Seven To Go




Confirmed DXCC entity #332 arrived in the mail last week. With a total of 339 active DXCC entities, this leaves just seven to go.




Although I had worked Tunisia a couple of years ago on 15m, I was never able to get the contact confirmed. In spite of sending an SAE and green stamps for postage, 3V8HQ's several promises of his card 'soon to be mailed', proved to be hollow.

The contact with 3V8HQ was my first and only one with Tunisia, since being licenced in 1963. The low level of ham radio activity from 3V8 combined with the challenges of VE7 to Meditteranean Africa propagation, made it a difficult one to work.

courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps
I was excited to see one other station becoming active this past year, club station 3V8SS ... but it seemed that whenever they were on (very early out on the west coast), they were on RTTY and not on CW. During the past recent ARRL CW DX test, I noticed that they were active ... a rare event and maybe another opportunity to work Tunisia on CW once again. As luck would have it, propagation was good enough to make the QSO, as my old (twice refurbished) Cushcraft A3S tribander came through once again.

My present confirmed list sitting at 332, combined with my 10 confirmed 'deleted' entities, brings the overall confirmed total to 342. The seven remaining entities will be very difficult, if not impossible, unless I live to be 150. They are:

            FT/G, TO - Glorioso
            HK0 - Malpelo Island
            KP5 - Desecheo Island
            P5 - N. Korea
            SV/A - Mt. Athos
            Z8 - S. Sudan
            ZL9 - Auckland / Campbell Islands


A couple of these have been active in past recent years ... for some, I was asleep at the switch and for others, I was away travelling at the time. With solar conditions heading downhill quickly, and possibly staying there for many many years, the prospects of working these last seven is looking pretty bleak.

On the other hand, my favorite winter band (160m) should continue to improve. Last week also brought a new DXCC QSL for me on that band, A35T in Tonga, bringing my confirmed total on that band to 157.

Getting new entities from here on out will be increasingly challenging ... I guess I need to remember, that if it was easy, it just wouldn't be any fun!


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

3 Responses to “Seven To Go”

  • Richard KWøU:

    Oh good job getting the 3V, Steve. The old adage that the 2 greatest thrills in DXing are working a new one and getting the QSL is very true. Personally I’ve been stuck at 272 for years (attic dipole) and would like to get at least 3 more for the next sticker. Odd that I have 2 you are missing, while a couple of easier ones (HV and 1A come to mind) seem to be hiding. But that’s the chase. Anyway, don’t give up on any of them; a change of government, a pop-up DXpedition, or just a lucky greyline bounce can sometimes wake up the magic.

  • Dex, W4DEX:

    Amazing accomplishment Steve. Congratulations!

    Dex

  • Steve VE7SL:

    Thanks Rich / Dex for the encouragement. Rich, your total (for an attic dipole!!!) should be very inspiring for those that have antenna restrictions … with the right conditions it’s amazing what can be accomplished … well done!

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