20-December:

Everyone from the PJ7E team has returned home safely and are proud of the operation we put forth.  As co-leaders, Craig and I want to thank our operators for their hard work and commitment.  We could not have done it without the support of our many equipment and financial sponsors, plus personal donations.

The PJ Island Band Plan was executed perfectly by all the teams to maximize the highest QSO rate for everyone.  We had good propagation on the high bands which definitely helped us make over 74,000 Q’s.  This certainly exceeded our expectatations.

Last but not least, we want to thank the DX community for your fine and great participation in this unusual event.  This was unprecedented in DXing where so many new countries were on at the same time, and our hats go off to all of you who worked us.

And a very special "Thank You" to Sidney DeWeaver, the island Communications Officer, for going beyond the call of duty.

It was indeed a pleasure to be co-leader of a great group of international operators.

Thanks again for your support!

Joe W8GEX & Craig K9CT
Co-leaders

29-October:

We have all returned safely to our homes, but the work of the DXpedition continues.  The equipment is ready to be shipped to Miami and then returned to our sponsors after clearing customs...a four week process.  The team is most appreciative of the support that we have received.

The oQSL setup has been completed and we are receiving good response to this.  QSL card design is moving along but not yet complete.  This should be done in the next few days.

Articles are being prepared for the magazines and dx publications.  Photos are being collected for use in these and the powerpoint presentations.

We'll continue to update the website with news of our progress, so keep checking back with us.

Thanks again for your support!

Joe W8GEX & Craig K9CT
Co-leaders

16-October:

As of Friday evening, 15-October, PJ7E surpassed the 40,000 QSO mark. We are fortunate to have all the following factors working for us:

Antennas: The Hex-Beams and SteppIR antennas are working very well, as are the DX Engineering 40M and 30M verticals. We also are using a 2010 vertical dipole from Trans World Antennas, mostly for 10M and 12M. Great signal reports from all over the world.

Radios & Amplifiers: The ICOM IC-7600 transceivers and Alpha 8410 amplifiers are working flawlessly. A great combination.

Team: We are fortunate to have a superior operating team. They are energetic, very hard working, and in good health.

PJ2 Operating Plan: The shared plan for other PJ operations is working very well.

Location: Both the SSB and CW sites (11 miles apart) are ideally situated to maximize operation to most parts of the world on all bands.

Weather: Other than the intial problem from tropical storm Otto, the weather has been absolutely outstanding. No issues at all.

Our CW Team leader, Craig (K9CT) expects to have a 160M CW signal on the air this evening.

Overall thus far, we're meeting our goals and hope to boost our overall QSO total significantly over the remaining 5 days.

We would like to thank Sidney DeWeever, Communications Officer, from the licensing authority of St. Maarten for his cooperation. He has been a tremendous asset in helping to make our operation a success.

We also want to thank all those operators we've contacted for their patience and professionalism during the pileups, and your understanding of the unusal constraints we face, with all of the other PJ activity here.

Hope to CU in the log soon!

Joe W8GEX & Craig K9CT
Co-leaders

22-September:  

PJ7E Twitter Account Established. Follow us.

http://twitter.com/PJ7E

"To clarify the administrative process by which the anticipated changes to the two existing Netherlands Antilles DXCC entities will be made, the ARRL Awards Committee has determined that at 0400 UTC (12:00 AM local time in the islands) on October 10, 2010, the two Netherland Antilles DXCC entities will be deleted.

Commencing at 0400 UTC (12:00 AM local time) on October 10, 2010, operation from the islands of Curacao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius will count for a yet-to-be-determined number of new entities under the DXCC List Criteria and Political Entities, Rule 1 and/or Rule 2 Geographic Separation Entities.

When the Awards Committee determines what Rule 1 or Rule 2 actions apply, it will announce the final disposition of the entities on the DXCC list. The DXCC desk will not accept confirmations for these new entities until after January 1, 2011."

Our interpretation:  QSOs made from DXpeditions to these islands during October will be valid -- for future DXCC credit. In other words, QSOs made for these countries after 10-10-10 will count -- but ARRL won't be prepared to accept DXCC application credits for any of the new DXCC entities until after January 1, 2011.  By January 1, 2011, we should know whether Saba and St. Eustatius will be separated into separate entities or not.  Then we'll either have 4 new DXCC entities (Bonaire, Curacao, Saba/St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten).  Or 5 new DXCC entities (Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten).  Either way, PJ7E QSOs will count toward DXCC credit for the new Sint Maarten.

12-September:

New Facebook page added. You can now follow us on Facebook:

http://tinyurl.com/2fr953h

17-July
Joe, W8GEX and I are in Sint Maarten right now. We are working on the station locations, logistics, licensing, travel arrangements, etc. The tentative cw and ssb stations will be separated by the island with clear shots to NA and EU.  More to be worked out yet.  We should not be on top of any other stations.  We have found a company to handle the shipment of equipment from Miami to SXM and then back to Miami. One rental vehicle will be used at each site.  Joe will be sending out a press release to the DX press about our plans. This is to keep you in the loop.  73, Craig K9CT