From kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org Sun Dec 3 12:45:00 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2017 12:45:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1342 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1342 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1342 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1342 BID: $OPDX.1342 December 4, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, K5GS, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, NA9Q, W0GJ, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, HK3CW, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PA3EWP, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 26th/November, through Sunday, 3rd/December there were 232 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 3X, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5V, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, 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, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, 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, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T5, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9L, VK9N, VK9X, VP2E, VP2M, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YJ, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV, Z3, Z8, 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". 3B7A ST. BRANDON ISLAND DXPEDITION (Press Release #4, date November 28th). This week two major events occurred and we are very happy to share both of them with you. First of all, we received all papers from the Mauritius authorities and our callsign has been confirmed. You will listen for us as 3B7A next April in your radios! Then, we are very proud to announce that the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) has joined our project as a major sponsor. By reiterating the trust relationship with our team a great step has been made to reach the overall budget. This is not yet a closed matter and we hope to receive many supports until our departure. Talking about this, we would like to greet our friends JJ3PRT, JA4BUA, JA4DND and JK1KSB. They are a very efficient relay in Japan for our team and thanks to them a Japanese section of our website is now available. Our next communications will focus on logistics and radio operations. So stay tuned and follow us on Facebook and Twitter <@SaintBrandonDX>. 3B8, MAURITIUS. Nigel, G3TXF, will be active as 3B8XF from Mauritius (AF-049) during the 2018 Commonwealth Contest (BERU) [March 10-11th, 2018]. QSL via G3TXF or ClubLog's OQRS (for both Bureau or direct QSLs). 3D2/R, ROTUMA. Operators Ernoe/DK2AMM (Treasurer/QSL manager), Hans/DL6JGN (Team Leader), Heye/DJ9RR and Ronald/PA3EWP will be active as 3D2EU from Rotuma (OC-060) between February 23rd and March 16th, 2018. Operations will be from two different locations on the Island: Maftoa and Fapufa. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, including 30/17/12m, using CW, SSB and Digital modes. Their goal is to make over 30k QSOs (Of course, it depends also on the propagation on the higher bands). They will use Club- Log for online logging (if internet is available) and OQRS (QSL requests). A short time after the DXpedition, the logs will be uploaded by their QSL Manager (DK2AMM) to LoTW. All QSLs via the OQRS, by the Bureau and direct will be answered as usual. For more details and updates, see their Web page at: http://www.rotuma2018.de 3Y0X BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The following was posted on the 3Y0X Web and FaceBook pages December 2nd, [edited]: Our DXpeditions Biggest Unknown: How much will our helicopter flights cost us? Helicopters are at once our wings and our Achilles' heel; a godsend for safety and access to the best operating site on Bouvet, but devilishly expensive to operate. They are essential to our success, safety, and making lots of QSO's from Bouvet. The more gear they can bring ashore, the more contacts we can make. Therefore, helicopters directly impact the number of all time new contacts we will deliver to you, the number of new band modes we can give you, and the overall number of contacts we make. Our team members will underwrite the cost of getting all the basic and essential equipment ashore to enable us to do a good job on this DX- pedition. Whatever this costs us, we will do it. However, to do a great job and get ashore two antennas for every band, adequate fuel and gen- erators for full power 24/7, an amp on every radio, and a second shelter for operating, we must dig a little deeper to pay for those extra flying hours. If you can help us buy a few more hours of flying time, you will put doing the best job possible firmly within our grasp. Please go to our website: click on the News and Updates tab and help us if you can. The 3Y0Z DXpedition Team 4X0, ISRAEL (More On Special Event). In OPDX.1341 we mentioned that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has declared Shivta to be a World Heritage Site. The Shivta National Park is on the list of confirmed WFF Israel National Parks Award (4XFF-032), and has a very long and interesting history (see the Web page at . Members of the "The Holy land DX Group" (Shalom/4Z4BS, Mark/4Z4KX, Ruben/ 4Z5FI, Yulik/4X6HP, Ros/4Z5LA, Vlad/4Z5IW, Arthur/4X4DZ, Alex/4Z4AK and Jan/4X1VF) are going to operate from this location between 0800 UTC Friday, December 22nd, through December 24th, noon-time. It will be the first time operating from this QTH (Holy land Square D27BS). They will use the callsign 4X0XMAS, and will be running three stations using CW and SSB on the WFF frequencies. (For details, please visit QRZ.com under 4X9XMAS). QSL via LoTW and eQSL. This operation will also participate in the "Christianity On The Air" event (December 22-24th) for the HOCOTA award. Look for the following stations to be on the air from the following locations: 4X2XMAS from Mount Tabor, 4X3XMAS from Caesarea, 4X4XMAS from Nazareth, 4X6XMAS from Arbel, 4X7XMAS from Be'er Sheva and 4X9XMAS from Nitzana. 4Y1, AUSTRIA. Members of the International Amateur Radio Contest DX Club (ARCDXC) [4U1A] will activate 4Y1A from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Amateur Radio Club celebrating the International Civil Aviation Day (December 7th). Activity will take place between December 7-14th, with operations on various HF and VHF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via UA3DX. This station counts as Austria for DXCC purposes. 5R, MADAGASCAR. Marco, ON8XB, is once again active as 5R8XB from Mad- agascar (AF-013). The length of his stay is unknown at this time. Most of his activities have been on 20 meters SSB. QSL via his home callsign. 5W, SAMOA. By the time you read this Katsu, JA1DXA, will be active as 5W0DXA from Apia, Samoa (OC-097), until December 6th. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via JA1DXA, direct, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. 6W, SENEGAL. Jacques, F6HMJ, will be active as 6W7/F6HMJ from Senegal between December 21st and January 15th. Activity will be mostly on CW with some SSB on 20-10 meters. There may be also some lower band oper- ations if he can put up antennas. QSL via his home callsign. 6Y, JAMAICA. Lester, W8YCM, is once again active as 6Y6Y from the Westmor- land Parish, on The Beach, Negril Jamaica (NA-0097), until January 2018. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands. Check out the pictures on QRZ.com. QSL via W8YCM direct only. NO BUREAU or IRCs. CARIBBEAN/PACIFIC TOURS. Operators Helmut/DD0VR and YL Bigi/DE3BW will be traveling throughout the Caribbean at the end of December and the beginning of the new year. Their tentative schedule is as followings: December 17-31st -- From Barbados (NA-021); signing 8P0VR (pending) December 31st-January 10th -- From Martinique (NA-107); signing FM/DD0VR January 10th -- possible quick visit to St. Lucia January 10-14th -- From Dominica (NA-101); signing J70VR January 14-20th -- From Guadeloupe (NA-102); signing FG/DD0VR Look for them to be active on 40-10 meters (IOTA freqs.) using CW and SSB; mainly QRP. QSL via DD0VR, direct or by the Bureau. ADDED NOTE: Helmut has mentioned that they are making plans to go to South Pacific in 2018. Islands mentioned are Fiji (3D2), Samoa (5W), Tonga (A3) and Aitutaki Island (E5, OC-083), South Cook Islands. DXCANDY (Another Tool for DXers!). This little Web site is a HF CW DX- Cluster Spotting tool with some interesting features, but still in the experimental stage. Give it a look see at: http://dxcandy.com DXCC'S MOST WANTED (ClubLog). The "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list has been updated on ClubLog as of December 1st. The list contain 339 entities and the top 10 entities still remain the same and they are: 1. P5 DPRK (North Korea) 6. CE0X San Felix Islands 2. 3Y/B Bouvet Island 7. BV9P Pratas Island 3. FT5/W Crozet Island 8. KH3 Johnston Island 4. KH1 Baker Howland Islands 9. VK0M Macquarie Island 5. BS7H Scarborough Reef 10. KH7K Kure Island The complete "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list is available at: https://secure.clublog.org/mostwanted.php EL, LIBERIA. Eric, EL2EF, is a new ham radio operator from Liberia, and is the nephew of Dickson, EL2DT. DX-World reports: "Eric is now active and has been making a few QSOs using an old Kenwood TS-120 and vertical. At the moment he is paper-logging but hopes to have a laptop soon. There- after, he will use the services of a QSL manager who will look after his log and QSLs. Remember, Eric is a new op and is still learning." IOTA NEWS.............. AF-045. (Update/Reminder) Operators John/6W7JX, Ouzin/6W1PZ, Tafa/6W1KI and Jul/6W1QL will be active as 6V1A from Goree Island between December 15-17th. Activity will be on CW and SSB on all HF bands using two stations: a FT-1000 and Icom 7300 with 150 watts into dipoles G5RV/Kelemen. QSL info TBA (watch QRZ.com). AS-015. Rich, PA0RRS, is once again active as 9M2MRS from Penang Island until January 31st, 2018. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using CW, RTTY and PSK. QSL via his home callsign, ClubLog's OQRS, LoTW or eQSL. PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... NCDXF NEWS (Press Release: New Record Set -- WOW! $200,000+ in grants in 2017 !!!). Hats off to our NCDXF contributors!!! -- The primary purpose of Northern California DX Foundation is to help fund well-organized DX- peditions to rare, difficult and expensive entities. Even though the current solar cycle is winding down, the NCDXF has been seeing more activity than ever in its history. Recently, two large grants were given to the 2018 Bouvet and Baker Island DXpeditions, both currently ranked in the Top 5 Most Wanted DXCC entities. We have also contributed to WRTC 2018 , the ARRL Ham Aid Fund, provided tuition for youth at DX and Contest Universities, and partnered with IARU to operate a worldwide Beacon system . In 2017, so far, well over $200,000 has been granted to DXpeditions and other projects. Before this, the highest calendar year grant total was $131,000 in 2005. The NCDXF Board of Directors wants to thank our generous donors who ultimately deserve credit for these grants over the past 45 years! You are the backbone of NCDXF. Our Cycle 25 Project is an endowment project for those wishing to leave behind a legacy contribution for our hobby. Please consider NCDXF in your estate planning. The earnings of the Cycle 25 Project fund will be used to help support future DXpeditions. And as the end of the year approaches, please consider a renewed con- tribution to NCDXF. For those who file United States income tax returns, contributions are tax-deductible, as NCDXF is a Section 501(c)(3) entity with the IRS. With your continued financial support, we'll continue to make DX happen for DXers worldwide. Visit our website, , for more information about our projects and how you can help. Thank you once again! With warmest Holiday wishes, The NCDXF Board of Directors PJ4, BONAIRE. Mike, NA9Q, is once again active as PJ4/NA9Q from Bonaire (SA-006) until December 10th. Activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using primarily SSB with some FT8 and CW, with 100 watts and portable/temporary antennas. Depending upon band conditions, an effort will be made in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest (December 9-10th). Logs will be uploaded to LoTW upon his return. QSL via his home callsign. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 4-10th)....... Dec/04th BN Dec/07th LN Dec/09th AN Dec/05th DIS Dec/08th AN Dec/10th AN Dec/06th HN 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. Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (November 26th & December 3rd) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5P1KZX via OZ1KZX & (L) E71YOTA via E71YOTA (C/N) OK2RJC via OK2RZ 5P3WW via DL1YAW EA5/DK5IM via DK5IM OM50SPSEKE via OM8AND 5T1R via A92AA EA8/LZ1ABC via LZ1ABC OP70BFS via ON2KFJ 6Y0AE via LZ4AE EA8/SM7BUA via SM7BUA PJ4/AD4ES via AD4ES & (L) 6Y0D via TA3D EA8JK via EB7DX (d/e) PX2A via PY2VM 7Q6M via K6ZO EF5T via EA5HT R164S via R6CF 9H1XT via 9H1BT (d) EF8R via EB7DX (d/L) R17YOTA via R17YOTA (CN) 9M6/NR1J via NR1J (**) EF8U via EA8URL (L) R1853S via R6CF AC2CX/KH2 via JE1JAC EH2EUS via EA2TP (O) SM0S via SM5BAX B4/DL1MGB via DL1MGB ES5/IU2FQW via IU2FQW SO4R via SP4PND CR2M via W6NV & (L) FY/DL7BC/P via DL7BC & (L) SP20ZIP via SP5ZIP CR3OO via W3HNK & (L) G6T via M0URX (O) SW9AA via LZ1PM CR3W via DL5AXX HF800PT via SP7PPT TM4K via F4EGZ CR5T via CS5ARC HG4FA via HA4BM TO1A via F5HRY (L) CT8/K0AV via K0AV & (L) KL7KY via S56ZZZ UN9GD via DL8KAC CT8/LZ2PE via LZ2PE LN8W via LA9VDA V5/DK1CE via DK1CE CT8/W6NV via W6NV M2G via M0OXO (O) VK9/PH7Y via PH7Y CT9/OM3GI via OM3GI NE9U/KP2 via NE9U YB9/DL3KZA via DL3KZA CT9/OM3RM via OM3RM OE/DJ1AA/M via DJ1AA YN2CC via AJ9C CW4MAX via EA5GL (d) OE0YOTA via OE0YOTA (C/N) YT17YOTA via YT17YOTA (C/N) DQ17YOTA via DQ17YOTA (C/N) OF2YOTA via OF2YOTA (C/N) ZW1CML via PY1CML DT23WOP via HL1IWD (N) OK/LX1UN via OK/LX1UN (***) ZW5B via K3IRV (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (**) QSL only via the address to Singapore -- NR1J: Jun Muto, 89 Rangoon Road #02-04, Singapore, 218375, Singapore (***) OK/LX1UN: Alain Kieffer, Klimkovicka 2358/17, 70800 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK...... https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/5K0T https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/HC8LUT https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/TO2SP https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/V85/KC0W https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/VK9AR https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/VK9AR/6 https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/XU7XXX https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/ZA1WW 3C0L/3C1L QSL STATUS. On November 30th, it was reported: QSL cards are in printing. Soon QSLs for direct OQRS and sponsor QSOs will be mailed. On 10th of December priority LoTW upload will be done for sponsor and direct OQRS QSOs. PIRATE ALERT. The Daily DX reports: Leen, PD0LK, reports someone has been pirating his call as V73/PD0LK. QSL BUREAU REBUTTAL. A few weeks ago in OPDX.1238, we reported that Siso, HK3W, informed OPDX that he uses the URE's QSL Bureau system instead of the Colombia (HK) QSL Bureau. He stated, "because it won't arrive, your cards will disappear. So, don't waste your time and money, use Clublog.org OQRS systems, LoTW or EA4URE QSL Bureau to get your card or confirmation." Since then, Rob, HK3CW, President of the Colombian Ham Radio Associ- ation, LCRA - HK3LR- the Official IARU representative in Colombia, has contacted OPDX and wants to publish their rebuttal on the HK3W state- ments. PLEASE REMEMBER: The following statements are from HK3CW and not from the OPDX: 1) The incoming and outgoing HK bureau system works fine as has been since 1930 without fail, any issues are with the postal system not with the LCRA. 2) Mr. HK3W is NOT a member of the LCRA and has a systematic campaign against the LCRA as he was kicked out for unethical practices both in QSLing and pirate radio contacts. He has a conflicting personality and had many confrontations with HK hams for many years. 3) Mr. Hennessey has and will continue to receive his QSLs cards through the HK system as he has during his whole ham radio career. 4) The LCRA has a letter which we requested to the Liga Radio Bogot? (LRB) where we submit all zone 3 QSLs, stating that Mr. Hennessey has been receiving QSL cards without issues for many, many years. 5) Mr. Hennesey is a disgruntled ex-LCRA member who only seeks revenge for being dishonorably dismissed from the LCRA and the LRB. ** Direct all comments and questions to HK3CW (not the OPDX) at: Roberto Rey QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 9M6NA, 9X0TA, BG2AUE, BH4IGO, BV1EL, CT4NH, DL1NKS, J5T, OH0JV, PZ5V, S79K, T77C, VE3VEE, VQ917JC and ZL9BQD QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4S7AYG, E6AG, FP/M0BLF, LU3ZI, TU2C, VP6EU, VU2GSM and Z21HS QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 4O/HA3NU, 7P8EUDXF, 9K2NO, C21HA, EM10UFF, EM20WOC, EM25HQ, EM80EM, EM300WCP, EN90W, EN200RT, EO23I, EO25F, EO90US, FM/UT5UGR, HA10SOTA, HB0/HA7JTR, HG0IDPD, HG5FIRAC, HG25PANEU, HG90IARU, TF/OK4MM and TO7A RI50, SOUTH SHETLANDS ISLANDS (Special Event).- Alex, UA1OJL/RI1ANO, will be active with the special callsign, RI50ANO, from Kinge George Island (AN-010) between January 1st and March 31st, 2018. The special callsign is to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Bellingshausen station. Activity will be limited to his spare time and on various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via RN1ON, direct, by the Bureau, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. ADDED NOTE: A special diploma is planned... 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 27th and January 5th, 2018. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, JT65 ad PSK31. QSL via JA2KCT by the Bureau, JH0IXE direct, LoTW or eQSL. He now has a Web page at: http://t8cw.idou.net * Nobuaki, JA0JHQ, will once again be active as T88PB from the VIP- Guest Hotel in Koror City, Palau, between January 27-31st. Activity will be on various HF bands using SSB. QSL via JA0JHQ. For more details and updates, see his Web page at: http://pandasan.jimdo.com * Mitsuhiko, JL3WXS, will be active as T88XS from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009), between February 1-5th. No other details available. QSL via JL3WXS. * Ichiro, JH7IPR, will once again be active as T88UW from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009), between April 13-19th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, AM, FT8, JT65 and JT9. QSL T88UW via JH7IPR, direct, by the Bureau, eQSL, LoTW or ClubLog. * Operators Kazuhiro/JA7WFT (T88FT) and Shinichi/JI6IHG (T88IH) will once again be active from the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room) on Koror Island (OC-009) between April 17-25th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, JT65 and JT9. QSL T88IH via JI6IHG. QSL T88FT via JA7WFT. ** For more details about the VIP Guest Hotel (Free Radio Room), see: http://www.palau-radio.com/index.php?page=rr2014 TZ, MALI. Fox, PD0FOX, has been active as TZ/PD0FOX since June from Gao, Mali. He is there working for the UN until January 2018. Look for him daily on +/- 14195 kHz between 1400-1700z, and +/- 7095 kHz between 1800-1900z. He is using only 20 watts into a vertical antenna. Look for QSLs to be sent out after May 2018. V4, ST. KITTS AND NEVIS. Bernie, W3UR, editor of the Daily DX and Weekly DX, and his wife Becky, N3OSH, will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary from John's, W5JON/V47JA, Calypso Bay QTH, on St. Kitts, between January 29th and February 12th. Activity will be limited during Bernie's spare time as V47UR on 160-6 meters using CW and SSB. V5, NAMIBIA. Ulmar, DK1CE, is once again active as V5/DK1CE near Omaruru until December 15th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters (he prefers 40/30m between 1800-2200z) using CW. QSL via DK1CE, direct or by the Bureau. V8, BRUNEI. Tom, KC0W, continues to be active as V85/KC0W from Brunei around December 10th. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW. Tom states, "I have given up on working FT8 after making 67 QSOs. Too many idiots who have no clue what they are doing drove me to the brink of insanity....... Local Electrical Noise on 40/30 meters is S7 - S9++. Unlicensed SSB QRM on 40/30 Meters is Even Worse. Operate QRO if you can." He is using a Yaesu FT-857d at 80 watts and 100% CW. QSL via his home callsign direct. No LoTW. No Bureau. VP5, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS. John, N9EAJ, will be active as VP5/N9EAJ from Grand Turk Island (NA-003) between December 27th and February 4th, 2018. He states, "Please be patient with me as I am not a skilled contester nor DXpeditioner, just an average operator that does not have much ex- perience with pileups, but enjoys 'playing radio'. This is not a DXpedition - I will be balancing radio along with snorkeling, diving, fishing, and relaxing with friends and family." Activity will be on 40-10 meters, possibly 80m, using CW and SSB. He will (if all goes according to plan) have a Kenwood 590 with an Elecraft KPA500 amp into a CrankIR close to the waters edge. He hopes to post his logs to LoTW and ClubLog, "IF" internet access has been restored to the villa - it was knocked out with the passing of hurricane Irma. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau (slow). VP6/D, DUCIE ISLAND (Press Release #1, dated December 1st)[edited]. VP6D Ducie Island 2018 DXpedition (OC-182) -- The Perseverance DX Group is pleased to announce their planned activation of Ducie Island (a Marine Protected Area), currently ClubLog #29 most wanted. Planning has begun for an expedition in Oct/Nov, 2018. Landing permission, visas and radio license have been issued. A team of 14 operators will be on the island for up to 14 days. The team will depart from Mangareva, French Polynesia, aboard the expedition ship Braveheart. Seven (7) operating positions are planned for 160-10 meters, SSB/CW/Digital, including FT8. The team includes: Dave/K3EL, Pista/HA5AO, Les/W2LK, Heye/DJ9RR, Mike/ WA6O, Jacky/ZL3CW, Arnie/N6HC, Steve/W1SRD, Chris/N6WM, Laci/HA0NAR, Ricardo/PY2PT, Walt/N6XG and Gene/K5GS, currently one open position to be filled. Watch the usual DX sources we will announce additional details as they develop. Website , Twitter and Facebook will also be available. Please direct questions to: info at vp6d.com 73, Team Ducie ? 2018 XR0Y, EASTER ISLANDS (Update). A German team has announced their next DXpedition will be to Hanga Roa, Easter Island (CE0Y). This time the group consists of experienced team members Andy/DH8WR, Werner/DJ9KH, Guenter/DL2AWG, Norbert/DL2RNS, Georg/DL4SVA, Paul/DL5CW, Olaf/DL7JOM, Wolf/DM2AUJ, Kalle/DM3BJ and Rolf/DL7VEE (Team Leader). Their callsign, XR0YD, has been confirmed and the dates of activities are between March 2-15th, 2018. They will have three well equipped stations on the air 24/7 on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. Suggested frequencies are: CW - 1825, 3526, 7026, 10102, 14026, 18086, 21026, 24906 and 28026 kHz SSB - 1848, 3805, 7095/7182, 14210, 18120, 21275, 24955 and 28465 kHz RTTY - 3595, 7046, 10144, 14090, 18096, 21090, 24919 and 28090 kHz FT8 - 1840, 3573, 7074, 10136, 14075, 18100, 21074, 24915 and 28074 kHz QSL via Manager DL4SVA, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW 6 months later. Their Web page is now online at: http://xr0yd.mydx.de -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 10 11:35:00 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2017 11:35:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1342 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1343 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1342 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1342 BID: $OPDX.1342 December 4, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, KD3CQ, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, AA5AM, AA6RE, W6SZN, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, AJ9C, 5B4AHJ, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, JG7PSJ, LY5W, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PY2WAS, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Saturday, 2nd/December, through Saturday, 9th/December there were 229 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5V, 5W, 5X, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9U, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BS7, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9C, VK9L, VK9N, VK9X, VP2E, VP2M, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XW, XX9, YA, YB, YK, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD9, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS, ZS8 * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3W, VIETNAM. Dirk, DF2XG, is now active as 3W9XG from Hai Phong. Length of his stay is unknown at this time. He is there working as a project manager for an industrial project in Quang Ngai. He states that he may be relocated to the Quang Ngai Province at beginning of 2018. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using a FT-991 (with a key) into a random wire running only 20 watts. He was heard this past week on 20 meters CW around 1115z. QSL via info on QRZ.com. 3W, VIETNAM (Also XW). John, KB4FB, will be active as 3W9FB from Da Nang sometime early January, and then a short break to Vientiane, Laos, as XW4FB, with a return to Vietnam in February 2018. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via LoTW. QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW in March 2018. 3Y0X BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The following was posted on the 3Y0X Web FaceBook page December 5th, [edited]: Propagation From 3Y0Z to You... The Propagation Page on our website has been updated and now includes a button visitors can click, enter their call and grid square and get a propagation forecast specific for their QTH -- all bands over a 24 hour period. These helpful propagation predictions were created using the work of Stu, K6TU, and are based on the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration?s estimate of average sunspot numbers for February of 2018. We hope you will find this information helpful in your upcoming quest to work 3Y0Z! 4L, GEORGIA. World-Traveller/DXer Vlad, UA4WHX, will soon be active as 4L/UA4WHX from Georgia. Activity is usually on 40/30/20/17 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. As always, the length of his stay is not known. QSL via his home callsign. 5B4, CYPRUS (Special Event). Alex, 5B4ALX//IZ4AMS, is active with the special callsign, 5B4XMAS, until December 31st. This Christmas celebratory station will be on all HF bands (160-10m) using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. A special QSL will be printed in January 2018 for the event. QSL via IZ4AMS and "NOT NOT NOT CYPRUS QSL BUREAU". Also, ClubLog's OQRS. For more details and updates, see: http://www.5b4alx.cloud 9A, CROATIA NEWS (New 60-Meter Allocation, Expanded 160-Meter Privileges). The ARRL Web page reports: "Croatian radio amateurs now have access to a secondary 60-meter allocation of 5,351.5-5,366.5 kHz, as agreed to at World Radio-communication Conference 2015, with a maximum 15 W EIRP. For the last several years, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) has issued 1-year licenses to operate on 60 meters. Hams in Croatia also now have access to more of 160 meters: 1,810-1,850 kHz with a maximum power of 1.5 kW PEP, and 1,850-2,000 kHz with a maximum power of 1 kW PEP. HAKOM published the changes in late November. They became effective on December 2nd." C5, THE GAMBIA. Przemyslaw, SP3PS, will be active as C5/SP3PS from The Gambia between December 30th and January 12th, 2018. Activity will be on 40, 20 (14303 kHz) and 10 meters. QSL via his home callsign. ADDED NOTE FROM SP3PS: "For a few years we have been flying with our wife regularly, mostly in winter, to the beautiful and wonderfully warm Gambia. We have also decided to settle there permanently and build a small house there for ourselves. In connection with the above, there will be a fixed station with directional antennas installed in the future, which will be available to all willing amateur radio students..... We will be staying with the wife in Gambia to finalize certain matters and therefore I will have a radio and antenna with me, unfortunately we will be living in a hotel so far, the antenna will be only FD3, but I hope so for interesting com- munications, perhaps also in favorable conditions with Poland." C6, BAHAMAS. Operators Tim/N4UM, Mike/K4RUM and Bob/N4BP will be active as C6ARU, C6AUM, C6AKQ, respectively, from east of Marsh Harbor on Abaco Island (NA-080) between February 6-20th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-6 meters. They plan to operate in the CQWW WPX RTTY (February 11-12th) and ARRL DX CW (February 17-18th) contests. Callsigns and Class were not mentioned. QSL C6ARU via N4UM direct only. QSL C6AUM via K4RUM, direct, ClubLog, LoTW and eQSL. QSL C6AKQ via N4BP direct only. E4, PALESTINE. YL Elvira, IV3FSG, is once again active as E44YL from Bethlehem until December 18th. Activity will be on various HF bands. Look for Elvira to operate SSB and possibly the Digital modes. QSL all SSB and Digital mode QSOs via IK3GES. Logs will be uploaded to both LoTW and ClubLog after the operation. E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Operators Tom/WV6E and Chadraabal/JT1CO were active as E51TOM and E51ACO, respectively, from South Cook Islands this past week (between December 4-8th). QSL E51TOM via WV6E. QSL E51ACO via JT1CO and LoTW. EA8, CANARY ISLANDS. Rieder, HB9FIH, will once again 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 12th and the end of March (2018). 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. IOTA NEWS.............. AS-153. Members of the West Bengal Amateur Radio Club (VU2MQT) will once again be active as AU2WBR from Sagar Island between January 1st and March 31st. Their activity coincides with the 2018 Ganga Sagar Mela pilgrimage, and will be on various HF bands. QSL via VU2NRO. EU-123. Gordon, MM0GOR, will be active as MM1E from Great Cumbrae Island during the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 29-30th, 2018) as a Single-Op/All-Bands/SSB-Mode/DXpedition entry. QSL via LoTW ClubLog's OQRS or by the Bureau. EU-171. Thomas, DL7UZO, and his XYL will be active as 5P9Z/P from the Jylland North Group between December 28th and January 4th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. He will be looking for NA on 160m during the night. QSL via his home callsign, direct (see QRZ.com) or ClubLog's OQRS (Bureau/ direct). Visit his Web site at: http://5p9z.com/home PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... JD1, OGASAWARA. Harry, JG7PSJ, will once again be active as JD1BMH from Chichijima Island (AS-031) between December 24th and January 2nd. This will be his 20th visit. 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 JW, SVALBARD. Morten, LA4JSA, will be active as JW4JSA, from Bear Island [Bj?rn?ya] (EU-027), until June 1st, 2018. He is there on a work assignment. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via his home callsign. KH2, GUAM. Masao, JA1HOP, is once again active as AC2BF/KH2 from Guam (OC-026) until December 12th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using FT8/JT65/RTTY/PSK/SSB/CW (but mainly FT8/CW). QSL via JA1OHP, by the Bureau or LoTW. MD, ISLE OF MAN. Gordon, MM0GOR, will be active as MD1E from the Isle of Man (EU-116) during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 24-25th, 2018) usually as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS. MD, ISLE OF MAN. Mark, M0UTD, will be active as MD1U from the Isle of Man (EU-116) during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 24-25th, 2018) usually as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS. OJ9X -- BREAKING NEWS FROM FINLAND -- FAR NORTH OF EUROPE (Press Release, dates December 6th). [edited] OJ9X QRV FROM DEC 6th THRU DEC 31st, 2017 -- Santa Radio, along with their head figure Santa Claus, are celebrating this December 6th and upcoming Christmas as a very special period for the Republic of Finland, OH-land. We invite you to join the party for the next 25 days. The OJ9X special callsign was released by the Finnish Regulatory Authority for this country-wide operation, which will see several radio clubs partic- ipating across all bands and modes. The first 100 scoring the highest number of bands/modes, with the top 10 from each continent, will qualify for the prestigious "Finland 100 Years -Award" signed by Santa himself along with the prime minister of Finland. At the same time the Finnish prime minister, Mr. Juha Sipil?, is a patron of this special event. FINLAND AND THE PAST 100 YEARS -- The famous Finnish parliamentarian Professor, the late Martti Tiuri said that Finland as a region was never intended for human habitation. So challenging was the setup, that along with the Aurora Borealis, even radio propagation was pushed to nil. But who said that life was meant to be easy? With hard work, Finns built their country in 100 years into the most modern western democracy. Today, it is called a model pupil within the European Union. While Finns stand tall today, being one of the soundest societies in the world, they also want to remember those thousands upon thousands that lost their lives securing Finland?s sovereignty. With a unified force of 5 million inhabitants, the Finns have set their targets smartly and come up with impressive achievements in many walks of life, such as mixing a wide variety of traditional and high-tech Industries, nature, science, the arts and education. In fact, education is one of their strong export footholds today. Finland?s foreign policy stands unmatched. They get along and work equally well with the East and West ? staying outside of any and all military alliances. They even specialize in going out into the world to promote peace and peacekeeping, helping others live their lives in harmony, appreciating and respecting their identity and differences. The former President of Finland, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, while in office and thereafter, sported these valuable skills, and was recently honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Martti acted as the UN Envoy to The United Nations Secretary General, drafting a roadmap for resolving conflicts and even creating new countries under the UN auspices. Countries such as Namibia (V5) and Kosovo (Z6) are bearing Martti?s initials and now enjoying peace while making a progress the same way as Finland once did. Come by on all bands and congratulate the Finns and find your way into their hearts today with one of their S-Passwords: Santa, Sauna, Sisu, Sibelius and Suvivirsi ? those five that truly make Finland tick! * You can follow your score in the ClubLog. P4, ARUBA. John, W2GD, will once again be active as P40W from Aruba (SA-036) during the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 17-18th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. He will be there between February 12-20th. Operations outside of the contest are usually on 160/80m and 30/17/12 meters as time permits. Watch 160m on the hour and 80m on the half hour. QSL via LoTW or direct to N2MM, Bureau cards are no longer accepted. Logs will be loaded on LoTW upon his return to the USA. PJ2, CURACAO. Rudy, NF9V, will once again be active as PJ2/NF9V from Curacao (SA-099, WLOTA LH-0942) between February 13-20th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-10 meters. QSL via his home callsign or LoTW. Rudy is there to be a team member and to help put the Caribbean Contesting Consortium's (CCC) Signal Point Station, PJ2T, on the air for the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 17-18th). PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 11-17th)....... Dec/11th HN Dec/14th AN Dec/16th AN Dec/12th HN Dec/15th AN Dec/17th AN Dec/13th HN 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. Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm PY0F/PU0F, FERNANDO DE NORONHA. Operators Rafael/PY2NDX and Jo?o/PU2XDX will be active as PY0F/PY2NDX and PU0F/PU2XDX, respectively, from Fernando de Noronha Island (SA-003) between January 27th and February 1st, 2018. They will operate on HF Bands. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL PU0F/PU2XDX via PU2XDX and PY0F/PY2NDX via PY2NDX. QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (December 10th) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5V7SM via F5IVC (d) EM25IWW via UR7IWW OL17YOTA via OL17YOTA (C/N) 5W0DXA via JA1DXA (d) G6MC via G2YL ON4YOTA via ON4YOTA (C/N) A61QQ via A61BK & (L) HA6YOTA via HA6YOTA (C/N) OZ100DVI via OZ1IVA CK100VDA via VA1YL HC8LUT via IK2DUW & (L) S510PMC via S59DCD CN17JIM via EA7FTR HG0IDPD via HA5MA (d/C/N) SN150MJP via SP3PGR CT9/DL1CW via DL1CW HG0YOTA via HG0YOTA (C/N) SP0CFF via SP2FAP (d) DU2/G0KFA via G0KFA HP3SS via AC2OV (d) VY1JA via N3SL(d)/JA3JM(**)/(L) E44YL via IK3GES IY3VE via IQ3ME W9G via WA9BZW (d/L) EA7/OH2HOD via OH2HOD J42CPMV via SV2HXV & (L) XU7AJA via N0MMA (d/L) EA8/G4BUD/M via G4BUD LZ710SG via LZ1KCP XW4ZW via K1SE & (L) ED8ED via EA8ED & (L) M6T via G4BWP (O/L) EG5ERC via EB5AG & (L) OJ9X via OH2BH (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (**) Japan Only LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK...... https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/5T5TI https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/DU9/R4WAA_OC175 https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/DU9/RZ3FW_OC175 https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/OJ9X HR2J QSLS. Mike, AJ9C, reports that he used the callsign HR2J during the 2016 CQWW CW Contest. He does have the log for the contest and will answer direct requests for QSLs from this contest only. No bureau cards. Javier, HR2J, who recently became SK (see below) used LoTW so Bureau type requests can be answered by LoTW. (in Mike's opinion). NEW QSL ROUTE. Sam, LY5W, informs OPDX that he has all of the LOGs of Roman's, RN5M, operations. He also has the DIRECT (only) paper QSL cards. Sam has the LOGs for the following activities: CN2MA, JT5MA, EA8/RN5M, LY/RN5M and RN5M/6Y5. PLEASE no Bureau cards, they have not arrived for SAM yet because Roman was not a LY QSL Bureau member. Please read the instructions listed on QRZ.com. ADDED NOTE: Sam is also the QSL Manager for the following stations: CN2MA, FM/VE8DX, IT9AUG, JT5MA and LY2W (direct). Sam, himself, has other callsigns: LY1DR, LY10DR, LY10W, LY2BIM, LY61DR, LY75DR, LY91DR, LY95DR, LY98DR, LY16W, LY20W, LY25W, LY27W, LY200NB, LY37W, LY550W, LY600W, LY605W, LY70W, LY755W, LY760W, DL/LY1DR, IT9/LY5W, OE/LY5W, SP/LY5W, YL/LY5W, LY53SOP, LY54SOP, LY55SOP, LY10NATO, IG9/LY5W, UP2BIM, W9/LY5W, W4/LY5W, KD9CVR, RN5M, RV3MA, TO2M (2015), 6Y2M and 6Y5/VE8DX, 6Y5/RN5M, IT9/VE8DX, V85/VE8DX and V85/VE3LA. QSL all via LY5W direct only. UT1FG/MM QSLS. John, K8YSE, reports, "Yuri has asked that anyone who has not received confirmations from this year and previous year's operations to prepare logsheets so that he can mail them out when he arrives in New Orleans. anticipates a 15th or 16th December arrival, but get these to me now so that he has time to get them ready for mailing. Instructions are at . There are no changes from the original pro- cedure. The Seahorse is a relatively new ship and is wider than previous vessels so it cannot go through the locks in the Great Lakes. So he will be more restricted as to possible destinations than he was last season. He has been very busy with his duties and has had little time for any- thing else. He sends his regards to all." QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3C0L, 3C1L, 5T5TI (AF-050), 9L/KW4XJ, CG3YXO, CM2XN, CT1BWU, CU4DX, EA7KW, F6GCP, HH2AA, HH2MK, HI8HCJ, HV0A, J5T, LY2BAW, OH0Z, ON6SAT, PJ2T, RI1ANO, S79Z, SM4GOJ, SP2DDX, SP6T, TO2SP, YE6YE, YV4DYJ and ZF9CW QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4S7VBB/p, 4S7VBG/P (AS-171), 5T5OK, 5T9VB, C31CT, CE7/UA4WHX, CE9/UA4WHX, CE0Y/UA4WHX, CE0Z/UA4WHX, CT8/UA4WHX, E40VB, E44WE, HK0/UA4WHX, IT9/UA4WHX, LU8DPM, PZ5VB, R24RRC (AS-044), RI0C (AS-069), SU9VB, TI5/N5BEK, VK9VKL and ZL4YL QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: NONE REPORTED THIS WEEK!!!!!! SILENT KEYS (SK)...... * Javier Pinel, HR2J, has became a Silent Key (SK) on November 29th. He ran a station in HR-land for rental. * John Plenderleith, 9M6XRO, became a Silent Key on December 4th. John was also GM3OOK and G3OOK before settling in East Malaysia in 2005 and was a member of CDXC and the GM-DX Group. OPDX and its readers would like to send out our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the above mentioned. SPECIAL EVENT (96th Anniv. Of 1st Transatlantic Shortwave Transmission). Monday, December 11th, will mark the 96th anniversary of the first message to ever be sent across the Atlantic Ocean using shortwave frequencies. The original event in 1921 was called "The Transatlantic Tests" and was organized to determine if amateur radio signals could be heard in Europe using short wave frequencies. Several stations will be participating by establishing contacts between the U.S. and Europe including: N1BCG (Greenwich, CT - where the first successful message was sent by 1BCG) GM7VSB (Ardossan, Scotland - where the receiving station was located) KB3WFV (Chesapeake Bay, MD) W2PA (Millbrook, NY) N1ALF (Greenwich, CT) Bands and frequencies have not been set to permit flexibility due to propagation, but will likely begin during the day (Eastern U.S.) on 20 meters USB. Additional information can be found at: https://www.qrz.com/db/N1BCG http://www.internetwork.com/radio/n1bcg http://w2pa.net/HRH/crossingsi-aquitania https://books.google.com/books?id=1...2&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q=qst february 1922&f=true TY, BENIN (Press Release #1, dated December 4th) [edited]. Members of the F6KOP team, the Provins ARC, announces its next DXpedition. They will be active from B?nin between March 7-18th, 2018. There will be an international team of 12 operators lead by Jean-Luc, F1ULQ. Plans are to be active with 4 stations on the air, 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes (RTTY,PSK and FT8). The callsign is still pending. Look for more information to be forthcoming. VP5, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS. Pat, K0PC, will once again be active as VP5K from Jody's, VP5JM QTH on Providenciales Island (NA-002), during the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 17-18th). He will be active as VP5/K0PC outside of the contest between February 13-20th. QSL VP5/K0PC and VP5K via K0PC, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. W9, UNITED STATES (Special Event). Look for special event station, W9F, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the "Fermilab" -- the United States preeminent particle physics laboratory in Batavia, IL. The station will be operating on all modes and frequencies daily, (especially on 14260, 14340, 7250 and 7275 kHz). There will be a commemorative QSL card. Send QSL requests to Fermi Amateur Radio Club, c/o KD9IG at arrl.net. XT2, BURKINA FASO (Also D4). Harald, DF2WO, will once again be active as XT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, sometime in January 2018. Activity is usually holiday style on 40-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. He states that he works mostly on the Digital modes (PSK31, JT65 and RTTY) and slow CW. Harald states, "As soon as the conditions go up to USA, I will work the US. Also, I will test 60m a little." Radio is a FT-450D. QSL via M0OXO, direct or OQRS . ADDED NOTE: Harald, DF2WO, also mentioned he will be active as D44TWO from Praia Baixa, Cape Verde, sometime in May of 2018. XX9, MACAO 2018 DXPEDITION (Update/Press Release #2, dates December 4th). We are pleased to announce that our special callsign XX9B was granted by the CTT (Post Office and Communications Agency from Macao). Upon requests, we are enhancing our antenna system for lower bands, especially 80 and 160m. Additional details about QSL and further arrangements will be issued in a near future. First operations are expected to start at the end of March 9th, 2018.... 73, 2018 Macao Dxpedition For more details on their operation, see OPDX.1340. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 10 11:42:59 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2017 11:42:59 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1343 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1343 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1343 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1343 BID: $OPDX.1343 December 11, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, KD3CQ, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, AA5AM, AA6RE, W6SZN, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, AJ9C, 5B4AHJ, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, JG7PSJ, LY5W, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PY2WAS, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Saturday, 2nd/December, through Saturday, 9th/December there were 229 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5V, 5W, 5X, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9U, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BS7, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9C, VK9L, VK9N, VK9X, VP2E, VP2M, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XW, XX9, YA, YB, YK, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD9, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS, ZS8 * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3W, VIETNAM. Dirk, DF2XG, is now active as 3W9XG from Hai Phong. Length of his stay is unknown at this time. He is there working as a project manager for an industrial project in Quang Ngai. He states that he may be relocated to the Quang Ngai Province at beginning of 2018. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using a FT-991 (with a key) into a random wire running only 20 watts. He was heard this past week on 20 meters CW around 1115z. QSL via info on QRZ.com. 3W, VIETNAM (Also XW). John, KB4FB, will be active as 3W9FB from Da Nang sometime early January, and then a short break to Vientiane, Laos, as XW4FB, with a return to Vietnam in February 2018. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via LoTW. QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW in March 2018. 3Y0X BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The following was posted on the 3Y0X Web FaceBook page December 5th, [edited]: Propagation From 3Y0Z to You... The Propagation Page on our website has been updated and now includes a button visitors can click, enter their call and grid square and get a propagation forecast specific for their QTH -- all bands over a 24 hour period. These helpful propagation predictions were created using the work of Stu, K6TU, and are based on the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration?s estimate of average sunspot numbers for February of 2018. We hope you will find this information helpful in your upcoming quest to work 3Y0Z! 4L, GEORGIA. World-Traveller/DXer Vlad, UA4WHX, will soon be active as 4L/UA4WHX from Georgia. Activity is usually on 40/30/20/17 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. As always, the length of his stay is not known. QSL via his home callsign. 5B4, CYPRUS (Special Event). Alex, 5B4ALX//IZ4AMS, is active with the special callsign, 5B4XMAS, until December 31st. This Christmas celebratory station will be on all HF bands (160-10m) using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. A special QSL will be printed in January 2018 for the event. QSL via IZ4AMS and "NOT NOT NOT CYPRUS QSL BUREAU". Also, ClubLog's OQRS. For more details and updates, see: http://www.5b4alx.cloud 9A, CROATIA NEWS (New 60-Meter Allocation, Expanded 160-Meter Privileges). The ARRL Web page reports: "Croatian radio amateurs now have access to a secondary 60-meter allocation of 5,351.5-5,366.5 kHz, as agreed to at World Radio-communication Conference 2015, with a maximum 15 W EIRP. For the last several years, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) has issued 1-year licenses to operate on 60 meters. Hams in Croatia also now have access to more of 160 meters: 1,810-1,850 kHz with a maximum power of 1.5 kW PEP, and 1,850-2,000 kHz with a maximum power of 1 kW PEP. HAKOM published the changes in late November. They became effective on December 2nd." C5, THE GAMBIA. Przemyslaw, SP3PS, will be active as C5/SP3PS from The Gambia between December 30th and January 12th, 2018. Activity will be on 40, 20 (14303 kHz) and 10 meters. QSL via his home callsign. ADDED NOTE FROM SP3PS: "For a few years we have been flying with our wife regularly, mostly in winter, to the beautiful and wonderfully warm Gambia. We have also decided to settle there permanently and build a small house there for ourselves. In connection with the above, there will be a fixed station with directional antennas installed in the future, which will be available to all willing amateur radio students..... We will be staying with the wife in Gambia to finalize certain matters and therefore I will have a radio and antenna with me, unfortunately we will be living in a hotel so far, the antenna will be only FD3, but I hope so for interesting com- munications, perhaps also in favorable conditions with Poland." C6, BAHAMAS. Operators Tim/N4UM, Mike/K4RUM and Bob/N4BP will be active as C6ARU, C6AUM, C6AKQ, respectively, from east of Marsh Harbor on Abaco Island (NA-080) between February 6-20th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-6 meters. They plan to operate in the CQWW WPX RTTY (February 11-12th) and ARRL DX CW (February 17-18th) contests. Callsigns and Class were not mentioned. QSL C6ARU via N4UM direct only. QSL C6AUM via K4RUM, direct, ClubLog, LoTW and eQSL. QSL C6AKQ via N4BP direct only. E4, PALESTINE. YL Elvira, IV3FSG, is once again active as E44YL from Bethlehem until December 18th. Activity will be on various HF bands. Look for Elvira to operate SSB and possibly the Digital modes. QSL all SSB and Digital mode QSOs via IK3GES. Logs will be uploaded to both LoTW and ClubLog after the operation. E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Operators Tom/WV6E and Chadraabal/JT1CO were active as E51TOM and E51ACO, respectively, from South Cook Islands this past week (between December 4-8th). QSL E51TOM via WV6E. QSL E51ACO via JT1CO and LoTW. EA8, CANARY ISLANDS. Rieder, HB9FIH, will once again 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 12th and the end of March (2018). 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. IOTA NEWS.............. AS-153. Members of the West Bengal Amateur Radio Club (VU2MQT) will once again be active as AU2WBR from Sagar Island between January 1st and March 31st. Their activity coincides with the 2018 Ganga Sagar Mela pilgrimage, and will be on various HF bands. QSL via VU2NRO. EU-123. Gordon, MM0GOR, will be active as MM1E from Great Cumbrae Island during the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 29-30th, 2018) as a Single-Op/All-Bands/SSB-Mode/DXpedition entry. QSL via LoTW ClubLog's OQRS or by the Bureau. EU-171. Thomas, DL7UZO, and his XYL will be active as 5P9Z/P from the Jylland North Group between December 28th and January 4th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. He will be looking for NA on 160m during the night. QSL via his home callsign, direct (see QRZ.com) or ClubLog's OQRS (Bureau/ direct). Visit his Web site at: http://5p9z.com/home PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... JD1, OGASAWARA. Harry, JG7PSJ, will once again be active as JD1BMH from Chichijima Island (AS-031) between December 24th and January 2nd. This will be his 20th visit. 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 JW, SVALBARD. Morten, LA4JSA, will be active as JW4JSA, from Bear Island [Bj?rn?ya] (EU-027), until June 1st, 2018. He is there on a work assignment. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via his home callsign. KH2, GUAM. Masao, JA1HOP, is once again active as AC2BF/KH2 from Guam (OC-026) until December 12th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using FT8/JT65/RTTY/PSK/SSB/CW (but mainly FT8/CW). QSL via JA1OHP, by the Bureau or LoTW. MD, ISLE OF MAN. Gordon, MM0GOR, will be active as MD1E from the Isle of Man (EU-116) during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 24-25th, 2018) usually as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS. MD, ISLE OF MAN. Mark, M0UTD, will be active as MD1U from the Isle of Man (EU-116) during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 24-25th, 2018) usually as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS. OJ9X -- BREAKING NEWS FROM FINLAND -- FAR NORTH OF EUROPE (Press Release, dates December 6th). [edited] OJ9X QRV FROM DEC 6th THRU DEC 31st, 2017 -- Santa Radio, along with their head figure Santa Claus, are celebrating this December 6th and upcoming Christmas as a very special period for the Republic of Finland, OH-land. We invite you to join the party for the next 25 days. The OJ9X special callsign was released by the Finnish Regulatory Authority for this country-wide operation, which will see several radio clubs partic- ipating across all bands and modes. The first 100 scoring the highest number of bands/modes, with the top 10 from each continent, will qualify for the prestigious "Finland 100 Years -Award" signed by Santa himself along with the prime minister of Finland. At the same time the Finnish prime minister, Mr. Juha Sipil?, is a patron of this special event. FINLAND AND THE PAST 100 YEARS -- The famous Finnish parliamentarian Professor, the late Martti Tiuri said that Finland as a region was never intended for human habitation. So challenging was the setup, that along with the Aurora Borealis, even radio propagation was pushed to nil. But who said that life was meant to be easy? With hard work, Finns built their country in 100 years into the most modern western democracy. Today, it is called a model pupil within the European Union. While Finns stand tall today, being one of the soundest societies in the world, they also want to remember those thousands upon thousands that lost their lives securing Finland?s sovereignty. With a unified force of 5 million inhabitants, the Finns have set their targets smartly and come up with impressive achievements in many walks of life, such as mixing a wide variety of traditional and high-tech Industries, nature, science, the arts and education. In fact, education is one of their strong export footholds today. Finland?s foreign policy stands unmatched. They get along and work equally well with the East and West ? staying outside of any and all military alliances. They even specialize in going out into the world to promote peace and peacekeeping, helping others live their lives in harmony, appreciating and respecting their identity and differences. The former President of Finland, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, while in office and thereafter, sported these valuable skills, and was recently honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Martti acted as the UN Envoy to The United Nations Secretary General, drafting a roadmap for resolving conflicts and even creating new countries under the UN auspices. Countries such as Namibia (V5) and Kosovo (Z6) are bearing Martti?s initials and now enjoying peace while making a progress the same way as Finland once did. Come by on all bands and congratulate the Finns and find your way into their hearts today with one of their S-Passwords: Santa, Sauna, Sisu, Sibelius and Suvivirsi ? those five that truly make Finland tick! * You can follow your score in the ClubLog. P4, ARUBA. John, W2GD, will once again be active as P40W from Aruba (SA-036) during the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 17-18th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. He will be there between February 12-20th. Operations outside of the contest are usually on 160/80m and 30/17/12 meters as time permits. Watch 160m on the hour and 80m on the half hour. QSL via LoTW or direct to N2MM, Bureau cards are no longer accepted. Logs will be loaded on LoTW upon his return to the USA. PJ2, CURACAO. Rudy, NF9V, will once again be active as PJ2/NF9V from Curacao (SA-099, WLOTA LH-0942) between February 13-20th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-10 meters. QSL via his home callsign or LoTW. Rudy is there to be a team member and to help put the Caribbean Contesting Consortium's (CCC) Signal Point Station, PJ2T, on the air for the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 17-18th). PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 11-17th)....... Dec/11th HN Dec/14th AN Dec/16th AN Dec/12th HN Dec/15th AN Dec/17th AN Dec/13th HN 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. Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm PY0F/PU0F, FERNANDO DE NORONHA. Operators Rafael/PY2NDX and Jo?o/PU2XDX will be active as PY0F/PY2NDX and PU0F/PU2XDX, respectively, from Fernando de Noronha Island (SA-003) between January 27th and February 1st, 2018. They will operate on HF Bands. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL PU0F/PU2XDX via PU2XDX and PY0F/PY2NDX via PY2NDX. QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (December 10th) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5V7SM via F5IVC (d) EM25IWW via UR7IWW OL17YOTA via OL17YOTA (C/N) 5W0DXA via JA1DXA (d) G6MC via G2YL ON4YOTA via ON4YOTA (C/N) A61QQ via A61BK & (L) HA6YOTA via HA6YOTA (C/N) OZ100DVI via OZ1IVA CK100VDA via VA1YL HC8LUT via IK2DUW & (L) S510PMC via S59DCD CN17JIM via EA7FTR HG0IDPD via HA5MA (d/C/N) SN150MJP via SP3PGR CT9/DL1CW via DL1CW HG0YOTA via HG0YOTA (C/N) SP0CFF via SP2FAP (d) DU2/G0KFA via G0KFA HP3SS via AC2OV (d) VY1JA via N3SL(d)/JA3JM(**)/(L) E44YL via IK3GES IY3VE via IQ3ME W9G via WA9BZW (d/L) EA7/OH2HOD via OH2HOD J42CPMV via SV2HXV & (L) XU7AJA via N0MMA (d/L) EA8/G4BUD/M via G4BUD LZ710SG via LZ1KCP XW4ZW via K1SE & (L) ED8ED via EA8ED & (L) M6T via G4BWP (O/L) EG5ERC via EB5AG & (L) OJ9X via OH2BH (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (**) Japan Only LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK...... https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/5T5TI https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/DU9/R4WAA_OC175 https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/DU9/RZ3FW_OC175 https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/OJ9X HR2J QSLS. Mike, AJ9C, reports that he used the callsign HR2J during the 2016 CQWW CW Contest. He does have the log for the contest and will answer direct requests for QSLs from this contest only. No bureau cards. Javier, HR2J, who recently became SK (see below) used LoTW so Bureau type requests can be answered by LoTW. (in Mike's opinion). NEW QSL ROUTE. Sam, LY5W, informs OPDX that he has all of the LOGs of Roman's, RN5M, operations. He also has the DIRECT (only) paper QSL cards. Sam has the LOGs for the following activities: CN2MA, JT5MA, EA8/RN5M, LY/RN5M and RN5M/6Y5. PLEASE no Bureau cards, they have not arrived for SAM yet because Roman was not a LY QSL Bureau member. Please read the instructions listed on QRZ.com. ADDED NOTE: Sam is also the QSL Manager for the following stations: CN2MA, FM/VE8DX, IT9AUG, JT5MA and LY2W (direct). Sam, himself, has other callsigns: LY1DR, LY10DR, LY10W, LY2BIM, LY61DR, LY75DR, LY91DR, LY95DR, LY98DR, LY16W, LY20W, LY25W, LY27W, LY200NB, LY37W, LY550W, LY600W, LY605W, LY70W, LY755W, LY760W, DL/LY1DR, IT9/LY5W, OE/LY5W, SP/LY5W, YL/LY5W, LY53SOP, LY54SOP, LY55SOP, LY10NATO, IG9/LY5W, UP2BIM, W9/LY5W, W4/LY5W, KD9CVR, RN5M, RV3MA, TO2M (2015), 6Y2M and 6Y5/VE8DX, 6Y5/RN5M, IT9/VE8DX, V85/VE8DX and V85/VE3LA. QSL all via LY5W direct only. UT1FG/MM QSLS. John, K8YSE, reports, "Yuri has asked that anyone who has not received confirmations from this year and previous year's operations to prepare logsheets so that he can mail them out when he arrives in New Orleans. anticipates a 15th or 16th December arrival, but get these to me now so that he has time to get them ready for mailing. Instructions are at . There are no changes from the original pro- cedure. The Seahorse is a relatively new ship and is wider than previous vessels so it cannot go through the locks in the Great Lakes. So he will be more restricted as to possible destinations than he was last season. He has been very busy with his duties and has had little time for any- thing else. He sends his regards to all." QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3C0L, 3C1L, 5T5TI (AF-050), 9L/KW4XJ, CG3YXO, CM2XN, CT1BWU, CU4DX, EA7KW, F6GCP, HH2AA, HH2MK, HI8HCJ, HV0A, J5T, LY2BAW, OH0Z, ON6SAT, PJ2T, RI1ANO, S79Z, SM4GOJ, SP2DDX, SP6T, TO2SP, YE6YE, YV4DYJ and ZF9CW QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4S7VBB/p, 4S7VBG/P (AS-171), 5T5OK, 5T9VB, C31CT, CE7/UA4WHX, CE9/UA4WHX, CE0Y/UA4WHX, CE0Z/UA4WHX, CT8/UA4WHX, E40VB, E44WE, HK0/UA4WHX, IT9/UA4WHX, LU8DPM, PZ5VB, R24RRC (AS-044), RI0C (AS-069), SU9VB, TI5/N5BEK, VK9VKL and ZL4YL QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: NONE REPORTED THIS WEEK!!!!!! SILENT KEYS (SK)...... * Javier Pinel, HR2J, has became a Silent Key (SK) on November 29th. He ran a station in HR-land for rental. * John Plenderleith, 9M6XRO, became a Silent Key on December 4th. John was also GM3OOK and G3OOK before settling in East Malaysia in 2005 and was a member of CDXC and the GM-DX Group. OPDX and its readers would like to send out our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the above mentioned. SPECIAL EVENT (96th Anniv. Of 1st Transatlantic Shortwave Transmission). Monday, December 11th, will mark the 96th anniversary of the first message to ever be sent across the Atlantic Ocean using shortwave frequencies. The original event in 1921 was called "The Transatlantic Tests" and was organized to determine if amateur radio signals could be heard in Europe using short wave frequencies. Several stations will be participating by establishing contacts between the U.S. and Europe including: N1BCG (Greenwich, CT - where the first successful message was sent by 1BCG) GM7VSB (Ardossan, Scotland - where the receiving station was located) KB3WFV (Chesapeake Bay, MD) W2PA (Millbrook, NY) N1ALF (Greenwich, CT) Bands and frequencies have not been set to permit flexibility due to propagation, but will likely begin during the day (Eastern U.S.) on 20 meters USB. Additional information can be found at: https://www.qrz.com/db/N1BCG http://www.internetwork.com/radio/n1bcg http://w2pa.net/HRH/crossingsi-aquitania https://books.google.com/books?id=1...2&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q=qst february 1922&f=true TY, BENIN (Press Release #1, dated December 4th) [edited]. Members of the F6KOP team, the Provins ARC, announces its next DXpedition. They will be active from B?nin between March 7-18th, 2018. There will be an international team of 12 operators lead by Jean-Luc, F1ULQ. Plans are to be active with 4 stations on the air, 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes (RTTY,PSK and FT8). The callsign is still pending. Look for more information to be forthcoming. VP5, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS. Pat, K0PC, will once again be active as VP5K from Jody's, VP5JM QTH on Providenciales Island (NA-002), during the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 17-18th). He will be active as VP5/K0PC outside of the contest between February 13-20th. QSL VP5/K0PC and VP5K via K0PC, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. W9, UNITED STATES (Special Event). Look for special event station, W9F, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the "Fermilab" -- the United States preeminent particle physics laboratory in Batavia, IL. The station will be operating on all modes and frequencies daily, (especially on 14260, 14340, 7250 and 7275 kHz). There will be a commemorative QSL card. Send QSL requests to Fermi Amateur Radio Club, c/o KD9IG at arrl.net. XT2, BURKINA FASO (Also D4). Harald, DF2WO, will once again be active as XT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, sometime in January 2018. Activity is usually holiday style on 40-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. He states that he works mostly on the Digital modes (PSK31, JT65 and RTTY) and slow CW. Harald states, "As soon as the conditions go up to USA, I will work the US. Also, I will test 60m a little." Radio is a FT-450D. QSL via M0OXO, direct or OQRS . ADDED NOTE: Harald, DF2WO, also mentioned he will be active as D44TWO from Praia Baixa, Cape Verde, sometime in May of 2018. XX9, MACAO 2018 DXPEDITION (Update/Press Release #2, dates December 4th). We are pleased to announce that our special callsign XX9B was granted by the CTT (Post Office and Communications Agency from Macao). Upon requests, we are enhancing our antenna system for lower bands, especially 80 and 160m. Additional details about QSL and further arrangements will be issued in a near future. First operations are expected to start at the end of March 9th, 2018.... 73, 2018 Macao Dxpedition For more details on their operation, see OPDX.1340. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 Wed Dec 13 18:40:10 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:40:10 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Special Bulletin #1343.1 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1343.1 Ohio/Penn DX Special Bulletin No. 1343.1 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Special Bulletin No. 1343.1 BID: $OPDX.1343.1 December 13, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/Sent From Dayton, Ohio Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, and OH2BH for the following DX information. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, DECEMBER 13rd,2018 [edited] FROM OJ9X, FAR NORTH OF EUROPE WHAT IS SANTA CLAUS PRIME TIME IN AMATEUR RADIO? AS FINLAND?S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS WIND DOWN, WE SLOWLY TURN OUR THOUGHTS TO SPREADING WARM CHRISTMAS SPRIT. The precise timing of Christmas celebrations varies from region to region. For some it?s Christmas Eve. For some Christmas Day. In some cases, it may even be later on in January when the Russian Father Frost makes an appearance. But in the world of Santa Radio prime time is this coming weekend ? December 16-17. During the first Santa week, some 18.000 QSOs were made and the competition in the ClubLog for Santa slots is fierce; Conditions so far have not been favorable towards North America, thus more fire-power will be directed towards the US now. Also, RTTY will be getting a big boost on virtually all bands as Santa may even jump into deep waters and join the OK RTTY Contest, for 24-hours; Saturday from 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC. The overall target has been set to surpassing last year?s QSO total ? 33.615. You have a major say in this! We are proud to announce this year?s Santa team of some thirty (30) members, while some late arrivals may still be added onto the list; OH0XX, OH1EG, OH1HS, OH1MA, OH1NOA, OH1NX, OH1TM, OH1RX, OH2BAD, OH2BCI, OH2BEE, OH2BH, OH2FB, OH2GEK, OH2EUU, OH2HAN, OH2KM, OH2KW, OH2LU, OH2MZB, OH2PM, OH2XX, OH5BQ, OH5CZ, OH6KN, OH6KZP, OH6MW, OH6NVC, OH6VDA, OH7ER, OH7UE, OH7WP, OH7XI. These fine operators represent some ten (10) different clubs and have been in part selected based on their good operating skills as well as the force of their signals. A few additional comments may be in order; * The QSOs will be added to ClubLog with an approx. 24-hour delay ? do not panic * Dedicated specific band mode-stations cannot move as such, but other same band modes maybe QRV just around the corner * If Santa Radio is calling a specific area, such as USA, please kindly cooperate and allow them to accomplish their mission * See more details about ?Finland 100-Years Award! in the QRZ.com ? OJ9X * If you expect Radio Santa to appear down the chimney ? kindly leave some milk and cookies on the table Merry Christmas to our Wonderful World of Amateur Radio and good luck to those who are keeping the dials lit for more Santa Radio slots. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 17 14:25:00 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2017 14:25:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1344 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1344 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1344 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1344 BID: $OPDX.1344 December 18, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Mainly written in Strongsville, Ohio 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, N1DG, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE, W7GJ, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 10th/December, through Sunday, 17th/December there were 217 countries active. Countries available: 3B8, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5V, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, DL, DU, E3, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PY, PZ, S0, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T7, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9L, VK9N, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XX9, YA, YB, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZF, ZL, ZL9, 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". 3Y0X BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The QSLs for the 3Y0Z Bouvet DXpedition will be handled by Bob, N2OO, and he will again serve as their QSL manager. He and his South Jersey DX Association team members will assure accurate and efficient handling of 3Y0Z QSL cards. WEB PAGE UPDATE (Dec. 16, 2017): "The Bouvet Island DXpedition team has been very busy. In the last week, we???ve had Skype conference calls with the CEO of our transportation company and with the captain of our ship. We can report that everything we can control is under control. Our sea container is in Punta Arenas, and should be moving out of customs bond or may have already done so. We are gathering some additional last minute supplies to take as extra baggage, including ice screws, should we find ourselves camping on re-frozen melt areas on the glacier. We have finalized our shelter layouts, fuel calculations, maritime mobile antenna plans, and have assigned some duties relating to flight and cargo staging. The team members will all be taking a formal marine safety course before embarking. Neither our transportation company nor the ship???s captain expressed any worries or concerns over the recent seismic activity near Bouvet. And, yes, we are still struggling with the helicopter flying hours issue." See their Web page at: https://www.bouvetdx.org/news-and-updates 4B4, REVILLAGIGEDO. Mark, XE1B, will be active as 4B4B from Socorro Island (NA-030, WW Loc. DK48mr), in the Revillagigedo Islands, between March 1-15th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-6 meters (no 30m) using SSB. Sug- gested frequencies are: 1850, 3790, 7065/7165, 7165, 14195, 18140, 21295, 24940, 28475 and 50140 kHz. Equipment will be an Icom IC-7600 transceiver with an ACOM 1010 amp into a Spiderbeam (20-10m), vertical for 40/80m, 160m long wire and a 4 element yagi for 6m. QSL via XE1B direct or Club- Log's OQRS. PLEASE support this DXpedition, it has been 7 years since the last operation by Mark, XE1B. Check out QRZ.com for more details and possible updates. 4X, ISRAEL. Larry, K2LS, will once again be active as 4X/K2LS from Ramat Bet Shemesh (Holyland Grid G18JS) between January 10th and February 6th. Activity will be mainly on CW. QSL via K2LS, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. BEST EME DAYS. Lance, W7GJ, informs OPDX of the following: "I have just updated my web page to show the optimum 6m EME days for the next 3 years: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj/BestEMEDays.txt Although these days were selected when the 50 MHz Degradation was at or below 3 dB, these periods of course should also be most favorable for 2m EME. Please share this link with anyone you know planning a VHF EME DXpedition, including any HF people interested in including EME activities during their operations. MNI TNX and Happy Holidays! Best wishes for great 6m and 2m DXing in the coming year!..... GL and VY 73, Lance" E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Mauri, AG1LE, is once again active as E51DXX on a holiday/DXpedition from Rarotonga (OC-013) until December 29th. Activity will be on various HF bands using SSB, PSK31 and FT8. QSL via his home callsign. EA8, CANARY ISLANDS. Mauro, IV3HAX, will once again be active as EA8/IV3HAX from Fuerteventura Island (AF-004) between December 24th and January 5th, 2018. Activity will be on various HF bands with a focus on 160/80m using CW, RTTY and FT8. QSL via IV3HAX direct, LoTW and ClubLog's OQRS. ET, ETHIOPIA. You may catch Masa, AJ3M, in Addis Ababa, before he leaves on Monday, December 18th. During his spare time he is active from the ET3AA radio club. QSL via N2OO. H44, SOLOMON ISLANDS. Shane, VK4KHZ, will once again be active as H44DA from his holiday home in Busuone, Guadalcanal Island (OC-047), until sometime early January 2018. His main focus is on 6 meters, but he will also be active on various HF bands (80/40/20/15/10m) using SSB and also on the SO-50 satellite. Suggested 6m frequencies are: calling on 50.110 MHz, Shane will always QSY to 50.125 as his primary frequency and 50.135 as his secondary frequency (secondary frequency will only be used if primary is in use or too much QRM). QSL via his home callsign direct. NO Bureau. PLEASE NOTE: This is not a DXpedition, but Shane's annual holiday - he will be operating the radio only as time permits and when doing so, training the locals in the operation of the equipment so please be patient and courteous. IOTA NEWS.............. AS-088. Members of Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) will be active as A70X from Al Safliyah Island between January 1-6th, 2018. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via M0OXO or OQRS. OC-016. Jim, WB2TJO, will once again be active as 3D2JS from Taveuni Island, Fiji, between early January and the middle of March, 2018. Activity will be on 40-15 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. The rig will be an ICOM 706 MK IIG with an MFJ 971 manual tuner. QSL via his home callsign. OC-105/ Dindo, DU1UD, will be active as DU1UD/8 from the very rare OC-174. Mapun Island (OC-105) [also called Cagayan Sulu], part of the Cagayan De Sulu IOTA Group, in the Philippines, during the first or second quarter of 2018. Activity will probably be on the IOTA frequencies using an Elecraft K3 with a KPA500 amplifier into a VDA and vertical antennas. The length of his stay is dependent on local/safety conditions. During this time Dindo will make a return visit to the Tawi Tawi Group (OC-174). QSL both operations via M0OXO, direct or by his OQRS. Look for more information to be forthcoming. Also, watch the M0OXO Web page at: https://www.m0oxo.com PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... J5, GUINEA BISSAU. Livio, IZ3BUR, will be active as J52EC from the Cumura High School in Guinea Bissau between January 24th and February 21st, 2018. Activity will be mainly on 20/15/10 meters. QSL via IZ3BUR. PLEASE NOTE: This project is part of "Books for the high school of Cumura" by Father Gianfranco, J52OFM. For info see: http://www.padregianfranco.org Any donation will be greatly appreciated, it'll be donated to the Cumura Mission. KH1 BAKER ISLAND DXPEDITION (Press Release #3, dated December 15th). The Dateline DX Association is pleased to announce the callsign for its DXpedition to Baker Island in June 2018. The Association already has the callsign KH7Z so we will identify our location and call as KH1/KH7Z. Visiting a remote DX location like Baker Island is an expensive under- taking. Our budget is over $400,000 and 50% of this cost is being under- written by the team members. That still leaves a large amount of fund- raising. Do you need KH1 for an ATNO? This is the first DXpedition to Baker and Howland Islands since 2002. The FWS ruling that allowed this trip prevents another DXpedition for 10 years. Please help make this happen by donating at our website . A 50% deposit on our vessel is due December 31, 2017, so we have an immediate need for our 2017 fundraising. Please remember that NCDXF members may direct donations above $250 through the Northern California DX Foundation to qualify for a tax deduction. The specific details as well as general donation in- structions are on our website at Thanks for helping make this happen. The Dateline DX Association Don Greenbaum, N1DG, Tom Harrell, N4XP, and Kevin Rowett, K6TD co-leaders LOTW TO ADD SUPPORT FOR CQ WAZ AWARD. The ARRL Web page reports: Partic- ipants in CQ magazine's Worked All Zones (WAZ) award program will soon be able to use the Logbook of the World (LoTW) system of ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, to apply for the WAZ award and its endorse- ments, both ARRL and CQ announced on December 14th. Read the complete announcement at: http://ow.ly/q4TV30hecZ9 http://www.arrl.org/news/view/logbook-of-the-world-to-add-support-for-cq-waz-award http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/12/arrls-logbook-of-world-to-add-support.html PJ7, ST. MAARTEN. Vadym, UT6UD, will be active as PJ7/UT6UD from Sint Maarten (NA-105) between December 30th and January 13th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-17 meters. There will be a special focus on JA stations. QSL via his home callsign or LoTW. NO Bureau. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 18-24th)....... Dec/18th LN Dec/21st AN Dec/23rd AN Dec/19th AN Dec/22nd AN Dec/24th AN Dec/20th 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. Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (December 17th) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3G2M via CE2MVF EA8/ON4LBI/P via ON4LBI SC90SM via SK5SM 4E1ADW via 9V1KG EM25IWW via UR7IWW SH9YOTA via SH9YOTA (O/N) 5B4XMAS via IZ4AMS HF2018HNY via SP2PBM TC630MECCA via TA3X 7X5FG via F6FZG (d) HF3T via SP3FYX & (L) TI5/N3KS via W4FS (d) 9H3CW via DL5SE HG1A via HA1ZN UN9GD via DL8KAC 9H3YY via DL2JRM N8S via K8UO (d) UP0L via DL8KAC CE2AWW via N7RO (d) OT4A via ON4AEK (L/e) VR20CO via VR2CO (d) CS2017RCL via CS0RCL OU5U via OZ3FD W2S via W2CCW CU5/CU3AK/P via CU3AK OZ/DJ1AA/M via DJ1AA YO13IPA via YO3AS DL/UA1PBA via UA1PBA PF44FF via PH0NO (O) ZW5T via PY5ZD (d/I) DM500RT via M0SDV (O/d/L) PI40BOZ via PD3JAG (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (I) No IRC WX3MAS VIA W3OK: Delaware Lehigh ARC, 14 Gracedale Ave, Greystone Building, Nazareth, PA 18064-9211 USA. Send a QSL and a 9x12 SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) for a colorful commemorative cer- tificate! ADDED NOTES: WX3MAS was the first special callsign issued in 1969 by the FCC for special event stations in the country and is active each year around 2 weeks before Christmas (This year December 16-17th). The station is sponsored by the Christmas City Amateur Radio Club and the Delaware/Lehigh Amateur Radio Club. QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3C0L (AF-039), 3C1L (AF-010), 4O4A, 4X1QQ, 5X8C, 9L/KW4XJ, A71AM, CE3FZ, CM2XN, CT1EKD, LU6ETB, HH2AA, HL5IVL, J5T, LX1HD, MM3LLU, OK1FRG, ON8DM, SP9FUY, V31MA, VA3TO, VK9CI, VK9MA (OC-072), VP9NM, XE2S, VK9XI and YL3GDM QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 5T5OK, AL3/AA7CH (NA-062), C21JY, C93PA, E44WE, NL6/AA7CH (NA-157), PZ5V and S21ZAS QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 5P2I, 5P5Q, 5P6Q, 5Q2T, 5Q5T, JW/OX5M, OU2I, OX3LX, OX3MC, OX5M, OX5T, OX90EDR, OZ90IARU, TF3WK, VR2EH, VR2UBC, VR2ZQZ/P, VR20ZQZ, YC2/KC5VFV, XP1A and ZA/OU2I VP6D DUCIE ISLAND DXPEDITION NEWS. It was announced on December 13th, that Vadym, UT6UD, has joined the VP6D team. Many of you may know Vadym from the Top Band. He was a member of the 2016 Heard Island DXpedition team. You can read his bio on the following URL: http://vp6d.com/index.php/team-members/24-operators/137-ut6ud-vadym YP2018, ROMANIA (Special Event). Look for special event station, YP2018HNY, to be active through January 15th, 2018. Activity is to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. They will try to be on all HF bands. QSL via YO3KPA, direct or by the Bureau or ClubLog. There will be a limited number of 1000 paper QSL cards. YP[2-9], ROMANIA (Special Event). Look for the following special event Santa Claus stations to be active during December. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. An electronic award will be issued for working stations on at least 3 different bands upon request. QSL via YO9FNP or see QRZ.com (under YP2XMAS) for more details. Here are the special event stations and their locations: YP2XMAS - Timisoara YP7XMAS - Arges YP3XMAS - Bucuresti YP8XMAS - Suceava YP4XMAS - Cernavoda YP9XMAS - Buzau YP5XMAS - Transilvania YP0XMAS - Giurgiu YP6XMAS - Brasov ZC4, UK SOV. BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS (Postponed). Adrian, G0KOM, was expected to be active as ZC4MK from the UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus between December 5-12th, but had to postpone again due to his father-in-law being hospitalizes. His father-in-law is now out of the hospital, and Adrian states that he has his gear still packed and he is now looking at dates in January 2018. ZC4, UK SOV. BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS. Bob, 5B4AGN, and a team of operators will be active as ZC4A from the UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus between January 24-31st, 2018. They plan to have 2-3 stations on the air on all HF bands, 160-10 meters, with a focus on CW, but with some SSB and Digital modes. Activity will include the CQ 160m CW Contest (January 26-28th). QSL via M0URX's OQRS system. Your QSL is not required. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 24 13:10:00 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2017 13:10:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1345 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1345 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1345 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1345 BID: $OPDX.1345 December 25, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written and 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, NJ1Q & W1AW, K3LR, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WF3C, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, KO8SCA, W8GEX & 60m DX News, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, IK4CIE, IW4CLV, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO 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, Season's Greetings and 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 many individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me........ 73 and Have a Great Holiday de Tedd KB8NW P.S. There will "NOT" be a bulletin next weekdue to the Christmas and New Year holidays and family commitments, but the main reason is the unexpected passing of my step-mother on Thursday, December 21st. I need some time to deal with her passing and the estate. However, special announcements will be sent out. For me personally, 2017 has not been a good year. Four of my radio amateur friends have become "Silent Keys", I lost my father-in-law, had an emergency operation in April and now the loss of my step-mother. I hope 2018 will be a better year than 2017. Please keep sending the info, you never know what I may do.... Thanks for understanding...73 de Tedd KB8NW DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 17th/December, through Sunday, 24th/December there were 219 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 3X, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5N, 5R, 5V, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C5, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J7, J8, JA, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T30, T7, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9L, VK9N, VP2E, VP2M, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, XX9, 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". 6O, SOMALIA. Operators Ken/LA7GIA and Adrian/KO8SCA will be active as 6O6O from Somalia between January 3-16th, 2018. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. They will be using their Elecraft K3 radios into a beam, verticals, dipoles and beverages as well as high power amplifiers. If there is Internet available on the site, they will do a live ClubLog and LoTW uploads on all QSOs. Paper QSL cards are via M0OXO and his OQRS. Adrian informs OPDX that Somalia is a country ravaged by poverty and war, but it is slowly returning to normal. Their DXpedition will also have a humanitarian aspect. Both Ken and Adrian will pay for all the DXpedition expenses. All money raised during the DXpedition will go to the not-for-profit Doctors Without Borders (DWOB) [see the following Web page <(http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org>] which recently returned to Somalia after an absence of a few years. They have also set up a dedicated PayPal address for these donations <6o6o at la7gia.com>. Closing date for donations is February 1st, 2018, when donations will be wire transferred to DWOB. 9Z4, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. Thomas, DL9OBQ, is now active as 9Z4/DL9OBQ from Saint Augustine, Trinidad Island (SA-011), until February 7th, 2018. Activity will be on 30/17/15 meters using mostly CW. QSL via his home callsign by the Bureau. C5, THE GAMBIA. After 20 years, Frank, ON7RU, will once again be active from The Gambia as C56RU between December 26th and January 1st, 2018. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands. QSL via his home callsign, ClubLog (PLEASE use for direct and by the Bureau), or LoTW (after a few months). C5, THE GAMBIA. Pedro, ON7WP, will once again be active as C5WP from The Gambia between December 25th and January 1st, 2018. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using mainly the Digital modes. See QRZ.com for details. QSL via his home callsign direct only. C5, THE GAMBIA. The callsign, C5DX, will be used during the 2018 Sandringham School Amateur Radio Club DXpedition between February 9-16th, 2018, as part of a school trip to the Gambia. They are taking 18 students (six former) and 3 staff including Alan, G4DJX, to return to Farafenni Senior Secondary High School. This is their 10th year in collaboration and visiting the school. Alan will operate CW and four licensed students from Sandringham School Amateur Radio Club (M0SCY) who are also on the trip will operate SSB - Jessica (M6LPJ), Polly (M6POG), Morgan (M6MXD) and Stan (M6SQO). It will be their first DXpedition, and they will be learning how to operate from a semi-rare country, so please bear this in mind and be patient with them as they learn the craft of DX operating. Remember the DX code of conduct. They will be running 400W using a K3, KPA500 and KAT500 into a multi-band dipole (the new Aerial-51 Model 807 ultra-light OCF Dipole) kindly donated by Aerial-51. SpiderBeam have also in part sponsored this DXpedition with a 12m SpiderPole and associated equipment. SSB will most likely be on HF, while Alan will operate HF and also experiment with some LF bands depending on conditions and antennas. QSL via LoTW, direct to G4DJX and possibly ClubLog. DAYTON CONTEST UNIVERSITY 2018 (Celebrating 12 years). Tim Duffy, K3LR, reports: I am proud to announce that student registration is now open for 2018 Dayton ConTest University ("CTU") to be held all day on Thursday, May 17th, 2018, at the Crowne Plaza in Dayton, Ohio. This is the day before Hamvention opens in Xenia, Ohio. Eight different countries have hosted CTUs over the twelve years. USA, Australia, Russia, Germany, Italy, England, Brazil and Finland. Over 7000 students have attended these CTUs with more than 100 CTU Professors sharing their contesting experiences. 2018 will be the twelfth year in a row for CTU Dayton. To give you an idea of the quality of the CTU content and activities you can see videos and PDFs from past CTUs on the CTU web site at The 2018 CTU Professor line up will be outstanding and is being finalized. Check the CTU website often for the 2018 Professor updates. Each presen- tation is carefully prepared with up to date information. There are scholarships (registration fee paid) available from CTU through a grant from the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) for those students 25 years old and younger. Please use the "contact us" button on the CTU website to get more information. 2018 Student registration information is on the CTU web site: http://contestuniversity.com CTU registration makes a great Christmas gift! Important - as we did last year - if you want to sign up for CTU 2018 Dayton and you have given (or will give one by Hamvention 2018) a talk about Amateur Radio to any club, Hamfest or group since May 17, 2017 - you qualify for a $10.00 registration fee discount. Please choose the "Registration with Club talk discount" option to get the $10.00 discount. Spreading the word about amateur radio is lots of fun and can save you money at CTU! Thanks to all of the CTU sponsors including Icom America, DX Engineering, the Northern California DX Foundation, YASME, the Radio Club of America and CQ Magazine for making CTU possible. Thanks to K8MNJ and K1SO for all of their help with CTU. Special thanks to Scott, KA9FOX from QTH.com for hosting and constructing the CTU headquarters web site. CU in Dayton at CTU 2018 and Merry Christmas, Tim K3LR -- Contest University Chairman EI50, IRELAND (Special Event). Look for special event station, EI50AOM, to be active between January and March 2018. Activity is to remember the 50th anniversary and tragic event/crash of the Aer Lingus Viscount air- liner and to honor the 61 lives lost. It still represents the largest single loss of life in Irish civil aviation history. The station will devote one day beginning January 22nd to remember each of the four crew and 57 passengers who died with operations culminating on the 50th anniversary of the crash, March 24th, 2018. QSL via EI2KA, direct with 2 USDs and self-addressed envelope or via the Bureau. Log will be uploaded periodically to LoTW for non-paper confirmations. For more information see: http://www.qrz.com/db/EI50AOM II4, ITALY (Amateur Radio Award about Science Milestones in History of Radio). The A.R.I. Fidenza Radio Club (A.R.I. Italian Amateur Radio Association, IARU affiliated), organizes an Amateur Radio Award that has as its main objective the dissemination of knowledge along with hitorical - biographical knowledge of the main scientists who have given a fundamental contribution to the discoveries and to the development of scientific knowledge, both theoretical and technical, in the field of Physics, Electro- logy, Magnetism and Radiotechnics. These pioneers have laid the cultural and scientific foundations and started the complex process of innovation that has subsequently made possible the development and the future realiz- ation of the "Miracle of Radio", at the level of complexity and perfection that has reached today. The initiative aims to activate internationally, throughout the year 2018, twelve commemorative radio stations with special callsigns which will alternate in turn throughout the year: each month is associated with a SPECIAL CALLSIGN, dedicated to a specific scientist: MONTH SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE STATION SCIENTIST -------- ----------------------------- ---------------- JANUARY II4MXW JAMES CLERK MAXWELL FEBRUARY II4HRZ HEINRICH RUDOLF HERTZ MARCH II4CAO TEMISTOCLE CALZECCHI ONESTI APRIL II4MAR GUGLIELMO MARCONI MAY II4TES NIKOLA TESLA JUNE II4AMP ANDRE' MARIE AMPERE JULY II4COU AUGUSTIN DE COULOMB AUGUST II4VOL ALESSANDRO VOLTA SEPTEMBER II4LNZ HEINRICH LENZ OCTOBER II4OER HANS CHRISTIAN OERSTED NOVEMBER II4HNR JOSEPH HENRY DECEMBER II4FRD MICHAEL FARADAY An award is available for those who make some QSOs. For further details and award regulations see the official website: http://www.arifidenza.it http://www.arifidenza.it/LaSezione/diplomapietremiliari2018/Diploma_PIETRE_MILIARI_eng.asp IOTA NEWS.............. AF-083. Operators Dave/EI9FBB and Col/MM0NDX will be active from Djerba Island (a Tunisian island) between December 30th and January 2nd, 2018. Their callsign is pending and will be confirmed upon their arrival. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW and SSB. No other details are available at this time. AS-013. Roland, HB9VQQ, is now active as 8Q7HB from Kandima Island, Maldives, until December 30th. Activity will be holiday style on JT65 and FT8. QSL via HB9VQQ, ClubLog, LoTW or eQSL. OC-128. Jacek, SP5APW, will be active as DU1/SP5APW from Palawan Island between March 13-18th, 2018. Activity will be on 40/20/17 meters using mainly SSB and some RTTY, PSK and FT8. QSL via his home callsign, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... ORLANDO CONTEST DINNE 2018. Chris, WF3C, President of the Florida Contest Group, reports: Mark your calendars for the 2018 Orlando Contest Dinner, sponsored by Yaesu! FCG is pleased to announce the return of the Orlando Contest Dinner. Come to sunny Central Florida on your way to the Caribbean for ARRL DX CW, or just put the snow shovel up in the garage for a weekend and enjoy the attractions of central Florida (average high temperature in February 74 degrees Fahrenheit/23 degrees Celsius)! On Friday, February 9 make plans to attend the Orlando Contest Dinner. The Florida Contest Group is pleased to announce that our 2018 banquet speaker will be John Dorr K1AR. John is the longtime MC of the Dayton Contest Dinner, a CQ-Contest Hall of Fame Member, President of the World- wide Radio Operators Foundation, and past WRTC winner. Your banquet ticket entitles you to a barbecue dinner, free 807s, and an entry into our raffle for one of our fabulous prizes. The grand prize will be a brand new Yaesu HF+6M transceiver, thanks to our great friends at Yaesu! Finally, as if that's not enough, thanks to the Kansas City DX Club, we will be running a CW pileup competition, featuring prizes from Hamcation vendors! For information or to order tickets, visit: http://floridacontestgroup.org/2018-orlando-contest-dinner/ Any questions can go direct to: chris.plumblee at gmail.com PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 25-31st)....... Dec/25th AN Dec/28th AN Dec/30th AN Dec/26th AN Dec/29th AN Dec/31st HN Dec/27th HN 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. Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (December 24th) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3Z0XMAS via SP6IEQ & (L) CE2/W9XY via W9XY TZ4AM via W0SA 4J0SFR via 4K4K (d/P) CT7/DJ7PR via DJ7PR UN7ECA via DL7EDH (d/L) 5P8VW via DJ8VW CT9/DL8DBW/P via DL8DBW UN7TE via RW6HS (d) 6Y6Y via W8YCM (d) DM1517L via DL5AWI VK8NSB via M0URX (O) 9A161NT via 9A7R OF3077F via OH3JF W0N via KR0P (d) A45TT via A45TT (L) OU0POLIO via OZ1ACB XW3DT via RK3DT AT6MIT via VU3BUN (d) TK/NZ1C via DD5ZZ (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (I) No IRC (P) PayPal QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3C0L, 3C1L, 5T1A, 9H1CG, 9W6EZ, E44YL, J5T, VK9CI, VK9XI and ZA1WW QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 5X2B, P40L, S01WS, S9CQ, VK9CI, VK9XI, YJ0JA and ZA1WW QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3G0ZC, 5R8IC, 5R/F5UFX/MM, 5U7RK, 5Z1Z/3, 6W/F6IRS/P, 7P8C, D44TAX, EA6/SP7VC, FG4KH, FG/F6ARC, FH/F4FET, FK4QX, FK4RG, FK8IK, FK/F4FLX, FK/F9IE, FM5CD, FM/F5UFX, FM/F6AUS, FT4JA, FT4TA, FT5GA, FR1FF, FR1GV, FR/F5UOW, FW1JC, FW5JJ, FY5KE, HB0A, HB0AFVL, HP0INT/3 (NA-071), HR5/F2JD, HS0ZKG, J28NC, J79AUS, KL7/F6FMT, W1AW/KP2, OH0/ES2TT, LX/F4HJC/P, PJ7X, TF/F4GGQ, TJ3AY, TJ4PF, TK4LS, TK5AE, TK5EP, TK5KP, TK5MH, TK5NJ, TK/F2YT/P, TK15FF, TM0CEZ (EU-157), TM0SM (EU-081), TM10FAJ, TM11FAJ, TM12WAP, TM14JEM, TM21COP, TM16IDP (EU-064), TM20KAV, TM22TSF, TM24H, TM31UFT, TM32UFT, TM36CMVA, TM37CDXC, TM39PVJ, TM40LUB, TM50SNSM, TM53IMW, TM57XMAS, TM60GW, TM62EURO, TM64TDF, TM65EU, TM70BBC, TM73IE, TM75SOE, TM77X, TM80D, TM81HSG, TM91WARD, TM94JAM, TM007TF, TM100SP, TM160BF, TM200EN, TM277PA, TM300SK, TM350MIL, TM900HAG, TO2R, TO5A, TO5FP, TO6A, TO7CC, TP2CE, TX5P, VY1/F6FMT, YE0M (OC-177), ZA/F4DTJ/P, ZA/F4GFE/P and ZL7/F8FUA SATELLITE DXCC AWARDED. Congratulations to OPDX's Webmaster John Papay, K8YSE, who has been awarded satellite DXCC with 101 entities verified. The satellite DXCC standings are available at: http://www.arrl.org/dxcc-standings Paul, N8HM, states, "While there is no way to be certain, John's satel- lite DXCC is likely the first to be obtained without the use of either HEO satellites or sub-horizon Mode K propagation since prior to the launch of AO-10 in 1983. Starting on satellites in 2006, John did not even enjoy the advantage of FO-20's higher LEO apogee or RS-15's high LEO orbit in his quest to work and confirm 100 DXCCs via satellite. This is certainly a noteworthy achievement! TY, BENIN. Wim, ON6DX, will once again be active as TY1TT from Gran Popo between February 20th and March 2nd (exact dates not sure yet). Activity should be on 30-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via ON6DX direct. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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 Fri Dec 29 11:30:00 2017 From: kb8nw at barf80.nshore.org (Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW)) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 11:30:00 -0500 Subject: [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Special Bulletin #1345.1 Message-ID: SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1345.1 Ohio/Penn DX Special Bulletin No. 1345.1 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Special Bulletin No. 1345.1 BID: $OPDX.1345.1 December 29, 2017 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/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, E21EIC, K0IR and OH2BH for the following DX information. 3Y0Z BOUVET ISLAND DXPEDITION (Press Release # 10, dated December 29th). We recently reached yet another milestone in our quest to activate Bouvet Island. DAP, the Chilean company that owns and operates the M/V Betanzos and the helicopters has satisfied the last contractual requirements, prior to departure. We submitted to them a "fit for purpose" checklist with 120 items as part of our contract. They have satisfied all the checklist items, and we will be transferring almost ? million US dollars to them in the next few days. So, we are happy to report that we are on schedule for a January 13, 2018, departure to Bouvet Island, the World?s most isolated island and the number two most wanted DX entity. All team members will meet in Punta Arenas, Chile no later than January 10, 2018. We will attend a one and one-half day marine safety course, purchase last minute supplies and then fly across the Drake Passage to King George Island in the South Shetlands. There, we will board the newly refurbished Chilean vessel M/V Betanzos, and begin our 9 to 11-day voyage to Bouvet. The team feels confident knowing that the ship?s captain and many of the crew have been with the vessel for eight years, and have extensive Southern Ocean experience. The Captain reports he has previously been to Bouvet. Sea ice has been reported along a direct route to Bouvet, and that may dictate we take a more northerly course, before turning East to approach Bouvet. That may add day or two to our transit time. Our two helicopters have completed their 100-hour inspections, and are ready for service. There has been a thorough review of landing procedures and shelter and antenna layouts. We have three alternative anchoring systems to secure the shelters and antennas to the ice on the surface of Bouvet. So, the plan remains unchanged. We will have two stations on every open band whenever humanly possible, gain and directional antennas where possible, high power stations and a propagation-driven operation. The primary modes will be CW, SSB and RTTY. FT8 will be utilized if it is the only productive mode. Anyone preparing to utilize FT8 must read the 3Y0Z FT8 protocol on the Band Plan page of the DXpedition website. Complete information on band plans and frequencies, propagation pre- dictions and QSL procedures are available on the DXpedition website: http://www.bouvetdx.org You will find strategically placed "donate" buttons if you want to help with our substantial costs. I hope you share in the excitement of this great undertaking. We anxious to get underway! 73, Bob-K4UEE Ralph-K0IR Erling-LA6VM ------ ERITREA 2018 DXPEDITION (Press Release). [edited] "E31A The FGC Radio Team will active from Eritrea between 14-23 JAN 2018" -- Operators Zorro, JH1AJT, will travel to Asmara, Eritrea, with Franz/DJ9ZB, Dima/RA9USU, Yan/RZ3FW and Champ/E21EIC. They will be on CW, SSB and RTTY on 160m-6m. Main purpose of this trip is to support the Eritrea National Olympic Committee (E.N.O.C). The SEISA's group will "coordinate pre-game training camp" for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and select students for a scholarship program at the SEISA Kokusai Junior High School and University. QSL via JH1AJT: Y. Zorro Miyazawa P.O. Box 8 Oiso Naka-Gun Kanagawa 259-0111 Japan A OQRS will be available at ClubLog after his return to Japan. Support : FGC - Foundation for Global Children http://www.fgc.or.jp/english/ 73 Champ, E21EIC FGC Radio Team ----------- FROM THE OFFICES OF SANTA RADIO, FINLAND (Press Release, dated December 26th). [edited] SANTA RUN 10,000 -- LAST WEEK OF SANTA RADIO ACTIVITY ? OJ9X -- The major activity featuring Finland?s 100-year independent anniversary and the Christmas Santa Claus, originating from Finland, is now turning to its last 6-days. More than 42.000 QSOs are achieved by a large group of OH operators in the Far North of Europe. A special first-ever OJ9 callsign will expire Dec.31. when Santa stations fade down to the noise with Finland?s second century beginning. See www.qrz.com/db/OJ9X As the group wish to claim OJ9X for 50,000 QSOS they will look for all folks on all-bands for another 6-days. This includes 2M MS and EME plus 5MHz. If any issues you can communicate to the offices of Santa Radio at . You can find multiple CW stations by using RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) while the SSB stations plan to be in the vicinity of 1850, 3750, 7150, 14200 (14235 USA) 18140, 21300 and 28500 kHz. You can view their mission in numbers: https://secure.clublog.org/charts/?c=OJ9X All QSOs will be confirmed by ClubLog, LOTW and via bureaus. Santa Radio folks wish everyone a Happy 2018. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx 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)