DXing

For those of you who aren't hams (amateur radio operators), the term DX refers to radio communications with people outside your own country.  It is, I would guess, a derivative from the word "distance".  One of the standard awards in our hobby is the DXCC award, which you get when you work 100 or more separate entities.  This award is given by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) which is the hobby's governing body and chief lobbying group.

Entities are designated by the ARRL.  In the United States, we have three entities, the Mainland, Alaska, and Hawaii.  I assume that Alaska and Hawaii are separate because of their distance from the Mainland.  There are a total of 340 entities in the World today.

All of this is background for my discussion of my DX activities.  Since I became a ham, I have worked several countries but DX has not been one of my main focuses.  If I happened to talk to someone in another country, I put their name and call sign in the logbook but didn't get too excited about it.  Recently, however, I became curious about how many countries (or entities) I had worked so I built a spreadsheet.  As of today, I have 27 confirmed entities in my list.

The other thing I should point out is that, even though you may talk to someone in another country, if they don't confirm the conversation, either on line or by sending you a card, you cannot count that country.  I have a bunch of contacts that I have never received cards for.  Another strange quirk to this whole system is that, if you are an American, you are expected to foot the bill for the entire exchange of cards.  Because of high postage rates, the entire exchange of cards for one conversation can run about $3.25.

As you have probably already guessed, however, I have gotten more interested in DX lately.  Some of the more exotic entities I've worked include the following:  The Azores, Belarus, Honduras, Guantanamo Bay, Isle of Man, Peru, Guadalupe Island, and Cuba.  This is in addition to some of the more common countries like Great Britain, Germany, and Canada.  I'll keep you posted as I near my 100 mark.