Guyana QRV in February
There’s still time to make contact with the Guyana 8R7X DXpedition featuring four operators ages 25 and under. Guyana, a country on the northern mainland of South America, ranked as the 100th most-wanted DXCC entity as of January per Clublog. The 8R7X CW/SSB/Digital operation is scheduled to run until February 24.
Please check the 8R7X Facebook page for updates.
8R7X’s efforts have been supported by DX Engineering, an equipment sponsor of the DXpedition. Gear provided includes:
- Three Icom IC-7610 HF/50MHz All Mode Transceivers from ICOM USA and DX Engineering
- Samlex Desktop Switching Power Supply (SEC-1235M)
- Heil Sound Headset Adapter Cable
- RigExpert STICK-PRO o.1-600 MHz Antenna Analyzer
- DX Engineering OSL (Open-Short-Load) Calibration Set for RigExpert Antenna Analyzers
Quick Facts about Guyana
- Guyana, officially known as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, covers 83,000 square miles and has a population of around 795,000, making it one of the least densely populated countries in the world.
- About 90% of Guyana’s population resides on its narrow coastal plain, which represents only about 10% of the country’s land area—much of which features heavily forested and rugged terrain. Its capital of Georgetown, surrounded by cane fields and marshy swamps, rests on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Demerara River. 8R7X has been operating from a small farm southeast of the capital.
QSL Cards
Members of the DX Engineering team have had great success contacting Guyana 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 Guyana QSL cards from their collections.
Dave, K8DV, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received Guyana QSL cards from 8R1PW in February 2008 (20/17M CW) and 8R1PY in November 2009 (15M SSB).
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, made contact in June 1998 with longtime DXer and noted DXpeditioner Dr. Bob Eshleman, W4DR, who was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 2011 and won the ARRL Clinton B. DeSoto Cup in 2000. Known as the DXCC Challenge Award, the honor recognizes the station that’s on top of the DXCC Challenge List at the end of each year. W4DR, a retired dentist and former faculty member of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, was licensed at the age of 14 as W4QCW. His first DXpedition was to Navassa Island in 1954 (the first activation of Navassa since the end of World War II). He participated in other celebrated DXpeditions throughout his storied career, including a return to Navassa in 1969 (K4IA/KC4) and YK9A Syria in 2001.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received this unique QSL card from Leguan Island (20M SSB). Nine-mile-long and two-mile-wide Leguan (so named because Dutch settlers found iguanas on the island) has a population of around 2,500. The leatherback turtle, depicted on the card, is a protected species in Guyana—one of the world’s most biodiverse nations.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, produced a nice selection of Guyana QSL cards from his collection. The first card below is from Peter Winston Denny, 8R1WD. An active amateur radio operator, president of the Guyana Amateur Radio Association, IARU liaison, and friend to many in the amateur radio community, Denny worked for many years in Guyana’s Foreign Service, including serving as Ambassador to the Russian Federation in the 1980s and later as Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, among other roles. He became a silent key on November 28, 2020.
George, K3GP, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, earned this card from the 8R1PY DXpedition from Georgetown in November 2007.
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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!
