So, what is "technically not DX", 2 meters, or 114 miles, or maybe something else? Just a question.
Dale
DX refers to simplex contacts. You cannot submit for DX credit by working a station through repeaters, IRLP, Echolink, etc.
Working distant FM stations is fun, but isn't normally referred to as being DX. There are a lot of guys that work 2m to log Maidenhead Grid zones. The ARRL has an award, the VHF Worked All Zones or VHF WAZ for doing so.
Whether it's in the next county, or state makes no difference. The distinction of "DX" is normally reserved for making contacts outside ones own country with simplex (unsupported or propogated) signals. DX can also have to do with the difficulty or scarcity of stations. DXpeditions are assembled to "activate" places on the globe that have no stations.
Closer to what Tyler was doing, there is a group that will climb and activate mountain summits called Summits On The Air (SOTA), but they don't refer to the adventures as being DXpeditions and instead they call them "summit activations". I think Tyler knows this, and was having fun with the term.
Here in the States, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are allowed for DXCC credit and are considered DX, but they're very easy to contact and are usually the first in the log for operators here. With VHF being a primarily a line of sight mode it's not uncommon to make stations in the 100-200 mile range if you're up high enough to have an unobstructed signal path.
In any case, what Tyler did with a 5w HT is pretty remarkable. I'd like to give some credit to the HT because I also own a FT-60, but I can't ever recall making contacts that distant with it.
