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Brief about DX-pedition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A DX-pedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place
by amateur radio operators, perhaps because of its remoteness or
because there are very few radio amateurs active from that place.
This could be an island, a country, or even a particular spot on a
geographical grid. Usually these are activated to help operators who
need to contact that area to obtain an amateur radio award.
There are several awards sponsored by various organizations based on
contacting many different countries. Perhaps the most famous of
these is the DX Century Club (DXCC) award sponsored by the ARRL. The
base level of this award involves contacting and confirming 100
distinct geographical entities, usually countries, as defined by the
ARRL.
A "country" or "entity" for radio award purposes is any location
that is both politically and physically remote from other
jurisdictions/locations. Even though Alaska and Hawaii are
politically part of the United States, they are separate DX
countries.
On the other hand, many DXpeditions take place from locations with
adequate access to power and supplies, often where the country has a
small resident amateur population or where licensing is very
difficult. Many Caribbean and Pacific island nations, as well as
European micro-states, have very small populations, but have hotels,
reliable power, and supplies, and are easy to gain operating
permission in. Therefore these states are regularly activated by
amateurs, often in combination with a family holiday.
Other jurisdictions take a more stringent view of individual access
to communications equipment, and are rare because very few amateurs
are licensed in those countries and visitors find it difficult or
impossible to gain operating permits. Examples include North Korea,
Yemen and Iran.
Finally, some locations are rare due to their extreme
inaccessibility - examples include Peter I Island or Clipperton
Island. When amateurs travel to remote locations such as these they
must first obtain permission to operate from that location from
whatever political jurisdiction rules the area they wish to travel
to.
Once operating permission is assured, then transportation must be
arranged. This can be both expensive and dangerous. Some locations
are coral atolls that almost submerged at high tide; others are
sub-polar islands with inhospitable climates. The amateur must also
take care of the basic necessities such as food, water, and power.
In addition to licensing and survival issues, DX-pedition
participants devote much attention with the radio equipment they
use.
In an extremely rare location for a popular awards program like DXCC,
many thousands of stations may be calling the DXpedition at any one
time. Therefore, DXpeditioners will aim to use high power and gain
antennas on as many bands as practical, in order to achieve a loud
signal worldwide and keep control of the inevitable pileups that
occur. This will also enable the operation to make a substantial
number of contacts with parts of the planet have unfavourable
propagation from the area visited, lying perhaps on the opposite
side of the polar region from it. Examples would be the Central
Pacific from Europe or the Caribbean from Japan.
For smaller operations to remote locations, smaller radios which run
off of 12V DC and antenna systems which are more easily transported
are favored over larger and more difficult to transport equipment.
When the individual or group arrives at the DX-pedition destination,
they must set up their station and get on the air. DX-peditions are
usually group affairs since the desire is to make as many contacts
as possible from the location. Round-the-clock operations on
multiple HF bands are typical, thus it is a more likely a group
activity.
Holiday operations from locations where there are few resident
operators are often more leisurely affairs, nonetheless the operator
will seek to make as many contacts as possible in the operating time
available, with the result that contacts are often extremely brief,
limited just to an exchange of signal reports.
Many DX-peditions are organized around various radio contests that
happen throughout the year.
The largest DX-pedition measured by the number of contacts made was
in 2001. The group made 168,000 contacts from a location on the
Comoros island of Grande Comore.
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