3X4U Guinea DXpedition set for November 11-23 from Lac de Koba

Guinea is coming to the bands next month. The Belgian Rockall DX Group says it will be active as 3X4U from Lac de Koba, Guinea, from November 11 to November 23. The team has its license, including the requested vanity call, and permission to run 1 kW on all bands.

According to the group, Guinea is still a sought-after DXCC entity, especially on the low bands and for mode-specific awards. The team says it will concentrate on what it calls human modes, meaning operator-driven modes such as CW and SSB rather than automated digital contacts. It also plans to give special attention to difficult propagation paths, underrepresented regions and low-band activity, with the goal of putting Guinea in as many logs as possible on as many band and mode slots as it can.

The operating team is 10 experienced operators plus a medical assistant. The group says most members have several DXpeditions of more than 50,000 QSOs behind them and have operated from Africa before. Pre-trip preparation sessions have included ON4FF, ON4IA, ON5TN, ON6CC, ON6DX, PA3EWP and PA7DX, and the gear has grown to 43 cases.

The station will consist of five identical HF positions, each an Elecraft K3 with an Amplifier Expert 1.3K-FA amplifier, logging in DXLog with MSHV integrated for digital work. Antennas will include two hexbeams, phased verticals, a four-square and additional verticals. The team says its next step is a full RF test with all positions transmitting at once to check for mutual interference, RF feedback and networking problems before everything is packed for shipment.

One detail worth noting for VHF chasers: thanks to ON4FF, a dedicated seventh computer will run an SDR that watches 6 meters for FT8 activity throughout the operation. The team points out that a 6 meter opening can last as little as 30 minutes, and the monitoring setup is meant to alert operators the moment the band starts to open so they can get on the air quickly.

To work 3X4U, watch the DX clusters and the team's own updates during November 11-23, and keep an ear on 6 meters if the band shows signs of life toward West Africa. The group says updates, pilot stations and logs will be posted on its Rockall DXpedition to Guinea page. QSL via M0URX, whose QSL policy is linked from the team's site.