The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 454 BID: $OPDX.454 March 27, 2000 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1
Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern
Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network,
WB2YQH/WB2RAJ & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX,
N4GN, WP4U, N6RT, AC7DX, K7NO, K8NA, K8YSE, W9ZR, DJ5AV & DX
News Letter, EA5KW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, FM5GU, G3SWH,
G3SXW, GM4DZX, GU0SUP, IK2XDE, LA2PA, OH2BVE, OM3LZ, PY5BF,
SM3CVM, SM0BFJ, TG9AJR, ZS5BBO and ZS5NK for the following DX
information.
4W, EAST TIMOR (New one to work!). More
activity is beginning to show up on the bands from this new
entity. Your editor's thoughts and fingers were not in sync last
week when we stated that the DXCC entities total was 332. It is
actually 333. Thor, TF1MM, continues to be active as 4W6MM. QSNs
show that he likes 20 meters CW on 14001 kHz between 1130 and
1330z. He was also active this week on 15 meters CW on 21007 kHz
after 1845z. QSL 4W6MM via TF1MM. Ross, VK8UN active as 4W6UN,
was heard this week on the 14245 DX Net between 1530 and 1700z.
QSL 4W6UN via VK3OT. Antonio, CT1EGH, is the newcomer on the air
this past week as 4W6GH. His activity has been mainly on 15 and
20 meters SSB. QSNs show activity on 14265 and 14254 kHz anywhere
between 1330 and 2000z. Also watch 21223, 21245 and 21286 kHz
after 0600z and after (or a hour before) 2000z. This past weekend
during the contest he was heard on 21306 kHz between 1430 and
1700z. QSL 4W6GH via CT1EGH. Remember to look for Neville, VK2QF,
to be active as 4W6/VK2QF beginning Wednesday, March 29th and
active until April 5th. His suggested frequencies are:
CW - 7010, 14010, 21010 and 28010 kHz
SSB - 7095, 14195, 21295 and 28495 kHz
6 meters - 50090 on CW and 50135 kHz on SSB.
QSL direct only to VK2QF, Nev Mattick, Hargraves, NSW 2850,
Australia. His Web site was published in OPDX.453.
4W DX NEWS FLASH! Just before going to print
a press release from Doug, N6RT, reports that Bernie, W3UR,
editor of "The Daily DX", has arrived safely in Dili,
East Timor with all equipment intact. Due to a misunder- standing
at the licensing authority, Bernie will be signing 4W/W3UR, not
4W6DX as previously announced. Bernie and Thor, TF1MM/4W6MM, will
be relocating to Baucau (3 to 4 hours east of Dili) shortly and
Jose, CT1EEB/4W6EB will join them on Monday, March 27th. Because
of this relocation, online logs may not be posted daily as
previously hoped. Bernie hopes to come on the air late Sunday or
early Monday UTC. It was mentioned earlier in the week that Olli,
OH0XX, unfortunately had to cancel out as one of the operators at
the last moment due to a work conflict. This was a set back as
the other two operators (Jose, CT1EEB, and Bernie, W3UR) had to
cram more gear in with their luggage. (A more detailed press
release on this will be available to OPDX InterNet Subscribers as
an additional bulletin) The planned (updated) operating
frequencies are:
CW - 1826.5 (maybe), 3502, 7002, 10107, 14007, 18070, 21007, 24907, 28007
SSB - 3799, 7062.5, 14150, 18115, 21200, 24935, 28400
RTTY - 14087 (possibly near the end of the operation)
QSLs for this operation are still via OH2BN, Jarmo J. Jaakola,
Kiilletie 5-C-30, 00710 Helsinki, FINLAND. A web page has been
set up at: http://www.dailydx.com/4W6DX.html.
7P, LESOTHO. Two South Africian hams
Deon/ZS5DCF and Leon/ZS5LS will be active on SSB only from April
23-27th. Their callsign will be 7P8/ZS5DCF and 7P8/ZS5LS, and
they will operate from the Maluti hospital in Lesotho. They will
be taking a tower, a tri-band beam and an amplifier. Gary, ZS5NK,
reports that photocopies of their licences will be sent to the
DXCC desk. QSL to the address: PO Box 401219, Redhill 4071,
Republic of South Africa. For direct QSLs please send a S.A.S.E.
with one IRC or 1 green stamp. Otherwise QSL through the SARL QSL
Bureau.
9G, GHANA. QSL Manager Miro, OM3LZ, informs
OPDX that Zdeno, OK2ZW, will be finishing his activity in Ghana
as 9G5ZW very soon. He planned to stay in Accra (Czech Embassy)
for 3 years, but situations have rapidly changed around him
during the last few days (details may come later). Zdeno has
decided to return to OK-land in the beginning of April 2000. So
this may be the last week to work him. Zdeno has worked 30,000
QSOs as of the end of February. More details on his activity will
be forthcoming. QSL via OM3LZ, he prefers direct; delivery time
for return on QSLs are now 30 - 50 days. Cards via bureau later.
BQ9P, PRATAS ISLAND (Update, please refer to
OPDX.453). Randy, W9ZR, informs OPDX that he will be
joining the team of 13 experienced DXers from Taiwan, Japan and
the USA to the return to Tung-Sha Dao (Pratas Island) during the
April 5-12th BQ9P operation. He mentions that he hopes to
concentrate on the low bands, propagation permitting. Also, he
will bring with him amps, a 2 element beam for 40 meters and
Titanex verticals for 80 and 160 meters. QSL cards for this
operation can be obtained from KU9C: Steve Wheatley, PO Box 5953,
Parsippany NJ 07054-6953 U.S.A.
BY, CHINA. Jari, OH2BVE, has informed OPDX
that he has started a two year contract in Beijing. He will use
the club callsign BY1DX (and he may activate other club stations,
too). He plans to activate the WARC bands after he has found a
good solution to repair the R7 antenna at the station or find a
new antenna. Jari will also activate the low bands 160-80 meters
during the next season. He will operate 160-10 meters on CW/SSB.
The noise level is high on low bands, so please be patient. Most
often Jari will start on Sundays at 0800z on 21325 kHz to work OH
stations and Europeans but will work other parts of world, too.
Jari suggests to send QSLs through the bureau system to OH2BVE or
direct cards to Jukka Klemola, Aarontie 5, 31400 SOMERO, FINLAND.
Jukka will act as a maildrop and deliver the cards to Jari
through other routes. Jari will reply to direct QSL and send them
them back direct. He states that he will automatically QSL each
QSO via the bureau system, so there is really no need to send a
QSL to him unless you need it directly or you are not a member of
bureau system or some other reason.
DXCC ENTITIES LIST AVAILABLE. Dean, K7NO, has
an Excel file showing all current DXCC entites (including East
Timor) and which, when you enter your long/lat in the proper
cell, will provide heading/reciprocal and distance for each
entity. Anyone wanting this Excel spreadsheet can send an E-mail
to Dean at: dnorris@k7no.com.
He will then send a zipped attachment file unless otherwise
specified. This file is an Excel 97 and 2000 series .xls file.
FO0, AUSTRAL ISLANDS. Denise, F6WHU, is now
active as FO0HWU from Tubuai Island (IOTA OC-152) in the
Australes. She will be there until April 12th, and she is mostly
active on CW (5 kHz from the bottom of the band) and also RTTY.
QSNs show to watch 14005 kHz after 0400z as late as 0730z. Also,
watch 7005 kHz after 1230z.
FT5W, CROZET ISLAND. The "LNDX"
reports that Alain, FT5WI, has been here since last November and
will be here for one year. He is not familiar with DX and
pile-ups, so please be patient! OPDX has tried to find some
current QSN reports, but had no luck - just older ones. QSL via
F6KDF. Please be patient also for your QSL card because the logs
will go back with Alain when he returns home.
FW, WALLIS ISLAND. Guy (ex-FR7ZL/T/G/J) has
been signing FW5ZL since January 7th. He is mostly active on 15
to 20 meters (watch 14195, 14015, and 21240) after 0700z and
again at 1100z. QSL route: Guy Petit de la Rhodiere, B.P. 2,
Mata-Utu, Wallis Island 98600 via France.
IOTA NEWS...
AF-NEW. Operators Barry/ZS1FJ, Bud/ZS1B,
Ron/ZS1RON, Gerald/ZS1GRM and Edwin/ZS5BBO will activate
Elephant Rock Island as ZS31ER from March 31st through
April 9th. Elephant Rock is situated on the west coast of
South Africa about 25Km west of Vredendal and 4 miles
North of the Olifants River mouth. It is about 100 to 150
metres long and about 50 to 75 metres wide with the
highest point about 50ft above sea level. It lies 200 to
250 metres off shore. It used to be called Morrel's Rock
many years ago and is locally known as Robeiland (Seal
Island) and is located near De Punt Mine. They suck up
alluvial diamonds with large boats operating out of the
river mouth. The co-ordinates are 31 degrees 38 minutes
South and and 18 degrees 03 minutes East. This island is
also a Nature Reserve, having plenty of seals and birds.
They will use the IOTA frequencies. Frequencies are as
follows: SSB - 28460, 24950, 21260, 18128, 14260 (main),
7055, 3755. CW - 28040, 24920 21040, 18098, 14040, 10115,
7025, 3530. They anticipate to have a station running 24
hours a day. QSL to Barry Fletcher (ZS1FJ), P.O. Box
53319, Kenilworth, 7745, South Africa or via the bureau.
News on the Elephant Rock Island Dxpedition will be
updated on the following Web site: http://www.qsl.net/zs5ham.
This Web is provided courtesy of ZS5BP the webmaster of
the Highway Amateur Radio Club in Durban South Africa.
AF-067. WRAP-UP. Phil, G3SWH, reports
that the team of 5Z4WI made a total of 18,435 QSOs from
Wasini Island with a roughly even split between CW
(9,493) and SSB (8,942). The log can be searched and is
on-line at: http://dx.qsl.net/logs. QSL via G3SWH
(QTHR). Donations towards the cost of the expedition are
invited and will be gratefully received.
EU-004. Operators EA5KW, EA5AKM, EA5FKT,
EA5SS, EA5GOR, EB5BQC and EA5GMA will be going to Ibiza
Island between April 14-17th. The group plans to be
active on all modes and the operators will sign
EA6/homecall. EA5KW and EA5AKM will mainly be on PSK31,
RTTY and CW, and try to work as many Americans and
Asiatics stations as possible. The other operators will
work on SSB mainly. QSL is via EA5KW but they prefer to
receive them via the bureau. Direct QSLs are not a
problem, send to: Jose Maria Martinez Juan, Poeta
Zorrilla, 52-1-IZQ, 03600 Elda, Spain.
EU-009. Operators GM3POI, GM4DZX, GM0HTH
and GM0HTT will activate the Orkney Island of
"Copinsay" on Saturday, April 1st and Sunday,
April 2nd. The callsign will be GB5RO. Other reference
numbers for Copinsay are OR19 for the Islands of Scotland
Award and and HY60 for WAB. QSL via GM4DZX QTHR. Please
note: This operation is weather-dependant! If bad weather
makes the sea trip impossible on the 1st, they will
automatically re-schedule for each successive weekend
until they get lucky to operate.
OC-058. Dany/FK8VHY (CW) and
Patrice/FK8HA (SSB) "MAY" be active from
Entrecateaux Island for 48 hours. They plan to land on
the island April 2nd around 0000z. They will use a IC-751
and FT-757 with verticals. They will use FK8KAB/P
callsign. Suggested frequencies are: CW - 7007, 10105,
14040, 18098, 21040, 24920, 28040. SSB - 7065, 14260,
18128, 21260, 24950, 28460/560. The QSL route is to
FK8KAB: ARANC, PO BOX 3956, 98846 Noumea Cedex, Nouvelle
Caledonie.
JT, MONGOLIA. "The 59(9) DXReport"
reports to look for Flo, GM4DMA, to possibly be active as JT1FCR
on the HF bands from April 18-30th. QSL via GM4DMA.
JW, SVALBARD. Leif/LA2PA and Oystein/LA7QI
will be signing JW2PA and JW7QI respectively from May 1st to May
8th. If propagation permits, they will concentrate on 12 and 10
meters SSB and CW.
PIRATE STATION. Phil, GU0SUP, RSGB QSL
Sub-Manager for the GU/MU series callsign, informs OPDX that he
has been getting quite a number of cards for three callsign that
have been pirated.
First is GU4GMW, and he has got over 100
cards for this callsign, and all operations seem to have
been in the CQWW CW Contests of 1998 and 1999. This
callsign belongs to a Mr. Weaver, G4GMW, who states that
he has NEVER operated from Guernsey, and is not likely to
go there in the foreseeable future.
Second is GU2ENK. This call has never
been issued, so the user is definitely a pirate. This
callsign has turned up in the ARI CW Contests in April
over the last two years.
Third is MU0AWR. K2WR was actually
licenced as MJ0AWR and was active in the 1999 CQWW CW
Contest. The MU0AWR callsign was spotted on various
clusters before, during and after the contest, and Phil
knows that he has not operated this callsign from
Guernsey.
Phil states that he now has such a large number of cards for
these callsigns that it is not practical for him to return them
to the sender, as its postage costs would be outrageous.
QSL INFO AND NEWS...
A group of Indonesian operators were
active as 7A0A as a Multi-Single entry in the CQ WPX SSB
Contest. Send QSLs direct to YB0FMT.
9U5D Reminder! QSL Manager Leif, SM0BFJ,
reports that in spite of the fact that Gus, 9U5D,
announces during his QSOs to QSL "only direct via
SM0BFJ", Leif still receives QSL cards via the
bureau. Leif states, "QSLs via the bureau will not
be answered!"
QSL JI3DST/3, active in this past
weekend's contest from Honshu's Coastal Island
(Awajishima Hyogo), to JI3DST: Takeshi Funaki, 2-18-26
Hannan-cho Abeno-ku Osaka-city, OSAKA 545-0021 JAPAN
NOT THE QSL MANAGER! Ron, AC7DX, reports
that he is NOT the QSL Manager for XF4LWY. He has been
receiving a lot of cards for this station and he is not
sure where people got this info...
Denis, FM5GU, reports that his QSL
Manager is now KU9C. Also, KU9C is his QSL Manager for
all his QSOs from Italy, signing as FM5GU/I. All details,
station description, schedule of operation, contest
programs, etc... can be found on his web site at: http://www.qsl.net/fm5gu.
OPDX was told to mention to subscribers
to "Please" QSL OK8ANM via OK1MD.
Roger, G3SXW, informs OPDX that all QSL
requests have been answered for the January/February CW
operation by FH/G3SXW, FH/G3TXF, S79SXW and S79TXF. About
3,000 cards have been sent, including several hundred via
the bureau in reply to E-mail requests. Roger adds that a
recent experience with C21SX E-mail requests for the
bureau cards suggests that one year delivery is not
unusual, eventhough this is only one-way.
Now available online is the "Italy
Callbook" at: http://go.to/hamlinks. Other source
are available on the Web site are: Italian OM/SWL E-mail
Server, Italian OM/SWL Home Page, Managers On Line, DX
Bulletin, Contest Log Server, Ham Programs, A.R.I. Radio
Club, DX Expedition Home Page, Internet WEB Cluster,
Awards and DX Expedition Log Server......etc
QSL PQ1S, operated by PY1KS and PY1NX in
the CQ WPX Contest last weekend, to PY1KS via the Bureau
or direct to: P.O.BOX 18123, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, 20722-970
Brazil
SZ3PTR was active as a Multi-Single
entry in the CQ WPX SSB Contest this past weelend. QSL
via SV3BSF.
QSL information for TG0AA which was
operated by IK2NCJ during the last ARRL International DX
SSB Contest (March 4-5th) is direct to: CRAG/TG0AA, P.O.
Box 115, Guatemala 01001, Guatemala, Central America By
the way, TG9AJR is NOT the QSL Manager for TG0AA.
ZW5UF was operated by Fox, PY5BF, from
the official station of the "Federal Universit of
Parana". QSL Manager is PY5ZT. There is no problem
to QSL by the Bureau. There is a 100% response. If you
want to send direct, you can use P.O.Box 373 Curitiba,
PR, Brasil, zipcode 80.011-970.
CORRECTION AND UPDATE. CT4NH/p via
CT4NH, Luis Teixeira, Rua Visconde Moreira Rey 1,
2795-545 Carnaxide, Portugal. CT1EEN/p via CT1EEN, Samuel
Pimenta Rua da Milharada, Edificio Iberopa, 8A Bloco A,
Massama, 2745-822 Queluz, Portugal.
SPECIAL ACTIVITY. The "King
Chulalongkorn Memorial Amateur Radio Society", SI9AM, will
be active from Utanede, Sweden, next weekend starting March 31st,
in the afternoon local time ending at Sunday noon. Activity will
be on all bands CW/SSB. The station is located near the Thai
Pavillion. QSL via SM3CVM bureau or direct CBA.
TX0DX, CHESTERFIELD ISLANDS (Possible New Entity, IOTA
OC-176). Press releases by Tim Totten, N4GN, has kept
the DX community well informed on the progress of this operation.
TX0DX hit the airwaves from the Chesterfield Islands at exactly
0000z, March 23rd, signaling the start of what is expected to be
the newest DXCC entity. From one of the press releases by Tim,
the following was reported: "The International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU) has officialy announced that Association des
Radio-Amateurs de Nouvelle-Caledonie (ARANC) has been confirmed
as the newest IARU member society, effective 22 March 2000. Due
to the timing of the voting process, the first full UTC date for
ARANC's membership was 23 March, making this the effective
"event date" for DXCC purposes. The result is that QSOs
with the Chesterfield Islands on or after 0000 UTC, 23 March
2000, are expected to count toward the new DXCC entity. This
corresponds to the date and time when the TX0DX operation
began." The full text of the IARU news release can be found
at: http://www.iaru.org/rel000323.html.
An excerpt from the latest press release indicates that the
operators at TX0DX continue to rack up impressive QSO totals,
despite frequent rain showers. As they approach the end of the
third day of operations, nearly 35,000 QSOs are in the log--an
average rate of approximately 500 per hour! For low band
enthusiasts, operations on 80 and 160 will also begin in earnest
on Monday, March 27th. The TX0DX operation is expected to
continue operating "at full force" until 0500z, March
29th, when the team will begin disassembling some antennas. At
least two stations will continue operating until approximately
2200z, March 29th. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the
complete and latest bulletin as an additional bulletin. Regular
bulletins will be posted throughout the operation on the TX0DX
web site at: http://www.n4gn.com/tx0dx/.
Lastly, the DXAC is in the process of studying the Chesterfield
Island maps and other data. The vote hasn't been scheduled yet,
but probably very soon.
WP4, ISLAND OF MONA. Carlos, WP4U, has
planned a DXpedition here (IOTA NA-99) now through March 31st. He
will sign WP4U/M. Mona Island is one of the five islands needed
to get the certificate "Work Puerto Rico Island Award".
A special QSL card will be issued. QSL direct or via bureau to
WP4U.
Excerpts and distribution of The OPDX Bulletin are granted as
long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receive credit. To contribute DX info,
call BARF-80 BBS online at 440-237-8208
28.8k/14400/9600/2400/1200 and leave a message with the Sysop or
send via InterNet Mail to: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
- OR - Use the VOICE or FAX answering machine at 440-237-8208
which shares the same phone line as BARF-80 BBS using a
data/fax/phone switch. To access: 1) Dial Number. 2) Wait for
first ring (the second ring should be a false ring from the
fax/data switch box) and then dial four quick ones
("1111"). (NOTE: Some FAX machines that send single
"BEEPS" every second will not have to do this step.) 3)
The phone will pick up and after the "BEEP" leave your
voice message or FAX.
Tedd Mirgliotta KB8NW
InterNet: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS (BARF-80) +1 (440) 237-8208
"Totally devoted to Amateur Radio" - 24 Hrs a day 8/N/1
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