Chilean amateurs Moisés CE3VTZ and Felipe XQ7IR are preparing the XR0Z DXpedition to Alexander Selkirk Island (IOTA SA-101) in the Juan Fernández Archipelago. The operation was originally planned for October 2026, but a series of storms along the Chilean coast pushed it back to November 2026: departure from Santiago to Robinson Crusoe Island is scheduled for a date after 5 November. Exact operating dates have not been announced yet.
Bands and modes
The team plans to be active on 160–10m using CW, SSB and FT8 for about 10 days (the DXpedition website mentions a 10–12 day stay on the island). The antenna list also includes a 3-element Yagi for 6m. FT8 will be run with MSHV in multi-stream mode; split operation is 1–3 kHz up on CW and 10–15 kHz up on SSB.
Operating site and equipment
The station will be set up in a mountain shelter 1,057 m above sea level. Getting there from the fishermen's village means a trek of more than 7 km and over four hours; all gear is carried up by hand by the operators with help from local fishermen. Part of the cargo — fuel, a Honda EU22i generator and antennas — was landed on the island in early September.
Equipment: two Yaesu FT-710 transceivers, a 400 W solid-state amplifier, a DX Engineering 160/80/40m antenna, a DX Commander for 80–10m, a single-element delta loop for 10m and a 3-element Yagi for 6m.
QSL
QSL via Tim Beaumont, M0URX. Cards can be requested through OQRS; according to the team, the LoTW certificate is in place and LoTW uploads will follow the QSL manager's policy. Grid locator: EF96of.