2025 Galapagos Dx-Pedition
HD8G
Grid: EI49UF
IOTA: SA - 004
Grid Locator: EI49UF
Coordinates: 0° 45′ 16” S – 90° 18′ 38” W
IOTA: SA – 004 WWFF: HCFF – 004
25 ham radio operators will activate Galapagos from Apr 18th to 26th, 2025. The team is formed by E70A, HC5F, HC5RF, HC5VF, K3NQ, N6JRL, N6PSE, PY2BS, PY2DV, PY2MC, PY2PT, PY2WAS, PY5EG, PY5HSD, PY5KD, PY6HD, PY6RT, PR7AB, PS8RV, PV8DX, R7KW, WD5COV, YL1ZF, YL2KL and YT1AD. Our official advisors are NE8Z / HC1MD – Rick and OK1BOA – Petr.
There will be 8 work stations (1 work station dedicated to satellites, 1 work station dedicated to EME and 1 work station dedicated to 6m, 24h) shared in 2 different sites located at Santa Cruz Island: Site 1: Hotel Sol y Mar and Site 2: Steve’s Chalets.
We have the support of Araucaria DX Group, Guara DX Group, Mediterraneo DX Club and LABRE (Brazilian Amateur Ham Radio League).
As regards ham radio related companies, we are sponsored by ACOM, Diex Antennas, DS Antenas, KV Antennas, Hertz Antenas, Antena Kit, MHZ Antenas, Ham Plus, Torres Ouro Fino, RadioEnge, RadioHaus and Titanex.
This Dx-Pedition is sponsored by a wide number of sponsors. In special, ACOM, the linear amps manufacturer, is our main sponsor and we deeply thank ACOM for all the support:
Our additional sponsors are equally welcome and made possible this serious dx-pedition:
The following ham radio associations supported this Dx-Pedition:
We are proud to inform you that we support and will participate in the best dx-pedition in 2025 choice at
DX-PEDITION TROPHY:
Tim M0URX – QSL Manager
HD8G OQRS – click HERE!!!
OQRS just after Dxpedition:
Express Direct QSL card + LOTW: US$ 6.50 or EUR 6.30
Express LOTW : US$ 5.00 or EUR 4.80
LOTW (more than a year): free
Bureau (more than a year): free
Please, use the OQRS system to request your QSL. DO NOT send your QSL card direct or via bureau and for any information about missing calls/busted calls and not in the log use the “Not in the log”button.
(Warning to Brazilians only – Aviso para brasileiros somente – se você não estiver conseguindo fazer o pagamento via Paypal para a conta gerenciada diretamente por PY2DV, por favor faça o pagamento pelo Paypal, colocando como destinatário [email protected] e após fazer o pagamento, envie um e-mail com o print da tela para o mesmo e-mail [email protected], de forma que o Tim, manager da expedição, possa processar o OQRS de forma adequada e enviar seu cartão QSL ou subir os seus contatos para o LOTW)
Please, only online requests and log check (no emails).
Please, don’t send email for team members about log and confirmation (only OQRS system).
Please, don’t send questions about log to our general email.
QSOs will be uploaded to LOTW 12 months after the end of this dx-pedition.
In exceptional basis, QSL mailed to our manager M0URX:
Same above values apply!
Address:
Tim Beaumont M0URX
83 Limbrick Avenue
Tile Hill
Coventry West Midlands
CV4 9EX
ENGLAND
Please include a Self-Addressed Envelope
NO coins of any country
NO IRCs
NO postage stamps accepted
Confirmation requests received with insufficient funds will be returned via Bureau, no exceptions.
Those resources will be used to cover the QSL and Log check services and offset a few dx-pedition costs.
26/Apr/2025 –
Today is our last day in Galapagos. It looks like that it started yesterday and is already over… We miss the notion of time, as it passes by very quickly.
The 160m and 60m antennas have been unassembled this morning at Sol y Mar Hotel. We will unassemble the A3S at 7pm UTC and the verticals will be unassembled from 7pm UTC to 11pm UTC at Sol y Mar Hotel (site 1). As regards Steve’s Chalets (site 2), the antennas will be unassembled from 7pm UTC on.
There is not the final number of QSOs yet, but it should be between 40,000 and 50,000. Our target was 50,000 with 6 stations running HF and 2 running satellites and EME, respectively. Some reasons may explain our obstacles to reach our target: (i) configuration problems of DXlog and WSTJ-X making us to lose precious time trying to fix it, (ii) unstable internet making us blind as regards where the stations in 2 sites would be operating, (iii) our wish to provide the maximum QSOs in lower bands as possible, which caused our QSO rating to lose efficiency.
On the other hand, we were capable of solving many challenges by taking into consideration all plans discussed along 1 year.
We thank all our sponsors, but we can recommend two products that we tested here and the performance was the best possible: the linear amplifier ACOM 500S from ACOM and the J-Pole Antenna for 10m from Antena Kit. Amazing performance that made the difference in our QSOs. While the linear amplifier ACOM 500S has been silent and reliable, J-Pole Antenna showed what a differentiated vertical antenna is capable of, tuning no only in 10m, but in 6m and 12m.
It is hard to say goodbay of this magical place named Galapagos. In addition to the radio, Galapagos provides a great lesson the entire world. A place in which men respect animals and where animals do not fear men. Both co-exist in the same environment without violent behaviors. That is why is amazing to be near wild animals and they stare at you as if you were only one else as part of the scenario. They simply do not run or try to hurt you.
We thank all ham radio community who chased us and made this dx-pedition come true, we thank all our sponsors (companies and individuals) that enabled us to be here, we thank Araucaria DX Group, Labre (Brazilian Ham Association) and Mediterraneo DX Club for supporting us, we thank our official advisors NE8Z – Rick and OK1BOA – Petr for all the valuable support, we thank Steve and Yenny Devine of Steve’s Chalets for their valuable support and generosity, we thank the Sol y Mar hotel staff for permitting us to use the roof and hang ropes and antennas accross the common area of the hotel and we thank God for being part of this great team, good people from different countries and cultures, joined for a single reason: ham radio!
Bye, bye, Galapagos! Thanks for this fantastic adventure!!!
25/Apr/2025 –
We received some complaints about no operation in SSB or CW in lower bands, as if we have decided not to do it. The fact is that propagation has been cruel in lower bands. As an example, PY2WAS stayed in 60m for half an hour calling CQ in CW to get 2 contacts. When moving to FT8, lot’s of QSOs were added to the log.
One assumption is clear as regards the performance of the antennas and the place were they were installed in Sol y Mar Hotel (site 1). A3S (3 element yagi beam) is the winner. The performance of this antenna is amazing if comparing with the performance of the Big IR or the S9 vertical antennas. The problem is to carry it on the baggage, considering its size and weight. As regards those vertical antennas, they perform reasonably, but if they had been assembled just near the sea or over the sea, the performance would be much better. As the S9 vertical antenna in Steve’s Chalets (site 2) was assembled just near the water, its performance was much better than the similar one in Sol y Mar Hotel.
We have one additional day in Galapagos and will do our best to offer a chance of QSO to everyone everywhere.
24/Apr/2025 –
As it was foreseen in the propagation analysis, the propagation in low bands has been awful. CW in low band has not been an option, although the team has some of the best CW ops in the world.
The site in Steve’s Chalets will try to assemble an antenna for 160m trying to maximize the efforts in lower bands.
On the other hand, the operation in satellites and EME runs smoothly overcoming all our expectations.
Although internet continues to challenge us, we have already learned how to solve such a problem.
Finally, we do regret that our server did not permit the addition of new pictures here showing the evolution of the dx-pedition. That is why we have brought only texts.
23/Apr/2025 –
This Wednesday was a very festive day, since it was the first day we had antennas for all bands. Internet continued to be a problem, which was only overcome by manually uploading files coordinated by PS8RV, with the support of PY5KD, to Clublog and to our manager Tim – M0URX.
We have made progress in our contacts on the low bands, especially on 60m, 80m and 160m. We are quite pleased with the results, since our expectations based on our propagation studies were not satisfactory.
We would, however, like to highlight the spectacle of operating with the ACOM 500S linear amplifier. It provides 500W linearly, is extremely quiet, reliable and error-proof for operators. It certainly becomes the dream of anyone who has the pleasure of knowing it. Our many thanks to ACOM for giving us the chance to use such good equipment!!!
22/Apr/2025 –
On this fourth day, we have already drawn some conclusions about what works and what doesn’t; what can be improved and what can’t be improved. Unfortunately, the internet problem is beyond our reach and we can’t solve it. We can only look at the glass half full and be thankful that we can still send our ADIF logs twice a day to Clublog. I hope this can motivate those who consult the leaderboard.
Finally, today, we managed to set up the inverted L antenna for 160 meters and the sloper antenna for 60 meters. We couldn’t have had a better surprise… On the first night with these antennas, many contacts on 60 meters in FT8 and the first contacts on 160 meters, especially with North America.
We hope to increase our contacts in the coming days on the lower bands, especially 60m, 80m and 160m, considering the number of operators who ask us to operate on these bands.
21/Apr/2025 –
On this third day, we unfortunately concluded that we will not be able to feed Clublog live or use the livestream, because none of our stations are able to send updated data immediately.
Therefore, in order to avoid confusion from people searching for their contacts on the livestream and trying to contact them again, because they could not find them there, we will be updating the Clublog logs twice a day. Therefore, we kindly ask that you do not make new contact on the same band and in the same mode, if you immediately consulted the clublog and did not find your contact, since the update will occur later.
Today, we received some bad news. Our Tokyo Hy-Power HL 1.1KFX linear amplifier stopped working and our station 1 formed by PY2DV, PY2MC, PY2WAS and PY6RT, started to work only with up to 100W from the Yaesu FT-991.
The good news of the day was the installation of the 10m J-Pole antenna, manufactured by Antena Kit. The first information coming from Rigexpert’s antenna analyzer was fantastic, as the antenna was resonating and with very low SWR throughout the band. And this was confirmed by PSK Reporter, showing the power of this incredible vertical.
Finally, PY2BS, PY2WAS and PY6RT who are hosted at Sol y Mar Hotel (site 1) visited their colleagues at Steve’s Chalet (site 2) and it was possible to check their great facilities. By the way, the shack of PV8DX for satellites was elected as the most beautiful one with the ocean view in front of it. We will show it soon here.
20/Apr/2025 –
Due to the internet problems, we will be deciding by tonight whether we will update Clublog once a day or whether we will be able to update it online, including using leaderboards and livestreams, according to our initial intention.
On the second day of operations in Galapagos, we have different situations at the two operating sites. At Steve’s chalets, of the 4 stations, 2 are active 24 hours a day at full HF + 6m. One of the stations is facing problems that they are trying to correct in time to take advantage of the remaining days. And finally, the fourth station is operating only satellites and doing a great job by PV8DX. Another problem they are trying to solve is that when the four stations are connected, there is a voltage drop, which affects the entire operation.
Regarding the Hotel Sol y Mar, despite the internet problem, the three stations are active on full HF. The fourth station has already brought some contacts on EME at 1.2Ghz, thanks to the great work of PY2BS.
Today we started assembling the 160m inverted L antenna, but unfortunately our 18m Spiderbeam mast broke. Since the sun is unbearable around noon, we had to stop the antenna installation work and will return after 4pm (local time) to finish installing the antenna with what we can salvage from the mast and also install the 10m J-Pole antennas from the Antenna Kit and the 60m sloper.
19/Apr/2025 –
After 24 hours, Murphy has been haunting everyone, regardless of nationality. Our problems range from high SWR, interference between stations, configuration between radios and laptops, unreserved DXlog and so on.
We have set up 4 antennas at the Sol y Mar Hotel: (i) A3S (3 elem yagi), (ii) Big III IR SteppIR, (iii) S9 Vertical Antenna and (iv) Parabolic Antenna for EME at 1.2 GHz and 5 antennas at Steve’s Chalets: (i) S9 Vertical Antenna, (ii) KV Vertical Antenna, (iii) Super Antenna (3 El. Yagi), (iv) MHZ 5 elem yagi for 6m and (v) yagis for VHF and UHF.
Our key problem now is the instable signal of internet at Sol y Mar Hotel, which crashes the good work of VPN network and insertion of QSOs at DXlog. Therefore, all contacts made by the four stations of Hotel Sol y Mar are being affected by this problem. Consequently, Clublog leaderboard and livestream is affected.
Charles Darwin’s voyage to the Galapagos Islands was a pivotal part of his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, which ultimately influenced his groundbreaking work on the theory of evolution. Here are some detailed highlights of his expedition:
- The Voyage Begins: Darwin embarked on the Beagle voyage at the age of 22, starting on December 27, 1831, from Plymouth, England1.
- South American Exploration: Before reaching the Galapagos, Darwin spent time exploring various parts of South America, collecting specimens and making geological observations2.
- Galapagos Arrival: Darwin arrived at the Galapagos Islands in 1835 and spent five weeks there, visiting several islands including San Cristobal, Floreana, Isabela, and Santiago3.
- Observations and Collections: During his time on the islands, Darwin observed the unique flora and fauna, noting the variations among species from different islands. This led him to ponder the mutability of species1.
- Geological Insights: Darwin’s observations of geological formations and marine fossils in the Andes and his witnessing of an earthquake in Chile contributed to his understanding of geological uplift and the formation of coral reefs1.
- Return to England: The Beagle voyage concluded when Darwin returned to Falmouth on October 2, 18361.
Darwin’s experiences and collections from the Galapagos and other parts of the voyage were instrumental in the development of his theory of natural selection, which he later published in his famous work, “On the Origin of Species”. The Galapagos Islands, with their diverse and unique ecosystems, provided Darwin with a living laboratory to observe and formulate his ideas on evolution and natural selection1.
You may contact us sending your e-mail to [email protected] .
Please, bear in mind that any detail related to QSOs, missed QSOs, QSLs and log related issues must be addressed to Tim, M0URX.
DONATIONS OR SPONSORSHIPS OF COMPANIES AND HAM ASSOCIATIONS
We kindly accept donations or sponsorships of companies and ham associations to help to reduce the high costs of this dx-pedition. PLEASE, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW AND SEND US AN E-MAIL.
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SPONSORSHIPS OF HAM INDIVIDUALS
If you sponsor this HD8G dx-pedition with a value equal or higher than US$ 10.00 (ten American dollars), you will be benefited with the shipping of the QSL card and QSOs uploaded to LOTW immediately after the end of the dx-pedition (no longer than 2 weeks). IF YOU DECIDE TO DO IT, PLEASE CLICK THE DONATION BUTTON BELOW, BUT DO NOT FORGET TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO [email protected], WITH YOUR NAME, CALL SIGN, E-MAIL, ADDRESS, DONATION VALUE, DATE AND ANY COMMENT, IF YOU WISH. WITHOUT THIS E-MAIL WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SET UP YOU AT THE PRIORITY QSL AND LOTW LIST.
All revenues will be used to offset logistics to Galapagos.
All donors and sponsors (individuals, ham associations or companies) will be listed in this website to guarantee full transparency, unless there is a written request to not be listed.
Our team is delighted with the response of the ham community to make this dx-pedition a milestone in Galapagos. A small support from you is a big incentive and aid for all of us, as we may enhance the stations set-up to be taken to the island. The entire HD8G team thanks each of you for your confidence in a great dx-pedition!!!
List of Donors - Ham Radio Associations
1. Araucaria DX Group
2. LABRE – Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emissão
List of Individual Sponsors
All call signs and names will be listed below. If some call sign is missed, the name of the sponsor will be issued and we will do our best to identify his / her call sign. The order will be descending based on the value:
US$ 100.00 OR HIGHER
1. CT1FCX – Pedro Ferreira
2. W9MDB – Michael Black
3. N4LZ – Maurice L. Schietecatte
4. N9PN – Timothy Pierce
5. K6FG – Mark Weiss
BETWEEN US$ 20.00 AND US$ 99.99
1. K0MD – Scott Wright
2. N5DD – Donald Daze
3. W6VJT – Pat Chambers
4. NR5R – Noel Lopes
5. K6VWE – Stanford Rowe
6. WB9HBH – Steve Smith
7. K3SX – Sydney Shusterman
8. AJ8B – William Salyers
9. N7WS – Wes Stuart
10. K8DP – Doug Papay
UP TO US$ 19.99
1. PY2KP – Claudio Gimenez
2. WA1SXK – Eric Spero
3. KD5R – Alan Riley
4. NI0K – John Simmons
5. K7CMI – Marty Paulson
6. WA7CPA – Robin Amundson
7. K1CP – Clif Power
8. DD1SB – Stefan Biermann
9. WA5MD – Tim Brannon
10. NU1B – Stephen Claar
11. ON4MGY – Nicolas Senave
12. ES0IA – Igor Päss
The Paypal button for donations is available below.
Order your polo shirt and support the HD8G Dx-pedition
Unitary Price: US$ 16.00 + Shipping Costs
Order your cap and support the HD8G Dx-pedition
Unitary Price: US$ 7.00 + Shipping Costs
Order your t-shirt and support the HD8G Dx-pedition
Unitary Price: US$ 10.00 + Shipping Costs
Order your mug and support the HD8G Dx-pedition
Unitary Price: US$ 10.00 + Shipping Costs
You can order your HD8G item, by sending an e-mail to PR7AB – Junior at [email protected] and clicking the Paypal button at “Shirts, Caps & Mugs for Sale” tab. BEFORE ORDERING YOUR SOUVENIRS, CHECK THE SHIPPING COSTS E-MAILING [email protected] FIRSTLY. We advance the information that the Mail Post charges us US$ 27.00 in general up to 1kg… no matter if it is 100g or 1000g (1kg). So, bear in mind that you may order more than one item and the shipping cost will be US$ 27.00 if their total weight is up to 1kg. Book now your souvenirs, which willl be available up to the end of the stock!
LAPAN SAT forecast scheduling (FM mode)
In addition to the typical recommendations of amateur radio SAT:
1 – Visualize your footprint in relation to HD8G. If you still have a lot of time, leave the opportunity for those who don’t. It will be highly regarded.
2 – Try to find out the next day if you are in the LOG. If you are, only call again if HD8G doesn’t answer anyone
3 – If everything goes well, in the last three days we will send some images of the location via SSTV. LAPAN SAT
4 – Use the international phonetic code
5 – Finally, practice your patience with the expedition
6 – The other satellites, within the time possibilities, we will inform via X.com @HD8G
LAPAN SAT – previsão de operação (Modo FM) (Portuguese language)
Além das recomendações típicas para o radioamadorismo via satélite:
1 – Visualize sua pegada em relação a HD8G. Se ainda tem muito tempo para você, deixe oportunidade para quem não tem. Será bem apreciado
2 – Procure saber no próximo dia se você está no LOG. Se estiver, somente chame novamente se HD8G não responder ninguém
3 – Se tudo for bem, nos três últimos dias enviaremos algumas imagens do local via SSTV. LAPAN SAT
4 – Use sempre o código fonético internacional
5 – Por fim, pratique sua paciência com a expedição
6 – Os demais satélites, dentro das possibilidades de tempo, informaremos via X.com @HD8G
Data | UTC START | UTC END |
|---|---|---|
19april2025 | 18:53 | 19:06 |
20april2025 | 05:19 | 05:33 |
21april2025 | 17:49 | 18:02 |
22april2025 | 02:31 | 02:44 |
23april2025 | 15:01 | 15:15 |
24april2025 | 03:12 | 03:26 |
25april2025 | 15:42 | 15:56 |
LAPAN
RS44
PS: In case of QRM, QRN or any other obstacle, we may slightly move up or down the transmission (TX) frequency displayed in the above band map.
NEWS
Press Release #14 (April, 28th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
On April 27, 2025 (Sunday), after the operation ended at 11:00 p.m. (UTC) on April 26, 2025 (Saturday), most of the participants began returning to their countries.
This expedition demonstrated how the spirit of amateur radio can unite different races and cultures for a single goal. The friendship, planning and commitment of everyone resulted in a total of 51,775 QSOs, reaching our goal of 50,000 QSOs in 8 days. Dividing this number by the 8 days (considering the hours added together on the 18th and 26th, since there were not 24 hours in a row on both days), we have a total of 6,472 QSOs per day.
Despite our goal, we never stopped trying CW and SSB, including on low bands, but the propagation was not the most favorable. Our rating could be higher, but in order to try to provide CW and SSB to our colleagues, there were hours on end, with 2 to 10 contacts being made by some stations, which continually tried CW and SSB, without any help for the propagation.
Two products from our sponsors proved to be spectacular: 1) the ACOM 500S linear amplifier from ACOM and 2) the 10m J-Pole antenna from Antena Kit. Differentiated and above average performances, when compared to similar products.
Here is a list of what we learned from this expedition, with 25 operators from 7 different countries:
1) The greater the number of operators, the more difficult it is to organize all the details of the expedition.
2) Different languages are always an obstacle, but applications like Translator on your cell phone make communication much easier.
3) Choosing two different sites has the advantage of stations from one site and another being able to operate on the same band, in different modes. But the price to pay is high, since if the internet connection is not appropriate, it is not possible to integrate all the stations from one site and the other properly in a VPN. Without this integration, the stations from one site could not have visibility of where the stations in the other site were operating and this check often ended up being done manually via WhatsApp, taking up precious time.
4) Due to the instability of the internet, it was not possible to stay online, via VPN, when trying to do CW, since the lag between clicking the laptop key and the CW message being sent was very high.
5) Due to the instability of the internet and the need to leave the network when doing CW, it was not possible to send real-time data to the leaderboard and the Clublog livestream. We had to get around this situation manually again, thanks to the valuable efforts of PS8RV and PY5KD. However, this cost us an excess of dupes, as many operators made contact and did not see it being updated immediately on Clublog.
6) We lost 3 linear amplifiers (Tokyo Hy-Power, RM Italy and Ameritron) and had our Spiderbeam mast broken, which would support the inverted L for 160 meters. The other linear amplifiers from our sponsor ACOM and those from the companies Elecraft and SPE Expert behaved well, although the ACOM one stands out not only for its reliability, but also for its quiet operation.
7) Even with the broken mast, we assembled an inverted L for 160m and a sloper for 60m and the performance of both antennas was very pleasing. It was essential at this point to have an antenna analyzer on site to check if the antenna with effect resonates in the band for which it was designed and to identify what needs to be done to correct its operation.
8) Our satellite and EME operations were in great demand and our operators PV8DX and PY2BS are to be congratulated, respectively.
9) What to say about our CW experts PR7AB, YL1ZF, YL2KL, YT1AD, R7KW and E70A… genius! Our SSB experts PY2PT and PY5EG gave a lesson on how to operate in voice. The only disappointment was that PY6RT did not have a linear capable of providing him with the same performance in voice as the others, since his linear was one of the ones affected.
10) Our American colleagues K3NQ, N6JRL, N6PSE and WD5COV showed their skills in all modes and especially in the spirit of amateur radio, demonstrating their ability to work as a team.
11) Our colleagues from Ecuador were incredible. Their ability to integrate and the way they helped us achieve these results was impressive.
12) Without our co-leaders PY2PT, PY5EG and YT1AD we would not have achieved the feat of getting where we are.
13) We tried to operate fairly, not favoring some over others and trying to give everyone the chance we could.
14. Many thanks to E70A, HC5F, HC5RF, HC5VF, K3NQ, N6JRL, N6PSE, PY2BS, PY2DV, PY2MC, PY2PT, PY2WAS, PY5EG, PY5HSD, PY5KD, PY6HD, PY6RT, PR7AB, PS8RV, PV8DX, R7KW, WD5COV, YL1ZF, YL2KL and YT1AD. Without the personal effort and commitment of each and every one of you we would not have been able to reach our goal. Fantastic!!!
73,
2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release #13 (April, 13th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
That is our last press release before the start up of our dx-pedition on Apr 18, 2025. It goes from Apr 18, 2025 to Apr 26, 2025.
We took more than 1 year planning this dx-pedition. We had meetings every 2 weeks. Many colleagues had to cancel their participation for different reasons and new colleagues joined us. Now, we will be 25 passioned ops from 7 different countries, getting by language and culture differences aiming a single objective: one great dx-pedition, unforgettable for all of us and unforgettable for all the ham community. Here, Ecuador, Brazil, USA, Russia, Latvia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia will be together, helping each other to do their best.
It is not easy at all to organize a big dx-pedition with so many ops like this one. Some ops are more active than others, language is also an obstacle to live discussions, but the feeling is common to all of us and the chance to meet so distant colleagues that we would never have a chance to interact with make this an unique event to all of us. We have very experienced dxers and dx-peditioners in the team, but we also have brand new ones. That mixture reinforces the beauty of our hobby… an ever-lasting friendship!
We need to thank Araucaria DX Group, LABRE (Brazilian Ham Association), CT1FCX, W9MDB, N4LZ, N9PN, K6FG, K0MD, N5DD, W6JT, NR5R, K6VWE, WB9HBH, K3SX, AJ8B, N7WS, K8DP, PY2KP, WA1SXK, KD5R, NI0K, K7CMI, WA7CPA, K1CP, DD1SB, WA5MD, NU1B and ON4MGY. Their finance support was instrumental to enable us to take hundreds of kgs of equipment. Thank you very much, each of you!!! You made it possible!
We will be operating with 8 stations full time and one extra station will be activated during the nights. If your call sign is not in the above list, please, feel free to access our website hd8g.com and check the tabs “QSL” or “Donations and Sponsorships” and guarantee your paper QSL and LOTW in the first 2 weeks as soon as the dx-pedition ends.
We also need to thank our sponsors ACOM, Diex, DS Antenas, Antenas Hertz, Radiohaus, Hamplus, KV Antenas, Antena Kit, Antenas MHZ, Torres Ouro Fino, RadioEnge and Titanex. These great companies continue supporting ham radio with high quality products. We call your attention to these companies. Please, if you need high quality products for our hobby, try some of these companies and retribute their great affordable products with your trust and support to their business.
Finally, thanks to HC5EP, PY3MM, PY8WW, PY5CC, PY4RGS, PY2EL, PY7XC and VU2RS. It would have been really good to have you with us. We are sure that we will not please everyone, but we will do our best to offer a great dx-pedition to the ham community.
See all of you from Galapagos. Check our daily news in our website: hd8g.com.
73,
2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release #12 (March, 27th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of VU2RS – Sara, who will not be able to join us because of personal issues. We thank Sara for his participation so far and wish him all the best. 73,
2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release #11 (February, 9th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of HC5EP – Esteban, PY5CC – Peter and PY7XC – Jim, for different reasons. We thank them for being with us until this point during this journey and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
On the other hand, we welcome YL1ZF – Kaspars Uztics, N6JRL – Don Dubon and E70A – Darko Rusman who will certainly add significant value to the HD8G team.
Said that, we confirm that HD8G will be in the air from April 18 to 26, 2025. There will be 26 amateur radio operators from Ecuador, Brazil, Bosnia & Herzegovina, India, Latvia, Serbia, USA and Russia managing 8 stations in two locations on Santa Cruz Island, with 1 station dedicated to satellites, 1 station dedicated to EME and 1 station dedicated to 6m. Our bootcamp for checking systems and equipment is scheduled for February 22nd and 23rd, 2025.
We have received great support from ACOM – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of linear RF amplifiers and other great manufacturers such as Diex Antennas, DS Antennas, Hamplus, MHZ Antennas, KV Antennas, RadioHaus, Antenna Kit, Hertz Antennas, Torres Ouro Fino, RadioEnge and Titanex.
Our challenges are increasingly greater to cover the costs of extra baggage, to be able to provide 5 stations operating 24 hours a day in the HF bands and 3 dedicated stations (6m, satellites and EME).
Therefore, we kindly encourage fellow radio amateurs to help us with one of these alternatives: (i) become an individual sponsor of this dx-pedition with US$ 10.00 paying through our website hd8g.com, and you will have immediate confirmation of the LOTW and QSL on paper addressed to you on the first shipment or (ii) order one of our HD8G souvenirs (t-shirts, caps and mugs) posted on our website hd8g.com, but checking the shipping costs in advance or (iii) visit our sponsors’ websites by clicking on their logo on our website hd8g.com.
In addition to quickly securing your QSOs on LOTW and your QSL on paper, your US$10.00 will enable 9 days of great fun, hunting HD8G on all bands and in the most diverse modes.
73,
Galapagos Dx-pedition Team 2025
Press Release #10 (January, 26th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
We proudly confirm that HD8G team was empowered by arrival of 4 great colleagues, ham radio giants: Girts – YL2KL, Paul – N6PSE, Bruce – K3NQ and Dave – WD5COV. We are increasingly confident that it will be an unforgettable experience to all ham radio community. 73, 2025 Galapagos DX-pedition Team
Press Release #9 (January, 19th, 2025)
Dear colleagues,
We proudly confirm a robust international dx-pedition to Galapagos Islands in 2025. HD8G will be in the air from Apr 18th, 2025 to Apr 26th, 2025. There will be 22 ham ops from Ecuador, Brazil, India, Serbia and Russia managing 8 stations in two sites at Santa Cruz island with 1 station dedicated to satellites, 1 station dedicated to EME and 1 station dedicated to 6m. Our official advisors are NE8Z – Rick and OK1BOA – Petr. This project was launched 1 year ago.
We received a great support from ACOM – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of RF linear amplifiers and other manufacturers from Brazil, such as Diex Antennas, DS Antenas, Hamplus, MHZ Antennas, KV Antenas, RadioHaus, Antena Kit and Hertz Antenas.
Our challenges are higher everyday to burden costs. The air companies increased prices in around 100% if considering prices charged last year, including extra-baggages.
Therefore, we kindly ask the ham radio colleagues to help us with one of this alternatives: (i) to be an individual sponsor of this dx-pedition with US$ 10.00 by paying it through our website hd8g.com, and you will have immediate LOTW confirmation and paper QSL addressed to you in the first shipping or (ii) to order one of our HD8G souvenirs (shirts, caps and mugs) posted in our website hd8g.com, but checking shipping costs in advance or (iii) to visit the websites of our sponsors by clicking their logo at our website hd8g.com. By doing it, you will help us a lot to retribute with a great dx-pedition, many contacts in different bands and modes and quick confirmation at LOTW and paper QSL card.
Ham radio associations and companies are invited to visit our HD8G website and if you may contribute with any donation or material support to this team to perform a great dx-pedition, we thank you in advance for making it come true.
73,
2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 8 (October, 24th, 2024)
We regret to announce that 2 colleagues – PY2EL – Ricardo and PY4RGS – Rafael, were forced to leave the team, because of business and familiar reasons, respectively. We thank Ricardo and Rafael for all the support so far and wish them all the best. From now on, the team will move further with 22 ops and 8 stations, shared in 2 sites located at Santa Cruz Island: 1) Hotel Sol y Mar and 2) Steve Devine’s Challets. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 7 (September, 24th, 2024)
We are pleased to announce that our call sign license was issued by Arcotel (Ecuador Telecommunications Authority) through the excellent advocacy efforts of HC5VF – Fausto. In addition, another great news is related to the number of stations. Although the team did not consider remote stations, there will be 10 stations running and granting more QSO chances to colleagues all over the world. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 6 (July, 15th, 2024)
We are pleased to announce that one of the most prestigious EME ops worldwide joined the team: PY2BS – Bruce Halasz. Bruce is an electric and electronic engineer, a very friendly colleague and will add significant value to the entire team. Bruce has already informed that the week is not the best one for EME and we are now discussing the alternatives we have to compensate it. Therefore, the team has now 24 operators. In addition, the team decided to be split in 2 sites: Steve Devine’s chalets and Hotel Sol y Mar, both of them located at Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. While 10 ops will be hosted at Steve Devine’s chalets, other 10 ops will be hosted at Hotel Sol y Mar. The other 4 ops will be hosted at Hotel Seymour, although 8 work stations and antennas will be split between Steve Devine’s chalets and Hotel Sol y Mar. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 5 (July, 3rd, 2024)
Unluckly, PY3MM – Miguel and PY8WW – Renato left the team by professional reasons. On the other hand, we are pleased to announce that R7KW – Serge Shalya joined the team and he will be especially fostering the CW skills of the team. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-Pedition Team
Press Release # 4 (June, 24th, 2024)
We are pleased to announce that PY5EG – Atilano Oms joined the team. He is the 24th member and will be a co-leader contributing with his solid experience with the entire team. He will definitely add value to this dx-pedition and renew our energy and enthusiasm towards our targets in Galapagos. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 3 (June 12th, 2024)
We have 2 reasons to be happy today. First of all, our colleague PY8WW – Renato was able to negotiate in his company the conflict of dates and rejoined the team as an active member to launch HD8G in Apr/2025. In addition, we announce 3 new members from Ecuador: HC5EP – Esteban, HC5F – Francisco and HC5RF – Ruben. We welcome all of them and they will certainly add value to the team. Finally, our member PS8RV is the WWFF representative in Brazil, and he reminds all of us that QSOs with HD8G will count for the WWFF awards as HCFF-0004. Valid operations for WWFF may be looked at www.wwff.co/agenda. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 2 (June 7th, 2024)
We are pleased to announce that HC5VF – Fausto and YT1AD – Hrane joined the team. On the other hand, unfortunately, PY8WW – Renato had to leave the team because of work conflict next year. Now, we are 19 ops and we move foward towards a great dx-pedition in 2025. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-pedition Team
Press Release # 1 (May 20th, 2024)
2025 Galapagos Dx-Pedition
We are honored to announce a dx-pedition to Galapagos Islands from Apr 18th to 27th, 2025. Although we are still discussing the number of stations, we may confirm that there will be 17 ops from Brazil and 1 op from India. We wish to work all bands from 6m to 160m + satellite (although we will be on the edge), as well as SSB, CW, RTTY, FT8 and FT4. We face many obstacles, such as accommodation for all the team, considering that Galapagos has a wide number of hotels, but with a few number of rooms. We would appreciate to thank all the valuable tips provided by WB2REM – Jim and EA5RM – Tony. In addition, we would like to clarify that this dx-pedition could not advance so quickly without the kindness and efforts by our advisors NE8Z / HC1MD – Rick, who has been providing us all logistics support to enable our operation in the island and OK1BOA – Petr, who has just returned from A8OK and has been sharing with us the good practices from the amazing czech team performance. Our definitive call sign and additional details. We intend to make available clublog livestream and our website will be launched in the following days. 73, 2025 Galapagos Dx-Pedition Team