I have to admit that hunting for VP6D felt like hunting real DX, a feeling that is pretty rare down here at the bottom of the solar cycle. I had fun working them on 8 CW bands from 80-10m, plus SSB and FT8. This isn’t the first time I’ve worked a team sailing on the Braveheart, and like those earlier events it was populated with excellent operators (14 of them), great pilot stations (8 of those). Dave, K3EL, does an excellent job leading things as always. Hard to imagine that they finished with 121,136 QSOs. Even harder to imagine is that there were almost as many digital contacts (mostly FT8) as SSB contacts. But of course CW continues to shine. (56% CW, 24% SSB, 20% Digital)
My hat’s off to all the Ops, Pilot Stations, and the crew of the Braveheart for another fantastic DXpedition. I anxiously await all the behind the scene stories sure to come out over the next few months.
Lucky Gary KB7QFE, immortalized for being the last station recorded in the DXA app to work VP6D!
