8Q7AH Update (Mar 02) Alex secured a new booking with a direct flight from March 8 to March 16. He will be QRV from the Maldives. 8Q7AH Update (Mar 01) Alex’s flight goes through Dubai, but the airport is closed due to recent events. He believes it may not be possible to depart from the Maldives at this time. 8Q7AH Op:  OE5AUH Bands:   HF Qsl Info:   Qsl via OE5AUH Start Date - End Date:   Mar. 08 - Mar. 16 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/8Q7AH Notes: Rig:  Icom IC-7300 - A

Op: IW2NEF Bands:   6M - 40M Modes:  SSB, FT4 & FT8 Qsl Info:   Qsl via IK2DUW Start Date - End Date:   Feb. 28 - Mar. 07 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/HI7/IW2NEF Notes: The equipment is a Yaesu FT-891 with an ATU, a 10 m end-fed vertical wire antenna, and monoband dipoles.

XX9W Update (Mar 19) At approximately 9 UTC we started transmitting on the 15m band in FT8 mode while continuing to set up the rest of the stations Source:   https://www.dxfriends.com/xx9w/ XX9W Update (Mar 18) All team and equipment at the hotel in Macao. Source:   https://www.dxfriends.com/xx9w/ XX9W Update (Mar 17) Security control cleared. Radio stuff in the hall. Next stop Istanbul. Source:   https://www.dxfriends.com/xx9w/ XX9W Update (Mar 16) The entire team is already

Op: JK1JXZ Bands:   6M - 80M Qsl Info:   Qsl via LoTW Start Date - End Date:   Mar. 15 - Apr. 03 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/YJ1JXZ Notes: He will be active after 5:00 PM Vanuatu time and throughout the entire weekend during my stay.

Contest:   CQ 160-Meter Contest, SSB Date:   Feb. 27, 2200Z to Mar. 01, 2200Z Rules:   https://www.cq160.com/rules.htm

Op: WD8R   Bands:   15M, 20M & 40M Modes:   CW (15WPM) SSB perhaps FT8 Qsl Info:   Qsl via LoTW Start Date - End Date:   Feb. 27 - Mar. 09 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/PJ4/WD8R Notes: Holiday style operation

Op:   K5AYO Bands:   10M - 40M Modes: SSB, CW & FT8 Qsl Info:   Qsl via K5AYO (direct) or ClubLog OQRS Start Date - End Date:   Mar. 14 - Mar. 22 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/VP2EYO Notes: Holiday style operation

If the situation persists, Feb 22, 2026, will be recorded as the first "spotless day" since 2022. Spotless days are a key indicator the solar cycle. During years around Solar Minimum, whole months can go by without a single sunspot, racking up dozens of spotless days in a row. Between 2018-2020 (the last Solar Minimum) there were more than 700 spotless days! Today's blank sun does not mean Solar Minimum has arrived. On the contrary, it is still years away. However, it does te

Contest:   North American QSO Party, RTTY Date:   Feb. 28, 1800Z to Mar. 01, 0559Z Rules: https://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

Op:   JH6GFY Bands:   10M - 20M ((40M, hopefully) Qsl Info:   Qsl via eQSL or LoTW Start Date - End Date:   Mar. 18 - Mar. 24 Webpage:   https://www.qrz.com/db/JH6GFY Notes: Running a Yaesu FT-991A (100W) into a 4.8 mH loaded dipole.

Ops:   YT1AD (KH0/N9YU) & YU3AA (KH0/NS3A) Bands:   HF Modes:  CW, SSB, FT4 & FT8 Qsl Info:  KH0/N9YU Qsl via YT1AD KH0/NS3A Qsl via YU3AA Start Date - End Date:  Mar. 17 - Mar. 23

Looking for butts in chairs for the dxpeditions and contest efforts I have confirmed for 2026. Other efforts are in the works for 2026 but not confirmed yet. 2027 will include a dxpedition to Ghana. WPX SSB: March 28 - 29, 2026. Hosted by VP2MAA in Montserrat. IOTA CONTEST & 4 park POTA: SSB & CW July 21-26. IOTA contest is 25-25. POTA in the days leading up to the contest. You don't need to be there the whole time. This is done in air conditioned comfort on Tangier island. F

Ops:   YT1AD ( KH2/N9YU ) & YU3AA ( KH2/NS3A ) Bands:   HF Modes:  CW, SSB, FT4 & FT8 Qsl Info:  KH2/N9YU  Qsl via YT1AD KH2/NS3A  Qsl via YU3AA Start Date - End Date:  Mar. 13 - Mar. 17

Ops:   YT1AD ( DU6/N9YU ) & YU3AA ( DU6/NS3A ) Bands:   HF Modes: CW, SSB, FT4 & FT8 Qsl Info:  DU6/N9YU Qsl via YT1AD DU6/NS3A Qsl via YU3AA Start Date - End Date:  Mar. 04 - Mar. 12

Contest:   REF Contest, SSB Date:   Feb. 21, 0600Z to Feb. 22, 1800Z Rules: https://concours.r-e-f.org/reglements/actuels/reg_cdfhfdx_en_20250315.pdf

TX5EU Update (Mar 25) Here on Raivavae, it is still March 24, late evening. In the morning, we had started taking down all antennas, except for one which kept one station running till the last minute. In the evening, around 6p.m. our local time (i.e. March 25 around 5 a.m. GMT), however, we finally went QRT. Despite all the weather-related limitations with our antennas, we accumuluated a satisfactory 59k QSOs. Tomorrow morning, we will leave our QTH early and head back to the

Contest:   ARRL International DX Contest, CW Date:   Feb. 21, 0000Z to Feb. 22, 2400Z Rules:   https://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx

CY0S Update (Mar 30) The Sable Island CYØS DXpedition will go QRT by 1100Z on Tuesday, March 31.  Some of the antennas will be taken down on Monday afternoon.  The Yagi antennas and a few of the low band Spider Poles will remain operational until Tuesday morning. As of 0735Z on March 30, the CYØS team has 97,755 contacts in the log.  This represents 166 DXCC countries.  Operations will remain normal through early Tuesday morning, except for 160 and 60 meters; those antennas w