VP6DX Ducie Island: A well run DXpedition
The VP6DX DXpedition to Ducie Island is coming to an end and I’m sure many are wondering if this one will set the bar as one of the best ever. The logistics are impressive: 7 stations running on an island that is a mere 0.7 km² and has a maximum elevation of 4m above the sea. Just getting to Ducie presents some challenges that most DXpeditions don’t have to face. Then there’s the current propagation and mayhem in the pileups.
In my opinion, these guys deserve a round of thanks from the DX community. They have managed the pileups well, overcome some major hurdles, and put out a very user friendly effort (down to the website with frequent logbook updates via Iridium). Besides that, they’ve had some "great ears" with the extra effort on receiving antennas for low bands.
As you can see, I’ve worked them now on all modes and all practical bands (no chance for 6m from here). I could still get a few combinations before they shutdown, but I’m pretty happy with what I’ve been able to work.
I took several hours to get RTTY going again in my shack (first time on this PC). 80m and 160m are still a struggle here - so the fact that I’ve worked them on these bands is mostly attributed to their beverage antennas, not my station.
I did waste a few hours last night on 80m CW… waiting for them to switch from working EU to NA. Didn’t happen (at least not before 10:30 pm local). Oh well, if it was too easy, it wouldn’t be fun.
I hope that future DXpeditions learn from what has worked well on Ducie and what hasn’t. They still have time left on the island and have already broken many DXpedition records and have over 173,000 QSOs in the log!
Despite the sunspots, 2008 is shaping up to be a great year for DX.