[RVRC] PJ Pandemonium -- Opening October 10 on an HF Band Near You

[E Drew Moore]

From: "ARRL Members Only Web site" <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 10:10 AM
Subject: PJ Pandemonium -- Opening October 10 on an HF Band Near You


> To All-

 This just appeared on the ARRL home page.  I thought that it might be
 of interest to many in the Section.  Expect a madhouse on HF this
 weekend!!!

 73 es cu in the pileups de Mike N2YBB
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 Get ready -- new Caribbean DXCC entities are on the way!

 By H. Ward Silver, N0AX

 No, it’s not a colorized re-release of a 1960s B-grade beach movie.
 On Sunday, October 10, five islands in the Caribbean are all changing
 their governmental status at the same time: Saba, St Eustatius,
 Bonaire, St Maarten and Curacao. Known collectively as the Netherlands
 Antilles, these islands have up to now been an autonomous part of the
 Kingdom of the Netherlands. Some will remain within the Netherlands as
 “special municipalities” and some will become independent nations
 within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, just as the island nation of
 Aruba did back in 1986. For more on the history of these islands, read
 the Wikipedia entry, Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.

 What this means for the HF bands is a lot of interference as the new
 DXCC entities are born. As described in a recent ARRL Web story, two
 DXCC entities (the island pair of Bonaire & Curacao and the
 three-island group of St Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius) will be
 deleted from the DXCC list of active entities and be replaced by up to
 five new entities!

 It is extremely unusual for this amount of geopolitical rearrangement
 to occur simultaneously, and as you might imagine, DXers around the
 world are getting ready to put those new entities in their logs on as
 many bands and modes as possible. At least eight stations are planning
 on being active, so the bands “might” be a little crowded for the
 first few days.

 Just as when the Olympics come to town, the happiest residents will be
 those who plan ahead. If you’re not planning on joining the throng
 chasing the infant entities, you should probably make up a “Plan B”
 for your schedule or net (actually, you should always have a Plan B, but
 that's a subject for another article).

 DXing activity tends to take place low in the band segments for a
 particular mode, so moving higher in frequency is probably the best way
 to avoid the pileups. CW operators will have to dodge digital DXers at
 the high end of the usual CW haunts, but don’t forget that CW can
 operate pretty much anywhere and there will surely be useable spectrum
 just below the phone segments or below the DXpedition transmit
 frequencies. And if QRM is upsetting, this might be a good time to work
 down the chore list or read that copy of War and Peace. Regardless of
 your preferences, planning ahead is definitely the way to go.

 If you haven't tried DXing, the island stations will be loud and clear
 from almost anywhere in North America. After the initial pileups thin
 out a bit -- it will take a few days, realistically -- even very modest
 stations will be well-positioned to work that rarest of DX, a New One!
 You may find yourself enjoying the competition and there will surely be
 colorful QSLs to collect. Listen to the instructions of the DX operators
 and once you’ve got the hang of operating split and finding where the
 DX stations are listening, have at it! Caution -- DXing has been known
 to turn into a lifetime of fun!

 Okay, you DXers -- just because there are New Ones afoot, that doesn't
 magically suspend the rules. Listen before you transmit and be sure to
 stay within your US allocations. For example, 21.195 MHz is outside the
 US phone band, no matter how loud the DX station may be! With so many
 chasing the DX, there will surely be frustrating moments of confusion
 -- keep calm and resist the urge to “help.” You'll eventually get
 through!

 Wow -- this is a once in a lifetime occurrence on the ham bands, so
 make it enjoyable by using some know-how and personality. You'll be
 able to recount the stories of October 10, 2010 for a long time.

 Make them good ones!

 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 ARRL New York City-Long Island Section
 Section Manager: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB
 n2ybb at arrl.org
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