The excitement is building for the VU4AX DXpedition to South Andaman Island scheduled for March 10-20, 2025. This 12-operator HF (160-10M, including WARC bands and some CW/FT4-FT8 on 60M) activation presents an excellent opportunity for DXers who are hoping to fight through the pileups and put the combined DXCC entity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in their logbooks.
The DX-Adventure team plans to run six Elecraft K3 stations 24/7 on SSB, CW, and FT4-FT8—an arduous task considering the high heat and humidity the operators will certainly face. Read the VU4AX band plan from its website, plus find many more details on the team’s strategy for helping hams worldwide record ATNOs and fill bands for this 58th Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of February (even more rare in the U.S.).
The highly accomplished and well-traveled VU4AX team consists of Marc, ON4AMX; Patrick, ON4HIL; Max, ON5UR; Pascal, ON5RA; Karel, ON5TN; Marc, ON6CC; Jonas, ON7FT; Geert, ON7USB; Franky, ON7RU; Francis, ON8AZ; Ronald, PA3EWP; and Marcel, PA9M.
DX Engineering is a proud equipment sponsor of VU4AX. The team will be relying on six microHAM DXP Portable Digital Mode and Radio Control Interfaces and Radio Interface Cables for the DXP and Elecraft K3 Transceivers (below) provided by DX Engineering.
About the microHAM DXP Portable Digital Mode and Radio Control Interface
This lightweight and portable device offers improved decoding of the received audio signal because of a high-dynamic-range, low-noise, 24-bit audio ADC and DAC for all digital modes, which improves the ability to pick out weak signals when strong signals are nearby. It is also useful for phase-modulated signals like FT8, JT-65, PSK-31, or FSK. CW operation is supported by version 3.1 of the popular WinKey CW processor developed by K1EL with full FSK support, making it easy to key the transceiver.
The built-in 24-bit USB sound card offers a variety of benefits such as improved signal-noise ratio, greater dynamic range (>105 dB), lower noise floor, and improved weak-signal decoding compared to standard 16-bit audio interfaces or USB-enabled transceivers. The use of an external USB radio control interface leaves the computer’s sound card free to perform its duties for the operating system (like system sounds or video), surpassing the onboard 16-bit USB audio limitation of most computers.
Other sponsors of VU4AX include:
- 4O3A (NC-1 Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Boom Mic Headsets and High-Power Band Pass Filters)
- RigExpert (Shackmaster Power 600 Compact Desktop Power Supplies)
Back in June 2022, OnAllBands featured Andaman and Nicobar Islands QSL cards from the collections of the DX Engineering team.
This union territory of India, consisting of 572 islands from the Andaman and Nicobar groups, is located at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, which separates it from Thailand and Myanmar. The territory’s capital city of Port Blair (population 140,500, 3,185 square miles) is located on South Andaman Island (IOTA AS-001)—one of Andaman’s main islands along with North Andaman and Middle Andaman, collectively recognized as Great Andaman.
Our favorite QSL card below, from the collection of DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist David, K8DV, shows Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, who provided life-saving communications in the aftermath of the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean Tsunami—the deadliest disaster of the 21st century.
Triggered by a 9.2 magnitude earthquake (known in the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake), the tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people in 14 countries, including hundreds of confirmed deaths in the Andaman and Nicobar chain. While operating in Port Blair during a South Andaman Island DXpedition, VU2RBI quickly pivoted from handling pileups to EMCOMM duties.
“I contacted Indian hams in other states and told them about what had happened,” VU2RBI told the Washington Post after the disaster. “The whole world of radio hams was looking for us because they had not heard from us after the tremors. But I also knew this was going to be a big disaster. I immediately abandoned my expedition and told all radio operators to stop disturbing me. I was only on emergency communication from then on.”
For her heroics and numerous other accomplishments, Bharathi, VU2RBI, was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2006. Discover much more about her amazing life on the air at her website.
Look for more about the VU4AX DXpedition at OnAllBands in the weeks ahead.
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!
