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XR0Y videoblog – part 8 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Believe in your signal.

XR0Y Videoblog part 7 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Team work leads to success.

Obstacles whatever they maybe either strengthen a team or creates cliquish-like behavior ultimately diminishing team potential. In the previous installment, Stan faced his deepest challenge through the darkest of the night. Instead, when everything from weather to human nature seemed against him, SQ8X followed the team’s mission and goal statement.

Zbig, SP7HOV tied in the entire experience while Stan questioned him about the RTTY swarm on 17 meters, “Beautiful.”

Believe in your signal.

XR0Y – part 6 – we are at Rapa Nui! from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Stan, SQ8X’s positive attitude reflects an ability to bring together like minded team members. A successful team, in most cases, will mirror the attitude of its leadership.

Leadership is exemplified by one’s ability to connect with zeitgeist or the spirit of the times. SQ8X demonstrates essential qualities like empathy in addition to persevering against adversity. Perseverance is a quality of leadership that I admire. Life is not always a silver spoon and how one deals with adversity is a good measure of character.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

XR0Y Videoblog – Part 5 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Imagine first. Create vision. Develop plan. Build team. Delegate objectives. Lead with positive attitude. Fulfill dream. Repeat process.

Departure day arrives and one observes Stan’s anticipation after months of planning, sleepless nights, and countless hours of coordination. His reaction to this moment is priceless.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

XR0Y – Rapa Nui Videoblog – Part 3 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

XR0Y – Videoblog – part 4 from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Rising Cost.
What is the future of DXpeditions given the rising cost of logistics? Is air transportation of equipment sustainable and, or, even economical? I imagine lightweight, flexible expeditions may incur a cost that is par with or exceeds that of the airline ticket, when including premium baggage pricing.

I’m wondering if shipping through Federal Express would actually reduce logistically cost? I have homework given high frequency airwave conditions. The ionosphere is blown out at the moment.

The cost of reaching remote, rarified locations will as ham radio moves toward 2020, require sharing cost from printing analog QSL cards too sponsoring a day worth of meals. Or, team leaders may consider, looking at the menus of alpine expeditions and how they prepare meals at high altitude.

Non-Profits.
The cost of DXpeditions, at least from perspective, continues arcing sharply upwards and one might begin thinking about supporting non-profit organizations like the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) whose mission is, “[A]ssist worthwhile amateur radio and scientific projects with funding and equipment.”

Frankly, the days of privately funding an expedition to rarified locales, is probably peaking.

Conclusion.
Will siege like DXpeditions survive? Will operators around the world need to work a little more on skill and improve antenna systems a little more because big gun DXpedition signals will just cost too much?

Help those helping others and consider making a donation to the Northern California DX Foundation sometime in the near future.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

XR0Y – Rapa Nui 2009 Videoblog – part 1 [ENG] from SQ8X on Vimeo.

Unlike explorers of yesterday, Stan, SQ8X fully comprehends today’s paradigm. He has circumnavigated legacy media channels instead he delivers his narrative to a wide audience beyond that of ham radio. Fundamentally, he is shaping a future for those considering DXpeditions because SQ8X talks about his connecting experience with the local culture in addition to searching out its mysteries.

The Making Of Remarkable.
Ham radio is a subset of his personal experience, and, in broader terms, Stan creates a robust storyline that demonstrates in visual terms, the team connecting with the world using airwaves.

Stan mentioned an important piece in his previous video and it is why SQ8X stands out from the noise.

What Makes Extraordinary.
I paraphrase although I hope the point is understood when Stan mentioned in the previous video, “I did not tune into the station when listening with my Safari II receiver. I was interested instead in the odd tones, strange noises, and irregularities off of the zero beat frequency.”

Additionally, has one taken note of Stan rotating those things that are rotatable, in turn, mimicking the tuning knob of one’s radio? I was thoroughly impressed that SQ8X’s editing team created parallels between nature and technology. It is attention to creative detail mixed with imagination that makes Stan, SQ8X and his cinematographers, a cut above.

Conclusion.
I’m convinced that ham radio has received a gift in the person who is Stan, SQ8X. The kind of gift that only arrives once in a generation.

73 from the shack relaxation zone.

Unfolding Of An Odyssey?
A journey is an explanation of one’s imagination, perhaps Stan, SQ8X has embarked on something extraordinary that is more than a journey? His DXpedition to Rapa Nui with another planned in the distant future to a distant land is moreso reminiscent of an odyssey that is a long, eventful wandering.

Perhaps, it is not unlike Homer’s Illiad, a timeless mythological story where spirit and character is tested again, again?

Rapa Nui evoked powerful images from our distant past as well Jan Mayen a volcanic island located 950km west of Norway in the cold Atlantic tantalizes the adventuresome spirit that speaks too many of us.

His Odyssey Begins.
Take a moment, while reading the sub-titles, and imagine adventurers past and future who dared the odds. Stan’s story is compelling like many DXpeditions who risk much in the face of danger.

It is why, given SQ8X’s youth, that something extraordinary is underway, one that I believe, is an odyssey for ham radio.

Believe in your signal.