DXpeditions

[M9JVQ]

As of Saturday 7 March, the real headline grabbers are still the rare ones. 3Y0K Bouvet Island remains listed as active through 14 March (dates still subject to change), and J51A Guinea-Bissau is very much alive too — DX-World reported on 6 March that the team had already logged 164,500 QSOs after 10.9 days of operation, with roughly nine days still to run. For anyone chasing rarer DXCCs, those two belong right at the top of the watch list.
There is also plenty of workable activity on the air right now. T8OK Palau is active from 4–19 March on 160–6m using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. VP2E Anguilla is running 3–20 March on 160–6m with CW, SSB and FT8. 8Q7ZW Maldives is on from 28 February to 12 March, with a stated focus on the low bands, while TY5FR Benin is active from 4 March to 5 April on 80–10m using CW and SSB. Added to that, FG/HB9JAB in Guadeloupe begins today, 7 March, through 12 March on 20–10m with SSB and FT8.
Looking just ahead, PJ7AA Sint Maarten starts on 8 March and runs until 4 April on 40–6m, mainly CW with some SSB. JG8NQJ/JD1 Minami Torishima is also worth keeping in mind through 15 April, especially if you enjoy sniffing out 17m, 15m and 12m, where the operation is reported as mainly CW with some FT8. Then from 13 March, the next wave builds nicely with TX5EU Austral Islands set for 13–25 March on 80–10m using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 with three stations operating 24/7, plus JA0RQV/JD1 Ogasawara on 13–16 March and J79C Dominica on 13–20 March.
A bit further out, there's another one to pencil in now: S21WD Bangladesh. The team said on 4 March that they expect to arrive around 20 March, with on-air activity shortly after and operations planned through 1 April. That one has the potential to draw serious attention once it fires up.
This is exactly the sort of week where the little station details matter: a decent HF antenna, low-loss coax, good common-mode suppression, and a clean pair of headphones can be the difference between hearing them and actually working them 🎧📶

I managed J51A Guinea-Bissau on 10M, but not Bouvet Island yet. That was my first 'split freqency' QSO & the first time I had heard the calls 5up, 10up & 5 to 15up so quick learning was required.    

[John]

Hi Tony

That split frequency is very interesting . I have done the research on the FT-991A as well but not used it yet.
Well done for getting J51A . Talk about a pile up      .

[M9JVQ]

Interesting is a good description John! It had my grey matter working overtime, but for you youngsters it should be a doddle.  

I have requested a eQSL via LOTW & a paper one via Club Log OQRS, the eQSL should be a few days but the paper will be 2-3 months.  

EDIT A great video from Callum I wish I had found before: