Below are some answers to frequently asked questions:
  • What is a DXpedition? An expedition is a journey or voyage for a particular purpose. DX is a ham radio term meaning long distance communication. Combining the two terms gives us DXpedition: a journey or voyage for doing long distance communication with ham radio.
  • Why 100 pounds? Most DXpeditions have multiple participants and many thousands of pounds of equipment. I was inspired by a group called the Microlite Penguin DXpedition Team and people like Bob Allphin (K4UEE) and Wes Lamboley (W3WL) who have traveled to exotic places with lightweight gear. Still, my limit of 100 pounds is a bit extreme. (In a private email, Bob Allphin's reaction to my concept was, "I guess you could say most of mine are the 10,000 lb variety.  Hi. ") I wanted to reduce the equipment budget to something that could be managed by just a couple of people, or even someone traveling alone. Airlines allow two bags weighing no more than 50 pounds each. That gives you a total of 100 pounds!
  • Do I cheat on the weight limit? Cheat is a strong word. Let's say that the 100 pound mark is a budget that I try very hard to make. I do exceed it occasionally, but I overshoot by some small number of pounds; the equipment compliment is still far less than any big-time DXpedition.
  • Is this 100 pounds total? Or is it 100 pounds per person? The budget intends to live within the allowance the airlines give us so it is per person. Since Sandy accompanies me, our combined total is something like 200 pounds checked (and we get a little extra with our carry-on allowance).
  • Does this include the amplifier? I don't even own an amplifier. I enjoy working low power (100 watts or less) and QRP. This makes things more challenging sometimes, but the rewards reaped and lessons learned make it worthwhile to me.
  • How often do you do this? I am very fortunate that my job provides ample vacation time. So, I can make one or two significant trips per year and still go to Dayton and make some local excursions.
  • Where was the last big trip? Montserrat. The DXpedition web site can be found here.
  • Where will you go after this trip? I have no idea! But, that's always the best question to ask when a DXpedition is complete. In fact, this is one of the great traditions in DXpeditioning: where next?!