After World War 1 and with the banishment of radio amateurs to the supposedly "useless shorter wavelengths" an amazing period of radio exploration took place. Amateurs all over the globe soon learned that far from being useless these wavelengths seem to allow communication over long distances. Amateurs in ZL were at the forefront of this activity with the first ZL to VK QSO in April 1923, and then world record distance QSOs between ZL and Argentina in May 1924, ZL and California in September 1924, ZL and Connecticut on the US east coast just weeks later, and the ultimate Z4AA Frank Bell's QSO with Cecil Goyder G2SZ in London on 18 October 1924.
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the record breaking activities of these early pioneers of Amateur Radio, ZM90DX will be on the air between 1 October 2013 and 31 October 2014 on all bands 1.8 MHz to 1.2 GHz and beyond in all modes. Activated by the Kiwi DX Group, an informal group of DXers and contest enthusiasts, ZM90DX will be used around New Zealand and a special commemorative QSL card will be available as well as an award program for contacts with ZL during this period.
Not only will ZM90DX be active at expected times and on expected bands, but in the spirit of those early pioneers the ZM90DX operators will also be calling CQ on bands and in directions one may not necessarily expect with the intention of exploring the boundaries of radio propagation.
This will be an unparalleled opportunity for amateurs all over the world to work ZL while celebrating the exploits of those early trail blazers whose work paved the way for radio communications as we know it today.
Further details can be found on http://www.zm90dx.com/.
Note: "Please remember this is a ZL based activity NOT ZL9 Campbell & Auckland Islands".
ENSURE your logging software logs ZM90DX correctly as ZL and NOT ZL9, Auckland /Campbell Islands
To update the Country File for your logging software please visit: http://www.country-files.com/
Bill ZL3NB
(ICPO/Dave Raycroft)
