Engineering is one of the equipment sponsors of the DXpedition, along with InnovAntennas and others. DX Engineering has a long history of supporting DXpeditions, including building a custom 90-foot top-loaded 160M vertical antenna that was originally made for Bouvet 3Y0Z and was eventually deployed, with great results, during the VP6R Pitcairn Island DXpedition in 2019. Note: The video mentions that the DXpedition is scheduled for November, but that has since been revised to January 2023.
As NP4G pointed out, more people have been to space than to Bouvet, which is located in the South Atlantic Ocean 1,100 miles north of the Princess Astrid Coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. About half the size of Manhattan, uninhabited Bouvet is mostly covered in ice and snow (about 93%) and experiences 300 storms annually, with winds reaching 100 MPH.
Watch the video below for information on where the 13-member 3Y0J operation plans to set up camp; plans for getting equipment and team members on the island; accommodations for staying at the “Bouvet Hilton”; the importance of support from clubs, individual hams, and ham-focused businesses; and 3Y0J’s lofty goal of making 200,000 QSOs on CW, SSB, FT8 and RTTY. Over two weeks on the island, plans are to have six or seven stations on the air 24/7, as the bands allow, to maximize the number of hams who can finally plunge a thumbtack through tiny Bouvet.
WD5COV, the DXpedition’s “low band guy,” talked about plans to build a top-loaded vertical for 160M out of the DX Engineering ATK65A Telescoping Aluminum Antenna Tubing Kit. The kit, which can be used to build an antenna with a maximum height of 65 feet, includes stainless steel band clamps and a set of five guy rings. Look for the full list of DX Engineering gear that will be making its way to Bouvet Island in an upcoming post.
Check out the video here:
https://www.facebook.com/DXEngineering/videos/3113073125572641
For updated information, visit the 3Y0J website. And for those who will be chasing this rare contact, now’s a great time to start upgrading your station at DXEngineering.com, where you’ll find transceivers, antennas, amplifiers, keys and paddles, coaxial cable, and everything you could possibly need to give yourself a better shot at reaching Bouvet Island.
