November 2023 promises to be a busy month for DXpeditions, including the upcoming DX Engineering-sponsored activations of Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands featured in this OnAllBands article.
For today’s QSL card post, we’ll be looking at a few other November DXpeditions you’ll want to circle on your calendar.
Chatham Island
The ZL7A DXpedition by JF1OCQ, JA1SVP, and JE1SYN is scheduled for November 9-22 from this ten-island South Pacific archipelago about 430 miles east of New Zealand’s South Island. The ZL7A team will be operating three stations on 160-10M in SSB, CW, FT8, and FT4. As of September, Chatham Island ranked as the 77th Most-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog.
Dave, K8DV, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, earned this Chatham Island QSL card from ZL7/KH0PR in March 2007 (15M CW). The ZL7/KH0PR card represents one of the mainstays of the Chatham Island economy—sheep breeding.
Marquesas Islands
The TX7L DXpedition from the Marquesas Islands—an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean— is scheduled to run from November 4-19. Nine operators will be working four stations on 160-6M in CW, SSB, FT8, FT4, and RTTY from 122-square-mile Hiva Oa, the second largest of the Marquesas Islands. As of September, the Marquesas Islands ranked as the 58th Most Wanted DXCC entity.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, received the QSL card below for working the 2011 TX7M DXpedition from Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands at 131 square miles.
Christmas Island
The VK9XGM DXpedition from Christmas Island (IOTA OC-002) is scheduled for November 21-December 5. Operators GM3WoJ and GM4YKI will be on 80-10M in SSB, CW, FT8, and FT4. As of September, this Australian external territory (population of around 1,600) in the Indian Ocean ranked as the 66th Most Wanted DXCC entity.
DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist Mark, W8BBQ, worked the 2014 VK9X/K7CO Christmas Island DXpedition on 10 and 15 meters SSB.
The card features a TransWorld (TW) Antenna. DX Engineering acquired TW Antennas in 2016 and is the exclusive manufacturer and retailer of these popular, highly transportable, and easy-to deploy systems. TW antenna packages feature a basic structure consisting of top, bottom, and tee sections with interchangeable “array box center” sections that you can purchase separately for the bands you want.
Check out all the TW Antennas monoband and multiband packages at DXEngineering.com, including the 5-Band Explorer (DXE-TW-2010L-P). This combo (below) delivers excellent 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10M coverage. It includes a portable Quadrastand, basic antenna structure, switchable band box, and a handy travel bag. You supply the coax and your own powered transceiver. This makes an ideal choice for portable HF QRP operating.
