Gud DX

Last weekend, the world of amateur radio celebrated the CQ World Wide WPX Contest.

Many serious radio sport contesters and casual "chasers" filled the airwaves with the goal of logging as many stations as possible. Sponsored by CQ Magazine, the stated goal of the contest is:

The WPX Contest is based on an award offered by CQ Magazine for working all prefixes. Held on the last weekend of March (SSB) and May (CW), the contest draws thousands of entries from around the world.

One of the popular activities in the ham radio hobby is the pursuit of DX and a contest offers a great opportunity to do so. You can run the dial and, in short order, contact (or "work") stations from a number of different nations in short order.

For me, it is always a thrill to know that my radio signal has traveled over the oceans to be received by DX stations.

DX is the abbreviation for distance in ham radio.  Or put a slightly different way, talking to an operator in a far-away land. 

There is some wiggle room as to just what constitutes as far enough to be DX. For me, I'd say anything outside North America qualifies. 

For the record, there are 340 "entities" around the world. The website Clublog ranks them in order of rarity in its "Most Wanted" list.  As I review the list, the most common of the least common nations I've not yet worked is Mauritania (listed at #192 on the Most Wanted).

Just one slot above Mauritania is St. Barthelemy (sometimes shortened to St. Bart's). St. Barthelemy is a overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. 

The other day, I received a QSL card in the mail from a German operator who was set up on St. Barthelemy during the winter. 

So, by virtue of that confirmation, I was able to check off it off my list. The German op congratulated me on the accomplishment. Kind words, indeed. In ham radio lingo, it is known as "gud dx."

Collegiality is one of the nicest elements within the hobby and you often find it in the pursuit of gud DX.

It is not uncommon for operators in northern, wintery climates to find a sunny destination to set up for a while. They call it "operating in holiday mode" and these ops are happy to work you. No doubt that was the plan for him.

And, quite honestly, there are a number of hams who travel to far off destinations, set up and give the rest of us around the world to opportunity to log another entity.

Among the 340, I have "worked" 227. It's hard to imagine me getting over 300. But, it is sure fun trying.

For the record, the most rare nation I've confirmed is Bhutan (#55 on the list). 

Where does the U.S. on the list? If you guessed #340 out of 340, you'd be right.  Guess there's just a lot of us operators in America. Still, I like to think that many DX operators are just as excited when their radio signals are received in the states.

JG