DXpedition

Related Wiki pages : International Events, Contesting

What is it?
A DXpedition is an expedition by amateur operators to what is considered an exotic place. These places are "defined" as exotic because of their remoteness or because there are very few radio amateurs active from that place. They could be an island, a country, or even a particular spot on a geographical grid.

Typically, a DXpedition will deploy as a portable station to a remote and otherwise-uninhabited island in order to make a large number of DX contacts in a relatively short amount of time.

The first DXpedition was in 1948 on Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition to the Bahamas.

Why plan a DXpedition
The reason for DXpeditions is two-fold

1) For the challenge of setting up and operating a station in a remote and often inhospitable region.

2) To help other operators who need to log and submit a contact into a region to achieve an award.

The most famous of the awards available to hams is the DXCC (DX Century Club) award which acknowledges confirmed 2-way contact with 100 "geographical entities" as defined by the ARRL. These entities are usually countries, although a territory or exclave with substantial geographic separation from the parent country may in some cases qualify as a separate entity.