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HomePresident's Message
 
Hello all,

Many thanks to everyone in the Utah DX Association for your activity and support of our organization. We've had a great few months so far this year as Solar Cycle 25 continues to provide excellent HF propagation, and DXpeditions continue to get out there for us to chase and log toward award objectives. Here is a short recap of the year so far.

Ham Spirit
Our club had the unique opportunity to share some "ham spirit" in assisting Antoine 3D2AG in getting 228 of his QSLs on their way from Fiji and Rotuma to DXers in North and South America. We received praise from many DXers who received the cards, and a few of the DX publications picked up on this initiative too. Antione indicates that sending postal mail to and via the USA continues to be a challenge, so we will likely have a follow-on opportunity soon.

Our club also took the opportunity to assist in a small way with the 8Q7ZW Maldives DXpedition as return flights were cancelled owing to turmoil in the middle east. They were most appreciative. I know that some of us worked this fairly-rare one, even given the fact that the location is about as far from Utah as possible across the globe. It is especially gratifying to know that the group left antennas for local amateur operator 8Q7PR, who I now often see on the DX spotting networks as being actively on the air.

Openings to 3Y0K
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of UDXA membership is the way in which we share our experiences in working openings to rare DXCC entities. This was especially evident during the recent 3Y0K Bouvet activation, where the club email reflector came alive with tips on finding optimum times and bands to work this rare entity. A special shout-out goes to Don N5LZ for identifying a predictable daily opening on 20 meters during our morning time, using long-path propagation. Among others, I also logged them using this tip.

Meeting Topics & Attendance
In February we enjoyed a fascinating presentation by Dave KJ9I on making DX contacts via EME (earth-moon-earth) communication. Our own Randy WI7P has extensive experience with this mode and contributed much to the Q&A session.

We have also had meetings covering the DX Marathon program and on Suitcase DXpeditions. What other topics are you interested in sharing or learning? Please let me or one of our Board members know!

DX Marathon
A reminder that we have an intra-club challenge this year to see how many DXCC and CQ Zones we each can work during 2026. Although these rankings can be derived from Club Log, it is best to upload our logs every now and then to the DX Marathon program website, as there are some nuances (for example Worked-All-Europe entities also count). Here is the log upload link:
https://entry.dxmarathon.com

Be The DX!
As per my presentation the other night, I'm planning to go out for my 5th trip to do some humanitarian work in Tuvalu later this summer and would love to have others join. T2 ranks #84 on the Club Log most-wanted list, and there has been essentially no HF activity from this small Pacific nation since 2023. Among other initiatives, I'm hoping to train up another local operator there to take the place of our friend Tili T2AT who recently passed away. Let me know if you would like to learn more.

April Meeting
We have traditionally not had meetings in April due to many of our club members heading to the International DX Convention in Visalia. This year the convention will be the "Santa Maria DX & Contesting Convention" which is coming right up on April 10–12, 2026. Although I won't be traveling to the conference, I'm inclined to set our next UDXA meeting for May, but would like to hear from others with your thoughts.

I know there are many in the club with skills and ideas to share. Please reach out to or Jed AD7KG if you would like to present or lead a discussion in our future meetings.

73 & see you in the pileups,

John Mitton KK7L