[OKDXA] P5 Accepted for credit at DXCC desk

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Go get 'em gang !




------- Forwarded message follows -------

From:                    af2c@njdxa.org
Subject:                 [NJDXA-L] P5/4L4FN Approved

DXCC to Accept P5/4L4FN Contacts for Credit

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 2, 2002--The ARRL has announced it will accept SSB
contacts with P5/4L4FN in North Korea (Democratic Peoples' Republic
of Korea) for DXCC credit. Operator Ed Giorgadze of the Republic of
Georgia, has been active from the capital city of Pyongyang since
early last November. Valid SSB contacts from the onset of the
P5/4L4FN operation last fall may be submitted for DXCC credit,
effective immediately.

"The ARRL has now received adequate evidence that the operation by
Mr. Giorgadze is being conducted with the knowledge and approval of
telecommunications officials in Pyongyang," said ARRL Membership
Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. "At the present time, this
approval is limited to SSB operation."  Giorgadze has been operating
with oral permission from North Korean authorities, but Mills said
the ARRL is satisfied on the basis of  written information submitted
that the P5/4L4FN operation conforms with DXCC rules and should be
accepted for credit. Mills cited DXCC Rule 7, which states
"Any Amateur Radio operation should take place only with the
complete approval and understanding of appropriate administration
officials." The rule continues, "In any case, credit will be given
for contacts where adequate evidence of authorization by appropriate
authorities exists."

Mills said the ARRL Awards Committee met and concurred that the
operation should be accredited.

The P5/4L4FN operation is not a DXpedition. Giorgadze is employed by
the United Nations World Food Program and often spends as much as 12
hours a day on the job, operating in his off hours. It's expected
that he will be in North Korea at least until July and possibly longer.
He tried for more than two years to obtain permission to operate
Amateur Radio and finally was given the okay last year to bring an
ICOM IC-706MkIIG into the country. Initially using a 20-meter dipole,
he now has installed a multi-band vertical and has been active on
several bands. A favorite hangout has been 21.225 MHz (he works split
and listens up). He's also been a frequent visitor to 10 meters.

While P5/4L4FN has been doing some RTTY operation in addition to SSB,
those contacts are not yet acceptable for DXCC credit.

Bruce Paige, KK5DO, has been acting as QSL manager and liaison for
P5/4L4FN. Paige offers an on-line log and additional news and
information about the operation on his AMSAT Net Web site. Click on
the "P5 North Korea" link.

Following the recent Ducie Island VP6DI DXpedition that racked up an
estimated 40,000 QSOs, North Korea moved back into its long-held slot
as the most-wanted DXCC entity. North Korea was added to the DXCC
list in 1991, but actual amateur operations from there have been few
and far between. The most recent was the brief P51BH operation by
Martti Laine, OH2BH, in 1999, which netted just 263 contacts with the
rarest entity. Laine was the first to activate North Korea in 1995,
when a demonstration operation worked just a handful of contacts.

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73, DX, & GL,    Ross