Ever carefully pack for a vacation and realize, usually just before boarding your flight, that you forgot to bring that whatchamacallit or thingamabob that’s sitting on your nightstand and somehow never made it into the suitcase? Most of the time, this minor glitch in your plans can be remedied by simply buying what you need at your destination. Problem solved.
But what if you were traveling to the most remote island in the world—a frozen outpost of volcanic rock where you’re pretty much stuck with what you brought along? And what if the trip involved toting large amounts of ham radio gear critical to the mission (in this case, logging 200,000 CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8 QSOs while stationed on Bouvet Island)? Then leaving a piece of equipment behind or not checking all the boxes of what you’d need would become a very big deal, indeed—unless, of course, DX Engineering has plans for setting up a showroom on Bouvet, which it doesn’t.
The great thing about the Bouvet Island 3Y0J DXpedition, now scheduled for January 2023, is that’s it’s made up of a team of seriously well-traveled DXpeditioners who know what it takes to pull off such a complicated undertaking. Over the next several months we’ll be keeping you up to date on DX Engineering gear that will be playing a role in helping hams around the world snag Bouvet Island, the second-most-wanted DXCC entity per Clublog.
Last month we highlighted some of the DX Engineering equipment that will be deployed on Bouvet, including the ATK65A Telescoping Aluminum Antenna Tubing Kit. Plans are to use the kit to construct a top-loaded vertical antenna for 160M. Other gear includes COMTEK 30VA 30 Meter and 40VA 40 Meter Vertical Antennas, DVA Dual Vertical Array Systems for 30M and 40M, Stainless Steel Element Clamp Kits, Guy Rings, and more. See this OnAllBands post from last month.
Here are a few more DX Engineering items to add to the Bouvet Island 3Y0J packing list:
Vertical Antenna Fixed Base Assembly (DXE-VE-BASE): The assembly is designed to support a 2-inch O.D. HF lower antenna base section in a fixed vertical position. The base assembly consists of a unique, reinforced fiberglass insulating channel, which has twice the strength of commonly used nylon and other insulating materials. It’s fastened with stainless steel V-bolt saddle clamps to a rugged ¼ inch aluminum mounting plate.
Radial Plates (DXE-RADP-3): Laser-cut from 304 stainless steel, the DX Engineering Radial Plate provides a neat and effective way to connect radial wires and the coax to your vertical antenna for the lowest takeoff angle and strongest signals. This plate works perfectly with most commercially available vertical antennas such as the Hustler BTV series (4BTV through 6BTV), the SteppIR (BiggIR or SmallIR) or an antenna of your own construction. Its elegant design prompted one operator to comment, “It is so beautiful I want to frame it and put it up on the wall, not in the dirt under my vertical.” We recommend the latter. Picture frame not included.
Silver Plated Female SecureMount Bulkhead Connector Kit (DXE-UHF-FDFB-KIT): This kit provides a positive, permanently secure connection for your coaxial cable. Unlike many common nickel-plated bulkhead connectors, this connector has no air space within its midpoint. This area of solid and superior PTFE dielectric between the center conductor and body maintains constant impedance and ultimate performance. What do hams say? “Five stars. This connector is an exact fit for the DX Engineering radial plate. Most other connectors on the market are not a proper fit.”
Feedpoint Wire Assembly for Ground-Mount Vertical Radiator (DXE-FP-WIRE-P): This unique assembly has a ring terminal with a ¼ inch hole that is crimped and soldered to a 12-inch insulated 14 AWG stranded copper wire, complete with weather-protective heat shrink tubing. The feedpoint wire is terminated to the center pin of an N-type male or UHF male PL-259 with special insulating sleeves and weather-sealing heat shrink.
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, all the above Bouvet-bound equipment, and everything you could possibly need to give yourself a better shot of reaching this rate DXCC entity.
