From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 6 11:30:00 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 06 Dec 2015 11:30:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1243 Message-ID: <343432.97558.bm@smtp112.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1243 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1243 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1243 BID: $OPDX.1243 December 7, 2015 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written From Strongsville, OH Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, K2HVN, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, K6VVA, KK6EK, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8PGJ, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m News, CT3HF, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, JS6RRR/JI3DST, M0RCX, ON7WP, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PS7AB, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, TY2CD, VA3RJ & ICPO, and VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF)? for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 29th/November, through Sunday, 6th/December there were 225 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5W, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E3, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S5, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T5, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP5, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3B8, MAURITIUS. Robert, M0RCX, will once again be active as 3B8/M0RCX from Mauritius sometime between June 15th and July 14th. Like last time, he will be more of a tourist (DX vacation, with family obligations) and not seen as a "full core" DXpedition. His power will be limited to 100 watts, using a Yaesu FT 991 and Kenwood 480, into a hexbeam, a wire beam for 6m (possibly made from the island's bamboo), as well as a delta loop and long wire available for his activity. Frequencies will appear on QRZ.com and will be updated shortly. His operating position will be close to the city center of Port Louis in the North West of the Island. Activity will be at least 3 hours a day on the following HF Phone bands: 40/20/17/15/12/10 meters. He is also planning to operate on some PSK31, RTTY and JT65A making some contacts with low to modest power levels (NO amp). There will be no EME. Robert told OPDX last year, "I plan to live over there in about four years so hopefully I'll get a feel for it. QTH is inland about a mile from the ocean, but there is a mountain behind me (east) this is why I wish to push my signals over to the west." Look for more details/updates on his QRZ.com page. QSL via EB7DX and eQSL go to 3B8/M0RCX. For his 2014 operation, checkout the pictures on his FaceBook and Twitter pages: https://www.facebook.com/3b8m0rcx https://twitter.com/3B8M0rcx 3D2/P, ROTUMA (Update). Antoine, 3D2AG, will once again be active as 3D2AG/P from Rotuma Island between December 20th and January 20th (2016), pending shipping schedule. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. Operations will be entirely Solar-Powered using Sustain- able Renewable Energy! Running barefoot with 100 watts into a Spiderbeam and wire antennas. He mentions, "This will be a one-man DXpedition so not on the air at all times :-). As I will have no internet or phone connection while in Rotuma, please check cluster for spots. Operating at or close to the usual DX frequencies; also will try and cater for novice station band restrictions by listening split above xx.025 for CW. QSL via his home callsign direct only. Also, watch QRZ.com for update by Antoine. 4S, SRI LANKA. Operators Josep/EA3BT and N?ria/EA3WL will be active as 4S7JTO and 4S7NTS, respectively, from Beruwala, Sri Lanka (AS-003), between January 3-8th (2016). Activity will be on 40-10 meters using mainly SSB, CW and RTTY. Equipment is an Icom IC-7000 and a Ameritron AL-600S (600w) amp. QSL both callsigns via EA3BT (by the Bureau, ClubLog's OQRS or direct). ADDED NOTE: They are also expected to activate Berberyn Island (AS-171) "as much time as possible". 5K3/HK0, SAN ANDRES AND PROVIDENCIA (Update). Carlos, N4THW, recently back from Iraq (YI9HW), informs OPDX that a new DXpedition is being planned for 2016 to Roncador Island (NA-133) and Quita Sue?o Bank in the Colombian Caribbean Sea. Activity will take place sometime between March or April 2016 for 2 weeks. Possible callsigns will have the prefix 5K3 or HK0 [currently waiting to hear from the Colombian Minister of Communications]. He reported this week that there will be 10 operators (6 from Colombia, 2 from the U.S., 2 from Europe and Japan). They are now getting a permit from the Colombian Navy, and started the process of licenses from the Colombian Minister of Communications. Felix, HK0PPY, is helping in San Andres and Ernesto, HK7IPT, in Bogota. Carlos is in the USA getting the donations and contacting the company the do the logistics from Miami to San Andres. They are still looking for funds. Look for more details to be forthcoming. 60 METERS NEWS (From W8GEX's 60 Meter DX Letter)........... EA stations: "Spanish 5 MHz users go QRT at 23:00 GMT on November 30th. The Spanish regulator will decide the future allocations of frequencies in the wake of the WRC at Geneva and indeed look into permissible power levels. Until we have the new structure in place, just expect 5 MHz SWL activity here.? The Netherlands (PA) are back on the air. PA Permission (From Bram, PH9B): Today we received the news that we can operate 60M. Our frequency sheet has been adjusted and published in the state newspaper. From 0000z local time, 2300z time we may operate on 60M. The link below shows the frequency sheet. 8T, ANTARCTICA (Update). Bhagwati, VU3BPZ, is active as 8T2BH until mid- December 2016 at the Bharati Research Station (WAP IND-04). Activity will be on 20/17/15/10 meters using SSB. QSL via I1HYW. A9, BAHRAIN (Special Event). Special event stations A93AR/45 and A92AA/45 are now active until December 18th. Activity is to celebrate Bahrain's National Day. QSL for both callsign via A92AA direct. CQ90, MADEIRA ISLAND (Special Event). To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in 1925, the REP?Delegation in Madeira Island will be joining this celebration between December 17-23rd, to mark this prestigious occasion. They will use the special callsign CQ90IARU. QSL via Bureau, or direct (see QRZ.com). The log will be uploaded to LoTW as well. CY0, SABLE ISLAND. Aaron, VA1AXC, is once again active as CY0/VA1AXC on Sable Island (NA-063) until the end of January. Activity is SSB only and mainly on 20 meters usually around 2300z. QSL via JE1LET DIRECT ONLY. E4, PALESTINE. It seems that the E44Y 2016 March DXpedition has been canceled. The Web page and other URLs (FaceBook/Twitter) are down or have not been updated. E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS (Reminder). By the time you read this, Haru, JA1XGI, will be active as E51XGI from Rarotonga Islands (OC-013, WAZ - 32) until December 11th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. Equipment is a ICOM IC7000 into a Trap Vertical (7/10/14/21/28 MHz) only 6.8m long and a VDA (Vertical Dipole Array) (18/24Mhz). QSL via JA1XGI, direct, by the Bureau (about a year wait!) or the OQRS (ClubLog). For more details and updates, watch his Web page at: http://island.geocities.jp/southcookholiday E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Magnus, SM6WET, will be active as E51WET from both Aitutaki Island (OC-013) and Rarotonga Island (OC-083) between December 14th and January 8th (2016). Most of the activity will be from Aitutaki Island. Operations will be on 160-6 meters (pending cyclone season) using CW, SSB, RTTY and JT65. QSL via his home callsign direct. EA8, CANARY ISLANDS. After his operation in Turkey, Rieder, HB9FIH, will be active as EA8/HB9FIH from El Hierro Island (AF-004)[is the smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands] between December 16th and March 10th (2016). Activity will be 80-10 meters (possibly 6m) using 100 watts, and mainly on CW, RTTY, PSK and some SSB. When he operates portable (SOTA HI-001) activity will be on 40/30/20 meters using CW. QSL via LoTW, eQSL or by the Bureau. FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE TRIP FROM ONE CONTINENT TO THE NEXT (ON to C5 -- "not the ordinary DX-pedition, but a unique merging of amateur radio and charity"). The following is an edited press release from Pedro, ON7WP/AA9HX: "Pedro ON7WP/AA9HX will be driving a Nissan Patrol Jeep, a donation to serve as local utility vehicle in Buntung, from Belgium to The Gambia with amateur radio on board. He will leave Brussels on early morning December 12th, first crossing France and Germany to take a ferry to Ceuta where he will sign as EA9/ON7WP. He applied for licenses for all countries on his way to the Gambia, starting from Morocco as CN9WP, later operating as S0WP from Western Sahara and 5T0WP from Mauritania and maybe also from Senegal if they read their mail... Mobile equipment will be a Codan SRX2012 with Codan 9350 antenna and a Kenwood TS480 for 6 meter operations. Evenings on campsites he will deploy a Butternut Vertical. Frequencies will be centered around 7145, 14200, 18150, 21300, 24950, 28500 and 50150 non-split while mobile as the Codan rig does not really allow smooth split operation. Arriving finally end of December, Pedro, ON7WP, will be active from his second home "Kerr Pedro" in Buntung, The Gambia, using his other callsign C5WP. Kerr means "house of" in local Pular language. Pedro is actively involved in a private charity organization that supports a small Village called "Buntung" inland central Gambia. It is a remote town with no water or electricity. During the past years, Pedro and his family installed a water well, solar power, grinders for the pearl millet crop, a fuel powered kilowatt generator, a few laptops on solar power, a small school and some guest houses to accept other philanthropists. Last year he installed a Spiderbeam antenna that greatly improved his signal. Due to an almost non-existent noise level he can hear all the weak ones, and this year he is going to do some extra efforts for the lower bands, not easy on the savanna grounds. Plenty of space to put antennas but no towers apart from the palm trees, and serious restrictions on any hardware that all has to be flown in by plane. Since August, he has a vertically polarized delta loop for 40 meter that gave outstanding world- wide coverage from just the barefoot solar powered TS480 Kenwood rig. Active from around Christmas onwards, he will focus on WARC band operation but also try some 6 meter traffic. Plans exist to put up apart from the delta loop for 40 meter a Butternut vertical for 40 and 80 meters. After a week of solar powered operations, he will move to the coastal area where he will focus on low bands, having possibilities for sea-side traveling wave antennas that proved to be good last year. End of the operations will be January 9th. Another period op operations is planned later this year when Pedro will be driving a Nissan Patrol Jeep, to serve as local utility vehicle in Buntu, from Belgium to The Gambia with amateur radio on board. There are currently only two permanent licenses issued in the Gambia, being C5WP and C5YK. C5YK will depart for good beginning 2016 so Pedro will be the only one left at the time being. As charity work comes on the first place, Pedro?s operations will be limited to his free time. QSL will be only direct to his home address in Belgium, and the 3 Euro asked for will be awarded with a full color QSL card showing the Buntu Village guest houses. Payment can be included with the card, but alternatively also paid online using Paypal using the "donate" button on the website. The small profit goes entirely into the charity project. Amateurs interested in operating from the Buntu village facilities are invited to contact Pedro for details. Last year they had a visit of MD Dirk, ON5OF, who did some outstanding work dealing with the health of the population. Most people never went to see a doctor in their whole life! This road trip Pedro gets company from Kurt Adams, a solar power specialist who will improve the little power plant in Buntung with fresh panels. The trailer with help goods he helped build uses solar panels as fences and roof. If you dreamed of operating from a remote African location and you are ready to bring some donations for the people or improve their life by your expertise, whatever it may be, this might be an experience of a lifetime. HB0, SWITZERLAND. Jose, EA5IDQ, will be active as HB0/EA5IDQ between April 15-18th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using SSB and RTTY. His focus will be on RTTY and the 30/17/12 meter bands. QSL via EA5IDQ, direct (pre- ferred), by the Bureau or the OQRS on ClubLog. For more details and updates, see: http://www.dxpedition.eu IOTA NEWS.............. AS-079. (Update) Take, JS6RRR/JI3DST, will once again be active as JS6RRR (sometime as JI3DST/6) from Miyako Island between 0900z, December 26th and 0000z, January 4th. Activity will be on 160/80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10 meters using CW, SSB, FM and RTTY. Operations may vary in case of heavy rains or other conditions. QSL routes are as follows: QSL JS6RRR via JS6RRR and JI3DST/6 via JI3DST. Via the Bureau is best. Please check QRZ.com for more details or his Web page at: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/ji3dst ADDED NOTE: Take will use the special callsign 8N3KCJ/6 from Miyako Island at various time between December 26-31st. This activity is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the "Keymen's Club of Japan". QSL via JO3OMA. http://pxl02521.org/kcj/log_search.php AS-153. Members of West Bengal Radio Club (VU2MQT) from Sodepur, Kolkata, India will be active as 8T5GSM from Sagar Island between January 9-16th. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via info on QRZ.com. SA-071. (Update) Operators Murilo/PY2DS, Joao Carlos/PU2KKE (newly added op), Joao Paulo/PU2POP and William/PU2XIZ will be active as ZY2QG from Queimada Grande Island [Snake Island] (DIB SP-17 [NEW!]) and lighthouse (DFB SP-11, ARLHS BRA-086, WLOTA 0242) between 1500z, December 10th and 1800z, December 11th (depending on the WX for a good landing). This operation is labeled as the "deadliest island in the world" because of snakes. Activity will be on 40/20/15/10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via PY2DS, (direct & 2 USDs+SAE) or by the Bureau. See QRZ.com for more details and updates. J6, ST. LUCIA. Once again, "Buddies in the Caribbean Suitcase DXpedition" team will activate St. Lucia (NA-108) between December 6-14th. This 'Suit- case DXpedition' will operate QRP to 100-watt radio stations using back- packable Buddipole antennas to make contacts from a villa, the surrounding mountains, and (of course) from St. Lucia's superb beaches. The eight operators are Budd/W3FF (J68FF), Rick/AA4W (J68RL), Chris/W6HFP (J68HF), and Tom/K4ZGB, Bryan/N8WD, David/W2LNX, Larry/W7DGP and Jack/WB9OTX an will be signing their own callsign with a 'J6/'. QSL via the operators' instructions. With several stations on the air, operations will be on CW, SSB, and/or the Digital modes on 160-10 meters. There will also be satellite operations. P5CW (P5/K6VVA) PROJECT UPDATE. Rick, K6VVA, has posted another "Project Update" on his possible North Korean (P5) CW only DXpedition at: http://www.p5cw.com PACIFIC TOUR. Dave, G4BUO, is once again going on a Pacific tour for his holiday. Activity will start at Maui, Hawaii (KH6), between December 26th and January 1st. No callsign was mentioned. From KH6, Dave will head to Samoa (5W) and be active as 5W0UO. Length of stay unknown. Activity will be holiday style, CW only, using a FT-857 into a doublet or vertical for 40-10 meters. QSL via G4BUO. PACIFIC TOUR. Bob, W7YAQ, will be activating two islands in the Pacific during February 2016. His tentative schedule is as follows: February 6-7th -- Moorea Island (OC-046), French Polynesia, using the callsign FO/W7YAQ. February 10-14th -- Easter Island 9SA-001) between February 10-14th, using the callsign CE0Y/W7YAQ. Activity from both islands will be holiday style on 40-15 meters using CW and RTTY. Equipment will be an Elecraft K3 into a vertical antenna. QSL via LoTW. PJ6, SABA. Nigel, G3TXF, will be active as PJ6/G3TXF from Saba Island (NA-145) between December 9-13th. Look for him to be active during the ARRL 10m Contest (December 12-13th). QSL via G3TXF, or the OQRS on ClubLog for both direct or Bureau QSLs. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 7-13th).... Dec/07th BN Dec/10th HN Dec/12th AN Dec/08th LN Dec/11th AN Dec/13th HN Dec/09th AN SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE ====================================================== NORMALITY GEOMAG K Values Alpha ----------------- ------ -------- ------ AN - Above Normal Quiet K=0-1 0-7 HN - High Normal Unsettled K=2 8-15 LN - Low Normal Active K=3 16-29 BN - Below Normal Minor Storm K=4 30-49 DIS - Disturbed Major Storm K=5 50-99 VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9 100-400 REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE : The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. QSL INFO AND NEWS..................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (December 6th) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3D2RJ via N7RO HP90IARU via HP2BWJ PD15XMAS via PD7DX 7T150LH via IK2DUW HS90IARU via E21EIC PD6YOTA via OM2FY 7X2YOTA via OM2FY II3VVF via 9A8ARS R18KDR/9 via RQ7L CT9/DL5AXX via DL5AXX II5YOTA via OM2FY SP3YOTA via OM2FY DQ0YOTA via OM2FY IT9/PB8DX via PB8DX SW9AA via LZ1PM E20AX via E21EIC IV3FIV via 9A8ARS SX90IARU via SV-Bureau EA7/PE1DMH via PE1DMH J6/K9AW via K9AW TK0C via S56ZZZ & (L/e) EA8/YP9W via YO9WF J62YOTA via OM2FY TM4TLT via F4KIP EE9AA via EA7FKH JD1BON via JA1UII TM900HAG via F8CRS EF8O via DJ1OJ LZ362MT via LZ1KCP TX90IARU via NI5DX EG5ERC via EA5HJY OE0YOTA via OM2FY UN7TX via RW6HS (d) EG9YOTA via OM2FY OE15YOTA via OM2FY UW7M via UR3MP EI/SQ9C via SQ9C OH2YOTA via OM2FY VP2EAR via KE1B & (L) FM/DL7VOG via DL7VOG OM15YOTA via OM2FY YT15YOTA via OM2FY GW15YOTA via OM2FY OM9YOTA via OM2FY HG30CW via HA3NU OP7CK via ON7CK (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only QSL INFORMATION CHANGE. Wynand, TY2CD, reports, "My QSL information for TY2CD (B?nin) has changed. I continue to prefer LoTW, but also now have the services of a QSL Manager for TY2CD QSL cards." His QSL Manager is N4GNR - DIRECT ONLY: Dan Cisson, 12 Hancock Drive, Toccoa, Georgia, USA 30577-9388. U.S. stations send a self-addressed STAMPED envelope (SASE). Out of the U.S. send a SAE and 2 USDs for postage. NO IRCs. S79OWZ QSL STATUS. Roman, RA3R, reports that "All direct QSL cards for S79OWZ have been sent." QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 5Z0L, C31MF, DL5DC, DL1NRC, DL1ZU, DL5FU, EA1DR, F6CSR, F6GCI, GW4OGO, HB9CIC, HZ1TT, J3/KO8SCA, JJ0NCC, LX1NO, OE1PMU, R7AL/0 (AS-172), R7DA, S79C (AF-119), SP3CGK, SP4AXU, SV5/OM3AG/P, TT8AMO, VE3XN, VP2EAQ and XE1RBV QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 3G0ZC, 3W4VX, 6Y9X, 9G5XA, E51DWC, FY5FY, HC1PF, HI3TT, K1ZT/KH6, LX9YL, R7AL/0 (AS-172), S01WS, S79SP, T46BC, TZ4AM, UA0ZC/p (AS-203), UA2F, YB4IR/3 (OC-217) and YS1YS QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 2E1RAF, 3A/EA5IDQ, 3B9FR, 3DA0CF, 3G3P, 4B3DX, 4X1DF, 4X1IM, 4X4PG, 4XREM, 4X4YM, 4X6FR, 4X6HP, 4X6RA, 4X6ZM, 4X0T, 4X67VF, 4Z1WP, 4Z4BS, 4Z4IW/P, 4Z4KM, 4Z4UT, 4Z5AG, 4Z5JO, 4Z5LA, 4Z5LV, 4Z5MR, 4Z5MX, 4Z5NX/M, 4Z5PJ, 4Z5TT, 4Z65TT, 5B/G3RWF, 5R8IC, 5U6E, 5X1NH, 5X8C, 9A1WFF, 9H3JA, A25HQ, A65BD, AM01AST, AM03NN, AM04DUT, AM07ZY, AM590IDQ, AN03FLY, AO05JC, C6AGU, C31CT, C37AC, C5X, C91CF, CM2CCA, EA6/EA7AAW, EA6AIF, EA6AIS, EA6AZ, EA6ALW, EA6ES, EA6SX, EA6TS, EA6VQ, EA6WU, EA6ZS, EA8AB, EA8AF, EA8AHM, EA8AMY, EA8BZH, EA8CP, EA8CRX, EA8CSD, EA8CSG, EA8DQ, EA8DBQ, EA8KL, EA8OV, EA8QP, EA9BO, EB8AIU, ED8B, EE6K, EF9O, EG8TT, FM/F5MCC, FR1GV, FW5JJ, FY/F5UII, G100C, GR2HQ, GR4RCG, H7H, HG0VBD, HP0INT/3, J28NC, J28UC, MD/EB1BSV/P, T6AG, TC7V, TF/EA5IDQ, TJ3AY, TK5AE, TK5NJ, TO2R, TO5BR, TM57YL, TM75FOC, TT8CY, TU5XV, VK5PAS, PY4KS, ZA/F4DTO, ZY4C and ZZ80TO S9, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE (Update OPDX.1240). Bruno, HB9BEI, who is currently in Brazil and is active as PY7ZBK during the winter months, informs OPDX that he will be active as S9BK (requested) from Sao Tome (AF-023) between February 25th and March 25th (2016). During this period he will also travel to Principe (AF-044) between March 7-12th. Activity from both islands will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using mainly SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via his home callsign. TO2, ST. BARTHELEMY (Update). Bill, K2HVN, will be active using the special callsign TO2EE from Saint Barthelemy Island (NA-146, DIFO FJ-001, WLOTA 0377) between December 12-19th. Activity will be on "all bands CW and SSB accept 80 meters" using 100 watts into Buddipole Vertical. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. TZ, MALI. Operators Christian/F4WBN and Rene/F5DUX will be active as TZ9A from Mali between December 7-19th. Activity will be on the HF bands with a focus on RTTY. QSL via F4WBN direct only. V4, ST. KITTS AND NEVIS. David, K1KA, announced that he will be active as V47KA from Calypso Bay, St. Kitts (NA-104), in February 2016. Details of activity were not provided. QSL via his home callsign, direct or LoTW. VK0EK DXPEDITION NEWS (Heard Island Expedition Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 7). The current Heard Island Expedition Newsletter (Vol. 1, No. 7 -- dated November 28th) is now out. Individuals may have already received this because they subscribed to it, or they made a donation to the expedition, or they are a team member or a corporate sponsor, or Bob, KK6EK, just happens to know you and think you would like to have it. This issue goes to 1369 different people. Bob also informs [edited], "There is no charge or obligation for this ? we just want to help you make a QSO with VK0EK, or to collaborate in the scientific work. Future Newsletters will be issued now and then, when we have something to say, probably every few weeks. If you missed a previous Newsletter and would like to have a copy, you can find a link on p. 4 to download the back issue. The expedition is scheduled to begin in early March 2016, and end in late April. You can see the current status of the project on the main website , and on the blogsite . I hope you like this Newsletter and find it useful. If you have sugges- tions, comments, subjects you would like to see addressed, etc., or wish to be removed from the distribution list, please write to me..... Bob, KK6EK -- Organizer/Expedition Leader" For more details on the mailing list for the newsletter, go to: http://www.heardisland.org/HD_pages/HD_newsletter.php W1, UNITED STATES (Special Event). Look for special event station W1Q to be active until December 15th. Activity is to commemorating the 100th anniversary of "QST", the ARRL's monthly magazine. Operators will be on the air on various bands and modes. One of the operators is Harold Kramer, WJ1B, QST Publisher and ARRL COO. Also, a number of ARRL staff and volun- teers will be operating: Martin/AA6E, Chuck/K0BOG, Sean/KX9X, Joe/NJ1Q, John/NP2B, David/WA1OUI and Rick/WW1ME. QSL via WJ1B, direct, by the Bureau, and LoTW. Watch QRZ.com (under WJ1B) for more details. Also, see: http://www.arrl.org/news/view/special-event-w1q-to-be-active-in-arrl-160-meter-contest ZF, CAYMAN ISLANDS. Pete, K8PGJ, will be active as ZF2PG on the Sunny Grand Cayman Islands (NA-016) during the week of January 9-17th (2016). Activity when not diving will occur on 20-10 meters SSB on the week- days and the evening of the 14th on 160-40 meters. He will activate the Caymans during the NAQP SSB Contest (January 9-10th) on 160-10 meters. LoTW will be utilized and direct QSL go via his home callsign. Schedule will be posted on QRZ.com. ZF, CAYMAN ISLANDS. Fred, WW4LL, will be active as ZF2LL from Grand Cayman Island (NA-016) between December 31st and January 5th. Activity seems to be focused on the ARRL RTTY Round Up (January 2-3rd), but there will be some limited SSB and RTTY before and after the contest. QSL via LoTW. ZY70, BRAZIL (Special Event). Rony, PS7AB, will activate special event station ZY70FEB between December 1-30th. Activity is to celebrate the 70th anniversary of World War II and to remember the importance of PEACE. The special callsign is also in honor to all who participated in the war, especially the Brazilian Expeditionary Force - FEB, on the battlefields in Italy. Operations will be on 40/20/17/15/10 meters using SSB and CW/ Digital. QSL via PS7AB, direct (2 USDs), by the Bureau, eQSL or LoTW. A special certificate will be sent in 2016 via E-mail to stations who made contacts with at least 10 Special Event Stations by mode (SSB, CW or Digital), or mixed (3 modes). Each month in 2015, Ronaldo will activate a different callsign and also send 12 different QSLs. ZY70FEB is the 12th special event station to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2015. For more details, visit the following Web pages at: http://www.radioamador.org.br/certificate_70th_world_war.htm http://qrz.com/db/zy70feb -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to: Help: Subscribe: Unsubscribe: OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE): http://www.papays.com/opdx.html ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT: http://www.nodxa.org/ http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * All excerpts and distribution of "The OPDX Bulletin" are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit. ** To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to: OR OR Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at: 1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!) /EXIT -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 6 14:23:00 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 06 Dec 2015 14:23:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Correction to OPDX.1243 Message-ID: <930665.42977.bm@smtp119.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Hi Guys and Gals, I had a "senior moment". Please change the following under "HB0, SWITZERLAND" to read: HB0, LIECHTENSTEIN. Jose, EA5IDQ, will be active as HB0/EA5IDQ between April 15-18th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using SSB and RTTY. His focus will be on RTTY and the 30/17/12 meter bands. QSL via EA5IDQ, direct (pre- ferred), by the Bureau or the OQRS on ClubLog. For more details and updates, see: http://www.dxpedition.eu Thanks and 73 de Tedd KB8NW Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 13 12:20:00 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2015 12:20:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1244 Message-ID: <386069.81088.bm@smtp115.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1244 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1244 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1244 BID: $OPDX.1244 December 14, 2015 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written From Strongsville, OH Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, N2TU, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, K5GS, AA6RE, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m News, W9ILY, 4X1VF, CO8ZZ, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DL7VOA, Dx- Coffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PY5EG, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, SM6WET, VA3RJ & ICPO, and VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF)? for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 6th/December, through Sunday, 13th/December there were 215 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4W, 4X, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FR, FT/x, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J5, J6, J7, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JY, K, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7, PY, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2V, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XX9, YA, YB, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3B8, MAURITIUS. Eric, OE4AAC, will be active as 3B8HD from the beach in Flic-en-Flac, Mauritius (AF-049), between February 11th and March 1st (2016). Activity will be holiday style, mostly on CW, and on 40-10 meters using Kenwood TS480HX with a Smartuner SG-230 into a Wire Trap Vertical for 30/40m, and elevated radials. QSL via OE4AAC, by the OE-Bureau or direct (Please include SAE, 1 GS for Europe, 2 GS for Overseas. Valid IRC also welcome). Log will be uploaded to OQRS. 3D2, FIJI. Udo, DL9HCU, is once again active as 3D2HC from Nadi, Viti Levu Island (OC-016, WLOTA 0055), for the next few weeks. He was heard this past week on 20 meters (14183 kHz at 0603z) on the ANZA DX Net. He usually runs QRP on 30-15 meters on CW. QSL via DL9HCU, by the Bureau or direct. 4X, ISRAEL (WFF Op). Members of the Holy Land DX Group will activate the callsign 4X4WFF from Avdat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, between December 25-26th. This is a first time activation, and the operation counts for the Israel National Parks Award (4XFF-004) and a Holy Land Square (E28BS). Operators mentioned are Shalom/ 4Z4BS, Mark/4Z4KX, Ruben/4Z5FI, Yulik/4X6HP, Ros/4Z5LA, Vlad/4Z5IW, Art/ 4X4DZ and Jan/4X1VF. The group will have two stations running using CW and SSB on the WFF frequencies. QSL only via IK2DUW. For more details about Avdat, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avdat CO90, CUBA (Special Event). Members of the Federaci?n de Radioaficionados de Cuba (FRC) and Grupo DX de Cuba (GDXC) will celebrate the 90th anni- versary of the IARU by activating CO90IARU until December 31st. Activity will be on all HF bands and modes. Those stations who work CO90IARU in 5 different bands, no matter the modes, will receive a Digital certificate. The interested should send their log with the data to: gdxc at frcuba.co.cu QSL via W3HNK. CORRECTION TO OPDX.1243 (OOOPPPSSS!!). If you did not catch it, the heading titled "HB0, SWITZERLAND" should have been labeled "HB0, LIECHTENSTEIN". This was a senior moment by the editor..... E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS (Update). Magnus, SM6WET, will be active as E51WET from both Aitutaki Island (OC-013) and Rarotonga Island (OC-083) between December 14th and January 9th (2016). Most of the activity will be from Aitutaki Island. His islands' schedule are as follows: December 14-17th -- Rarotonga Island (OC-083) December 17th-January 4th -- Aitutaki Island (OC-013) January 4-9th -- Rarotonga Island (OC-083) Operations will be on 160-6 meters (pending limited property and tropical cyclones allow) using CW, SSB, RTTY and JT65. Excess luggage donations info is on QRZ.com. QSL via his home callsign. FT4X, KERGUELEN ISLANDS (Update). Nicolas, F4EGX, is now active as FT4XU from a scientific mission at Ratmanoff, 30km northeast of Port-aux-Fran?ais, on Kerguelen Island for a few days (until December 15th). However, he will be back and his operation will possibly end maybe in the middle of January 2016. Activity was heard on 20 meters SSB around 14128 kHz between 1630- 1730z. He states that he is using a "FT857, 50W and a dipole antenna which can only be installed at human height, battery powered." There will be no PC for logging, only paper log. Logs won't be upload, and there is no internet connection. Their camp has no electricity. QSL via F1ULQ. H4, SOLOMON ISLANDS. "The Daily DX" reports that operators Tom/WL7HP (H44TM) and XYL Maggie/H44MK are in Guadalcanal (OC-047) until February 16th (2016). Activity will mainly be by Tom on 40/20/17/15 meters using SSB. Look for both operators to be active from three different outer islands. QSL H44TM and H44MK via WL7HP. IOTA NEWS.............. NA-057. Tom, N9EAW, is now active as HR9/N9EAW from Roatan Island until December 20th. Activity will be on 20 meters using SSB. QSL via his home callsign. SA-071. (Update) The ZY2QG operation from Queimada Grande Island [Snake Island] (DIB SP-17 [NEW!]) and lighthouse (DFB SP-11, ARLHS BRA-086, WLOTA 0242) has been postponed again (possibly to January). See QRZ.com for more details and updates. IRON HAM WW CONTEST (By the ARAUCARIA DX GROUP [ADXG]). Oms, PY5EG, reports: "Due the high congestion of contests during all the year long, we didn't find a date for our Iron Ham Contest. We are studying the possibility to co-organize a three mode contest with some other entity around the world and then establish a convenient date for it. So this year we are not going to have our Iron Ham Contest. I express our best thanks for the support us in our previous edition." J7, DOMINICA. Dave, WJ2O, will be active as J7/WJ2O from Secret Bay between February 17-23rd. Activity will be on 160-6 meters, but with a concentration of CW only on 30/17/12 meters. He will also be in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 20-21st) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via N2ZN. K5P PALMYRA DXPEDITION NEWS (Press Release #5, dated December 7th). Palmyra 2016 Update! -- In about a month, the Palmyra Team will be as- sembling in Hawaii on the first leg of their journey to Palmyra and our excitement is growing! Palmyra ranks in the top ten of the Most Wanted List and #2 in Europe! As with major DXpeditions, there has been a change of plans due to unforeseen events. Based on the original award received in January 2015, a Team of 12 operators was assembled. The air charter is provided by our host, The Nature Conservancy, as part of the award. Earlier this year, the air strip was decertified and as a result the aircraft type had to be changed to allow access to the Palmyra. The aircraft selected will only seat 9 persons, which is a major change of plans for the DXpedition. Several alternate options were examined but were unsuccessful. It was with great pain that three of the operators stepped back from the Team to allow the DXpedition to proceed. All equipment has been received, being pretested and packaged for ship- ment to Hawaii. The Team plans on leaving Hawaii for Palmyra on 11th January 2016 and being active from 12th January through 25th January. Future Palmyra Atoll activations may not happen for many years, as access is severely restricted. Permissions to operate on these rare and extremely controlled locations are very difficult to obtain. We wish to thank The Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for their cooperation and support. Without this, K5P Palmyra2016 would not occur. Check the K5P Palmyra2016 web page for future updates, propagation predictions and donation page. http://palmyra2016.org/ 73, Lou N2TU Craig K9CT OF9, FINLAND (Special Event -- Merry Christmas from Finland). Martti, OH2BH, sent out the following press release on December 7th: From the Offices of Santa Claus -- IT IS THIS WONDERFUL SEASON AGAIN ? REGARDS FROM THE LAND OF SANTA -- Season's Greetings from Santa's broadcasting arm, OF9X (Old Father Nine Xmas) -- As in so many years in the past, the OF9X station will beam the message of Christmas and help Santa Claus, OH9SCL, start his journey to bring Yuletide cheer to children worldwide. This is actually the 30th anni- versary of OH9SCL appearing from the Arctic Circle and getting our children and ourselves tuned to the spirit of Christmas on radio waves. This year the activity is organized by the Radio Club of Artic Circle, OH9AB, and the Radio Club of Pusula, OH9W, and supported by Radio Arcala, OH8X. The station OF9X will be active from December 10-28, 2015, on all bands, including 472 kHz. The elves at OH9SCL are: Rami/OH3BHL, Ynsky/OH9KL, Kimmo/OH9MDV and Juha/OH9MM. QSL OH9SCL via OH9AB. Those dozen radio elves at OF9X are: Jyri/OH2KM, Niko/OH2GEK, Pertti/ OH2BEE, Arto/OH2KW, Pauli/OH5BQ, Pekka/OH2TA, Era/OH2CV, Rami/OH2BCI, Martti/OH2BH, Veijo/OH6KN, Kim/OH6KZP and possibly Arttu/OH2FB, a junior elf of 12 years, will also have a crack at running a pileup and would like to make SSB QSOs during the Christmas weekend. QSL OF9X through ClubLog at OF9X / QRZ.com or via OH2BH All proceeds and donations will be forwarded to the Finnish Red Cross for their Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF). P5, NORTH KOREA. The latest word is that Dom, 3Z9DX, is expected to travel to North Korea sometime before Christmas to continue talks with government officials. He will be bringing his equipment into the country this time to prepare his activity in January/February 2016. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 14-20th).... Dec/14th AN Dec/17th AN Dec/19th AN Dec/15th HN Dec/18th AN Dec/20th AN Dec/16th AN SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE ====================================================== NORMALITY GEOMAG K Values Alpha ----------------- ------ -------- ------ AN - Above Normal Quiet K=0-1 0-7 HN - High Normal Unsettled K=2 8-15 LN - Low Normal Active K=3 16-29 BN - Below Normal Minor Storm K=4 30-49 DIS - Disturbed Major Storm K=5 50-99 VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9 100-400 REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE : The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. QSL INFO AND NEWS..................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (December 13th) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sorry No Data This Week -- PC Problems - Blue Screen" de Lothar, DL1SBF (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only CO8TW via info on QRZ.com. Juan, CO8TW, was active in this past weekend's ARRL 10 Meter Contest as Single-Op/Low-Power)/Mixed-Mode (CW/SSB) entry. TX3X LoTW/QSL CARD STATUS: - Not in Log and busted call inquires have been researched and answered. If you did not receive a reply to an inquiry please send only one E-mail to with the details of the missing Q. - Several "Not in Log" callsigns were reported to be found in the logs of other DX-peditions or a Cuban Special Event station that were active at the same time as TX3X. - The complete log will be uploaded to LoTW in May, 2016. - Individuals that donated to the project at any time, your LoTW was uploaded. - OQRS PayPal requests are processed daily, please allow 24 - 48 hours for LoTW upload. - If you made a donation or processed an OQRS using PayPal and are missing an LoTW send an e-mail to . All others, please wait for the complete log to be uploaded. - Direct cards should be mailed to the address in the United Kingdom as shown at . Those who send direct cards - your LoTW will be uploaded when we enter the contact information into the system. QSL requests received with insufficient funds will be sent via the Bureau. - We're finalizing the QSL card design and will send to the printer by December 18th. Cards will be mailed from the UK in January. - We hope to see you at Visalia, Dayton or Friedrichshafen. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year -- TX3X Team QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3W3MD, 5B/UR5MID, A61QQ, DF7FC, EA3DW, GM4UQG, OK1IVU, PJ6/G3TXF, PJ7PK (NA-247), RA3QK, RW0CR, SP4R, V73D, VK9WA, SV1NJW, TI9/3Z9DX and UT3RS QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: A35JP, A35JP/p, CU2KG, KL7NWR (NA-070), S79SP, TI9/RA9USU, V6WW, XR3MIN, XR8MIN, YB8RW/5 (OC-106), YB8RW (OC-146), YB8RW/p (OC-208), YB8RW/p (OC-209), YB8RW/p (OC-210), YB8RW/8 (OC-222), YB8RW/p (OC-236), YB8RW/3 (OC-237), YB8RW/3 (OC-250), YB8RW/p (OC-271), YB8RW/p (OC-272), Z21MG and Z60A QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 5V7TH, 6V7T, 8Q7KP, 9J2BO, 9M2CNC, AM01AUM, AM01HS, AM01YQ, AM04ZK, AM490ZK, AP2ARS, CU7MD, E30FB, E51HDJ, E51XIW, EA8AH, EF4HQ, EF0JC, FG4KH, FM/F2VX, FR/F5MNW, FS/K9EL, FW5JJ, G4RRA, H2Q, HC2AO/8, HC2RCT/8, IT9PQJ, JW9JKA (EU-927), OH2BH, OJ0X,ON10EUROA, PJ4/KU8E, PJ5/K6NAO, PJ5/OL8R, PJ7PT, PJ7RV, PP1CZ, PT0S, SX5KL, T33A, TK/F2YT/P, TM15RPC, TM24H, TM35AMRA, TM35O, TM36CDXC, TM42FM, TM80OIS, TO5A, TX5K, V5/DK1CE, V63GW, VK9CZ, VK9GMW, VU7AG, Z81X and ZZ80P T8, PALAU. Kazuo, JR1UBR, will be active as T88AB from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between now and December 15th. QSL via JR1UBR, direct or by the Bureau. For more details about the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room), see: http://www.palau-radio.com/index.php?page=rr2014 T8, PALAU. Ryosei, JH0IXE, will once again be active as T8CW from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between December 24th and January 7th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, JT65 ad PSK31. QSL via JA0FOX by the Bureau, JH0IXE direct, LoTW or eQSL. He now has a Web page at: http://t8cw.idou.net T8, PALAU (Update). Six JA operators will be active from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between January 7-14th. Operators mentioned are Mike/JA6EGL (T88SM), Hirotaka/JA6KYU (T88HS), Yas/JA6UBY (T88RR), YL Miyoko/JO3LVG (T88MK), Ichy/JH7IPR (T88UW) and Tsuneaki/JI6BFF (T88TK). Activity will be holiday style on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via the operators' instructions. T8, PALAU. Hirayuki, JA9FIO, will be active as T88UC from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between January 21-26th. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via his home callsign direct. T8, PALAU. Katsuhiko, JE6DND, will be active as T88HK from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between January 29th and February 2nd. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via his home callsign direct. V4, ST. KITTS AND NEVIS (Update). David, K1KA, will be active as V47KA from Calypso Bay, St. Kitts (NA-104), between February 2-25th. Activity will be holiday style on the HF bands and 6 meters using CW, SSB, PSK and JT65. QSL via his home callsign, direct or LoTW. V5, NAMIBIA. Dietmar, DL3DXX, will once again be active as V5/DL3DXX between December 17-28th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters with a focus on the lowbands using mostly CW. QSL via DL3DXX. VK0EK DXPEDITION NEWS (Heard Island). The latest update dated December 9th, is titled "EXPEDITION FACILITIES ARE PACKED AND SHIPPED". Read the complete news release with pictures at: http://vk0ek.org/2015/12/09/expedition-facilities-are-packed-and-shipped The expedition is scheduled to begin in early March 2016, and end in late April. You can see the current status of the project on the main website , and on the blogsite . VK9C, COCOS ISLAND. A team of VK6s are planning a DXpedition to Cocos Island during a two week period between September 20th and October 4th, 2016 (inclusive). They planned the operation to coincide with the CQWW DX RTTY Contest, and also the SSB voice segment of the 2016 Oceania DX competition. They plan to have about 8 operators (mainly from VK6). The current team consists of: Allen Lawrence, VK6XL, DXpedition Organizer Onno Benschop, VK6FLAB, DXpedition Media Manager Steve Chamberlain, VK6IR, Propagation Co-ordinator and QSL Manager Martin Hunter, Logistics support For more details and updates, see: http://dxpedition.itmaze.com.au VP9, BERMUDA. Steve, KU9C, who participate in this past weekend's ARRL 10m Contest as KU9C/VP9, will be active until December 14th. QSL via KU9C. YJ, VANUATU (Update). Robert, DL7VOA, will be active as YJ4AO from the Eratap Beach Resort, Port Vila, Efate Island (OC-035, WLOTA 1051), between December 27th and January 13th (2016). Activity will be holiday style mainly on CW during the evening and night hours (maybe some SSB, no Digital). Equipment is an Elecraft K2 plus a borrowed amplifier with about 500 watts into a 10m pole with vertical dipoles on 10/12/15/17/20m and groundplanes for 30m and 40m. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. Robert states that this will be a special DXpedition celebrating his 40th birthday, 10th wedding anniversary and 25th anniversary on the air (a little late because it was already in 2013). He adds, "For this reason I obtained the special callsign YJ4AO which is a reminiscence to my very first callsign Y24AO. My wife and I always dreamed of visiting the South Pacific only once in our lifetime, and we are very happy to be able to do this trip now, so I ask everybody to understand that I spend some time with my wife with usual holiday activities like snorkeling, etc.... instead of conducting a 100% DXpedition." More detailed information (including a link with exact GPS coordinates) can be found on the QRZ.com Web site at: http://www.qrz.com/db/YJ4AO VY0, CANADA (Nunavut Territory On HF). [Update] 2016 Worked All NCDXA ?RST? Stations: A Special Event Covering All of Northern North America! Members of the North Country DX Association (NCDXA) will be active in February and March 2016 from several different locations in Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory using KL7RST, VY1RST, VE8RST and VY0RST to further promote Amateur Radio up north. This is a first for the north- a joint-venture KL7, VY1, VE8 and VY0 special event! All modes 6-160 meters and WARC bands are permissible. SWLs are welcome to partici- pate. The object is to work or log (SWL) as many NCDXA ?RST? stations as you can from their different locations. Work/log each ?RST? station only once per their QTH/band and mode. For a wildcard, Portable ?RST? Stations will also participate and are worth 3 points each/mode and band but must be the ?RST? stations mentioned above! The portable stations must be out- side their own prefix to count (ie-KL7RST/KL7 does not count but KL7RST/VY1, VY1RST/KL7, VY0RST/VE8 etc. do). Watch the DX spots as they plan to have stations on from Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and many other cities (maybe an Alaskan glacier or two!). QSL Manager is K7ICE. KL7YK is LoTW administrator for Alaska, VY1MB for Yukon and VY0CF for Nunavut. Optional full color certificates are also available (email - for details) for working/hearing any of the ?RST? stations. (QSLs printed by KB3IFH) SPECIAL EVENT DATE: February 15th (0001z) through March 27th (2359z), 2016 EXCHANGE: NCDXA ?RST? stations send signal report and QTH (ie. - 5x7 Anchorage, 5x9 Whitehorse etc.). Receiving stations send signal report and state, province or country. CERTIFICATE LEVELS: Beautiful full color certificates are available for working/logging: (1) One or two NCDXA ?RST? station (s), (2) any KL7RST, VY1RST, VY0RST or VE8RST, but must work one of each (3) for those more competitive (keep in mind the scoring is for certificate levels and this is not a contest), a highest score category. Certificates are different scenery shots from up there for each level. Scoring example: K7QRM works KL7RST in Anchorage on 10m SSB, 10m CW, 15m SSB and 40m CW for his Anchorage total of 4 points. K7QRM works KL7RST at Matanuska Glacier on 10m SSB and 12m SSB for his Matanuska Glacier total of 2 points. K7QRM also works VY1RST in Whitehorse on 10 SSB, 15m digital, 40m CW and 30m CW for 4 points. K7QRM also works VE8RST in Yellowknife on 10m SSB and 20m SSB for a total of 2 points. K7QRM also works VE8RST in Hay River on 10m SSB for 1 point total. K7QRM?s grand total points are the city QSO sum of 13 points (plus any wildcard points). Handwritten or PC generated certificate applications are acceptable. First, 2nd, 3rd etc. places will be awarded. Certificate deadline is May 15, 2016. As a bonus, pending snow depth and weather, they may also have KL7RST and VY1RST on together from the border of Alaska and the Yukon on the Alaska Highway. That has got to be another first for the north! A special QSL and certificate will be available for the border op. Thanks in advance for your DX spots! 73 de ?Yukon John?, KL7JR Z6, KOSOVO (Press Release). Wayne, N7NG, sent out the following press release on December 10th: THE KOSOVO AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION JOINS THE INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION -- The secretariat of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) released a note to their member societies today announcing that The Kosovo Amateur Radio Association, SHRAK has been voted into IARU membership. SHRAK represents the Amateur Radio community of the Republic of Kosovo. With a long history dating back to the days of the former Yugoslavia, SHRAK was reconstituted on September 12, 2012, when an Amateur Radio service was launched by the Kosovo government. You may send your congratulatory note to SHRAK President Vjollca Caka (YL), Z61VB, and welcome her new IARU member society to our ranks. ZL9, NEW ZEALAND SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS (Update/Rare IOTA). Operators Cezar/VE3LYC, Bob/KD1CT, Stan/SQ8X and Craig/VK5CE will be activating a rare/new IOTA, Antipodes Island (OC-286P), possibly between January 7-11th. This will be the first time anyone has ever activated it. The callsign will be ZL9A. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using CW and SSB, with two stations running around the clock. Team Antipodes is pleased to announce that Johan, PA3EXX, has joined the team as their Pilot Station. QSL via VE3LYC, by the Bureau or direct. This operation will count under the new DXCC entity name "New Zealand Subantarctic Islands" (the old name - Auckland and Campbell Islands [ZL9]) for DXCC purposes. A Web page has been activated to provide more details and help collect funds for this operation at: http://iotahunter.org -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to: Help: Subscribe: Unsubscribe: OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE): http://www.papays.com/opdx.html ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT: http://www.nodxa.org/ http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * All excerpts and distribution of "The OPDX Bulletin" are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit. ** To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to: OR OR Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at: 1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!) /EXIT -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 20 11:59:00 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2015 11:59:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1245 Message-ID: <162366.8289.bm@smtp116.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1245 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1245 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1245 BID: $OPDX.1245 December 21, 2015 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written From Strongsville, OH/Murfreesboro, TN Sent From Murfreesboro, TN Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, K4ZW, N4AA & QRZ DX, N4JF, K5GS, N6GT, W6IZT, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W9ILY, DC8QT, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, EA4CWN, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, HL1VAU, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, IK7JWX, JG7PSJ, JR1EFG, LA7GIA, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, OZ6TL, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, and VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF)? for the following DX information. *** SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDITOR (Tedd, KB8NW): My family (wife/OPDX's chief proof-reader Linda, son Teddy [TJ] and his wife Jessi, daughter Katie and her husband Kevin and son Lliam and daughter Lilly Grace), and I (KB8NW) would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings". Thanks to the many individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me........ 73 and Have a Great Holiday de Tedd KB8NW DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 13th/December, through Sunday, 20th/December there were 225 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5W, 6W, 6Y, 7P, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FR, FT/x, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, P5, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7, PY, PY0S, PZ, S0, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TR, TT, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2V, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XW, YA, YB, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3C, EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Update). Ken, LA7GIA, who was expected to be active as 3C7GIA from Malabo Island (AF-010) between November 12-23rd, and then postponed it (not canceled), announced his plans to activate 3C Equatorial Guinea in March 2016. Activity dates are between March 4-13th. Operations will be on 40-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. There is a slight chance for 80m depending on conditions. Equipment will be a TS-480SAT with an Ameritron ALS 500m into a Mosley Mini 32 ASP (2 element beam 20/15/10m), Mosley TW 22 M (2 element beam 17/12m), Hygain AV640 and G5RV 80-10m wire antennas (backup). QSL via LA7GIA direct ONLY (SAE + 3 USDs). Please note, NO IRC, NO Bureau QSL. Bureau QSL will not be answered. For updates, check: http://la7gia.com/3c7gia/index.html Twitter: https://twitter.com/KennethOpskar 3D2, FIJI. Hardy, DF6PW, will be active as 3D2PW (pending) from Mango Bay, between February 13-19th (2016). Activity will be holiday style with a focus on 30/17/12 meters using the CW mode with 100 watts into wire antennas. QSL via LoTW or DF6PW by the Bureau. 3D2/P, ROTUMA (Reminder). Antoine, 3D2AG, will once again be active as 3D2AG/P from Rotuma Island between December 20th and January 18th (2016), pending shipping schedule. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. Operations will be entirely Solar-Powered using Sustain- able Renewable Energy while running barefoot with 100 watts into a Spider- beam and wire antennas. He mentions, "This will be a one-man DXpedition so not on the air at all times :-). As I will have no internet or phone connection while in Rotuma, please check cluster for spots. Operating at or close to the usual DX frequencies; also will try and cater for novice station band restrictions by listening split above xx.025 for CW. QSL via his home callsign direct only. Also, watch QRZ.com for update by Antoine. 3W, VIETNAM (IOTA Op). Herbert, DK2BR, will be active as 3W2BR from Con Son Island (AS-130) between March 5-21st (2016). Activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using SSB, RTTY and PSK31. Equipment is an Icom 706 MKIIG into verticals. QSL via his home callsign direct only. 4X, ISRAEL. Bodo, DF8DX, who was recently active as HL5ZEB/1 from Seoul, will be active as 4X/DF8DX from Israel between December 22-27th. Activity usually will be on 40-10 meters using 100 watts into a vertical antenna. QSL via DF8DX, by the Bureau or direct. 5W, SAMOA. Haru, JA1XGI, who was recently active as E51XGI from Rarotonga Islands, will now be active as 5W0XG from Samoa between April 12-20th. Activity will probably be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. Look for more details to be forthcoming on his Web page. QSL via JA1XGI. 60 METERS NEWS. From "60m DX News", Salvador, C31CT, reports: Andorra C3 Sad news -- Dear friends, I want to inform you, that yesterday the 9th December, the URA communicated to us prohibition to work on 60 M. Only Associated ARDAM members like C31VM, C31CT, C31VQ and C37AC all of us have showed interest in activating mentioned band, So, I can easily under- stand why URA didn?t show any interest to allow at least some channel, considering IARU has not forbidden anything, achieving good results for all amateur radio for future 2017 year. From ARDAM we are very sorry by the Amateur Radio and worldwide hobby. 6Y, JAMAICA. Lester, W8YCM, is currently on his annual trip to Negril, Jamaica (NA-097), and will be active as 6Y5/W8YCM until January 16th. Activity has been mainly 17 meters (watch around 18157 kHz) on SSB. QSL via his home callsign. 9M6, EAST MALAYSIA. Tak, JR1EFG, will be active as 9M6/JR1EFG from East Malaysia between December 22-26th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct only (see QRZ.com). C6, BAHAMAS. Drew, N2RFA, will once again be active as C6ABB from Cable Beach, Nassau, Providence Island (NA-001, WLOTA 1115) between February 8-18th (2016). Activity will be on 75/40/20/17/12/10 meters. He plans to operate on some of the Digital modes (JT65, PSK31, RTTY and possibly SSTV). QSL via his home callsign, direct or LoTW and also eQSL. CARIBBEAN TOUR. Rob, N6GT, (along with his XYL) will be visiting two islands in the Caribbean for the Christmas holiday. Operations will be very limited (he states, "trip's not all about radio"), but the tentative schedule is as follows: December 17-20th - From a deserted stretch of beach on Barbuda; callsign V26GT December 23-26th - From St. Peter's, Montserrat; callsign VP2MGT Activity will be on 40-10 meters (depending on conditions) using CW and the Digital modes (PSK31 and RTTY). Equipment will be a modest setup: FT-817 (5w) into a yo-yo dipole. QSL via N6GT, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. DU, PHILIPPINES (IOTA Op). Bodo, DF8DX, will be visiting the Philippines between April 9-24th. He plans to activate some IOTA island as DU1WQY/*. Islands mentioned are OC-042, OC-130 and possibly others. Look for possible updates. QSL via DF8DX, direct, by the Bureau or the LoTW. E51, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Henrik, OZ6TL, will once again be active as E51TLA from Raratonga Island (OC-013) between December 19th and January 9th. He told OPDX that this is his 12th visit to the islands. Activity will be holiday style on the HF bands, usually mainly CW and RTTY on 30 and 20 meters. QSL via his home callsign or LoTW. E51, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Hardy, DL7LL, will be active as E51TLA from Raratonga Island (OC-013) between December 20-28th. Bands and modes were not provided. QSL via DL7LL. FG/TO6, GUADELOUPE. Jean-Pierre, F6ITD, will once again be active as FG/F6ITD from Guadeloupe and two of its islands between January 20th and March 28th (2016). Islands mentioned are Basse Terre Deshaies (main island, between January 20th and February 2nd) and La Desirade Island (between March 3-8th). Both are IOTA NA-102. Activity will be on all HF bands using SSB and the Digital modes. Look for him to use the callsign TO6D during the weekend and Contests. QSL via his home callsign, direct or LoTW (preferred). Logs will be uploaded to ClubLog and LoTW. FT4JA JUAN DE NOVA DXPEDITION (Press Release dated December 18th)[edited]: Hi Friends -- In three months, FT4JA will be on the air. The exact dates of the operation were confirmed both by the authorities and by our skipper. We will be there from March 29th to April 11th, 2016. These dates include the unloading and loading phases. For nearly a year, we have been working in detail on every aspect of the operation. While it is unrealistic to think that we have everything under control in such an adventure, we make sure to have alternative solutions to overcome any deficiencies while controlling our expenses. In early January, the 4 crates of equipment will be shipped to Mayotte, which will again be our starting point. Part of the team will be on site a few days before loading and a few days after our return to manage, if necessary, last minute details. For now, we are in the process of finishing testing the hardware and are packing it for transport to optimize the time of loading / unloading. Each well-anticipated subject will be extra time at our disposal there. Our luck with FT4JA is that we are able to rely on a more robust team than last year with Tromelin and over a period of operation extended by a few days. We will benefit from these two ?bonuses? by being able to make more contacts and allow more of you to contact us. Furthermore, we officially welcome EA3NT, Christian, who has joined the team. His many experiences on islands around the world, many with members of the group, will be an asset. Budget -- Judging by the support already received, the popularity of our operation is palpable and shows tremendous expectations. Many clubs and associations have confirmed their support and we thank them. Other solicited clubs are still studying our request. Our pilot for Asia, Joe, JJ3PRT, has surrounded himself with a team to mobilize the JA community that is fully invested in the project. Arigatoo! The other countries are not far behind. We record a great generosity on the part of hams around the world and cannot but be touched by this needed mobilization. Remember that anyone with a donation of ?/$ 25 or more can automatically receive confirmation of contacts directly to their mailbox. If the pace of donations continues, and in the absence of unforeseen expenses, we are confident to complete the budget of our operation by April. Bandplan -- Following the change of dates of the expedition to Heard, most wanted DXCC countries # 4 and # 5 will be on the air at the same time! To minimize problems on the bands, we suggested to the VK0EK team to adopt a common band plan to share the segments on the different bands, taking into account the specificities of each region. Each of us will benefit in terms of clarity and efficiency. It is available on our website. Again, all comments are welcome now through our pilot stations. 50 MHz -- The period during which FT4JA expedition will take place is conducive to 6m. We will be in effect during a period of trans-equatorial propagation (TEP), which suggests many QSO on the magic band. We have planned some 50 MHz high-performance equipment including a dedicated station consisting of a DXBeam 6 element Yagi, an Elecraft K3, and an SPE Expert 1.3 KFA amplifier. The team will also include several operators that usually practice DX on this band and therefore know its subtleties. The 6-meter station will operate mostly in a CW beacon mode (?CQ FT4JA?) whose frequency will be published in our plan. As our satellite internet access will be very limited, we cannot monitor the cluster. We will switch to a transmitting position (CW or SSB only) as soon as we hear someone respond. It is a method that has already proven its worth, particularly on Tromelin. In an attempt to satisfy everyone, and because the technical challenge is very motivating, we also plan to try EME (JT65). Despite limited resources to work stations via the moon, it will be a first from Juan de Nova. It is important for us to satisfy the greatest number, and having real ambitions on 6m is part of the adventure. However, to be consistent with our key objectives, our 6-meter QSOs will be in addition to the rest of the contacts and not to the detriment of our presence on the HF bands. In conclusion, we wish good luck and good contacts to our friends at VP8STI/SGI and K5P who will open in early January the ?party? of the Top 10 DXCC DXpeditions planned for 2016. Soon new information will be provided. Be sure to follow us on our website , Facebook, Twitter (@juandenovadx). HP3, PANAMA. Dave, WJ2O, will be active as HP3/WJ2O from Panama between January 7-12th (2016). Activity will be focused on the low bands using mainly CW. QSL via N2ZN. IOTA NEWS.............. AS-074. Members of the Kuala Lumpur DX Team will be active as 9M2SI from Indah Island, Selangor, West Malaysia, between December 25-27th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using CW and SSB. Operators mentioned are Faiz/9M2AIS, Kayrol/9M2OOO, Wan/9M2VDX, Zanirul/9M2PRO, Mal/9M2EDU, Aimil/9M2AUR, Rosli/9M2RHQ, Fazli/ 9M2FDO, Fazzuan/9M2FZK, Ahmad/9M2AGC, Mohd/9M2AIM, Shark/9W2YND, Hasya/9W2HSY, Mohd/9W2FEJ, Nazari/9W2NDQ, 9W2BMW and Zamri/ 9W2NMX. QSL via 9M2OOO direct. AS-090. Han, DS2GOO, will once again be active as DS2GOO/2 from Taeijak Island between December 26-28th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. Equipment will be a TS-570DG transceiver and wire verticals. QSL via his home callsign. NA-066. Bodo, DF8DX, will possibly be active as KT3Q/6 from California State South IOTA Group sometime during his visit to the area between February 12-17th (2016). QSL via DF8DX, direct, by the Bureau or the LoTW. OC-243. Operators Andy/VK5MAV, CraigVK5CE and possibly one more will be active as homecall/6 from Breaksea Island between March 1-8th. Their planned activity is to have two stations active simultaneously, on 40/20/15/10 meters. Andy will be on CW and Craig on SSB. QSL via their home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or via ClubLog's OQRS. See QRZ.com for more details or visit: http://oc243.blogspot.com.au IY7, ITALY (Update/Special Event). Fred, IK7JWX, and members of the ARI Lecce will continue to use the special callsign IY7LE until December 31st. Activity will on PSK, RTTY and 20/15/10m. Activity is to commemorate Guglielmo Marconi's 120th anniversary of his first wireless message sent in 1895. QSL via the Bureau, direct or eQSL. J6, ST. LUCIA. Bill, K9HZ, will once again be active as J68HZ from his villa at Labrelotte Bay, Castries, St. Lucia (NA-108, WLOTA L-1336) between December 19th and January 3rd. Activity is usually on 160-2 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. There will be a special emphasis on 160 and 80 meters on all modes. His equipment will consist of an Elecraft K3, a 3 element beam for 20-6 meters and wire antennas for 160-30 meters. QSL via his home callsign. He does use the LoTW, ClubLog and eQSL. J7, DOMINICA. Walter, HB9MFM, is once again active as J79WTA from Dominica until January 30th (2016). Activity will be on 160-6 meters using SSB and the Digital modes. He plans to focus on 60m. QSL via his home callsign. JD1, OGASAWARA. Harry, JG7PSJ, will once again be active as JD1BMH from Chichijima Island (AS-031) between December 30th and January 9th (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via the Bureau to JD1BMH or direct to JG7PSJ. Visit his Web page for more details at: http://sapphire.es.tohoku.ac.jp/jd1bmh Also, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jd1bmh P4, ARUBA (Update). Jaap, PA7DA, will be active as P4/PA7DA from Aruba Island (SA-036) between March 12-24th (2016). Activity will be holiday style on the HF bands. Jaap states, "It wil be a low-cost activation, using FT897 100 Watts into a HyEndFed wire antenna." QSL via PA7DA by the Bureau. For updates, watch: http://pa7da.jouwweb.nl/p4-aruba P5, NORTH KOREA. As reported last week, Dom, 3Z9DX, is expected to travel to North Korea sometime before Christmas to continue talks with government officials. Well, Dom has been in Pyongyang since December 16th, and is meeting with telecom officials and other representatives. He did bring his equipment into the country and surprisingly was able to begin an operation (demonstration) early Sunday morning on 21222 kHz. Reports indicate he was very weak. The excerpts from "DXNEWS" and "DX-World" reports that Dom made +350 QSOs during his demonstration. His antenna is on a metal fence post 2m above the ground among government high rise buildings. The lowest noise level on 15m was 59+10, and on 20m it was 59+30. Dom was surrounded by a lot of people as he operates (officials coming in and out). Dom points out this operation is only a presentation so it's possible a different QTH will be found for the real activity planned for early next year. His equipment will remain in P5 for his potential future activities in January/February. Dom will return home to Poland on December 22nd (DXNEWS) or Christmas Day (DX-World). This all sounds good for possibly opening the door to amateur radio in P5. PJ6, SABA. Operators Roger/G3SXW, Rob/GM3YTS, Bob/K4UEE, Tim/K5AC, Jeff/ NM1Y and Gregg/W6IZT will be active as PJ6A from Jolieville, Saba Island (NA-145) during the ARRL CW DX Contest (February 20-21st) as a Multi-Op entry. QSL PJ6A via N4NX. Before and after the contest (they will be there between February 17-22nd) the operators will be signing PJ6/homecall and will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. They'll be using their Elecraft K3's, transmitting into a Battle Creek Special on 160 meters, wire beams on 80 and 40 meters and a Yagi on 20-10 meters. QSL PJ6/W6IZT via N7XG. All other PJ6/homecalls are via their home call. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 21-27th).... Dec/21st AN Dec/24th AN Dec/26th AN Dec/22nd AN Dec/25th AN Dec/27th HN Dec/23rd AN SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE ====================================================== NORMALITY GEOMAG K Values Alpha ----------------- ------ -------- ------ AN - Above Normal Quiet K=0-1 0-7 HN - High Normal Unsettled K=2 8-15 LN - Low Normal Active K=3 16-29 BN - Below Normal Minor Storm K=4 30-49 DIS - Disturbed Major Storm K=5 50-99 VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9 100-400 REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE : The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. QSL INFO AND NEWS..................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (December 20th) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3V8YOTA via OM2FY DF60OVGZ via DL2MIJ OD5RI/YOTA via OM2FY 4U20B via 9A2AA DM750FOR via DL9UJF* OF9X via OH2BH 7Z1SJ via EA7TFR & HZ-B DQ40AIX via DJ9KR OL15YOTA via OM2FY 9A15YOTA via OM2FY EK90IARU via EK1KE (d) P40S via K9QVB A91YOTA via OM2FY ER18KDR via ER3GS ST90IARU via S57DX B90IARU via BA4EG HB9ATMA via HB9FAX TM57XMAS via F-11734 CN2LW via EA7FTR HF2016HNY via SQ2JK (B/d) TZ9A via F4WBN (d) CN90IARU via EB7DX II2IGTO via IQ2MI VP90IARU via OM2FY CO90IARU via W3HNK J6/WB9OTX via WB9OTX (direct) W6W via NA6MB CQ790IARU via CT1REP KP2/AG1LE via AG1LE Z60IARU via Z62FB (d) CQ90IARU via CT3KN KP2/N1MD via N1MD (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (*) QSL not necessary MOLUCCAS IOTA TOUR QSL/DETAILS/PICTURES. Budi, YF1AR, informs that a log search, ClubLog OQRS and pictures are available at the following URLs: http://www.qrz.com/db/YF1AR http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/10/yf1ar8-oc-272-barat-daya-islands.html http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/10/yf1ar8-oc-246-leti-and-sermata-islands.html http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/12/yf1ar8-oc-271-babar-islands.html http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/12/yf1ar8-oc-157-banda-islands.html NEW ADDRESS FOR FO5RH: Alain Claverie, B.P. 51690, 98716 Pirae, Polyn?sie Fran?aise. TX3X QSL CARD STATUS. The TX3X Team reports, "The TX3X QSL went to the printer earlier this week. With the holidays just around the corner we'll post them from the UK in January. We're using a folded four sided color card that will be mailed and a traditional color card for overflow QSOs and the Buro." Here is what the QSLs look like: https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/12322535_1068029799898307_3945535321251841649_o.jpg https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/12375024_1068029796564974_3836506196411448381_o.jpg VU3WDN QSL ROUTE. Alfonso, EA4CWN, informs he is the new QSL Mnager for Dani, ex-5Z4/EA4ATI, and will be soon on the air from India. More details on QRZ.com. QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 4U1WRC, A93JA, E6GG, EA8MT, FS/W9ILY, HK3W, HP1RN, KH2/F3HEC, LA8FTA, OJ0DX, OX3LX, PY3DJB, S79SP, TX3X, UA0CID/P, V73D, VE2MF, VK6LC, VK9WA, YF1AR/8 (OC-272) and ZL90IARU QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 7O1A, DU7ET, DJ9ZB, E51DWC, FM/DL7VOG, IW7EGQ/P (EU-091), JH1AJT, JW2US (EU-063), OJ0B, P40BC, R7AL/0, TT8AMO, TZ4AM, YN2CC and Z21MG QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 2R0NOC, 3A/G0VJG, 3DA0PW, 4O/G5LP, 5B4AIZ, 5X1NH, 5Z4LS, 6Y5/G3SWH, 7Q7GM, 8P6DR, 8P9PW, 9G5XA, 9H3XV, 9J2BO, 9L5A, 9M6BAA, A22GH, A65BD, C91WW, CN2MR, CT7/G3ZAY/P (EU-145), G100RSGB, GB50RSARS, GB75RH, GD4EIP, GD0OUD, GH4FOC, GJ2A, GJ6UW (EU-013), GM4SSA (EU-012), GO8KGC, GR3SVK, GU4YOX, GU0SUP, H44KW (OC-047), J8/G4DVB, J88DR, KH6ZU, KP2/M1DDD, MT0SCG (EU-116), P29NI (OC-099), P29VPB (OC-069), S79GM, S79K (AF-024), T32C, TF4X, VK9X/G6AX, VP5/G0UNU, VP8SDX, ZB2/GM4FDM and ZD8RH TX3X DXPEDITION ARTICLE. An excellent article on the TX3X Chesterfield Islands DXpedition with pictures written by Gene, K5GS, is now available to read on the Mediterraneo DX Club Web page at: http://www.mdxc.org/tx3x-chesterfield-islands-october-1-12-2015-gene-spinelli-k5gs/ V2, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA. Laci, OM3AG, will be active as V25LK from Antigua (NA-100) between December 23rd and January 10th (2016). Activity will be holiday style on 20/17/15/12/10 meters using CW (preferred) and SSB. QSL via his home callsign, by the Bureau or direct. V2, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA (Update). Ismo, OH2IS, will be active as V26IS from St. John, Antigua Island (NA-100), between February 22nd and March 3rd (2016). Activity will be on 40-10 meters using mostly CW with some SSB. Equipment is a Kenwood TS-480HX with 200w into DX Sr portable vertical antenna, Full-Wave Loop for 30m and up + ladder line, fishing poles and a 40m dipole. QSL via his home callsign, direct, the OQRS on ClubLog or LoTW. V3, BELIZE. Operators Gerd/DJ4KW and XYL Gisela/DK9GG will once again be active as V31YN and V31GW, respectively, from Consejo Shores between January 9th and February 21st (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters including the 30/17/12m bands using CW and RTTY. They will only operate with 100 watts max. See their equipment and QTH at: http://echo34.de/Mitglieder/V31YN/Information QSL via their home callsigns, direct or by the Bureau or LoTW. For more details about their operation, see: http://www.qslnet.de/member/dj4kw/v31yn.htm V5, NAMIBIA (Update). Heli, DD0VR, will be active as V5/DD0VR from Namibia between December 11-30th (maybe 31st) Activity will be limited to his spare time because he is on holiday with his XYL Bigi, DE3BWR. Heli will use a KX3 with the HL-1.1KFX amplifier by Tokyo High Power with 500 watts or the RZ3AH PA with GMI-11tube with 350 Watts out -- QRO SSB. For CW, he will only operate with 1-5 watts (G-QRP-Club -- NR. 7073). His antenna is a vertical. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. V5, NAMIBIA. Operators Werner/DC8QT, Georg/DD8ZX and Klaus/DJ9KM will be active as V5/DC8QT, V5/DD8ZX and V5/DJ9KM from Omaruru, Otjikoko Guestfarm, Namibia, between February 09-18th (2016). Activity will be holiday style with a focus on 160-10 meters and if possible on 6m. Operating modes are SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via their home callsigns. XW, LAOS. Ken, K4ZW, will once again be active as XW4ZW from Laos between January 15-24th (possibly a shift a day or two). Activity will be on all bands, but with a focus on the lower bands and CW only. QSL via K1SE direct (with SAE/SASE). Log will be uploaded to LoTW and ClubLog. Ken states, "All Bureau cards received will be answered, but it is time consuming and expensive. Please note that I receive cards from the Bureau on average once or twice per year. It takes up to 1 year to answer the cards. You will need to be patient." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to: Help: Subscribe: Unsubscribe: OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE): http://www.papays.com/opdx.html ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT: http://www.nodxa.org/ http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * All excerpts and distribution of "The OPDX Bulletin" are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit. ** To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to: OR OR Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at: 1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!) /EXIT -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 20 14:53:13 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2015 14:53:13 -0500 Subject: [DX] Correction to OPDX.1245 Message-ID: <407856.74331.bm@smtp111.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Please correct the following under: E51, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Hardy, DL7LL, will be active as E51TLA from Raratonga Island (OC-013) between December 20-28th. Bands and modes were not provided. QSL via DL7LL. To read (callsign was incorrect): E51, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Hardy, DL7LL, will be active as E51LLA from Raratonga Island (OC-013) between December 20-28th. Bands and modes were not provided. QSL via DL7LL. Thanks and 73 de Tedd KB8NW Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG) From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 27 08:59:00 2015 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 08:59:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1246 Message-ID: <460783.72348.bm@smtp116.sbc.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1246 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1246 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1246 BID: $OPDX.1246 December 28, 2015 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written From Murfreesboro, TN (in between playing with Grand-Kids) Sent From Murfreesboro, TN Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, N6PSE, W6SZN, N7SMI, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, and VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF)? for the following DX information. *** SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDITOR (Tedd, KB8NW): My family (wife/OPDX's chief proof-reader Linda, son Teddy [TJ] and his wife Jessi, daughter Katie and her husband Kevin and son Lliam & daughter Lilly Grace), and I (KB8NW) would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy New Year". Thanks to the many individuals who have provided DX information over the past year. Without them there would not be an OPDX Bulletin. Also, thanks to the individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me..... 73 and Have a Great/Safe/Healthy New Year de Tedd KB8NW DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 20th/December, through Sunday, 27th/December there were 210 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5U, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, D4, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EZ, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FR, FS, FT/x, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JT, JY, K, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, P5, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PZ, S0, S5, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TT, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XW, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZL, ZP, ZS * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3B8, MAURITIUS. Paul, G8AFC, is once again active as 3B8/G8AFC from Pereybere until April 6th (2016). Activity will be on 20/10/6 meters on SSB. Suggested time (per Daily DX) is between 0900-1200z. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. 4S, SRI LANKA. Look for special event station 4S0GS to be active between December 27-31st. Activity is to celebrate the 2015 Galle Season. QSL via 4S7DF. 4S, SRI LANKA (Update). Operators Josep/EA3BT and N?ria/EA3WL will be active as 4S7JTG (not 4S7JTO) and 4S7NTG (not) 4S7NTS, respectively, from Beruwala, Sri Lanka (AS-003), between January 3-8th (2016). Activity will be on 40-10 meters using mainly SSB, CW and RTTY. Equipment is an Icom IC-7000 and a Ameritron AL-600S (600w) amp. QSL both callsigns via EA3BT (by the Bureau, ClubLog's OQRS or direct). ADDED NOTE: They are also expected to activate Berberyn Island (AS-171) "as much time as possible". 60 METERS NEWS. Spanish (EA) stations are now authorized until December 31st, 2016, to conduct emissions in the frequency section 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz with a maximum radiated power of 15 watts, maximum width of 3 kHz CW and SSB. For more details, see: http://www.minetur.gob.es/telecomunicaciones/Espectro/radioaficionados/Autorizaciones%20uso%20temporal/Resolucion5MHz.pdf 7P, LESOTHO. Members of F6KOP Amateur Radio Club announced a DXpedition to here in February 2016. More details will be forthcoming a well as a Web page. E51, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS (Correction). Hardy, DL7LL, will be active as E51LLA (not E51TLA) from Raratonga Island (OC-013) between December 20-28th. Bands and modes were not provided. QSL via DL7LL. EX, KYRGYZATAN. Andrea, HB9DUR, is once again active as EX/HB9DUR from Bishkek until January 8th (2016). Activity will be holiday style on all HF bands, but with a focus on higher bands. QSL via his home callsign, direct or via ClubLog's OQRS. H4, SOLOMON ISLANDS. Bernhard, DL2GAC, will once again be active as H44MS on a DX vacation to Honiara, Guadalcanal (WLOTA 0086), Solomon Islands (OC-047), between January 19th and April 14th (2016). Activity will be on 80-6 meters (possibly 160m) SSB only. QSL via his home callsign, by the Bureau or direct. H40 & H44, TEMOTU PROVINCE AND SOLOMON ISLANDS. Stan, LZ1GC, is planning a 25 day operation in 2016 from the Temotu Province (callsign H40GC, for 15 days) and Solomon Islands (callsign H44GC, for 10 days) between Sep- tember 25th and October 25th (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters, with a focus on low bands, using CW, SSB and RTTY. More details are forth- coming as well as Web page in mid-January. HG5, HUNGARY. Hungarian amateurs are now active as HG5XMAS to celebrate the Christmas/New Years holidays until January 2nd. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, and PSK, as well as the DARC Xmas Contest and the Happy New Year Contest. Please do NOT send them a paper QSL! Their QSL will be downloadable from e-QSL.cc. QSL cards can be downloaded after uploading the logs, thus the certified e-QSL cards will only be available after January 3rd, 2016. IOTA NEWS.............. EU-047. Volker, DL1WH, is now active as DL1WH/p from Norderney Island (DID/GIA N-05) until January 2nd. Activity will be holiday style on 80-10 meters and mainly on CW. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. EU-128. Stefan, DF8HS, is now active as DF8HS/p from Fehmarn Island until January 11th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via his home callsign, by the Bureau or direct. EU-146. Members of the UBA SECTION RSX Radio Club (ON4RSX) will be active as homecall/p from Schouwen Duiveland Island on December 27th. Operators mentioned are Jean-Paul/ON2KMJ, YL C?cile/ON5TC, Ron/ON5TQ, Michel/ON6QO, Gert-Jan/ON7GLF, and Peter/ON8VP. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via operators' instructions. P5, NORTH KOREA. Reports indicate that Dom, 3Z9DX, has left North Korea sometime on December 22nd. He had agreed before operating to leave his equipment behind in Pyongyang. During his few days of operating Dom made 785 QSOs (742 Unique callsigns) all on SSB between 0009z, December 20th, and 0847z, December 21st. Band used: 127/20m, 566/15m and 91/10m. Continents worked are: 1/AF, 0/AN, 591/AS, 75/EU, 26/NA, 83/OC and 8/SA. The log and breakdown can be viewed on ClubLog at: https://secure.clublog.org/charts/?c=P5/3Z9DX The next activity is planned for February 2016, possibly from another location. QSL via ClubLog's OQRS, it is the best and fastest way to receive a QSL card. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 28th-January 3rd).... Dec/28th HN Dec/31st AN Jan/02nd LN Dec/29th AN Jan/01st LN Jan/03rd AN Dec/30th AN SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE ====================================================== NORMALITY GEOMAG K Values Alpha ----------------- ------ -------- ------ AN - Above Normal Quiet K=0-1 0-7 HN - High Normal Unsettled K=2 8-15 LN - Low Normal Active K=3 16-29 BN - Below Normal Minor Storm K=4 30-49 DIS - Disturbed Major Storm K=5 50-99 VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9 100-400 REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE : The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. QSL INFO AND NEWS..................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (December 27th) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3Z15XMS via SP6IEQ HF2016HNY via SQ2JK SJ90IARU via (*SM-B) 3Z35RTTY via SP1DOZ HG5XMAS via HA7AX (*) SN0WFF via SP5X CQ890IARU via CT1REP II90IARU via IW3RUA TO90R via FR4QT E44QX via DF8DX J6/W2LNX via KC3EYZ V5/DK1CE via DK1CE ES90IARU via ES1QD OZ/DC1LTK via DC1LTK XM7100AS via VA7DP HA/DO1HOF via DO1HOF (e) S508PMC via S50X ZZ90IARU via PY2DV (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (*) eQSL only/no Paper QSL QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 5B/UR5MID, 9A1A, CQ90IARU, EA1ZY, FG5LA, JA0GJJ, JA1DOT, JA2BQX, JA7BME, JE1LFX, JR4OZR, LA6TPA, LA8FTA, NP2KW, OH0X, OK1KSL, RL3BZ, VA2UP, VE6QO, VE7SZ, TY2U and YV5AAX QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 3B8/DJ7RJ, D8A, FM/DL7VOG, FS/VE2BWL, E51MQI, J3/DH5FS, N5M (NA-120), OJ0DX, PJ7ELY, PJ7K, S79OWZ, VP2ELY, YB4IR/3, ZF2YL and ZS6CW QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 4O/G3SXW, 5B/G3RWF, 5X1XA, 5Z4/M0LEP, 8P9LJ, 8P9PW, 9H3C, 9H3DD, 9L5VT, 9M2CNC, 9X0NH, 9X0XA, GJ6YB (EU-013), GJ0KYZ, GG100FOX, GM5XW (EU-009), GR100MGY, GS3PYE/P (EU-008), GU3UOQ, GU4RUK (EU-114), GU8FBO, GX5MW (EU-120), H44KW, M0GDX/HI3, IS0/G3RTE, MD3YLX, MJ0CTR (EU-013),MJ0LEL, MQ0ASP, MQ5BFL, MU0GSY (EU-114), MV5BFL, PJ4/G4IUF, SV9/GM3YOR, VK9C/G6AX, VP8YLB, W6/KP3YL, ZA/G3SXW, ZD8N (AF-003), ZD8RAF and ZD8KR TN4, TUNISIA. Members of the Association Tunisienne des Radio Amateurs [ASTRA] (3V8HQ) are now active with the special callsign TS4NP until January 9th. Activity is to celebrate/honor the Tunisian group, the National Dialogue Quartet, who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. QSL via the Bureau. V6, MICRONESIA. Kouchi, JR2GAG, will once agin be active as V63GG from Kolonia, Pohnpei Island (OC-010), between January 1-8th. Activity will be mostly on 20-6 meters, but he will be able to go to 160-40 meters. QSL via his home callsign, by the Bureau or direct. No LoTW or eQSL. VK9C, COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS. Operators Lars/LB2TB, Morten/LB8DC, Bjorn/ LB1GB and John/LA7GNA plan to be active as VK9CK (granted) from West Island (OC-003), Cocos (Keeling) Island between March 14-26th (2016). The team is calling themselves the "Dipper DX". Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. The focus will be 160/80 meters. They state, "Plans are for beams for the high bands and verticals/Inv. L for the lower bands. We will bring amplifiers!" QSL via their OQRS on ClubLog (preferred) or via their QSL Manager LA6OP, direct or by the Bureau. Log will be uploaded to the LoTW as soon as possible after the DXpedition. For more details and updates, see: http://dipperdx.com/cocos2016 VK9WA INSIDERS NEWSLETTER #5. The VK9WA team wishes you Happy Holidays and thanks those who supported their DXpedition. The 5th and final edition of the VK9WA Insiders Newsletter is available at: http://vk9wa.com/newsletters/VK9WANewsletter5.pdf If you missed the previous editions, you can download them at: http://vk9wa.com/newsletters/VK9WANewsletter.pdf http://vk9wa.com/newsletters/VK9WANewsletter2.pdf http://vk9wa.com/newsletters/VK9WANewsletter3.pdf http://vk9wa.com/newsletters/VK9WANewsletter4.pdf Be sure to check out the very cool drone footage of Middle Cay and the VK9WA camp at . As a VK9WA Insider/Donor, you will get priority QSL status. Cards are currently being sent direct to donors. LoTW has been uploaded. Thanks again for all you've done to support this DXpedition. We'll catch you on the air from another location in 2016. Happy Holidays and 73, The VK9WA Team VP8SGI/VP8STI DXPEDITION NEWS (Press Release from the Intrepid-DX Group VP8STI/VP8SGI Team). Paul, N6PSE, sent out the following on December 21st [edited]: In just two short weeks, members of the VP8STI/VP8SGI team will be meeting the Braveheart in Stanley, the Falkland Islands. All of our plans are going very well. We have raised 73% of the funds needed to complete our Dxpedition. We are very grateful for all Foundation, Club and Individual support. We have updated our QSL page and OQRS will be live as soon as we complete each activation. We will make every effort to upload our logs to Clublog each day. We expect to have challenges in doing so as at 59 degrees South, Southern Thule Island is outside of the Inmarsat BGAN coverage footprint. The team is very focused and committed to satisfying the need for contacts with South Sandwich and South Georgia. We ask that everyone follow the DX Code of Conduct. We will not work stations that are calling out of turn. We will be in communications with our Chief Pilot each day and we ask you to work with our team of Regional Pilot stations to help us meet the demand for contacts. We are very excited to be activating the #3 and #8 most wanted DXCC entities on a combined trip. Adding South Georgia on to our itinerary cost us an extra $120,000. If you have not already donated, won?t you please consider a donation? For our US donors, your end of year donations are tax deductible to the Intrepid-DX Group as we are a 501.C.3. You can view all details of our Dxpedition at: http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8 Please watch for updates and announcements in The Daily DX, DX-World, DX Coffee and DX News. [ed. as well as the OPDX] Thank you, and Merry Christmas! Paul N6PSE - Co-Leader, VP8 Team THE YASME FOUNDATION (Two Press Releases)[edited]....... 1#) THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT OF DIRECTOR CHARLES ?MAC? McHENRY, JR., W6BSY (dated December 21st, St. Charles, MO) -- The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation recognizes Director Charles ?Mac? McHenry, Jr., W6BSY, as he retires from the organi- zation after many years of service. Mac?s association with Yasme spans decades, during which DXing, operating and amateur radio have witnessed many changes. We are honored to have had the benefit of his leadership and wisdom. Mac?s association with Yasme dates back to the time when Lloyd and Iris Colvin were on their around-the-world DXpedition, visiting 221 DXCC countries and operating in about two-thirds of them. Yasme volunteers answered over 750,000 QSL requests. If you are lucky enough to have a handwritten Yasme QSL card, chances are very good that Mac was the one who filled out the card, stuffed it in an envelope and sent it off to you. On behalf of Yasme and of the many amateurs Yasme has assisted or recognized over the years of your directorship, the Board of Directors conveys upon Mac the title of Director Emeritus, a first for our organization. We wish him smooth sailing in the future ? thank you, Mac! 2#) THE YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS (dated December 21st, St. Charles, MO) -- The Board of Directors of the Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce a number of supporting grants in furtherance of its goal of supporting the development of amateur radio. Our grants fall into several areas as shown below. The Yasme Foun- dation encourages amateurs to support activities that promote amateur radio and result in new licensees around the world. Scholarships and Youth Programs * A grant to the ARRL Foundation to fund the Yasme Foundation scholarship * A grant to the Foundation for Amateur Radio in support of its 2016 scholarship program * A grant to the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) program to support pro- grams aimed at promoting amateur radio among those under age 26 throughout IARU Region 1 * A grant to the ARRL Teacher's Institute to fund one teacher's attendance at the 2016 Teacher's Institute on Wireless Technology Scientific and Technical Programs * A grant to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program in support of its effort to place higher power amateur radio equipment on the Columbia Module and standardize the equipment configuration * A grant to the Northern California DX Foundation Beacon Project to update the beacon station in Sri Lanka * A grant to the Reverse Beacon Network to build and install a node that will provide coverage in an area identified as both underserved and of particular interest to propagation studies HF Operating Around the World * A grant to a representative of the Haiti Amateur Radio Club for the purchase of amateur radio training materials to be used for training sessions of future licensees in Haiti and the donation of a Kenwood TS-440S transceiver for use by the new licensees * A grant to the International Amateur Radio Club at ITU-Geneva (4U1ITU) for station maintenance and the acquisition of needed equipment * A grant to WRTC-2018 in support of ongoing expenses and to encourage organizations and individuals to support this important event * A grant to the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society club station ET3AA to acquire a new computer, interfaces and programs to be used for logging and operating digital modes and to purchase new headsets Organizations Supporting Amateur Radio * A grant to the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation (WWROF) in support of their ongoing activities * A grant to Dokufunk, the Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communications and the Electronic Media in Vienna, Austria, in support of its activities to preserve the history of radio communications We wish all radio amateurs around the world a prosperous and happy new year on the airwaves! The Yasme Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation organized to support scientific and educational projects related to amateur radio, including DXing (long distance communication) and the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in developing countries. For additional information about The Yasme Foundation, visit our website at . Ward Silver, N?AX, President The Yasme Foundation Board of Directors: Ward Silver, N?AX, President and Director Fred Laun, K3ZO, Director and Vice-President Rusty Epps, W6OAT, Director and Treasurer Kip Edwards, W6SZN, Director and Secretary Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, Director Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, Director Martti Laine, OH2BH, Director Bob Vallio, W6RGG, Director Z2, ZIMBABWE. Herbert, DE1ZHB/7Z1HB, is once again active as Z21LS from Harare until January 7th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via DE1ZHB. ZL9, NEW ZEALAND SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS (Update/Rare IOTA). From the ZL9A Web page [edited]: Team Antipodes is scheduled to set sail less than two weeks from now. Cezar is already in New Zealand, and confirms that two full sets of equipment (rigs and antennas) are already with the Department of Conservation office in Invercargill, where the quarantine is scheduled for January 3. All team members will meet in Invercargill on January 2, and in preparation for the quarantine need to treat all clothing and footwear in a trigene solution, a powerful antibacterial. We of us are a little apprehensive that the trigene will affect long term at least some of the materials and metal bits, but there is no way around it. Most of all, we are concerned of all electronic components, including photo/video cameras and laptops, as they will have to be wiped with a cloth soaked in trigene solution too If everything goes according to plan and weather cooperates, the team will board Evohe by noon local time on January 4, and attempt landing by mid-afternoon on January 7. It will likely take a few hours before they will be QRV, since landing will require some serious hiking back and forth between the shore and camp. One of their stations will be located inside the Castaway Depot, while the other a few tens of meters away, in a small tent. While the landing and operating permit is very strict in terms of where the radio equipment should be located, the tent allows for some mobility to reduce interference between stations. To reduce it even further, the team will have at their disposal a full set of Dunestar filters. The list of group and individual donors continues to be updated on a daily basis, and we wish to express our gratitude to everyone who is able to contribute financially to reduce our personal costs. The original budget had to be increased by almost 7%, due to unforeseen costs, to which we had to add another 8% due to the strengthening of the NZD versus the USD during the last few months. Please keep support coming, we do need it dearly! Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful, Happy and Prosperous New Year 2016! ADDED NOTE: This operation will count under the new DXCC entity name "New Zealand Subantarctic Islands" (the old name - Auckland and Campbell Islands [ZL9]) for DXCC purposes. A Web page has been activated to provide more details and help collect funds for this operation at: http://iotahunter.org -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to: Help: Subscribe: Unsubscribe: OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE): http://www.papays.com/opdx.html ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT: http://www.nodxa.org/ http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * All excerpts and distribution of "The OPDX Bulletin" are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit. ** To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to: OR OR Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at: 1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!) /EXIT -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses: Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence) President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA) DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG)