Dominica QRV in December 2024/January 2025
The J75K DXpedition from the Commonwealth of Dominica by FM5WD, IV3JVJ, and IK3ZAQ is scheduled to run until Jan. 4 from this island country in the Caribbean—part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago. You can try to make contact with this 160-6M operation from IOTA NA-101 on SBB, CW, and FT8.
Among other gear, J75K will be employing Icom IC-7300 HF Plus 50 MHz Transceivers. You can read much more about J75K, its experienced operating team, and QSL information at the DXpedition’s official website.
The 290-square-mile island of Dominica has a population of more than 72,000 and is the 206th Most-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of December. Often confused with the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic (population 10.5 million), Dominica’s similarity in name only to its neighbor in the Caribbean has prompted some passionate and proud Dominicans to advocate for a name change to establish a new identity.
The closeness in name has caused everything from misdirected mail to incorrect news reporting—issues that have rankled Dominicans who are quick to point out that besides their names and locations, the countries are vastly different. English-speaking Dominica is 624 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic, which occupies the larger portion of the island of Hispaniola.
Quick Facts About Dominica
- The Caribs called the island Wai‘tu kubuli, which means “Tall is her body.”
- Christopher Columbus first spotted the island on a Sunday in November 1493. Hence, he named it Dominica after the Latin dies Dominica (Sunday).
- The country is pronounced Daa-muh-neek-ah, with an emphasis on the third syllable. Read here to learn about one woman’s crusade to finally get a BBC statesman to pronounce the name correctly.
- It lies between the French islands of Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the southeast.
- The island gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1978. Dominica Independence Day is celebrated on November 3.
- It is home to the world’s second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. Located in Morne Trois Pitons National Park—a UNESCO World Heritage site—the hot spring is filled with grayish-blue water and engulfed in a vaporous cloud. For the TV series Angry Planet, George Kourounism, suspended by ropes, became the first person to cross 250-foot-wide Boiling Lake from above. The temperature of Boiling Lake ranges from 180-197 degrees Fahrenheit.
Geography Question of the Day
Can you name the country that has the largest hot spring? Answer below.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting Dominica 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, produced two Dominica QSL cards from his collection: J79AN (February/March 2011, 40/20M SSB) and J73CCM (March 2011, 20/17/12M SSB).
George, K3GP, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, made contact with J79CW in November 2005. Per the card, the DXpedition employed a Butternut HF9V on the island. DX Engineering acquired the Butternut product line from Bencher in 2014. Today, DX Engineering manufactures and exclusively sells three Butternut vertical antennas (9-band, 6-band, and 2-band), add-on kits, ground radial kit, mounting post sleeves, hardware, and replacement parts at DXEngineering.com.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, sent us QSL cards from J75RZ and J79WW, which features a photo of members of the Dominica Amateur Radio Club.
Scott, N3RA, DX Engineering sales manager, made a 6M FT8 QSO with J73WA in July 2020.
I’ll take “Hot Springs of the World” for $1,000, Ken.
Dominica has the distinction of being home to the second-largest hot spring on the planet, but where would you find #1? If you said New Zealand, you’ve earned a nice relaxing dip in a hot tub, much more soothing than the 140-degree F temperatures in appropriately named Frying Pan Lake (below). At its widest point, Frying Pan Lake stretches 656 feet. It was formed by a 1917 eruption in Echo Crater, which is located in New Zealand’s Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley.
For all your DXing, contesting, or rag-chewing needs—whether you’re a Big Gun, Little Pistol, or somewhere in between, visit DXEngineering.com for transceivers, amplifiers, antennas,
headsets, and so much more.
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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!
