Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

Clipperton Island, the atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean, has a storied history of presidential visits, castaways waiting to be rescued, government squabbles over ownership and, of course, ham radio DXpeditions. In January 2024, the Perseverance DX Group will add their names to the history of this rare entity that is #38 on the Clublog's most wanted list. In this conversation, PDXG co-founder and Clipperton co-organizer, Dave Lloyd K3EL, offers an overview of their activation plans as well as specifics about equipment, antennas, operating schedules and more. Learn about the team behind the 2024 Clipperton DXpedition in anticipation of getting this rare one in your log early next year.

Katie Campbell, KE8LQR, is 15 years old and clearly not the image of ham radio that has everyone worried about an aging hobby. Not only is she a licensed and active ham radio operator, Katie holds positions as the Assistant Youth Section Coordinator for Ohio, is a correspondent for the Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL), and is the assistant PR manager for Youngsters on the Air (YOTA). She has presented at many ham conventions working closely with the legendary youth educator, Carole Perry, WB2MGP. Most recently, Katie was one of a select group of young ham radio operators who took over the K3LR superstation for the RSGB IOTA contest. If you’re curious about attracting more youth to ham radio, you should get to know Katie Campbell KE8LQR and follow her work in promoting the hobby.

26,679. That’s the number of QSOs that teammates James Gallo KB2FMH, Hal Turley W8HC, and Yuri Sushkin N3QQ, put in the log over their 16 days in American Samoa as KH8RRC. From all accounts, it was a well-executed DXpedition with operations on multiple bands, in multiple modes, and providing credit for the DXCC entity, a Parks on the Air park and the IOTA island. Social media was alive with reports during those two weeks in July. James KB2FMH joined me for this conversation about what went right, what went wrong, and how they dealt with the problems that arose. In keeping with his inimitable style, James is very entertaining in his description of events on the ground in the American Samoa. He even hints at where their next DXpedition might be!

Michael Martens, KB9VBR, is on a “mission to inspire and educate the amateur radio community.” With over 545 videos that have been viewed nearly 7 million times, it appears that he’s accomplishing his goal. What distinguishes Michael’s content above most others is the high production quality so it wasn’t surprising to hear that he has a film and creative story telling background. In our conversation, we talk about Michael’s start with ham radio in 1999, his business venture called “J-Pole Antennas,” Parks on the Air activations, and, of course, his passion for creating content that inspires on his extremely popular YouTube channel, KB9VBR Antennas.