How Hard is it to Stage a Solo DX'pedition?

[Clark L. Stewart]

So you think you want to put on your own DX'pedition BY YOURSELF?  And to do it on Moon-Bounce?  Well, Alex, EA8DBM is on his way right now to put Chatham Island, ZL7, on the air on 23cm EME.  Of course he needs to take a computer, transceiver, amplifier, power supplies, 2.4m folding dish, feedlines, and all the other necessary radio equipment plus his personal belongings - not to mention all the details of finding a location where he can operate, getting authorized to operate ham radio in that country, airline and other transportation arrangements, travel visa's, etc.  All by himself!!

He has done this (operated as a solo DX'peditioner on 23cm EME) from the Dominican Republic, Peru, Maldives, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Albania, Latvia, Aland Islands, Guernsey Island, Jersey Island, and Isle of Man in just the last year!!! 

Prior to that he activated: Palau, Guam, Saipan, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ceuta & Melilla, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Lithuania, Faroe Islands, San Marino, Corsica, Sardinia, and North Macedonia in the preceding year!  WOOF!

By my count that is 32 DX'peditions in the last 2 years alone.  AMAZING!  That is 1/3 of an EME DXCC! 

And, his 2.4m Folding Dish (the same antenna I use) is showing the wear and tear of all that travel:



Plus here is a photo of his station from his last operation in the Dominican Republic showing some of the equipment he needs to take with him:




After his current effort to activate Chatham Island, he will be heading to New Zealand.  Both of those will hopefully be New DXCC Entities for me on 23cm!  (After I work CYØS, Sable Island, of course!)

As an aside, because ZL7 and ZL are so far away from WV, I only have a MAXIMUM "Common-Moon" window of 3 hours each day with that part of the world.  And believe me, there will be a LOT of folks trying to work Alex.  Wish me luck!


The following is a post Alex made to his Blog just this morning, which shows just some of the difficulties he faces in these trips:

ZL7/LY3UM from loc: AE16rb (parts 1) - Posted by EA8DBM:

My journey to Chatham Island (ZL7) has begun! As far as I know, this island has never been activated on 23 cm EME before.

During the planning phase, I had the idea to operate on 144 MHz as well. For this, I urgently bought two 9-element Yagis and an LNA with relays from “Antennas-Amplifiers” in Serbia, plus a brand new 1 kW amp. Unfortunately, the amplifier didn’t survive the flight to Tenerife in my checked baggage, and all my attempts to fix it during the last two days before departure led to nothing. It’s a real shame.

Then came the news from Air Chathams that my morning flight to the island was canceled. I will only arrive there on the evening of March 21, which is already after moonset. So, minus one moon window.

On Tuesday, I flew to Madrid, since my connecting flight through central China was scheduled for Wednesday morning. In the evening, I had a glass of beer at the bar and went to sleep with a light heart, but something was subconsciously bothering me.

And in the morning, just 4 hours before my flight, it suddenly hit me: in the stressful rush of the last few days of packing, I completely forgot to apply for the New Zealand NZeTA (their equivalent of the ESTA)!!!! And without it, they won’t let you board the plane. Actually, they won’t even let you check in.

“Combat berserker” mode activated: I frantically start searching for where I can urgently fill out and pay for this NZeTA (which normally costs about 20 euros). I stumbled upon some site called iVisa — they promised to do it in a couple of hours for 400 euros! With no other choice, I filled out the form, paid the crazy fee, and rushed to the airport.

At the check-in counter, naturally, they turn me away and say they can’t let me fly without the New Zealand visa. Bingo — I’ve never had an adventure quite like this before. I asked for an airline representative and somehow managed to convince her that I could at least fly to China, since they recently introduced a visa-free transit for up to 6 days. The downside was that my checked baggage would only go as far as China too. I’d have to collect it there and go through immigration into the city, but having no real choice, I happily nodded, dropped my bags, and sprinted to the gate.

Literally the moment I passed security, I got a message that New Zealand had approved my NZeTA and I was good to enter.

Upon arriving in Chongqing, it took me a couple of hours to get through customs and find the luggage storage room. But as they say, you have to pay for your own stupidity!

Tonight is my flight to Auckland, an overnight stay there, and on the afternoon of March 21, the final flight to Chatham. If nothing else gets lost and I don’t “pull off” any more crazy stunts, I plan to be on the air by the morning of March 22.

Needless to say, weather permitting, I will be in the hunt for Alex on 23cm EME!


73, Clark, W8TN

[Tommy Hodges]

Thank for the write up and wow! That OM is busy!!

Tommy K8AAT

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