OPDX Bulletin 1393 December 10, 2018

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1393
BID: $OPDX.1393
December 10, 2018
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Sent/Written in Strongsville, OH



Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Clusters
Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, N2OO, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE,
K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W8HC, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The
DX News Letter, DM2TO, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW,
F5JY, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News,
I2MQP & DX Italia News, JI3DST, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, RW6HS, Sixitalia
Weekly, UT5UY and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information.


DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 2nd/December, through Sunday, 9th/December there were 216
countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3W, 4J, 4L,
4O, 4S, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5U, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 9A, 9G,
9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY,
C3, C5, C6, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/n,
E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F,
FG, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB,
HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, J7, J8,
JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ,
OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7,
PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T32, T7,
TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V5, V8, VE,
VK, VK0M, VP2E, VP2M, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XX9, YA, YB,
YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z6, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS


* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or
  more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work
  First Worry Later".


3Y0I BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The following was posted (with pictures)
on December 8th: "3Y0I fire-fighting training completed! -- The team
building and high spirits are crucial when it comes to deal with danger.
And you need firefighter training when you're getting ready to set the
world on fire. :) Seafarers Firefighting Training continues in Cape
Town, South Africa."
  No other details to report, other than there were a few 3Y0I pirates
active recently. Departure dates are still not known. It is still a
mystery... 
  Remember, it takes 12 days to get to Bouvet from South Africa, and they
plan to stay on the island for at least 2 weeks, if the weather cooperates.
The 3Y0I DXpedition's band plan ­ frequencies (160-6m) and modes (CW/SSB/
FT8) can be found at:     https://www.rebeldxgroup.com
                       https://bouvetoya.org/3yoi-bandplan
  QSL via ClubLog's OQRS (preferred), LoTW or via 3Z9DX. For more details
and updates, we suggest to watch the following Web pages:
                              https://bouvetoya.org
                           https://www.rebeldxgroup.com
                      http://jouban.jp/3y0i_ja (For JA stations)
                      https://www.facebook.com/bouvetoya.org
                      https://www.facebook.com/rebeldxgroup
                         https://twitter.com/Bouvetoyaorg


4X0, ISRAEL (Update/Special Event). Members of the Holy Land DX Group will
operate from the heart of "Masada Fortress" as 4X0M (M=Masada) between
January 4-6th, 2019. Built by King Herod the Great, Masada, was designated
a UNESCO World Heritage in 2001. From its strategic perch in the Judean
Desert overlooking the Dead Sea, this historically famous palace fortress
is one of the most visited tourist sites in all of Israel. For more info,
see:                 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada
Activity will start on Friday, January 4th, at 0730 UTC, and close down on
Sunday, January 6th, 0600 UTC. They will have two stations on the air on
80-10 meters using CW and SSB. Operators mentioned are Ruben/4Z5FI, Mark/
4Z4KX, Alex/4Z4AK, Ros/4Z5LA, Yuli/4X6HP, Vladimir/4Z5IW, Amir/4X6YA,
Arthur/4X4DZ, Jan/4X1VF and Hal/W8HC. QSL Manager is Antonello, IK2DUW.


4X0, ISRAEL. Members of the Israel Amateur Radio Club (I.A.R.C) are pleased
to announce the 2018 XMAS activity for its national award program: Holy-land
Christianity On The Air (HOCOTA). The program includes numerous sites with
major significance to Christianity - well-known to every Christian and based
by the language and citation from the holy books, Christian tradition,
beliefs and heritage, as well documented archeology and other researches.
This is the third year of the program and the activity will be commenced
during the 2018 Christmas season (December 25-29th) by 5 special event
multi-operators stations. The current sub-program includes Christian sites
from various sectors of the program including Kar Nachum, Caesarea, Jerusalem,
Latrun and Massada. Look for the following to be active:
  1. Callsign 4X2XMAS; KFAR NACHUM - ?(Capernaum) Church of the Holy
     Apostles; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM72SV, HOLYLAND Loc. K-07-YZ, HOLYLAND
     N05KN and 4XFF-0064); Operators 4Z1DZ, 4Z5SL, 4Z1SH, 4X6ZM, 4Z1KD
     and 4X1KW; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE
     YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME


  2. Callsign 4X3XMAS; CAESAREA - Crusader Fortress; Ref. No. (Category
     F-01, WW. Loc. KM72KM, F-09-FD and 4XFF0161); Operators 4Z1NB, 4X1OM,
     4Z1KM and 4X6FR; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT
     WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME


  3. Callsign 4X19HNY; JERUSALEM; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM72 and J-18-JS);
     Operators 4X1KS, 4X1ZZ and 4X1TQ; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO
     BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME


  4. Callsign 4X9XMAS; LATRUN; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM71LU and G-17-RM);
     Operators 4X1IG, 4Z4DX, 4X6RE, 4Z4UO, 4X5AR and 4X5ZS; QSL ONLY via
     LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME


  5. Callsign 4X0M; See details above under "4X0, ISRAEL (Update/Special
     Event)"; QSL via IK2DUW


  For more details, see QRZ.com for each callsign.....


BLOCKED/BOUNCED OPDX BULLETINS (Update). Some OPDX Bulletins are still
being BLOCKED. However, the good news is that the bouncing of bulletins
seems to have stopped. The majority of the bounces/blockings are from the
following ISPs: COMCAST, COX and GMAIL. We are not totally sure why this
is happening, but if your ISP blocks the OPDX Bulletin, please send a
complaint to your ISP.
  We were informed this past week that if you use one of the above ISPs
there is away to stop the blocking. If you are an ARRL member, try using
their mail forwarding service (see ).
This service will pass the bulletin through to your ISP.
  If you did not receive the bulletin, there are other ways to receive
it. The bulletin is posted every week at the following URLs:  
      The OPDX (Mailing List) Archives: http://hamnet.org/pipermail/opdx
    The OPDX Web page (provided by John, K8YSE): http://papays.com/opdx.html


     The weekly bulletin (issue #) is also posted (for the above URLs)
   on FaceBook  and
   Twitter . Let's hope this problem will
   clear up. Thanks for your understanding..... 73 de Tedd KB8NW 


DF13, GERMANY (Special Event). Look for special event stations DF13DEJU,
DF13BLN, DF13BUD, DF13MUC, DF13PAR and DF13STO to be active between January
1st and June 30th, 2019. Activity is to celebrate the 100th anniversary
of the maiden flight of the Junkers F-13, the mother of all commercial
aircraft. All QSOs will be automatically confirmed after July 15th, 2019,
with a QSL card via Bureau. If you do not need a QSL card, let them know.
This saves their money and time. Send direct QSLs via DM2TO cards --
shipping starting after August 1st, 2019. For more details and info on
awards, see their QRZ.com page.


E4, PALESTINE. YL Elvira, IV3FSG, is once again active as E44YL from
Bethlehem until December 18th. Activity will be on various HF bands.
Look for Elvira to operate SSB and the Digital modes (RTTY and FT8).
QSL all SSB and Digital mode QSOs via IK3GES. Logs will be uploaded
to both LoTW and ClubLog after the operation.


FK, NEW CALEDONIA. Phil, F6OBD, will be active as FK/F6OBD from New
Caledonia between December 18th and February 10th (2019). Activity will
be holiday style on various HF bands, using the Digital modes with a
FT-857 into wire antennas. QSL via F6OBD.


IOTA NEWS..............
  AS-032.  Take, JS6RRR/JI3DST, will be active from Nishinoomate-City,
           Tanega Island, between 0900z, December 26th and 0000z, January
           7th. He will use the following callsign: JI3DST/6 for DX, and
           JS6RRR/6 & JL3YWN/6 for JA stations. Activity will be on
           80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters using CW, SSB, FM, RTTY and
           FT8. Operations may vary in case of heavy rains or other
           conditions. QSL routes are as follows: JI3DST/6 via JI3DST;
           JS6RRR/6 via JS6RRR and JL3YWN/6: ONLY 1 WAY (Please don't
           send QSL to him). Please check QRZ.com for details. Look for
           logs to be posted on ClubLog.


  NA-079.  Operators Faith Hannah (AE4FH), Hope (KM4IPF), and Dad (WX4TV)
           will be operating amateur radio from the Dry Tortugas National
           Park from December 14-17th. Their call will be N4T. QSL via
           WK1DS.
             This trip to the Dry Tortugas is a dry run to see if it is
           feasible to take other young amateur radio operators to the
           island to give them the experience of going on an amateur radio
           DXpedition. If this trip is successful, the plan is to form a
           501-C3 non-profit to begin to take two or three young hams each
           year to the Dry Tortugas or other islands to give them this
           experience.
             The Dry Tortugas are a desired entity in the amateur radio
           world, so the team expects to make lots of contacts during the
           three days that they are on the air from the island. They will
           be operating on HF (shortwave) and also the amateur radio satel-
           lites, in an attempt to contact as many other amateur radio
           operators as possible.
             Reference numbers are: IOTA NA-079, USI# FL013S, WFF ref#
           KFF-0023, GRID EL-84, and the National Parks on the Air: Dry
           Tortugas K-0023.
             To prepare for this trip, the girls and Dad camped in the
           Crane Point Hammock in the Florida Keys and operated during
           the RSGB IOTA Contest in late July, 2018.  The girls gained
           experience in primitive camping skills, preparing food over
           open fires, and operating from a tent with battery and solar
           power.
             The National Park Service and the Yankee Freedom Ferry do
           not allow liquid fuels or accelerants on the island, so they
           needed to find a way to boil water using dry fuel. They tried
           many different ways to boil water for food preparation and
           every one of them failed­until they found the Kelly Kettle.
           They will be using the Ultimate Stainless Base Camp Kit for
           food preparation. Watch the YouTube channel for a video that
           they will be producing about this very soon!
                           


  NA-250.  NEW IOTA! A couple of sources are reporting that operators
           Mike/K9AJ and Bruce/KD6WW are planning to be active from
           Yakutat County Group, Coastal Groups (Alaska), sometime between
           May 10-13th, 2019. Look for more details to be forthcoming.


  PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new  have
  decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA
  operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX,
  and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin......


J2, DJIBOUTI. DX-WORLD.net reports: "A DXpedition to Djibouti (J2) in
the early part of 2019 is currently in planning stages. Full details in
the coming weeks, however DX-World understands that side-trips to both
IOTA groups AF-053 and AF-059 are under consideration. A license has
been applied for and a callsign should be known soon."


P4, ARUBA. Ben, DL6RAI, is once again active as P4/DL6RAI from Aruba
(SA-036) until December 27th. Activity will be holiday style with a
focus on CW, the low bands and some part-time activities in contests.
QSL via LoTW or ClubLog.


P4, ARUBA. John, W2GD, will once again be active as P40W from Aruba (SA-036)
during the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 16-17th) as a Single-
Op/All-Band entry. He will be there between February 18-25th. Operations
outside of the contest are usually on 160/80m and 30/17/12 meters as time
permits. Watch 160m on the hour and 80m on the half hour. QSL via LoTW or
direct to N2MM, Bureau cards are no longer accepted. Logs will be loaded
on LoTW upon his return to the USA.


PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 10-16th).......
 Dec/10th AN      Dec/13th  AN     Dec/15th  AN
 Dec/11th AN      Dec/14th  AN     Dec/16th  AN
 Dec/12th AN


   SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE
   ======================================================
    NORMALITY               GEOMAG       K Values    Alpha
   -----------------        ------       --------    ------
   AN  - Above Normal       Quiet        K=0-1       0-7
   HN  - High Normal        Unsettled    K=2         8-15
   LN  - Low Normal         Active       K=3         16-29
   BN  - Below Normal       Minor Storm  K=4         30-49
   DIS - Disturbed          Major Storm  K=5         50-99
   VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9       100-400


 ** REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE 
    is still down. Nothing to report.


    Meanwhile, check out the following Web sites:
     * VOACAP predication Web page at:  http://www.voacap.com/hf
     * DX.QSL.NET Propagation page: https://dx.qsl.net/propagation
     * A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at:
             https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm
     * SolarHam Web page:   http://www.solarham.net
     * Radio Propagation/Space Weather/Sunspot Cycle Information at:
                           http://sunspotwatch.com
     * Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm


QSL INFO AND NEWS...................
  QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF  
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3W1T via XV1X (d)         LZ532PSO via LZ1KCP       SO750W via SP6CES
  4Y1A via UA3DX            OH9S via OH9S (O/L)       SP/DJ1AA/M via DJ1AA 
  B5/IK7YTT via IW7EGQ (d)  PD18SANTA via PD2RKG      TC630MECCA via TA3X
  C5A via OM2FY             PF2018SNK via PA0MBD & (L) TM8AB via F4KJQ
  DU1/JH1FNS via JH1FNS (d**/e)  R2AA via RW3RN       TX0M via VE3LYC
  EG1AQ via EA1URO & (e)    S510SOTA via S58R         UZ2M via US0LW
  EH40CE via EA7URM         S511PMC via S59DCD        YP2XMAS via YO2MSB
  GW4J via GW0ETF (d/L)     SN0UNESCO via SP9KDU
  HP3/NL8F via N7RO         SN5M via SP5UAF


  (e) eQSL only  (d) direct only   (B) Bureau only  (*-B) DX's- Bureau
  (O) OQRS only  (C) ClubLog only  (L) LoTW only    (N) No QSL needed
  (I) No IRC     (P) PayPal        (NB) No Bureau
  (**) direct to DU address


  QSL MANAGER Vasiliy, RW6HS, informs that he is now the QSL Manager
  for all of the following stations: RZ4AZ, RZ4AZ/P, RZ4AZ/6, RZ4AZ/7/M,
  RZ4AZ/QRP, RY4AAE, RY4AAE/QRP, R110B, R163VW, R164VW, R165VW, RP72FV
  and UE64AS.


  QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 5Z4LS, A45XR, AA4V/VP9, C6AAT, DJ0SP, DL1DAW,
  DL1YAY, DP0GVN, FG/F6ARC, FG/SM7RYR, FM5FJ, FY5KE, IS0/OE2LCM, J68GD,
  J73WA, KG4HF, LA1MFA, LU2FGL, LZ33MM, LZ73ZZ, MD/DL7JOM, N1RNJ, OA4SS,
  OG7A, OH0Z, ON6VL, PI4CC, PJ7AA, RI1ANL, TI5/N3KS, TK0C, TO40CDXC, TO60K,
  V26K, VP2MUW, VP2MXP, VP2V/K6NAO, XE2JS, YJ0GC (OC-035), ZL7X (OC-038)
  and ZP4KFX


  QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 7X4AN, 9X0T, EK3SA (02/2010 and 11/2011) and
  TO6OK.


  QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 2M0DDS, 4L1MA, 5H1WW, 5V7BD, 6Y1LZ,
  A61ZX, CE3/UA4WHX, CR2X, CU9AB, DL0JBB, DL1BUG, GM4ULS, HB9LB, HB9TNW,
  HP1/IZ6BRN, HZ1XB, IN3ZNR, JA1OJJ, OA7/DL1CW, OH0V, SP9FOW, UA2FL,
  Z35T and ZD8N
   --- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc)
       send in their info....


TI5, COSTA RICA. Operators Mike/W1USN and Bob/AA1M will be active from
Atenas, Costa Rica, as homecall/TI5 between February 2-13th, 2019. They
will be operating on CW, SSB, some Digital modes, and they hope to catch
a few of the FM satellites. All QSLing will be through LoTW, by the Bureau
and direct to CBA.


YP[2-9], ROMANIA (Special Event). Look for the following special event
Santa Claus stations to be active during December. Activity will be on
various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. An electronic award
will be issued for working stations on at least 3 different bands upon
request. QSL via YO2MSB or see QRZ.com (under YP2XMAS) for more details.
Here are the special event stations and their locations:
 YP2XMAS - Timisoara (QSL via YO9FNP)     YP7XMAS - Arges (QSL via YO2MSB)
 YP3XMAS - Bucuresti (QSL via YO9FNP)     YP8XMAS - Suceava (QSL via YO2MSB)
 YP4XMAS - Cernavoda (QSL via YO2MSB)     YP9XMAS - Buzau  (QSL via YO9FNP)
 YP5XMAS - Transilvania (QSL via YO9FNP)  YP0XMAS - Giurgiu (QSL via YO9KYO)
 YP6XMAS - Brasov (QSL via YO2MSB)


YS, EL SALVADOR (Update/Callsign & Date Change). Tom, KC0W, will be active
as YS2/KC0W (not YS1/KC0W as first announced) from El Salvador between
February 15-22nd, 2019. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW only.
QSL via his home callsign. NO LoTW or NO Bureau. ADDED NOTE. Read about
Tom's planning (or as he calls it the "Anatomy of a DXpedition") at: 
    https://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,123022.0.html


Z6, KOSOVO. Operators Philipp/DK6SP, Tomi/HA8RT, Flo/OE3FTA and Horia/
YO3IMD will be active as Z66DH from Pristina between December 10-22nd.
They state, "Who are we? ... We are 4 enthusiastic young amateur radio
operators aged between 20 and 25 years old." Activity will be on all HF
bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes (FT8 - mostly F/H - DXpedition
Mode!) They will have three stations on the air. QSL Manager is Jamie,
M0SDV (direct). Also, QSL via LoTW or ClubLog (for direct and Bureau).
For any questions, special skeds etc, don't hesitate to contact the team
directly at .


ZK3, TOKELAU ISLANDS. An international team led by operators Roman/UR0MC
and Alex/UT5UY is planning an DXpedition to Tokelau Islands sometime
between October-November 2019. ZK3 is currently #42 on the DXCC Most
Wanted List. Alex informs OPDX that ZK3 is very highly rated on the low
bands and EME. Look for more details to be forthcoming.

TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to:
Help: opdx-request@barf80.org?subject=help
Subscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org?subject=subscribe
Unsubscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org?subject=unsubscribe

OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE):

http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx

ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT:

http://www.nodxa.org/
http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation

Excerpts and distribution of The OPDX Bulletin are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receive credit.
To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to:
kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
- OR -
kb8nw@hotmail.com
- OR -
kb8nw@arrl.net

Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at:
1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!)

Back to the OPDX Index
Back to the NODXA
Back to the EIDX Network