DX Engineering Gear Plays an Important Role

The historic Rig in a Box N5J DXpedition from the Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge is in the books. Jarvis was the 18^th Most Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog when the activation was fully underway on August 9, 2024.

Thanks to countless hours of planning, technical advancements in the hobby, amazingly skilled offshore and worldwide remote operators, sponsors including DX Engineering, and an active community of DXers, the #18 ranking will certainly take a precipitous fall when the next most-wanted list is released.

N5J marked the first activation of Jarvis Island (a dual entity with Palmyra Island) since the April 1990 AH3C/KH5J DXpedition, which logged 55,000 QSOs over ten days. The only other time Jarvis has been QRV was AD1S/KH5 in November 1983—the first time this 1.7-square-mile coral island in the South Pacific was on the air. 

Along with remote CW and FT8 stations, the N5J at-island operating team of Don Greenbaum, N1DG; Mike Snow, KN4EEI; Tomi Pekarik, HA7RY; Rig in a Box innovator George Wallner, AA7JV; and Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA recorded more than 100,000 QSOs on 160-6M in SSB, CW, and FT8 after 11 days of operation. Additionally, 3,000 operators qualified for an N5J special award by making FT8, CW, and SSB contacts and logging QSOs on five bands.

As noted by Ann Fried on the N5J Facebook page, “All the hard work and planning did a great service to hams worldwide.”

Pierre Leroy wrote, “Keep on doing good work. Conditions are not easy but ATNO from ON6PL.”

“Thanks to the whole team for outstanding work,” wrote Tor Langvand. “Challenging propagation from time to time. Nevertheless, >100K QSOs in the book is fantastic. Great job, all.”

Gerry Hull, W1VE, posted on the N5J Facebook page the day the DXpedition went QRT, “The Magnet team is busy taking down everything and preparing for the trip back to American Samoa. They are the real heroes who powered this operation! As the Team Lead for the CW Remote Crew, I couldn’t be happier about the outcome. As an advocate of remote DXing and contesting, I’m extremely pleased how everything worked.”

From the N5J website, the team wrote, “Thank you for all the QSOs. It was a blast.”

The Impact of RIB Operations

The Rig in a Box concept, which allows self-contained amateur radio stations to be placed on land while operators work remotely, is proving to be a game-changer for DXpeditioners as well as hams trying to check off the remaining rare entities on their DXCC scorecard.

RIB-centered ventures dramatically increase the chances that decision-makers governing wildlife protected areas will grant permission for these operations. RIB DXpeditions ensure that boots will only be on land to set up, tear down, and maintain the RIB stations, reducing environmental impact and eliminating a stumbling block that has kept many entities off the air for decades.

Get up close and personal with the N5J team in this video featuring DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR, interviewing operators aboard the MV Magnet on August 9, 2024.

 “In addition to us being here there are three Fish and Wildlife scientists that are currently on the island,” explained George, AA7JV, in the video. “They’re conducting research and working on the island. This is really the result of Don (N1DG) having worked with the Fish and Wildlife Service to convince them that amateur radio can be not just a user but a partner. And as a partner we can contribute to their efforts, and in return for that, they let us operate from these very highly protected reserves where normally they do not let anybody.”

DX Engineering Equipment on Jarvis Island

In DX Engineering’s ongoing mission to stand beside hams who are putting rare DXCC entities on the air, the company contributed a range of gear to complement the RIB setups:

• DX Engineering DXE-ATK65A Telescoping Aluminum Antenna Tubing Kits
• DX Engineering 400MAX Type N Low-Loss 50-Ohm Coax Assemblies
• Summit Racing 16-Gauge Accessory Wire
• Amphenol Type N Double Female Adapter Connectors
• Mastrant Support and Guy Line Rope 

The teams at DX Engineering and OnAllBands salute everyone involved in making the N5J DXpedition to Jarvis Island possible. Look for posts about more DX Engineering-sponsored DXpeditions in the days ahead.

73!

The post Jarvis Island N5J Team Delivers ATNOs for Hams Around the Globe appeared first on OnAllBands.

There is a major expedition planned to Jarvis Island in the middle of the Pacific in early August 2024 and their planned operations include some 50 MHz activity.

Press release

***

Dear Fellow DXers,

In March the Dateline DX Association was pleased to announce that it has received permission from the USFWS for a DXpedition to Jarvis Island National Wildlife Reserve this August. Jarvis is ranked nr. 18 on Clublog's global most wanted list. It is number 9 in Europe.  In some EU countries Jarvis is ranked as high as second most wanted on phone and digial.  Jarvis is ranked higher than Bouvet (16) in Europe. It is 450 miles from Palmyra Atoll and 1500 miles from Hawaii.

Because it’s been over 34 years since last activated it is one of the highest ranked IOTA and POTA targets among the hams who chase those awards.   We were pleased that both program administrators have altered their rules to allow for their awards to be credited by working one of the 5 operators who are remoting from the ship just offshore (and still in the reserve).

An experienced team of five consisting of George, AA7JV, Don, N1DG, Tomi, HA7RY, Adrian, KO8SCA, and Mike, KN4EEI, will install 6 RIB stations on Jarvis.  The at-island team will be augmented by 24 remote operators from Asia, Europe and North America.  All phone, 160 and 6 mtr operations will be done locally.   The local ops will also operate CW and FT8 on all bands.  The remote operators will operate on 80 to 10 meters using CW and FT8 modes. We are permitted 12 days of operation but the permit is good for the whole month of August to allow for weather issues.

The core of the Dateline DX Association is the team of operators from the highly successful Baker Island 2018 and Midway 2009 DXpeditions.  Both DXpeditions received the coveted DXpedition of the year awards at Dayton.  We have broad experience working from the Pacific and remote and environmentally sensitive areas around the world.  It was this experience that earned Dateline the first permission to activate Jarvis since 1990.  This will be the third ever operation from Jarvis.

Any DXpedition to a protected area is expensive and our externally financial need is over $200,000. We have a boat, approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, to safely carry us to and from the Reserve and not cause any harm to Jarvis Island or the surrounding reefs.   The budget would easily have been over $500,000 had it not been for the use of AA7JV’s vessel, the Magnet.  The $200,000 is required for fuel, USFWS permit fees, extra crew for the trip and data services and equipment.   Radios are not included in the budget as NCDXF contributed to the design and building of the RIBs.

NCDXF has also kickstarted our fundraising campaign with a hefty grant of $75,000.

Please understand the dates for our DXpedition were not our first choice. Rather, the exact dates of our DXpedition were specified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  While top band opportunities are limited by the early August dates, 10 and 6 meters should offer ample opportunities to pick up new band counters.   Europeans (where Jarvis is number 9) should benefit greatly for ATNO QSOs during the peak months of cycle 25.

There will be extensive science being conducted on Jarvis by 3 biologists from the USFWS.  We will be providing free transportation and food for their team. 

You can follow our plans on our web site at: http://jarvisisland2024.com, and on Facebook. 

We are counting on help from DXers and DX organizations from around the world to help cover our costs.  Jarvis has not been activated for 34 years and we anticipate by demonstrating our RIB concept to the USFWS biologists accompanying us to Jarvis we can open the doors to other islands off limits to the ham community.

Please consider making a donation to the Dateline DX Association to help bring Jarvis Island on the air.   Donations can be made either through our paypal donate@jarvisisland2024.com or direct to our bank:

Checks made out to the Dateline DX Association should be sent to:

Dateline DX Association

PO BOX 1397

Duxbury, MA 02331-1397

We wish to thank you in advance for your support.

Don Greenbaum, N1DG and George Wallner, AA7JV

Jarvis Island 2024 and The Dateline DX Association

Website - https://jarvisisland2024.com/