Jarvis Island was first discovered by Captain Brown on the British ship Eliza Francis in 1821. It was annexed by the United States in 1858 under the Guano Islands Act of 1856 which gave American citizens the right to claim any unoccupied islands containing guano or bird droppings. Guano deposits were mined by the U.S. from 1857 until 1879 when it was finally abandoned after tons of guanos had been removed for producing fertilizer.

A settlement called Millersville was established in 1935 to maintain a weather station and plan a landing field, however when the island was shelled in 1942 by the Japanese, the men living on Jarvis were soon evacuated. There are now no permanent inhabitants on the island.

Figure 1. A radar picture of Jarvis Island (KH5) from google

Jarvis Island, a remote atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. Located about halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa, this 4.5km² coral island is under the jurisdiction of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, the island is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. The island is visited by migratory seabirds and shorebirds such as sooty tern and black noddy, as well as threatened and endangered sea turtles. Unlike most coral atolls, the lagoon on Jarvis Island is wholly dry.

Figure 2. QSL card from Palmyra Atoll (KH5) in 2005

The island’s isolation and limited accessibility make it a coveted destination for Dxpeditioners, and likewise it is highly sought after by HAM operators worldwide due to its rarity as a DXCC entity. The latest ranking by Club Log in August 2024 shows that Palmyra & Jarvis Islands is ranked 17th out of 340th in the DXCC Most-Wanted List worldwide, 9th for Europe, 43rd for Asia, and 48th for Oceania.

Figure 3. QSL card from Palmyra Atoll (KH5) in 2016

Palmyra Atoll and Jarvis Islands count as one DXCC entity because they are less than 800km apart. Palmyra Atoll was last activated in 2016 under the callsign K5P. Before that it was KH7U/KH5, KH7O/KH5, KH6ND/KH5, NH6UY/KH5, AH6OZ/KH5 and AH6NF/KH5 in 2005.

Figure 4. QSL cards from AD1S/KH5 in 1983, and AH3C/KH5J in 1990

DXpeditions to Jarvis Islands typically involve even more meticulous planning and coordination than Palmyra Atoll due to the island’s remote location and the need to comply with environmental regulations. After World War Two, there have only ever been 2 activations including AD1S/KH5 in 1983 (operators: AD1S, WA2MOE, W0RLX, H44SH) and AH3C/KH5J in 1990 (operators: AH3C, JG2BRI, K3NA, KN3T, N7NG, OH2BH, OH2RF, and WA6AUE).

The Dateline DX Association, led by George R Wallner (AA7JV) and Don Greenbaum (N1DG), received their permission from the USFWS to activate N5J from Jarvis Island in August 2024.

The N5J Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024 is made up of 3 teams including:

• •   Onsite team - George AA7JV, Don N1DG, Tomi HA7RY, Mike KN4EEI and Adrian KO8SCA, together with 6 Radio in the Box (RIB) stations on Jarvis Islands for operating on 160 to 6 meters, on CW, SSB and FT8 modes. The Onsite team were supported by 50 remote operators.
• •   CW Remote team – Led by Gerry Hull W1VE, first class operators from Asia, Europe, and North America were recruited to give all continents the best chance at working N5J.
• •   FT8 Remote team – Led by Ned Stearns AA7A, whose team included many experienced youth operators using both Super Fox and Fox/Hound mode.

Figure 5. Onsite team for N5J Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024

As its name suggests, the RIB station is a complete radio station in a box. It can be controlled remotely, either locally via Ethernet or via a 900 MHz wireless link. The RIB serves two purposes: to speed up and simplify DXpedition set-up, and to allow remote operation from the boat in places where authorities restrict human access on environmental or safety grounds, or when camping or overnight stays are prohibited. It is the ideal set-up for an efficient and small footprint operation.

Figure 6. Radio in the Box (RIB) boat with Mike KN4EEI fueling up the RIB

The development of the RIB stations was funded by the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF). After having gone through several major contests from Wood Cay and other islands in the Bahamas, it has been successfully deployed in 2023 around the Pacific from places such as FO/AA7JV, VP6D and E51D, logging in over 200,000 QSOs so far, of which 60% were completed by operators remoting from around the world.

Figure 7. RIB set-up

Figure 8. (Left) Gerry W1VE, CW Remote Team Leader (Right) Ned AA7A, FT8 Remote Team Leader

For Asia, 3 remote operators from Japan including Ken Tanuma JN1THL (CW+FT8), Seiji Okumura JK1KSB (FT8), and Tack Kumagai JE1CKA (CW); and 1 remote operator from Thailand Champ Muangamphun E21EIC (CW) were selected to join this prestigious N5J Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024. These highly skilled operators took turn to provide all HAM operators particularly those in Asia with the best chance to complete a successful QSO(s) with N5J.

Figure 9. The remote operators from Asia in N5J Jarvis DXpedition 2024 including (Top Left) Ken Tanuma JN1THL (Bottom Left) Seiji Okumura JK1KSB (Top Right) Tack Kumagai JE1CKA, and (Bottom Right) Champ Muangamphun E21EIC.

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Super Fox mode

SuperFox mode allows an expedition to make digital QSOs at a higher rate compared to the previous versions of WSJT-X. In the previous versions, the Fox would transmit up to 5 streams, with each stream being 50 Hz wide. In contrast, the SuperFox transmits a full power constant-envelope waveform 1512 Hz wide. The SuperFox may send reports or RR73s to as many as nine SuperHounds simultaneously with no reduction in received signal strength. So a SuperHound will experience the same received signal strength regardless of the number of Hounds being contacted by the SuperFox.

In addition, the SuperFox transmits a digital signature of authenticity. This signature allows the SuperHound to verify the legitimacy of the expedition, thereby reducing or eliminating piracy.

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Figure 10. (Left) George AA7JV and Tomi HA7RY setting up the antenna on Jarvis Island (KH5) (Bottom Right) George AA7JV setting up the antenna

For me personally, this Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024 has provided me with a great opportunity to learn about the new equipment and technology being used to advance DXpeditions to the next level. The DXpedition was planned meticulously, and the coordination between and within the teams were extremely efficient. This DXpedition also gave Youth operators the chance to experience what operating from one of the rare DXCC entities is like.

Figure 11. (Left) 160m GP Antenna on Jarvis Island (Top Right) Don N1DG (Bottom Right) Don N1DG with 6m Yagi

The remoting also opens the door for many HAMs from around the world who would not have otherwise been able to participate in the DXpedition the chance to join. I would like to thank the N5J Team and NCDXF for this incredible experience.

Figure 12. (Top Left) The stations on the boat that the remote operators can remote into operate (Bottom Left) Adrian KO8SCA on Jarvis Island (KH5) (Top Right) Don N1DG operating at N5J (Bottom Right) RIB

For those readers who managed to get N5J into their log, since the last activation of Jarvis Island was 34 years ago, you should feel proud of yourself. Who knows, it could be another 34 years before Jarvis Island is activated again so well done!

Figure 13. N5J RIB stations from Jarvis Island (KH5) DXpedition 2024

Figure 14. Summary of N5J Jarvis DXpedition 2024 from ClubLog

N5J Jarvis Island DXpedition 2024 were activated from 7th to 20th August 2024, with the team logging their final 106,885th QSO at 1700z. The percentage breakdown by continent for stations worked were 34% with Asia, 24% with Europe, and 36% with North America. Being located in the Pacific, the N5J crew knew that European stations will have a harder time getting through. The occurrence of solar flares right from the start did not help the matter and even big gun stations were struggling to be heard. Nevertheless, the propagations finally improved in the last 2 days in short intervals and the operators were faced with very large EU pile-ups.

For Asia, 12% of the QSOs were in SSB, 40% in CW, and 48% in FT8. 11 QSOs were made on 60m, and 21 QSOs on 6m by Asia stations with N5J Team. A big congratulations to the N5J Team and for all the ATNOs!

Figure 15. The Onsite N5J Team on Jarvis Island (KH5), pictured together with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who have worked tirelessly so that all HAMs get the chance to make QSO(s) with KH5 DXCC entity in August

Thank you for all the information from AA7JV and N1DG, including the website https://jarvisisland2024.com