20261002 IZY got New ONE!! V61GSE(Micronesia)

20261002 IZY got New ONE!! V61GSE(Micronesia)

V61GSE Micronesia Takeo Takahata Weno Island, Chuuk Micronesia QSL: LoTW, eQSL,OQRS Page managed by JR1GSE Lookups: 6125

 

Hello everyone, this is Mako, JJ5IZX.

Two days ago, right after I posted, something big happened!
IZY successfully caught the "New One" in the title. 

V61GSE on 15m Band

To be honest, we had several chances before but somehow kept missing this entity.

Unfortunately, I missed taking a screenshot of the 17m contact, but I managed to save the ones for 15m and 80m.

As for my own station, IZX, I already had confirmed QSOs in SSB, CW, and PSK31, but this was my very first time on FT8 (lol).

Securing them on 80m was especially huge. For a modest station like ours, being able to log an entity that is relatively easier to catch was a very welcome surprise.

V61GSE on 80m Band

Greed got the better of me, so I kept watching 40m and ran into FW1P, and managed to bag them too (and yes, got the screenshot!).

At first, there was some domestic SSB QRM, so even when I was picked up, I couldn't confirm the RR73 and was on pins and needles.

However, about 30 minutes later, the frequency became crystal clear.

I called right away and made the QSO shortly after. (IZY cleared it much more easily).

It felt a bit like an anticlimax after all that worry, but both IZX and IZY got them in the log!

FW1P on 40m Band

The perfectly timed QRV by V61GSE (Mr. Takahata) gave us so much hope.

Thank you so much!

20261001 This month targets!!

20261001 This month targets!! 

Hi everyone, this is Mako, JJ5IZX.

Here in Japan (JA), located in the Northern Hemisphere, the intense summer heat has finally passed, and autumn is officially in the air. Passing Higan (the autumn equinox, when day and night are roughly equal in length—which is also when the grayline on PSK Reporter becomes nearly vertical) always brings a real, noticeable shift in the season.

 PSK Reporter at 20260930 0930UTC

In the world of DX (FT8), we are moving away from the summer doldrums into the autumn DX season. Looking from JA, the conditions are shaping up nicely: mornings bring SA and NA (as well as EU and AF on the lower bands), afternoons open up to Asia, Oceania, and then Europe, followed by Africa in the evening. Around 22:00 UTC on 20 meters, it is sometimes even possible to copy signals from every single continent at once. Radio propagation is truly a fascinating phenomenon, isn't it?

Now, onto the main topic. The DXpedition timeline for this month (starting in October) has been published on DX World. Which DXpeditions are you all targeting in terms of entities, bands, and modes?

Of course, your results will vary greatly depending on your location, operating style, and timing. I hope you all manage to catch your target stations without overextending yourselves!

As for my wife and me (IZX & IZY), we run a modest little station, and our preferences are Digital (Data) > CW > SSB (IZX only). Because of this, FT8 will be our primary focus. While I would love to score a "New Mode" on CW if possible, the reality is usually quite challenging.

 

Timeline

Now that the timeline has been published on DX-World, I’m planning to start targeting these DXpeditions one by one, starting with the ones coming up first.

Looking at the upcoming schedule, figuring out which ones to chase is always one of the most exciting parts of this hobby. Since my wife and I will be focusing mainly on FT8, we will be keeping a close eye on the greyline and band conditions to find the best windows for our modest station.

I’ll make sure to update you all here on the blog with our targets and how our hunting goes.

Enjoy Dxing!! ... JJ5IZX & JJ5IZY 73&88 : )