DKARS Magazine 201507

DX News
By Steve Telenius-Lowe, PJ4DX
This month, we take a look forward to some of the major DXpeditions that have been announced for later in the year and in the early part
of 2016.
CHESTERFIELD ISLANDS, FK / TX
A DX-pedition to the Chesterfield Islands (îles Chesterfield in
French) is planned for 1 to 12 October 2015. The callsign
will be TX3X. Team Leader is Pista, HA5AO, and there are
11 other operators, according to the TX3X.com website.
The Chesterfield Islands are part of the territory of New
Caledonia and are located in the Coral Sea, 550km northwest
of Grande Terre, about half way between Australia and
New Caledonia. The archipelago is 120 km long and 70km
wide and is made up of 11 islets and many reefs. The land
area of the islands is less than 10 km2. Chesterfield lagoon,
located between 19°00' and 20°30' S and 158°10' and 159°
E covers an area of approximately 3500km2. This lagoon is
surrounded by a barrier reef interrupted by wide passes
except on its eastern side where it is open for over 20
nautical miles (37 km).
PALMYRA, KH5
After many months of negotiations with US Fish and Wildlife
and The Nature Conservancy, the Palmyra Island
DX-pedition Group has been awarded permission to activate
Cooper Island in Palmyra Atoll (IOTA OC-085). The dates
are likely to be 11 to 25 January 2016. A team of 12 highly
experienced operators (KØIR, K4UEE, K6MM, K9CT,
K9NW, N2TU, N9TK, ND2T, WØGJ, W3OA, W8HC and
WB9Z) plan to operate five stations over a 14-day period,
using 160m to 6m on all modes. The callsign will be
announced later. The DX-pedition's website
(palmyra2016.org) will provide updates as they become
available. Palmyra (KH5) ranks in the top 10 on the Most
Wanted List and is number 2 in Europe.
JUAN DE NOVA, FT4J
The French team that put on the very successful FT4TA
DXpedition to the remote and rare island of Tromelin in the
Indian Ocean in October – November 2014 has announced
a major DX-pedition to the neighbouring island of Juan de
Nova in March 2016. A team of 10 people will operate for a
period of 15 days. The islands of Juan de Nova and Europa are
one DXCC entity. Like the other French ‘Scattered Islands’, they
have been put on the air in the past mainly by meteorologists
working on the islands. Since the automation of weather
stations and the gradual disappearance of radio amateurs
among the military stationed on the Scattered Islands, no
activity has taken place. The last DX-pedition from this DXCC
entity goes back to 2003, the year a military team made 34.000
contacts using the callsigns TO4E / TO4WW from Europa. As for
Juan de Nova, one must go back to the 1980s for the last true DX
-pedition. Demand is very high on all bands and modes.
These territories are sensitive and protected areas and
access to these islands is subject to approval from TAAF
(Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, the Territory
of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands).
Seb, F5UFX, Team Leader for Juan de Nova 2016 said that
they will “make every effort to allow a maximum of radio
amateurs around the world to establish contact with Juan
de Nova. Special attention will be given to the most difficult
areas and to the low bands, especially under-utilised in
previous DX-peditions.”
Further information is at www.juandenovadx.com and on
various social networks such as Facebook and Twitter
(@JuandeNovaDX).
HEARD ISLAND, VKØEK
Bob Schmieder, KK6EK, of Cordell Expeditions, is the Team
Leader for a DX-pedition to the rarely-visited Heard Island
scheduled for three weeks in the period March – April 2015.
The callsign will be VKØEK. While the radio operation is the
primary goal, the team will also carry out a limited scientific
programme, including a search for new species that can
enhance our understanding of biodiversity and the effects of
climate change.
KERGUELEN, FT5K
The VKØEK DX-pedition team has also been granted
permission to visit the Kerguelen Islands (FT5K) after the
conclusion of the operations at Heard Island. "It is not yet
determined whether a radio operation will be authorised",
the team says, but "we are pursuing this possibility".
According to a report on 425 DX News in January this year,
the team expressed hopes for a three to four day activity.
Team Leader of the TX3X Chesterfield Islands operation, Pista, HA5AO, on a
previous DX-pedition.
OTHERS . . .
If the above are not enough to whet your appetite, other
DX-peditions have been announced to Bouvet (3YØF),
South Georgia (VP8SGI) and South Sandwich (VP8STI)
and even North Korea (P5) for late 2015 / early 2016.
73 de Steve, PJ4DX
DKARS Magazine, editie 13 -29- juli 2015