History
Early DX-peditions were simply exploratory and geographical expeditions in the late 1920s and 1930s, in which one or more radio amateurs participated in order to provide long distance communications. At the same time they communicated with fellow radio amateurs who wanted to contact a new country. Most notable are the Antarctic expeditions of Admiral Byrd. Another example is the voyage of the schooner Kaimiloa, which traveled the South Pacific in 1924. While the ship's wealthy owners enjoyed the islands, an amateur radio operator kept contact with, and sent QSL cards to, experimenters in the United States.
The participation of radio amateurs in geographical expeditions was resumed after World War II, e.g. the participation of Bob Leo, W6PBV, in the Gatti-Hallicrafters expedition in Africa of 1948. The most unusual expedition to place reliance on amateur radio for communications was that of Kon-Tiki organized by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 and using call sing LI2B.
The activity of dedicated DX-peditions was pioneered by one-time ARRL president Robert W. Denniston, W0DX. Mr. Denniston's 1948 DX-pedition, using call sign VP7NG, was to the Bahamas and was called "Gon-Waki" ala Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" expedition the previous year.
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