Two Indian Islands QRV in December
Earlier this month, hams had the opportunity to contact the AU2K/AU2S DXpedition from Kanika Island (new IOTA entity, AS-179) and Sagar Island (IOTA AS-153). The 40-10M operation on CW, SSB, and FT8 was mainly focused on island chasers hoping to add these locations to their IOTA conquests.
Per the AU2K/AU2S website, the DXpedition’s operators had made more than 10,000 QSOs from Kanika Island, including 250 contacts on 6M. Check the website for updates on the Sagar Island portion of the DXpedition.
About Kanika & Sagar Islands
From the DXpedition website: “This uninhabited island (Kanika) is located in the eastern part of India, at about 21N and 87E, in the state of Odisha (Orissa). The weather is typically hot outside of the monsoon season, with temperatures of 32 to 34 degrees C and moderate humidity. Kanika lies only five km north of the Bhitarkanika National Park, a wildlife reserve which attracts numerous tourists due to its famous seawater crocodiles.”
In 2006, Guinness World Records accepted claims of a 23-foot, four-inch male saltwater crocodile (about the boom length of a DX Engineering Skyhawk Tri-Band Yagi) living within Bhitarkanika National Park—a length that has not been verified due to the difficulty of trapping and measuring a live crocodile.
The DXpedition team noted that Sagar Island was in demand by 83% of IOTA chasers, making it an extremely rare contact among the Indian islands. Sagar Island lies on the continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal and is the site of a Hindu pilgrimage that attracts hundreds of thousands to bathe in the Ganges River every year on Jan. 14.
India currently ranks as the 262nd Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog.
India & Amateur Radio
India’s long history with amateur radio dates back to 1921 when the country’s first amateur (Amarendra Chandra Gooptu, 2JK) was licensed. Today, there are around 22,000 licensed hams in India, including Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, who provided life-saving communications twenty years ago this month in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. While on a DXpedition in the Andaman Islands, she turned from DXer to EMCOMM operator to relay critical information. Bharathi, VU2RBI, was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2006.
In 2005, the amateur radio microsatellite HAMSAT INDIA (OSCAR-52, to hams), was launched into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit. It carries two linear transponders—one built by Dutch radio amateur William Leijenaar, PE1RAH, and the other by amateur radio enthusiasts with assistance from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Failure of the satellite’s onboard lithium-ion batteries hindered its operation in July 2014 on its 49,675th orbit, forcing the ISRO to officially decommission the popular ham radio contact. Amazingly, the satellite was only intended to serve a one-year mission but lasted a decade.
Among other Indian amateur radio satellites, the ISRO launched Swayam-1 in June 2016. Developed by undergraduate students at the College of Engineering, Pune, the 1U CubeSat travels in a low-Earth polar orbit. The project took eight years to complete and involved 200 students.
For those interested in operating amateur radio satellites, watch these excellent videos by OnAllBands blogger Sean Kutzko, KX9X. You’ll also find everything you need at DXEngineering.com to enjoy this fun and challenging aspect of amateur radio, including the satellite-friendly Icom IC-9700 Transceiver, M2 Satellite Antennas, EAntenna DUOSAT Handheld Antenna, and the S.A.T. Self-Contained Antenna Tracker from CSN Technologies.
You can learn much more about the ISRO on its official website. Also, read about the work of AMSAT India—a group of hams who share an interest in building, launching, and communicating via amateur radio satellites.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting India 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.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, reached VU2TS in April 2016.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received this QSL card for his contact with VU2GI in September 1991 on 10M SSB.
Scott, N3RA, DX Engineering sales manager, received this QSL card for making an FT8 QSO in May 2022.
Andaman Islands QRV in March 2025
It’s not too early to start planning for the 2025 Andaman Islands, VU4X, DXpedition scheduled for March 10-25. DX Engineering is proud to sponsor this activation of South Andaman Island, one of about 200 islands of the Andaman Islands group in the Indian Ocean. It is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman (the Andaman Islands’ main archipelago) and home to the majority of the Andaman Islands’ population.
You can read much more about this 12-operator, six-station CW/SSB/Digital DXpedition to the 53rd Most Wanted DXCC Entity (a combined entity with Nicobar Islands) at the VU4X website. The VU4X team will be relying on the following provided by DX Engineering: six microHAM Portable Digital Mode and Radio Control Interfaces and Radio Interface Connector Cables for Electraft K3 transceivers.
Looking to step up your DXing capabilities in 2025? You’ll find everything you need to expand your amateur operating horizons at DXEngineering.com, including transceivers, amplifiers, CW paddles and keys, antennas, headsets, coaxial cables, and 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!
