2023-07-01
New entities in the log: Vietnam, Ducie Island and Cayman Islands
I'm always looking for new entities in amateur radio to contact. Sometimes they happen because I knew amateur radio activity was going to happen from that location, and sometimes it's just because I notice a new country when looking for contacts on the radio. The recent contacts to Vietnam and Cayman Islands were of the latter category, just checking for available contacts in FT8 and noticing a callsign from a rare (for me) entity. Ducie Island was clearly of the former category and I checked for a time when I could get them in the log. When I got the contact, it went easier than I expected! Ducie Island is of the very rare category, and a special kind of activation as described in VP6A – Ducie Island - DX-World. The minimal amount of equipment was set up on the island in waterproof boxes with radio's and connected antennas. It was powered with a generator and a few operators retreated to a boat nearby so they did not have to camp on the island or clean up. The other operators weren't even nearby but operated the equipment remotely via satellite Internet. This may seem 'cheating' but the radio and antenna making the contact are in the DX location, the person operating it is just somewhere else, limiting impact on the location. Especially with islands that are nature reserves and have really strict rules about people visiting the island can benefit from this approach.