Update January 30, 2026: ARRL has approved the J51A license for DXCC. We have already received the LoTW certificate. The original license document which we received from “ARN” (telecommunications authority), was not 100% clear about frequencies and modes.

So, in a second step, we offered the official IARU Region 1 Band Plans (HF and VHF) and asked for a written reconfirmation that all the typical frequencies and modes can be used by J51A. We are happy to announce that we have received that confirmation. It means that all contacts, including 160m, 60m, the WARC bands and 50 MHz will be valid for DXCC, IOTA and other awards.

More information on: https://www.qrz.com/db/J51A

Please note that this DXpedition is 100% privately financed.

RF-POWER (https://www.rf-power.eu) is lending us five (5) RF2K-S amplifiers. All other material is privately owned.

If you are happy with our performance, you are welcome to make a donation through ClubLog OQRS. Upfront, or when applying for your QSL cards.

Ben, DA1DX

Ben/DA1DX (ex-DL6FBL), Win/DK9IP, Andree/DL8LAS, Uli/DM5EE and Lutz/DM6EE (all active members of Bavarian Contest Club), will be operating from Bijagos Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau (IOTA AF-020) in February/March 2026.

Radio and Antenna Setup:

Five (5) Radio Setups each consisting of:
  * Yaesu FT-DX10
  * RF-POWER RF2K-S amplifier

Antennas:
 * 5-band Spiderbeam (10/12/15/17/20m) @10mH
 * 3-band WARC Spiderbeam (12/17/30m) @10mH
 * DXCommander Vertical 12.4 from 10-40m
 * Inverted-V for 60m
 * Vertical for 80m / Inverted-L for 160m
 * Aziloop DF-72 Multi-Directional Receive Antenna System
 * 4-ele 50 MHz Yagi for terrestrial operation
 * VA6AM Triplexers + VA6AM/4O3A High Power Bandpass Filters

Logging with DXLog in a wired Gigabit-Network (no WiFi!) - using TCP and a dedicated log server
FT8 by MSHV software => stay above 1000Hz when calling/working us!

The total weight of our equipment is ~500 kg.
Everything is transported as (paid) excess baggage on the aircraft.

Our goals:
On ClubLog, Guinea-Bissau is ranking as #85 Most Wanted country worldwide; #53 from Asia; #100 from North America and #104 from Europe.

According to ClubLog the demand is highest on Data, then CW and then Phone.
All of us can manage pile-ups in any mode, however we will only use SSB,CW and FT8 (MSHV).

 * The highest demand is in Asia. Direction-wise, Asia lies "behind Europe".
   We will try to pull out Asian stations whenever there is some propagation    on a specific band.
 * Contacts with Europe, North America and South America will be easy on all bands.
 * We will not forget about our friends in Africa and the VK/ZL area.

For news, updates, pictures etc. please remember to come back to our J51A QRZ.com page. We will use our own Starlink satellite equipment and hope to achieve good Internet connectivity for:
   ClubLog's Livestream
   ClubLog's Expedition Statistics
 
Donations via ClubLog are welcome at: ClubLog.org/make_donation.php?call=J51A" target="_blank">https://ClubLog.org/make_donation.php?call=J51A

QSL cards / LoTW  =>  Please use the ClubLog's OQRS system

See QRZ.com for more details.....