09/16/2021

ARRL has awarded a Colvin Grant of $5,000 to Amateur Radio DXpeditions (ARD), the Norwegian non-profit organization that is sponsoring the 3Y0J DXpedition[1] to Bouvet Island next fall. Co-leaders for the effort are Ken Opskar, LA7GIA; Rune Oye, LA7THA, and Erwann Merrien, LB1QI. A Colvin Grant in the same amount was returned after the Intrepid-DX Group had to drop its plans for an early-2023 Bouvet DXpedition that would have used the same call sign.

The multinational team plans to activate Bouvet in November 2022. A dependency of Norway, Bouvet is a sub-Antarctic island in the South Atlantic and the second-most-wanted DXCC entity, behind North Korea. The last Bouvet activation was 3Y0E, during a scientific expedition over the winter of 2007 - 2008.

Amateur Radio DXpeditions would field a team of 12 operators for a 20-day stay on Bouvet, setting up at Cape Fie in the southeastern part of the island, which the DXpedition organizers called "the only feasible part where a DXpedition can safely set up camp on rocky ground; we will not set [up] camp on the glacier." The DXpedition has set a goal of 120,000 contacts during its stay.

The Colvin Award is funded by an endowment established by the legendary DX couple Lloyd Colvin, W6KG, and Iris Colvin, W6QL, both now deceased. The Colvin Award is intended to support amateur radio projects that promote international goodwill in the field of DX. Grantees must be groups with a favorable DX track record and with experience directly related to the proposed enterprise. The proposed project must have as a goal a significant achievement in the field of DX. Preference is given to multinational groups, all of whom are members of their own national IARU member-societies.

In August, the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF[2]) donated $100,000 to the 3Y0J DXpedition. The NCDXF is now the DXpedition's lead sponsor.

"We wish to recognize and thank the Northern California DX Foundation as the lead sponsor for our 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet," the 3Y0J team said. "Without the support of the NCDXF, operations to the world's rarest entities would be difficult."

The 3Y0J team said that with its overall budget of $650,000, this DXpedition to Bouvet will be the most expensive ever.

On September 11, the 3Y0J DXpedition announced a donation of ¨10,000 (approximately $11,815) from the German DX Foundation (GXDF[3]).

Visit the 3Y0J DXpedition[4] website or Facebook page[5] for more information or to donate to the effort.ÿ


[1] https://www.3y0j.no/
[2] http://www.ncdxf.org/
[3] https://www.gdxf.de/
[4] http://www.3y0j.no/
[5] https://www.facebook.com/groups/3093983840726129

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