ZD9W

Tristan da Cunha, as seen from International Space Station, NASA / public domain.

Absolutely no intention to turn this newsletter into a DX bulletin or a notice board; there are already numerous outlets which cover upcoming expeditions in a timely manner. However if you are just a casual chaser, then pay attention to Yuris ZD9W operating from Tristan da Cunha island.

Tristan da Cunha is part of the archipelago of the same name, which the Portuguese navigator named in his honour. There are thousands of kilometres of water to the nearest inhabited land: to Saint Helena – 2161 km, to South Africa – 2816 km, to South America – 3360 km. Its location almost coincides with the geographical centre of the Atlantic – literally in the middle of nowhere.

Yuris arrived on the island after two weeks of stormy voyage and will be staying there until the end of October. He is a skilled operator, but making a two-way contact with ZD9W from the East Coast of Australia is a serious challenge. The window of opportunity is narrow – less than an hour on 20m and 17m bands – peaking just before our local sunrise. His signal is not just weak, but for most of the time with heavy flutter due to polar disturbance, making the digital signal like FT8, practically undecodable. And when the band does open, briefly, there is an unendurable wall of European callers.

For the past few days, I am waking up well before sunrise, in the hope that I will make it to Tristan da Cunha, but so far no luck whatsoever. A bit disheartening knowing that the next DXpedition could be in five or ten years from now. But this is what chasing is all about: persistence and patience.

With every day passing, the number of callers will eventually thin down, with chances increasing towards the last few days of operation.

Out of 340 DXCC entries, Tristan da Cunha is the 44th most wanted, but probably one of the top three from Australia’s East Coast.

Here are the top 22 most wanted DXCC in the world:

Chasing the rare ones is a game of both skills and chance where every decibel matters!