VU4AX | Press release 2

VU4AX - DX-Adventure Andaman Island DX-Pedition 2025

DX-Adventure |Radiosport & DX-Pedition team

The DX-Adventure VU4AX DX-Pedition is about to start…

As March approached, excitement grew immensely. We did encounter serious challenges in recent weeks, facing enormous stress and unexpected obstacles that no one foresaw. But we are determined and never give up with the goal of ‘completing our mission…”

In the recent months, significant changes have been made to the legislation for radio amateurs in India. We were unsure whether these changes would impact our DXpedition, so we reached out to the Ministry of Communications in New Delhi. The WPC confirmed that the new regulations did indeed apply to us, meaning we had to reapply for our VU4 license. We quickly gathered all the required documents from everyone and submitted a new application. A few weeks later, we received our new license this time with the callsign VU4AX instead of VU4X.

Although we did our best to regain the VU4X callsign, we were unsuccessful. Many key officials responsible for granting licenses were occupied with the parliamentary elections in early February, making communication extremely difficult.

We couldn’t afford to wait any longer, as the risk of not receiving the new license in time had become too great. There was still a lot to do, such as making polo shirts, flags, banners, and more. Another major challenge was quickly adapting the DX-Adventure website to reflect the new callsign, VU4AX.

We thought, the worst is behind us…

All our flight tickets, round trip, had been booked for quite some time. A total of six flights through Air India. However, in early February, a month before our departure, we received a shocking e-mail: the last flight from Calcutta to the Andaman Islands, would be operated by Air India Express a subsidiary of Air India. This informed us that they could not take 23 pieces of extra luggage. We realised very well that we had a huge problem and had to look for a solution very quickly.

We contacted some major transport companies such as Air Cargo Belgium, UPS, DHL and Fedex. DHL was the only one offering to ship 500 kg of luggage to the Andaman Islands within 8-10 working days. The expenses would exceed 17,000 euros. We therefore had to prepare the necessary documents of ‘every item’ we were going to send for temporary import to Andaman Islands at lightning speed. Getting this done in such a short time was almost impossible.

We began exploring other options and, each day, Max had several phone calls with Air India in search of a solution. After intensive cooperation, we decided to cancel our original flights and book new ones. We are now flying directly from New Delhi to the Andaman Islands. On Wednesday afternoon (March 5th), just three days before our departure, we received the long-awaited email: a solution had been found for all our luggage. The 40 suitcases and 7 oversized pieces could travel with us. The necessary invoices were promptly paid, and an hour later, we received our new tickets. Talk about last-minute stress…

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Catherine Bernard, Lenka Farre, and Patricia Thiry of Air India Paris for their dedication and patience over the past weeks. Every day, they listened to our concerns with great understanding and worked alongside us to find a solution, which they successfully did. We are truly thankful for their support. As a token of our appreciation, a box of delicious Belgian chocolates has been sent to Air India Paris.

It feels like a “never-ending story.” Today (March 7), we received yet another email from Air India. Upon arrival in New Delhi, we must present ourselves at customs with all our luggage (47 suitcases). If we don’t, they won’t allow our luggage on the next flight. We’ll only breathe a sigh of relief when we land in the Andaman Islands on Monday with all our luggage.

VU4AX | Onze locatie op South Andaman Island

Internet connection | VU4AX logbook

Our venue is in ‘the middle of nowhere’, we have no idea how good our internet connection will be. We will do our best to get a live stream online via Club Log. In addition, our log will be updated daily by, Tim M0URX | United Radio QSL Management Bureau.

VOACAP tool

Special thanks to Jari Perkiömäki OH6BG for the template and dedication to this project. VOACAP | VU4AX

The team is in a good spirit!

On Saturday morning, the team will gather in Kortrijk to kick off the new DX-Adventure DX-Pedition. The entire team is highly motivated and determined to give our best effort. If everything goes according to plan, we will arrive at South Andaman Island at 10 a.m. on Monday. We hope for a smooth passage through customs, after which we’ll need to transport all our equipment to our location. On Monday evening, we plan to send our first VU4AX signals into the world, all while preparing for temperatures of 42°C over the next two weeks.

Questions or comments, contact the VU4AX Pilots

donatieformulier werkt niet in mijn land…

During our stay on South Andaman Island, our team’s focus will be entirely on the DXpedition. Our goal is to be active with all six stations 24 hours a day. This will require considerable effort, with high temperatures, humidity and fatigue being factors we should not underestimate.

For this reason, we will unfortunately not be able to answer all your questions via e-mail or social media. If you have any questions or comments during the DXpedition, please do not hesitate to contact the pilots via the appropriate contact form on our website.

• Europe: ON9CFG Bjorn | Belgium
• Asia: E21EIC Champ | Thailand
• North America: W2IRT Peter | USA

Every day, there will be a video meeting with the pilots to discuss all your most important questions or comments. In addition, several propagation tools are available on our website to support you.

VU4AX thank you award

Have you made a donation of > €25. Then you will have received the VU4AX ‘thank you’ award automatically. New donors will receive their ‘thank you’ award in the mailbox later. All focus now goes entirely to the DX-pedition.

Commercial sponsors | DX-Foundations | Clubs

VU4AX | M0URX QSL Manager | United Radio QSL Management QSL Bureau

We would like to thank all commercial sponsors for donating equipment, all DX foundations, clubs and radio amateurs for their financial support, and all news websites, magazines and radio clubs for spreading our messages. Together, we hope to make it a successful story.