The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 498 BID: $OPDX.498 February 12, 2001 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, AB5K &
the AR TelNet Clusters, AD1C, N1FOC, K2KW, WB2YQH/WB2RAJ &
The 599 DX Report, W3LEO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ
DX, WD4NGB, K6GNX, K6RO, N6RT, AF7O, NA7DB, K7BV, W7KNT, K8AV,
K8YSE, NE8Z/HC1MD, W9VA, CE6TBN, CT1END, DL4KQ, F5NOD, F5PBL,
F6AJA & Les Novelles DX, FM5GU, G3PJT, HB9BXE, HB9CRV, LZ1JZ,
PS7AB, PY3DX, PY7ZZ, SM0GNU, UX0FF, VE7DP, VK4AAR, VK4FW,
ZL2HU/ZL4HU and 4L1DA for the following DX information.
3B6, AGALEGA. Press Release Bulletin Nr. 12
(large) was released over the past weekend. In short, the team
has added 4 new members, close to the maximum number of 20
operators. The new members are: Steve/N3SL, Stefan/SP9RTI,
Leonid/4Z5FL and Antonio/CT1EPV. Other crew members are:
Rene/HB9BQI, Christine/HB9BQW, Hans-Peter/HB9BXE, Hermann/HB9CRV,
Cedric/HB9HFN, Karl/HB9JAI, Friedhelm/HB9JBI, Jacky/3B8CF,
Luis/CT1AGF, Matthias/DL3KUD, Mart/DL6UAA, Jack/F6HMJ,
Derek/G3KHZ and Ken/NK6F. Tom, 9A4DU, had to cancel his
participation. He will continue his studies at Florida during the
time the expedition will take place. The 3B6RF team is scheduled
to arrive at Agalega on Thursday, May 3rd, and begin operations
on Saturday, May 5th, for 14 days. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will
receive the complete press release as an additional bulletin. The
3B6RF Web site is at: http://www.Agalega2000.ch.
3W, VIETNAM. Claude, F5PBL, will be active
from Ho Chi Minh City between March 22-30th. Activity will be on
15 and 10 meters, mainly on SSB, CW is also possible. A
single/single entry will be made in the CQ WPX SSB Contest, the
band is not yet selected. The exact callsign is not yet known.
QSL via F5PBL, direct or via bureau.
3Y, BOUVET. Chuck, 3Y0C, continues to be
active. According to the latest update (dated Feb. 10th) on
WD4NGB's Web site: "Things have not changed a whole lot
since the update on February 3rd. Chuck has been staying busy
with his mission duties, trouble shooting equipment, and
installing/repairing antennas. He put up a 600 ft long wire to
use on the low bands, with counterpoise for for 160, 80 and 40m.
These were destroyed by a storm the following day. Today, he
completed installing dipoles for the low bands and will see if
they will stay up. The Amp is still being worked on, and more
information is expected from Japan on Monday to help determine
what the problem is, and a fix or work around for it. Chuck has
worked many on RTTY, but is taking a short break from it now
since the equipment he is using on RTTY is having troubles. No
update on the pick up date yet, so it still planed for the last
part of February, and up to March 2nd. Will update as soon as I
have anything more concrete. Chuck has been spending more time on
the WARC bands lateley. He was on 12m with a HUGE EU pile up
today...... Maybe the storms will allow the low band antennas to
stay up more than one day. Chuck is still working CW by request
only, on the same frequency as he is operating on SSB."
4I, PHILIPPINES (IOTA Activity/Update).
Frank, VE7DP, informed OPDX early last week that the activity
from Polillo Island (OC-091) as VE7DP/DU1 and DU1KGJ/p, made
about 1600 QSOs in 2 days. However, propagation was poor, and
they had problems with power interruptions between 2200-0200z and
after 1700z. Over the past weekend, the Philippines locals and
Frank organized an IOTA expedition to the unnumbered Luzon
Coastal Island. They used the callsign 4I1P from the island of
Marinduque. This island now has an IOTA of OC-244. QSL both
operations via VE7DP or DX1CW. The next IOTA DXpedition will be
to Batan Islands (OC-093), and they have applied for 4I2P
callsign. Operation is to take place about February 24-25th. QSL
via VE7DP or DX1CW. More info/details to follow.
6Y, JAMAICA (Update/High Schooling For DXing).
The DXpedition University (DXU), the first of its kind to provide
a training ground for energetic radio amateurs wanting to learn
the foundational methods and tactics of DXpeditioning, is getting
ready to hit the DXpedition trail. The group will be active from
February 26th to March 6th signing 6Y8A or homecall/6Y5. Activity
will be on all bands from 160-6 meters, mostly on SSB and CW
though some PSK31 is possible. In addition to normal operations,
the group will enter the ARRL DX SSB Contest with a Multi-2
entry. Operators will be Klein/WT6G, Mike/WA6O, David/K0COP,
Tim/W6NS, Walter/N6XG, and Kenny/K2KW. QSL 6Y8A via WA4WTG,
others via homecall. The group will have 4 stations with KW
amplifiers on 160-6m, and use Force 12 vertical arrays for
160-6m. The DXU ops are learning the skills to run them with the
best, so give them a call to help them improve their pileup
skills! Questions go to Kenny, K2KW at: k2kw@prodigy.net. Also visit
the following Web page for more info at: http://www.k2kw.com.
There are 2 slots available if anyone wants to join the group.
9M0, SPRATLY ISLANDS (The UnDXpedition!). A
press release by Darryl, AD7O, reports that the members of the
"Central Arizona DX Association" are planning
("with NO fanfare and NO hype") their first
"UnDXpedition". They will be operating from the Spratly
Islands as 9M0M during the first week of March. Their interesting
press release states:
"The UnDXpedition will have no more press releases
until we return, and maybe not then. We could not find any
pilots, no one understood satellite uplinking of logs, and
nobody wanted to stick to any schedules. There will be no
sponsors of our radios, coax, amplifiers, or T-shirts,
because we couldn't find any. All governments involved have
taken a, - Who are these people anyway? - attitude. We did
try to contact the San Miguel Brewery, but they didn't even
call us back"
Operators will be Sally/KM5EP, Dennis/AF7Y, Jerry/WB9Z,
Luis/XE1L, Darryl/AF7O and "unindicted co-conspirators"
Dan/NA7DB and Mike/N7MB. Some of the above operators may enter
the ARRL DX SSB Contest. They will operate from Sabah, Malaysia,
as 9M6DBT and 9M6MBT for a few days before and after their
activity on Spratly. They plan to operate CW and SSB on 80
through 10 meters. QSL the 9M6 callsigns via WN7J and the Spratly
Island callsign of 9M0M via K7XN. A Web site has been set up for
this operation at: http://www.xcvr.com/9M0M. The complete press
release will be sent to all OPDX InterNet Subscribers as an
additional bulletin.
CE0, EASTER ISLAND. Several sources report to
look for Arliss/W7XU and Holly/N0QJM to become active from here
March 29th-April 9th. Reportedly, they will maninly concentrate
on 6 meters.
CE0X, SAN AMBROSIO ISLAND (Bad News!). Early
last week the team going here announced that they received some
good news. The SUBTEL authorized the DXpedition to use the
callsign CE0XT (their first choice) instead of CE0ZT. HOWEVER, on
Saturday, pilot station Dr. Bill, K6GNX, reported:
"The team regrets to report that due to circumstances
beyond their control regarding the boat transportation from
Valparaiso to San Ambrosia the DXpedition must be canceled.
Everyone is safe and well but very disappointed and they are
returning home as soon as possible."
DAYTON HAMVENTION NEWS. According to the
Dayton HamVention Web site, the DX Forum (and the Contest Forum)
is going to be held this year at Hara Arena on Saturday in Room
#4 from 8:30 AM until 12:30 PM. Check the Web page at: http://www.hamvention.org/forums.html.
D6, COROMOS. The D68C operation is in full
swing. Activity is on all bands and modes, and very easy to work.
Activity will last until February 28th. QSL via G3SWH.
DX HOLIDAY WEB SITE HAS MOVED. Kenny, K2KW,
informs OPDX that the DX Holiday, "The Ultimate DXpedition
Resource", has moved to a new server. DX Holiday is a site
that lists QTHs around the world where people have operated on
DXpeditions, and provides information on how to contact the
owners. There is information on Rent-a-QTHs, Ham Friendly Hotels,
and Club stations. Please change your links to: http://www.dxholiday.com.
The old site will be decommissioned in the near future at: http://pages.prodigy.net/k2kw/qthlist.
The response and support for DX Holiday has been great, with new
locations and information coming in all the time. In addition,
the "Team Vertical", information on vertical antennas
for DXpeditions and past operations, has been moved to Kenny's
personal site at: http://www.k2kw.com.
EO6, UKRAINE (Attention Prefix Hunters).
Nikolay, UX0FF, informs OPDX that he is licensed to use EO6F, a
special contest callsign that expires at end of February this
year. He states that he is the only one which has this prefix in
Ukraine. His last CW operation with EO6F will be in the ARRL DX
CW Contest as an All Bands/High Power entry. QSL via UX0FF:
Nikolay Lavreka, P.O.Box 3, IZMAIL, 68600, UKRAINE.
FM, MARTINIQUE. Dan/IV3TDM, Max/IV3FHH and
Luke/IV3JVJ, from the Pordenone gang, will hit the airwaves from
here, March 17-23rd. Dan will operate on SSB, Max on CW and Luke
on RTTY, also SSB. They will try to concentrate on the lower
bands, and their target is to "generate the hugest pile-up
of their lives". They should have a good signal, so please
call them! The callsigns will be FM/homecall. All QSLs go to
IV3TDM CBA. The Pordenone gang will operate from Clement's,
FM5GU, station, and then join the FM5GU team for the CQ WPX SSB
Contest.
FO0/M, MARQUESAS ISLANDS. By the time you
read this, Wulf/DL1AWI, Mat/DL5XU, Peter/DL3APO and his wife
Birgit/DG0OBN should have moved from Rangiroa (OC-066) to Nuku
Hiva in the Marquesas Island group. Look for them to be active
until around February 28th. Reports indicate that they will sign
FO/DL1AWI, although their earlier announcements stated that they
would sign FO0/homecall. Activity should be on 160-10 meters
CW/SSB and some RTTY, also probably SSTV. Online logs will be
available via the Web page http://www.qsl.net/dj7aa/fo0. QSL their
Marquesas operation via DL1AWI. QSL their Rangiroa operation via
DL3APO. Addresses can be found in OPDX.491.
HC, ECUADOR. Dr. Rick, NE8Z/HC1MD, reports
that Dr. Scott Olitsky, AC3A, will soon be active from Ecuador as
AC3A/HC5. Scott will be on a medical mission to perform ocular
surgery on children in Azogues, Ecuador, roughly between March
2-16th. During his off hours he will be active on HF, CW and SSB.
Scott will also be active on 2m EME as AC3A/HC5 from the
beautiful mountain home of Guillermo/HC5GL and his XYL Maya/HC5DX
in Chaullabamba, Ecuador. Many members of the Cuenca Radio Club
(HC5CRC) will be assisting Scott with his EME station setup.
There will be an HF station manned by HC5PJ/Gerardo, HC5SF/Fausto
and HC1HC/HC5/Alfredo on 14155 kHz during the EME operations.
This may be the first ever EME operation from Ecuador. QSL via
AC3A. Please contact Scott before his trip if you have any
questions about the EME operation at: solitsky@acsu.buffalo.edu.
IOTA NEWS...
NA-203. Joel, HP7/F5PAC, was active from
IOTA NA-170 last week, but told Jean, F6AJA, that he will
be active this coming week-end from an island in the Los
Santos/Herrera/Colcle Province Group.
OC-160. Bill, VK4FW (not VK3FW as
reported last week - sorry), reports that he has
postponed his operation to Cumberland Island due to
transportation problems associated with equipment not
arriving from Sydney. This operation centers around work
commitments installing new monitoring equipment. New
scheduled dates are February 11-16th. QSL direct only to
VK4FW: Bill Horner, P.O. Box 929, Gympie, 4570,
Australia.
OC-201. Bob, G3PJT, will be active as
ZL4CC from Waiheke Island from March 8-13th. Although he
will be active in the RSGB Commonwealth Contest,
primarily on the 10th and 11th, he will be active for
all/any takers outside the contest. His activity will be
mainly on CW. QSL via his home callsign G3PJT, direct or
via RSGB bureau.
SA-026. Paul, PY3DX (ex-PY3PAZ), informs
OPDX that he is going to take his vacation from February
23rd through March 5th on Santa Catarina Island. He will
operate mainly on CW (with some SSB) on all bands, but
with special attention on the lower bands (80/40 meters)
and some WARC bands as well. He states that his sunset on
that island starts around 2200z and lasts until 2100z. He
will use this time to call CQ on lower bands during the
grayline for EU, NA and AF. The callsign will be PY3DX/p.
QSL via home call or via bureau.
MM0, SCOTLAND. Leo, W3LEO, will once again be
active from Portpatrick in southwest Scotland from about February
20th through March 14th. However, Leo states that this is once
again a vacation not a DXpedition, and "time on the air will
depend on the antennas, on propagation, and on when the nearby
pubs are open, HI..." His callsign is MM0LEO and he plans to
be in the ARRL International DX SSB Contest. He will use an Icom
706 (100 watts), a R-5 vertical [10, 12, 15, 17, 20 meters], and
a 40-meter dipole [in inverted-V configuration]. He will try and
get on PSK-31. QSL via his CBA (with SASE) or via bureau to
W3LEO. Leo provided the following reference numbers: IOTA -
EU-005 [Great Britain]; CQ Zone - 14; ITU Zone- 27; Grid Square -
IO-74ku and Worked All Britain [WAB] Square - NW-95.
NP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Dennis, K7BV, will
be operating before and after the 2001 CQWW CW Contest as
NP2/K7BV. He will use WP2Z during the contest. QSL all contacts
with either call via KU9C.
PJ2, CURACAO (Update/Change). Last week we
mentioned that Larry/K6RO and Charlie/W6KK would be active from
here between February 27th through March 5th. Larry informed OPDX
this week that his callsign was changed for the ARRL SSB Contest
as SO/SB/HP entry. He will now be active as PJ2K instead of PJ2R
(which has been already taken). Remember to look for them before
and after the contest as PJ2/homecall on all bands CW/SSB. Larry
states band country skeds is not a problem. His E-mail address
is: k6ro@earthlink.net.
PORTUGAL'S MOST WANTED. Carlos, CT1END,
reports that the results of the Most Wanted in Portugal survey
for the year 2000 have been posted to the Web sites:
http://ct1end.freeservers.com and http://gpdx.netpower.pt.
PW0, ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL ROCKS. On
February 7th, at 04:30 local time, the motor-sail boat "OLD
SMUGGLER" left for Fernando de Noronha with their
destination to the St. Peter and Paul Rocks. On their way to the
Rocks, they stopped on Fernando de Noronha and picked up another
operator, Andre, PY0FF. The new operator bought with him a TS-60
for 6 meters that will be on the air 24 hours a day on that band
with a 5 elements yagi. He also took along a complete SSTV
station and another laptop. The PW0S team arrived by the Rocks
last Friday at 1300z, but landing was not possible due to high
sea. The big waves were almost covering the rocks so they had to
cancel the landing. Pictures of the high seas can be seen on
their Web page. As this bulletin was being prepare, no activity
has been reported. The team has decided to change its operating
frequncies to avoid a conflict with the D68C operation. Suggested
frequncies now are:
SSB - 3790, 7050, 14170, 18125, 21270, 24960, 28470 and 50115
kHz
CW - 1832, 3504, 7025, 10108, 14025, 18090, 21025, 24915, 28025
and 50095 kHz
RTTY - 14080, 21080 and 28080 kHz
SSTV - 14233, 21363 and 28683 kHz
They will have a 24 hour beacon operating on 50.006 MHz. QSL
via KU9C. There is a web site with photos and info abt PW0S on: http://www.soutomaior.eti.br/mario.
QSL INFO AND NEWS...
NEW QSL INFO. David, 4L1DA, informs OPDX
that QSL for 4L1DA and 4L0G should now go via DL7BO: Tom
Hubert, PirolSTR.50, 12683 Berlin, Germany.
The FK8HC/P log for the operation from
Tindu Island (DIFO FK-085) is now available (as of
February 2nd) on the following Web page: http://f5nod.waika9.com/fk8hc_fk085.html.
Jean Michel, F6AJA, reports that he has
received the FM/F2JD card from the printer, and ALL
direct request are mailed.
Tony, LZ1JZ, reports that he is the QSL
Manager for Europe for OA4DKC. His address is: Anton
Stefanov, P.O Box 43, Harmanli-6450, Bulgaria.
Alan, VK4AAR, has requested for the
readers to be informed again about the following:
"Please advise your readers AGAIN that, when QSLing
VK's or to Australian managers, they should NOT send
SAE's with Australian stamps unless they have access to
the correct style of stamp for overseas destinations.
This was originally to have been implemented on 1st Feb
2001 but has been moved back to 1st Mar 2001. Reply
postage is gratefully received but PLEASE, PLEASE let US
attach the stamps to ensure that mail will reach its
destination. Finally, do NOT send cards for VK0LD to me
(I do not have that log). Only VK0MM."
OUTGOING QSL BUREAU ANNOUNCES RATE INCREASE.
"In response to the recent postal rate increase and
price restructuring, the ARRL Outgoing QSL Bureau has
announced new rates for this service. It is still
possible to send ten cards for one dollar, but the twenty
and thirty card rates have been discontinued. The new
rate is $4.00 per each half-pound or portion thereof.
This rate structure helps to cover the basic cost of
handling the minimum number of QSL cards in a package
while actually offering a price reduction for sending a
half pound of cards (approximately 75 cards) which
previously cost $6.00. The new rates will go into effect
on March 1, 2001. The last Outgoing QSL Service fee
increase was in January 1999."
S9, SAO TOME & PRINCIPE. John, W7KNT,
informs OPDX that Tom, W7LUU, is now on the air as S92TX. Tom
will be operating mainly on 10/15/20 meter SSB and some 6 meters
soon. He has been overseas for the last 12 years with the State
Department / Voice of America. His assignment just started in Sao
Tome & Principe, and he should be there for about 2 years.
QSL is via his QSL Manager W7KNT. ADDED NOTE: John also mentions
that he will be there for about a month this fall or February
2002 of next year to work down the pileup's.
V2, ANTIGUA. Ed, N2ED, is expected to be
active as V26EW from February 13-20th. He will also be active as
V26G in the upcoming ARRL DX CW Contest. QSL via N2ED.
VP2E, ANGUILLA. Look for Ron/W8ILC,
Don/N6JRL, Harry/AC8G, Ed/WD8MQJ and James/N8JE will be active as
VP2EK from February 28th through March 7th. The group will be a
Multi-Op entry in the ARRL DX SSB Contest. QSL via W8ILC.
XU, CAMBODIA. Frank, DL4KQ, informs OPDX that
there will be activity from here by a German group between July
15th and August 3rd. Operations will be on all bands 160-10
meters including the WARC bands and 6 meters using linears. Modes
will be SSB/CW and possibly RTTY/PSK31. A special emphasis will
be on the low bands by DL4KQ. Exact callsigns are still unknown.
More updated information will follow.
XX9, MACAU. Ulf, SM0GNU, will be operating as
XX9TDX between February 12th and February 20th. Activity will be
on all bands CW/SSB and possibly some RTTY. There will also be a
SOAB effort in the ARRL DX CW Contest. QSL via SM0GNU (E-mail
address: sm0gnu@swipnet.se)
YK, SYRIA. By the time you read this, the
YK9A operation will be almost, if not, QRT. Press releases by Al,
K7AR, sent out last week were basically stating they were doing
the best they could with what they had. Al states, "Please
keep in mind we are missing 3 ops and 2 amps and it is difficult
to meet everyone's needs." They also had low line voltage
problem. QSL via K9LA. Don't forget that the YK9A Web site is
available at: http://www.qsl.net/k7ar/yk9a_'01.htm. Also,
pictures are available at: http://www.dailydx.com/yk9a.html.
ZL7, CHATHAM ISLAND (ZK3, Cancelled). A press
release by Ken Holdom, ZL2HU/ZL4HU, Group Organizer/Team
Leader/QSL Manager for the Kermadec DX Association, announced
this past week about a change in plans for the ZK3 Tokelau Island
DXpedition. Ken reports, "After lengthy considerations and
taking into account the very high number of DXpeditions that are
being undertaken at present and those that are planned for the
future, combined with the extremely high costs invloved in
undertaking ZK3, we wish to advise with considerable regret that
we will not be undertaking this DXpedition in July-August 2002 as
planned. Our last DXpedition to ZL9CI in January 1999 was,
according to all counts and responses, one of the most
successfull DXpeditions ever undertaken and in order to keep the
Kermadec DX Association reputation intact, we have decided to
undertake a much smaller DXpedition to ZL7 - Chatham Isalnds in
October 2002 to coincide with the CQWW SSB contest." All
OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the complete press release
as an additional bulletin.
SPECIAL NOTE BY EDITOR: If you are having a problem receiving
bounced mail by sending mail to me via kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org,
please send mail to me via kb8nw@arrl.net......
TNX de Tedd KB8NW
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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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