Members of the Japan Amateur Radio League are showing their support for the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 in a big way: For the 184 days, they are calling QRZ with the callsign 8K3EXPO. The expo opened on April 13th with the first QSOs made by JARL president Koji Morita, JA5SUD. Volunteers throughout the organisation will continue the activation until its conclusion on the 13th of October.
According to the expo website, all the radio equipment for this station is being operated remotely, utilising optical fibre. A radio booth is set up next to one of the expo halls in the East Gate Zone and linked to the antenna tower elsewhere on the site.
Not everything is happening on site. At the same time the 8K3 station is on the air, the mobile station JA3XPO is also being operated by JARL. This is a special callsign that has been re-activated 55 years after its first use at the previous Osaka Expo in 1970. The mobile operation will travel to the six prefectures in the Kansai region.
Of course, if you think this expo is a big deal, wait until next year when JARL marks 100 years since its founding.
For additional information about the expo, see the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org