The Baker Island DXpedition team has arrived and is anchored directly off the beach.? They anticipate going ashore and setting up in the next few hours.? It’s reasonable to expect them on the air by tonight, perhaps at our sunset.? Baker is #5 on the ‘Most Wanted’ DX list, surpassed only by North Korea, Bouvet Island, Crozet Island, and Scarborough Reef.? The last time someone activated Baker was in 2002.? I don’t think you want to wait another 16 years to work them!? There will be HUGE pileups for the first couple of days, but you have a distinct advantage over the rest of the world because of your location in Western Washington.? They will be operating around the clock until July 6^th.

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Look for them on 20M with a big signal into the NW.? You can expect them to be on 20M continuously, around the clock.? Look for the VOACAP analysis below for your best band/time combination.

CW: ?????? 14.023 (work split, probably up 1-2kHz)

SSB:?????? 14.210 (work split, probably up 5-10kHz)

FT8:? ????? 14.090? (for FT8, you must be using version 1.9.1 of WSJT-X and be in “Hound” mode.? I worked them easily while they were enroute with only 20W.

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As you can see from the VOACAP analysis below, even though we’re near the low end of the Solar Cycle, Baker is a ‘chip shot’ for us on most bands regardless of time of day.? Work ‘em!

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