News

News #2 (July 13, 2026)

We are pleasantly surprised that, in early July, propagation conditions briefly reached an SFI of 200 again — as they did at the peak of the 25th solar cycle—though with an increased risk of interference and dropouts.
A VOACAP propagation forecast by OH6BG is integrated into our website. We are eager to see what propagation conditions await us on the low and high bands. The major ham radio regions of Japan and the U.S. are at least 8,000 km away, and Europe is as far as 15,000 km away.
Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines changed its flight schedule for October on June 30. The flights had already been booked in March/April. We’ll fly from Germany via Canada or the U.S. to Hawaii and then continue on from there. We’ll now be spending two fewer days in American Samoa, so we’ll be QRV from October 30 to November 12, 2026. This also means that we will spend two extra days in Honolulu. The organization of the KH8A DXpedition continues according to plan, and we are sticking to our commitments. Four stations equipped with small Juma power amplifiers will be on the air around the clock from 160 to 6 meters in the main modes. Some equipment has already been shipped to the individual team members, who live in various locations throughout Germany. As a well-organized lightweight expedition, each operator will carry approximately 30 kg, including personal luggage, on the flight. Two long ski bags containing the antenna equipment will be transported separately for an additional fee. The team would like to thank sponsors, foundations, and individual stations for the support they have provided or pledged so far. These are listed on our website.

News #1 (May 5, 2026)

After T2C, C21MM, V6D and other DXpeditions our team is ready for the next adventure.
This time we’re heading to American Samoa (KH8) in the South Pacific. KH8 main island is mountainous, which makes things challenging. That's the same QTH from which KH8T was already on the air two years ago. Our call is KH8A.
The organization including several visas was not easy. Now all flights and the QTH are secured.
Of course, we’re aware that conditions on the high shortwave bands are deteriorating and that the focus is shifting more toward the mid and low bands.
The team includes nine operators DJ9KH, DK5WL, DL1KWK, DL2RNS, DL4SVA, DL6KAC, DL6KVA, DL7JOM and DL7VEE. We are planning to operate 4 stations 24/7 from 160 m to 6 m in CW, SSB, FT8 and RTTY.
We use carefully tested, high-quality equipment, based on the experience gained from our previous expeditions. On the high bands, we will use our reliable full-size 5-band 2-element wire antenna from LZ-Antenna in combination with a pentaplexer, allowing us to operate on multiple high bands simultaneously with this antenna. On the other bands, we use well-tuned single-band wire antennas. The fiberglass poles and the HD aluminium telescopic mast for the beam are manufactured by Spiderbeam company. The transceivers are high-end K4 models from Elecraft. All equipment, most of which is privately owned, including small amplifiers from various manufacturers, will remain with us during the flights to prevent damage during transport.