I was tuning the bands after lunch yesterday when I decided to drop in on the Six meter band and see if there was any activity. I hadn’t done that in awhile and was expecting the usual silent treatment. Mind you, I have a three-element Yagi for the Magic Band along with a brand new rotor. These were purchased years ago and are still in the box, never installed. My infrequent forays on 50MHz have all been made with the HF vertical that just so happens to cover that band too.

Imagine my surprise to see some activity. And oddly enough, I copied a half dozen stations, all out of Ecuador. Nowhere else. Nothing from NA. I worked a couple of them (FT8) in a hot minute using the K4, 100 watts, and the HF vertical. Though not at all exotic for NA hams who frequently feast on Six meters, Ecuador was a new country for me on that band. One of those worked has already confirmed via LoTW, always a bonus.

Seeing my Challenge score increment set me to thinking that whatever low-hanging fruit remains will be on seldom used bands. I’m sitting just below 700 in that quest with 1000 needed for the initial award so I’ve a long, long way to go. But my entire DXCC effort has been, to this point, focused on 20-10 meters.

I need to install that 6 meter Yagi and get wire in the air for 80 and 40 meters where my DXCC totals are weakest and almost everything on those bands will be “new” and needed. “Band-points” is the name of this game…

The DXCC Challenge Award is earned by working and confirming at least 1,000 DXCC band-points on any Amateur bands, 160 through 6 meters (except 60 meters).