• [NEWS] –

One of the three amplifiers in use blew up this morning. We are going to run the FT8 station barefoot for the remaining 20 hours.

We were active all nights on low bands either CW or FT8, either 80 or 160m. Strong demand. High bands deliver busy pile ups most of the time.

A storm broke our 12/17m rhombic antenna. We were able to fix it.

All ops are tired. We are now somewhere at 55K QSOs. Tuesday morning we will pack to relocate to Cocos (VK9CU). Till then full operation.

  • [FEBRUARY 27] – 

We were on 80m CW and FT8 for the whole night. Our signal went out well into NA and later into EU. However, reception suffered a lot from QRN. Today, we will prepare the lowband RX ant and hope for improvement. The first 6m QSOs are rushing in! (FT8) We will exceed 40K QSOs today.

https://vk9-2025.topdx.de/

  • [FEBRUARY 26] – 

The missing ski bag with the antenna poles made it to Christmas Island. We started preparing the low band antenna, but could not set it up in the dark. We will finalize tomorrow morning (local) and start low bands same day.

  • [PICS] – 

FT8 info: we modified FT8 frequencies to avoid possible interference with other digital channels – see ‘operating frequencies’ on this website. Despite all the antenna limitations, we will pass the 30,000 QSO mark today. We are just learning the hard way that this time of year is the wet season (at least the roof keeps tight..)

Pictures courtesy VK9XU website

  • [FEBRUARY 21] – 

I just returned from the airport. Our masts did not arrive with today’s plane. Sh… Next plane in 4 days. This means: no low bands for another 4 days. Very disappointing performance of the airline(s) – Elmar DF4GV

  • [FEBRUARY 19] –

Antenna situation: no news on the missing masts yet. However, there is a little hardware store on the island where we found some material for setting up a second antenna, i.e. we are now QRV with two stations. Not yet with the beam, though.

Software problem: this morning from 5:08z our log software for a while incorrectly sent the call VK9CU instead of VK9XU. This was possibly due to an installation problem. In our log, however, our QSOs were correctly logged as VK9XU. This went undetected for a while, but was then corrected. We are in fact on Christmas Island, we use the call VK9XU and will LoTW and QSL as VK9XU. We suggest correcting our error in your log. In case of doubt please work us again.

  • [QRV / FEBRUARY 18] – 

We made it to Christmas Island, but our most important piece of luggage did NOT make it: the oversize bag with most of the rods for the antenna masts. We will therefore have to start with only a subset of our planned antenna farm. First thing tomorrow, we will try to find a temporary replacement, in particular for the mast for the beam. The next flight to Xmas Island will only arrive on Friday. Therefore, please keep fingers crossed that the missing bag will then be delivered. We have, however, begun initial operation today Feb 18 at 11:53z. First QSO was with VR2KW on 15m FT-8. Guys, see you on the bands.

— tnx DF4GV.

  • [SEPTEMBER 14, 2024] –

Following on from the initial Breaking DX News announced on DX-WORLD on September 11th, we can now report that the German / Australian DXpedition to both Christmas Island & Cocos (Keeling) Island has acquired the callsign VK9XU which will be used between February 18 to March 4, 2025 (from Christmas Island). The second part of their DXpedition is scheduled from March 4-12 (from Cocos Keeling). 

  • Team: DF4GV, DJ9RR, DL2AMD, VK6SJ, VK6CQ, DL2AWG.
  • Bands: 160-6m. QRV 24/7
  • Modes: CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 (F/H).
  • Gear: FlexRadios 6600 and 8600, Yaesu FTDX10, Icom IC7300; amplifiers: 4x FlexRadio PGXL, roWaves PA1000+, SPE Expert 1.3K.
  • Antennas: Hexbeam 20-6m; DX-Commander 40-10m; Rombic 17/12m; vertical 160/80m; J-Pole 30m.
  • QSL via Club Log, bureau or direct to DL2AWG.
  • Lotw: 3 months after the DXpedition.