[KCDXC] tx5k easy on 20

[Jim Duncan]

Agreed. They did a great job. It's pretty obvious why they were favoring
Europe, though: most of the radio operators are European hams. There were
only THREE U.S. operators on island that were actually operating. "You take
care of your own first." We U.S. hams need to find a way to be more involved
in these things. Naturally they are quite expensive, but I suppose that
anyone that can afford the cost of the ticket could potentially go along. I
wouldn't be at all surprised that some of the operators expenses came from
various ham organizations. These things have to be funded. Most people don't
have the financial means to go out and book a supply/transport ship for a
month or own seaplanes.

 

It would be amazing if some of the U.S.-based DX clubs would pool resources
and send more U.S. ops to these things but it's astronomically expensive, no
doubt. I remember wanting to go on the Belize trip back in the 80's and I
recall that it was a pretty expensive price tag even then. 

 

It would sure be neat if KCDXC could organize another DXpedition again, even
if it wasn't to one of the top 10 most-needed spots.

 

A quick check this morning, hoping for getting up and running to the shack
to grab 80 and 160 SSB contacts showed only one station on the air and that
was on 40m SSB. The QSO rate at that point was still pretty low.

 

Current status check show 15CW, 10 SSB, and 17 and 20 Digital going on this
morning. I kind of expect them to shut down about 3 p.m. our time if
yesterday's blog entry is any indication. It IS great to get an ATNO, even
if I didn't get the sweep on SSB or make any digital Q's with them. In the
end, it's really just one more notch on the DXCC count, right?

 

I consider myself privileged to have been able to make the contacts I did
given the massive pile-ups and in spite of the frustrations, I'm grateful
that KK6EK put the trip together! I doubt that many others could have pulled
it off.

 

73 de Jim, KU0G