FIRST DESECHEO ISLAND ACTIVATION SINCE 2009

There has been no amateur activity from Desecheo Island, 13 miles off the Puerto Rican coast, since 2009 – but now the first Puerto Rican-led DXpedition in 48 years to KP5 is preparing for that moment. The organisers, the Manyana DX Foundation and the Vieques Island Amateur Radio Club, are calling the activation of this small uninhabited island a “landmark DXpedition.”

It is a protected nature reserve with strict limits to access, so two self-contained remote deployable units, or RDUs, will be set out in the second week of January. Operators have undergone training specific to the remote activation. They expect to be on the air within 24 hours of RDUs’ deployment, operating around the clock for about 30 days on 160-6 metres, CW, SSB and FT8. A live stream will be available from Club Log.

Of course, expect pileups. The island is the 14th most wanted entity on the DXCC list.