Award Recognises Dxpeditions with Remote Operations

Two recent DXpeditions that featured remote radio operations have been recognised by the Northern California DX Foundation, which is presenting both activations with the DXcellence Award, now in its fifth year.

The criteria included the DXpedition's complexity, its impact on its "Most Wanted" ranking on ClubLog and, of course, overall performance.

The foundation's board of directors chose the KP5/NP3VI Desecheo DXpedition and the PJ6Y Youth DXpedition to Saba Island. Both adventures included remote radio operations. The KP5 operation was 100 per cent remote, as well as being solar powered. The team's media officer, Steve N2AJ, said in a press release that having the first fully solar-powered, fully remote DXpedition was a "groundbreaking achievement", adding that "advanced technology and careful planning can deliver world-class results while maintaining an exceptionally low environmental footprint." The team of operators was required to follow strict guidelines from the US Fish & Wildlife Service to ensure a minimal impact on the environment. That means no generators, no amplifiers and no traditional beam antennas.

The PJ6Y Youth DXpedition was chosen for its involvement of young operators from around the world who spent two weeks on the island of Saba. This more traditional style activation featured some first-time DXpeditioners. It was supplemented with radios operated remotely by as many as 30 young amateurs from around the world. The technically complex arrangement was considered a success on many levels, most especially as an investment in the future of amateur radio for the next generation.

RSGB Awards Manager Announces a New Awards Series

The RSGB Awards Manager has introduced a new awards series for amateur radio contacts with stations across all UK country and crown dependency prefixes.

The Worked All UK and Crown Dependency Prefixes Award offers several different sub-sets with the rules varying slightly for each. The idea for the award was put forward as a way of encouraging, or tapping into, intra-UK activity as well as encouraging contact with UK amateurs.

Get involved with this new award by going to the awards web page and selecting ‘Worked All UK and Crown Dependency’ from the right-hand menu. You can find details of other awards offered by the Society using the same link.

Worked All UK and Crown Dependency - https://rsgb.org/main/operating/amateur-radio-awards/worked-all-uk-crown-dependency-prefixes-awards/

13 Colonies Event Founder Passing the Reins After 16 Years

The 13 Colonies 2025, a popular summer operating event, will take place less than a month from now, on 1st July 9:00 AM to 7th July midnight EDT (1 July – 1300 UTC – 8th July – 0400 UTC).

This year, the event will honour founder Ken Villone, KU2US, who is passing the torch to Tony Jones, N4ATJ. Villone has led the event for 16 years by working with state and bonus station coordinators and has grown from making approximately 12,000 contacts in 2009 to making 292,496 contacts around the world in 2024.

This year, one station will be operating in each of the 13 original British colonies, K2A–K2M, along with three bonus stations — WM3PEN, Philadelphia; GB13COL, England; and TM13COL, France — each representing their city, state, or country’s role in America’s colonial period. 

Villone said event actually started in 2008, right after he finished participating in the ARRL Sweepstakes.

“I remembered how fun it was, but I could not figure out why there were not more of these types of special events on the air,” said Villone. “So I decided to try my luck and create one, for one year only, to see what happens and to have some fun. I knew we had to offer a special QSL card and/or certificate, plus have on hand a printer and supplies. The hard part was deciding what the event would commemorate and when to do this. I needed a theme that all could relate to, and the event would have to be the type with multiple event stations involved, like the ARRL Sweeps.

Then it hit me...13 colony states, during the 4th of July week and offer a certificate with the theme for the year. I made sure the theme was different each year with a different certificate design, to make it interesting and to also make the cert collectable. The theme would highlight some event or thing connected to the American Revolution.

The inaugural event was held from July 1st to 4th, 2009, 4 days, with no advertising except on QRZ. I had a hard time getting 13 different ops, one from each colony state, but it worked out. All in all it was a success!”

— Ken Villone, KU2US

Amateur radio operators and SWLs can participate in the event. Complete information about the call for each colony station and the bonus stations can be found on the event website or on Facebook at 13 Colonies Special Event Community.