A history of Dxpeditons
A fantastic turnout for the last club meeting of the year at Crampton Tower, the last meeting of the year will be at the Jolly Farmer, Manston for the Christmas meal.
We welcomed two good friends of the club, two Peters, G0KOK chauffeured G3MLO who gave us an enlightening talk on the history of DXpeditions.
The Thor Heyerdahl Kon-Tiki raft expeditions of 1947 & the Ra raft expeditions of 1969 & 70, which used amateur radio to maintain links with land as they sailed the oceans, are often credited with inspiring the first dxpeditions. However, Peter identified an earlier adventure that could be better credited as a first ‘dxpedition’, the ‘British Political Expedition to Lhasa’ Tibet of 1903/4. Several amateurs & their equipment were included; a British run amateur station remained active in Lhasa until the 1940s. This incident is an interesting story of 19th century political conflict & worth researching in its own right.
These early expeditions inspired many amateurs to travel & activate countries on the air for the first time included Danny Weil who on his series of yachts named Yasme, not always quite legal or ethical! To fund his activities the Yasme Foundation was established in the USA. Upon his retirement a couple named Colvins took up the mantle in their yacht also called Yasme.
This foundation, http://www.yasme.org continues today, now helping young people to enjoy the hobby & promote dx radio around the world.
The evening closed with a round of applause & a promise by Peter to return next year with another talk.
Again thanks to Peter, G3MLO, we look forward to your return.
