[ADXA] DXPedition Funding

[w5zn at w5zn.org]

Sitting in the shack this morning pondering amateur radio in general 
with OH2BH and N7NG's "The Weekly DX" op-ed in my head has pushed me 
across a line that I said I would not cross, and that is to voice to my 
fellow ADXA members my opinion about the cost of a QSL.

In the more than 100 year tradition of amateur radio, the amount of 
money you have has never been a requirement to enjoy the rewards it 
offers. Amateur radio has always been a reflection of our society. You 
have to put forth a personal effort to earn the privilege of holding a 
license in order to operate a radio transmitter on the air. True, over 
the years those requirements have changed but so has society, for good 
or bad, whether we like it or not.

One thing that has not changed is an individual's level of financial 
investment in their station in order to enjoy some very gratifying 
moments. You will invest what spare money you may in order to enjoy 
something you love. There is no minimum financial requirement. As a true 
radio amateur, the more money you have the more you will spend on radio 
however that is no different than if you were in to Bass fishing, 
hunting, golf, motorcycling or whatever your love beyond family is. 
DX'ing is an upper scale activity within amateur radio. The time and 
money required to build an effective station is above that of someone 
who simply wants to ragchew on 75 meters however to state the obvious 
once again there has never been a minimum financial requirement to play 
the game of DX. To be shockingly blunt, size does NOT matter! We have 
members with modest stations who have been exceedingly more excited 
about working a new one than some of our big gun members. That, my 
friends, makes the effort we put forth in ADXA worth every minute of our 
exchanging operating tips, technical ideas and practical applications 
worth it.

DXPedition history is fascinating in how it has transitioned from a one 
or two person adventure to the "mega operations" of today. K5YY has been 
on many DXPeditions and has related some of his past experiences. In all 
of these....ALL of these there has never been a mandatory "Pay to Play" 
scheme. The DXPedition members have always, very willingly, invested 
significant personal funds to go to a remote location, some on the order 
of $20,000 or more per person. Why? because they had no pecuniary 
interest whatsoever in making a profit from amateur radio. They invested 
their own money to enjoy yet another level of adventure in amateur 
radio. Very few of us would chunk in $20K to allow someone else to enjoy 
a QSO with a distant land. Their fund raising beyond that was voluntary. 
We were NEVER required to financially support the DXPedition. Thankfully 
there were some of us who would throw in a few extra bucks to help the 
group out or your organization, the Arkansas DX Association, would throw 
in some money to support the op. There is nothing, absolutely nothing 
wrong with this scenario and it has worked extremely well over several 
years without issue and still does!

Then enter the Bouvet effort last year, the result of a major funding 
effort by a group of accomplished DXPeditioners who had very 
successfully pulled off several expensive efforts before. While standing 
on the deck of their boat and staring at Bouvet they had to abort their 
effort! A first in the modern era of major DXPeditions. If this group 
would have completed their mission, a QSL would have cost you only a few 
bucks, sure. That is expected and the cost would have been reasonable. 
With a failed effort did the contributors get their money back?? Not all 
of it, we got 48% back but the men on that trip who chunked in $20K each 
got nothing, absolutely NOTHING back from that personal investment other 
than to say "I saw Bouvet as we circled around and headed to South 
Africa!" Did they demand we all fork over more money to support them? 
NO! Now, all of a sudden, something is supposed to be dead wrong with 
this approach?

All of a sudden we have a new concept of funding a DXPedition. A "Pay to 
Play" concept if you will that is being promoted as "fair" to all. So, 
what is fair? Let's assume for a moment, and this is just an assumption 
for discussion based on nothing other than a number out of my head, that 
a group pulls of a DXPedition to a remote area without soliciting any 
advance funding and then charges $50 for a QSL for one QSO. You work 
them on 4 bands that's - $200. Assume you have a modest income and the 
only investment in your station you could afford is $500 but because you 
were smart, an effective operator and knew how to snag that new DXCC you 
now have to fork over almost 50% of what your entire station cost in 
order to get that confirmation! Assume also that you are a dues paying 
member of a great group like ADXA who would have sent in some money to 
help fund the op, or you had fellow members who had some extra financial 
resources to send in a donation and would have however now your 
confirmation is being held hostage for a ransom! What is fair about 
that?

Will the DX community receive a financial report from such a group? The 
big DXPeditions of today are very honest and open about their 
finances....they have to be in order to receive funding from the DX 
foundations and groups such as ADXA.

I very well understand a venture such as Bouvet is very 
expensive......VERY expensive in both money and personal time invested. 
I understand and fully agree that financial support is needed in order 
to make this happen. How that funding is acquired is the real question. 
I am not aware of any funding effort put forth by the Rebel DX Group. 
Maybe they have but I'm not aware of it. I know they have it advertised 
on their website however I do not believe they have put forth an 
organized effort to solicit funding from DX foundations or DX clubs such 
as ADXA. ADXA has not received any such request as we have from other 
groups. Now with the postponement of the 3Y0I venture and a return to 
Cape Town if they do make another attempt at Bouvet their cost will 
increase significantly thus increasing the price of a QSL in order to 
pay their expenses.

We have had unscrupulous individuals scam money via dishonest QSL 
practices in the past, more than one, however these bad actors are very 
well know among the DX community.

I am opposed to this concept of DXPedition funding. There is absolutely 
nothing fair about it whatsoever as it eliminates those with very 
limited financial resources and that has never, NEVER been ethical in 
amateur radio, period! When there are plenty of avenues in which to 
garner financial support for a DXPedition worldwide, especially for an 
entity such as Bouvet, it is unnecessary.

So, for a DXPedition (any DXPedition) that is considering funding an op 
by charging a very high price for a QSL I would like to know the 
following, as a bare minimum, up front:
1. What individual or organization is providing the up front seed money 
for the operation?
2. What collateral is provided in order to secure financing?
3. If a "profit" is expected from the operation, what is the target 
margin?
4. Is there a minimum return expected from the financial underwriter in 
the event of a failed effort?
5. If ADXA were to make, say, a $500 donation would you send all of our 
members QSL's no additional cost?

At this point Forrest Gump would say "That's all I have to say about 
that" however something tells me I will have more to say as this saga 
evolves.

There is a ton of DX on that will send you a QSL for nothing via LoTW, 
or no more than $3 to cover postage for a paper card. GET ON THE AIR AND 
WORK THEM!!!!

73 Joel W5ZN