The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 240
BID: $OPDX.240
January 29, 1996
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
Online at 216-237-8208 14400/9600/2400/1200/300 8/N/1

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, ARRL Bulletins, K3DI, K8PYD, NW8F, WB8LFO, 9A3GW, DF4RD, EI6FR, F5PYI, G3SXW, G4BUE & DX NEWS SHEET, JJ2QXI, ON6TT, OZ8RO and ZS6AOO the following DX information.

5X, UGANDA (ON6TT on the road again!). Peter, ON6TT, reports he has just signed a contract with the UN again and will be leaving soon (probably this week) for 5X for 6 months to 2 years. Peter will manage the regional telecom team for UN/WFP (World Food Program). Based in 5X, Peter will move around frequently to the countries of the Rwanda (9X,9U,9Q,5H) and the Greater Horn of Africa (ST,ST0,T5,5Z,E3,ET,..). He cannot promise to be active from every single spot, but will surely try too. Peter will take with him his FT900, TL922, MFJ/DSP, PK900, R7 and his big vertical for 80/160 meters. If he has time to take down part of his station at home, he will ship his the 3 element WARC antenna and his 2 element for 40 meters. Peter states that it might take a month before he receives his 5X license (maybe shorter). His operations will be mainly SSB and RTTY, CW on request/sked. He will be on during most of the contests. QSL via his QSL Manager ON5NT. ADDED NOTE: Peter states he will continue to work hard with Bob, KK6EK and the rest of the team on the Heard '96-'97 expedition. Getting 2 months off from work to go to Heard was part of his contract negotiations ("You wanna go WHERE?!?!"). hi

8Q, MALDIVE ISLANDS. Chris, HB9CYV, and Rolf, HB9CZR, will be active from February 14-20th, probably as 8Q7YV and 8Q7ZR. Operations will be on 10-80 meters with a possibility of activity on 160 meters.

9A, CROATIA. The Croatia DX Club will take part in CQ WW 160 CW Contest as 9A1A as a Multi/Op category. Robert, 9A3GW states they have three new beverages up and are ready to use them. Meanwhile, Dick, K4XU, should be in Zagreb (by the time you read this) for four weeks starting January 30th. He will be active as either 9A/K4XU or 9A4XU from the 9A1A club station. QSL via K4XU, Dick Frey, 2927 Curved Creek, Quincy, IL 62301, USA.

C56, THE GAMBIA. Several operators (DL2RUM, DL7BO, DL7DF, DL7UFR and DL7URH were mentioned) of Berlin/Brandenburg area will be active near the capital city of Banjul, from March 4-18th. Suggested CW frequencies will be on 1822, 3505, 7005, 10115, 14005, 18073 and 21005. SSB will be on the usual DX frequency. They plan to have two stations active. Their callsigns are not yet known. They will pay special attention to the lowbands 80/160 meters, RTTY in the BARTG Contest (March 16-17th) and if permissible, AO13 satellite and 6 meters. QSL via DL7DF (ex-DL7UUO).

DXCC FIELD CHECKING NEWS (Endorsements are here!). Jerry, WB8LFO, one of the Great Lakes (Ohio) Division's Field Representatives reports receiving a letter from the ARRL and Phase 3 of the Field Checking is starting. They can now do endorsements.

DXCC NEWS. As reported in W1AW bulletins ARLD005 and ARLD006, the "ARRL Board of Directors" (BoD) at their meeting in Savannah, Georgia, approved a Membership Services Committee recommendation to add Scarborough Reef to the ARRL DXCC Countries List. The vote was 11-yes, 3-no and 1-abstention. Scarborough is added to the list based on DXCC Rules Section II, Point 2(a) (Separation by Water). The DXCC Desk announced that the start date for Scarborough Reef is January 1, 1995. Only QSOs made on or after that date will be eligible for DXCC credit. The first accredited operation took place in April of 1995. The 1994 DXpedition did not qualify as a land based operation. QSL cards will be received by the DXCC Desk starting April 1, 1996. Cards received before that date will be returned without action.

IOTA EU-007 (EJ7NET Dates). The WestNet DX Group has announced that they will operate from The Great Blasket Island EU-007 this summer. The group will be active from Friday, June 7th, until Monday, June 10th inclusive. Activity will be on all bands 10-160 meters with operations on the following modes: CW/SSB/RTTY/AMTOR. The callsign used will be EJ7NET, and QSLs should go to EI6FR.

TU, IVORY COAST. The team of G3SXW, G4FAM, K7GE, N7BG and WB7SRW expect to be active from Ivory Coast in February, taking in the ARRL DX CW Contest on February 17-18th, signing TU5A (multi-two section). QSL via W8AEF. On February 15-16th they also hope to be active with personal call-signs (to be advised).

VK8, MELVILLE ISLAND (AUSTRALIA). This DXpedition will take place on IOTA OC-173 which is located in the Northern Territory (Arafura Sea Coast) West Group from March 8-11th. Two operators (VK8HZ and VK8NSB) and two different stations will be active at the same time on all bands from 6-80 meters. This rare IOTA is hard to get authorization to land because they need one from the Aborigen Council who owns the islands. QSL via VK4AAR direct only via 1995 or 1996 callbook address. ADDED NOTE: There was an indication that dates and callsigns could be changed...

VP2M, MONTSERRAT. Art, WA2UJH, will once again make a return trip to Montserrat as VP2MDY from February 16th through March 1st. Art will be active mostly on CW with activity on 10-160 meters. QSL via NW8F.

VP5, TURKS & CAICOS (UPDATE). As mentioned in last week's bulletin, Koji, JJ2QEH, and Mack, JJ2QXI, will be active. This week Mack has informed OPDX that they will be signing VP5/JJ2QEH and VP5/JJ2QXI from February 3-9th. They will also have 2 stations active simultaneously. They would like to emphasize picking up JAs while the conditions are open between VP5 and JA, but they still want to make as many QSOs as possible. Mack says, "PLEASE CALL US!" QSL addresses can be found in OPDX.239.

VP9, BERMUDA. Dave, N3RD, states he will activate VP9AD during the CQWW 160M CW Contest as a Single/Operator entry from Paget Parish, Bermuda. Anybody who still needs VP9AD's card can QSL to W3HNK. N3RD/VP9 may be acive sporatically before the contest.

VU2PAI QSL UPDATE. Pai, VU2PAI wants to inform the DX community that he has had problems with the Indian Excise and Customs because DXers are sending him dollar notes for direct QSL. He is not permitted to receive foreign currency this way and wanted DXers to know that he would rather have some stamps from the sender's country. This would keep him out of trouble with the government and at the same time contribute to his stamp collection. Meanwhile, Pai is active on 160 meters with a dipole but is working on new antennas at a new QTH.

ZF, CAYMAN ISLANDS. Dick, K3DI, will be active as ZF2OP in the ARRL CW Contest (February 17-18th) as a QRP entry. His band activity was not mentioned. Dick will answer QSL requests via K3DI, W3-bureau, NE USA DXcluster, or Internet (wilder@clark.net).

ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Leo, K8PDY, and Paul, WT8S, expect to be on Cook Island (South) February 17th and leave February 24th. "This will be an all bands operation using the same equipment WB8YJF and I took to ZL7 land", states Leo. He also hopes conditions will be better than ZL7 was. Activity will be mostly CW and RTTY with some SSB. Leo should be using the callsign ZK1PYD and Paul (who was on the Rapa Nui team last fall) should be on as ZK1WTS or possibly another call if he decides otherwise. INTERESTING NOTE: Leo states all short time non-residents have 3 letter suffix calls while residents have 2 letter suffix. They also tried for a trip to ZK1/North but the plane was booked 2 months beyond their time frame of up to late March. ADDED NOTE FROM LEO: All ZL7PYD cards not having SASE went via bureau January 19th.

ZSM6A SPECIAL PREFIX. Jim, ZS6AOO, will be operating as ZSM6A for The Soccer Cup of Africa taking place in South Africa. This station will be on the air until the middle of February. The QSL Manager is WA3HUP.

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Tedd Mirgliotta KB8NW
InterNet: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS (BARF-80) +1 216/237-8208
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