BA4ALC(BA5CW)The teacher once wrote a very good introductory series titled:From HF Basics to DXCC", pursuing DXCC is one of the greatest joys for amateur radio enthusiasts. For a newcomer to the fascinating world of HF, chasing DXCC can be both simple and daunting – it's simple because achieving DXCC means connecting with someone in another country and having them confirm your contact; however, it's also daunting because there are so many different ways to approach it, depending on the region and the specific techniques involved. It seems like it's not something that can be learned overnight. Given the current relaxed regulations for amateur radio enthusiasts under the age of 18, I expect a surge in new entrants to this hobby. Therefore, I would like to introduce this highly addictive pursuit through a series of articles. Let's start by choosing your target."
The DXCC system, proposed by W1CBD in 1935, has become the universal standard for amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide. In the DXCC system, each entity is referred to as an "entity" to avoid any potential misunderstanding of the term "country" among hobbyists. This entity can be a political concept or a geographical concept. For example, China is considered an entity.（B）、China's Huangyan Island is considered another entity.（BS7H）The former is defined by political concepts, while the latter is defined by geographical separation (island entities). Therefore, a single country can contain multiple DXCC entities. In addition to these, there are also special areas, such as the ITU Geneva (4U1ITU), which is considered an independent entity due to its unique status and influence in the global telecommunications industry. We aim to connect with signals transmitted from these regions; only connecting with signals originating from these areas constitutes a valid connection. When pursuing this, we must also consider the impact of geographical location and political relationships.
The impact of location is often the most obvious and noticeable aspect. You might even discover your first source of income before you fully understand DXCC. Even if you use an antenna that's essentially the same as a fake load, you can easily acquire these entities. Typical examples include BY, JA, UA0, BV, VR2, etc. These entities are relatively close to us (a few hundred to a thousand kilometers), have a large number of radio operators, and generally have good equipment, making communication relatively easy.
Once you have appropriately upgraded your antenna and started using proper vertical antennas, as well as higher-gain antennas, stations located further away (2-5 thousand kilometers) become easily accessible. This situation can be divided into two cases: the first is stations in regions similar to those in Eastern Europe, Central Asia (such as Russia, Kazakhstan), where antennas are generally good and the environment has relatively low noise, making it easy to acquire them. The second is stations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Fiji, and other Pacific Ocean countries. These stations can be reached through the excellent reflection of seawater, especially at higher frequencies, with additional gains from paths crossing the equator, so they are not particularly difficult to acquire. Experienced hams often say that DXCC stations on the Pacific Ocean are our "backyard," and this is certainly true.
The next distance range is particularly interesting, covering distances of 5000-7/8000 kilometers. This range includes two major "warehouses": Europe and the West (including the Caribbean). These areas have a relatively high concentration of established radio stations (with Italy and Germany leading the European group, and the US Western region group), although some countries have fewer amateur operators. However, there are still a few large stations (such as Mexico and Colombia). Therefore, if you use an antenna of the previous class and communicate with these stations, you should be able to overcome any character-related issues. If you can use a Yagi antenna (even one that is not perfectly optimized or has fewer elements), communicating with these medium and smaller stations in the region should also not be a problem. One area that needs to be mentioned is Northern Europe. Due to the significant latitude difference between Northern Europe and our country, communication feels similar to communicating with Oceania, with added advantages of wide coverage and relatively few people, resulting in easier communication.
Within the range of 7,000 to 2,000 kilometers, this is further divided into three regions. First are the DXCCs in Oceania, such as New Zealand, Kiribati, and French Polynesia. Due to their characteristics of seawater augmentation and crossing the equator, subjective assessment is not difficult, and obtaining QSL cards should not be a problem. Second are the UK islands, Portugal, Spain, and other European countries. Although these locations are geographically distant from the previous tier, obtaining QSL cards is still relatively easy due to the presence of specific large stations. Finally, there is the African region. While this area also crosses the equator, it requires waiting for expedition teams to arrive due to the scarcity of local amateur radio operators. Typical areas in this category include East Africa, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. An exception is South Africa, which is relatively easy to contact due to its high density of local amateur radio operators and a large time difference with China. When contacting stations at this tier, it can be difficult to use directional antennas like the Yagi, but the assistance of the "grey line" can also achieve communication.
Finally, for areas exceeding 12,000 kilometers, a typical example is South America. What's surprising here is that for Chinese HAM radio operators, Chile, Argentina, and southern Brazil, located near the antipode (opposite point), are actually the best locations to connect to. The main reason is that the signal propagation paths in these areas are similar, with both long and short paths being equally viable. This allows for a variety of communication directions, including those with maritime augmentation. Areas that are more difficult to connect to are mainly concentrated on islands between South America and Africa, such as St. Helena and Ascension Island.
Some people might ask, "So, if that's the case, wouldn't it be relatively easy?" Not necessarily. For amateur radio operators in China, there is one particular area that is notoriously difficult to work: a path that crosses from China, over the Arctic. This path covers eastern Canada, the east coast of the United States, the Caribbean, the eastern coast of South America, and the western coast of Africa. For example, Zone 2 of the WAZ award (eastern Canada) has always been a challenge. However, the Caribbean region and the eastern coast of South America, as well as the western coast of Africa, have a large number of DXCCs (even requiring zooming in on the DXCC map to see them clearly). This is an area that is particularly challenging for enthusiasts who are focused on achieving DXCC status. If you have an eight-element Yagi antenna, and use it to strengthen the path across the Arctic, it could make things much easier.
Summarizing the above, we can determine what the purpose and order of pursuit for a new amateur radio enthusiast is when aiming to achieve DXCC.
- First, acquire contacts from nearby entities (e.g., BY JA HL UA0 VR2 XX9 BV), at which point DXCC should be around 10-20.
- Next, there are Asia and Oceania, Central Asia (HS 9M YB KH0 KH2 KH6 UN EX, etc.), at which point the DXCC should be around 20-50.
- At this point, you could consider upgrading your antenna for the first time, while also acquiring equipment for VK, ZL, 3D2 FO, UA, UK, I, SV, HA, EU, LY, K6, K7, XE, etc. At this stage, DXCC should see a significant increase, reaching around 100-150 stations.
- In the previous stage, you should have already completed most of Western Europe and Oceania, and also secured several good DXCC awards in South America. Now, you can focus on Western Europe, East Africa (e.g., M CT EA, 5Z TS ZS), etc. If you find it difficult, you can upgrade your antenna or improve the environment. Of course, if you have reached this level, I think you probably don't need to read my article anymore. At this point, DXCC should be around 150-200.
- At this point, it's possible to aim for the eastern Caribbean region. It is recommended that at least one set of Yagi antennas should be available, which would eliminate much of the struggle.
In the next article, I will briefly introduce the impact of propagation on DXCC logging.
闽ICP备2021006864号-7
闽公网安备35020602002794号
互联网举报中心