The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 540
BID: $OPDX.540
December 10, 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 Network, NC1L, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, N6CW, W7KEU, K8AV, K8YSE, NW0L, 9Y1YC, CE7ZK, CT1ETE, DL1EK & DX News Letter, DL6KAC, DL6ZFG, EB3GCP, F5NQL & UFT, FY5FU, LA6FJA, OE1GZA, SP5EWY, VA3RJ & ICPO, VE2XO and ZL2RR for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 2/December, through Sunday, 9/December there were 233 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4S, 4U1I, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5N, 5R, 5U, 5V, 5W, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9U, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, C9, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E3, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FO/a, FP, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HM, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH8, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S2, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T30, T5, T7, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TL, TR, TU, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP5, VP6, VP8, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YJ, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZD8, ZD9, ZF, ZK1/s, ZL, ZL7, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations. As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later" (WFWL).

DXCC NEWS
Bill Moore, NC1L, DXCC Manager has sent out the following press releases:

"ZK1NCI (North Cook Island) has been on hold awaiting supporting documentation. This has been received and upon review it is now being accepted for DXCC credit. Anyone who had this rejected during a past submission can contact DXCC at: dxcc@arrl.org for an update to his or her record. Or, it can be sent with the next submission for credit. (This operation occurred in January and February 2000)."

"T5/DL8YR, Somalia from 1993 has been approved for DXCC credit. Note: We do not have records of rejections made prior to March 1, 1998. If your card was part of a submission dated March 1, 1998 or before, the card must be sent along with your next application for approval. (This operation dates were from April 20, 1993 to May 22, 1993)."

3X, GUINEA
Francois, VE2XO, will be in 3X-land between December 26th and January 5th. He is expected to be operating as 3XY6A while he is in Conakry (capital city) hopefully December 26-27th and January 3-5th. However, he will be operating as 3XY8A when he is on Roume Island (Los Archipelago, AF-051), from December 28th to January 2nd. Francois will be active mainly on SSB (and on PSK31 from time to time) on 20/17/15/12/10 meters. He will be operating split (listening up 5 to 10 on SSB and up 1 to 2 on PSK31). His preferred frequencies on SSB will be DX frequencies and the IOTA frequencies (+/- QRM):
20m - 14195 (3XY6A) and 14260 (3XY8A)
17m - 18145 (3XY6A) and 18128 (3XY8A)
15m - 21295 (3XY6A) and 21260 (3XY8A)
12m - 24945 (3XY6A) and 24950 (3XY8A)
10m - 28495 (3XY6A) and 28460 (3XY8A)
His preferred frequencies on PSK31 will be: 14070, 18100, 21070, 24920 and 28120 kHz. Francois also mentions that this is a one man "Holiday DXpedition", so he won't be operating 24 hours a day and will also spend some time enjoying the beach! He would like to thank K2KW and N6BT for providing him with a set of Force 12 SVDA, and LZ1JK and K1LZ for providing him with an ACOM 1000. QSL via VE2XO (direct only): Francois Normant, 3054 avenue Lacombe, Montreal QC H3T 1L4, Canada.

4W, EAST TIMOR
If you need this one on 20/15/10 meters CW, Thor, 4W6MM, continues to very active on/around 28002, 21002 and 14002 kHz, usually between 1130-1330z and around 0200z.

E4, PALESTINE
Guenter, OE1GZA, informs OPDX that after the unfortunate cancellation of his planned E4 activity for the CQWW SSB Contest (due to security reasons), E4/OE1GZA was still able to be active on November 23-24th and logged a total of 1,027 SSB contacts. Watch out for his next E4 activity on either December 14-15th or 21-22nd (if the regional security situation allows). However, it was reported as this bulletin was being prepare that the borders were closed. We suggest to look for regular activity updates on the message board on the new Web page:

EA6, BALEARIC ISLANDS
Christian, DL6KAC, will be active on the Island of Mallorca (IOTA: EU-004, DIE: E-021) from December 21st through January 6th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters, maybe 80m, mainly on SSB (a CW Key is available) and using 350 watts of power into dipoles on the high bands, and an inverted "L" for 40/80 meters. This will be a holiday style operation. Callsigns were not provided, however, he will probably sign EA6/DL6KAC or DL6KAC/EA6. QSL via the DARC bureau or direct (qrz.com).

IOTA NEWS
AS-NEW. Yuki, JI6KVR, who operated from Amakusa Island (AS-012) this past weekend as JI6KVR/6, was using this operation in preparation for the upcoming Cham Island DXpedition to test the use of the FT-900 and the TA-33 antenna. QSL via EA5KB. Cham Island is in the South China Sea Coast North Group and operation dates are April 17-22nd.

SA-020. Pierre, FY5FU, informs OPDX that on January 12-13th, the Radio Amateur Club de Kourou (RACK - FY5KE) will be active on Royale Island in the Salut Islands Group. Activity will be on 20-10 meters, 6 meters and satellite AO-40. QSL via CBA direct or via bureau.

SA-NEW. (Update) Ismael, CE7AOY, will go it alone now to Riesco Island in the "Magallanes and Antarctic Chilena Province South Group, December 17-22nd. (Please refer to OPDX.539) Marco, CE7HJO, will not go as first reported due to a family situation. QSL CE7AOY/8 via CE7ZK direct only. NO bureau QSLs.

IRCS ARE CHANGING
According to an article written by Keith Retzer, W7KEU, look for IRCs to become larger and more attractive. They will be printed on heavier paper (check type paper) to allow for machine processing. They will also have a distinctive watermark along with a security rainbow, fluorescent zone, and micro-printing of letter. The new IRC will have a bar code and optical character reader (OCR) characters on the back. The last day for sale of the old IRCs are coming to an end quickly December 31, 2001. The new ones will go on sale the next day. Local post offices should already have the new IRCs because they were allowed to begin ordering the new IRCs in May.

KC4, ANTARCTICA
Chris, N3SIG, has been showing up a few days during the week as KC4/N3SIG from the McMurdo Base Station (AN-011). Watch 14243 kHz after 0400z. QSL via AI3D. Also, look for KC4AAA on the same frequency generally earlier, after 0200z. QSL via K1IED.

KH5, PALMYRA ISLANDS
Mike/KH6ND and Kimo/KH7U were expected to be active in the ARRL 160 Contest this past weekend from here, but due to some transportation delays which was beyond their control, they had to cancel their operation. With the delays, the operators would not have arrived on the island until sometime Sunday. There is an expected announcement about a future operation from Palmyra forthcoming soon. NEWS FLASH. Just before going to print, we received a message from Carl, N4AA, editor of QRZ DX, stating that the Kimo/KH7U, Pat/NH6UY and Walt/AH6OZ will be active for a short time on December 10th, sometime between 0300 and 1800z. Activity will be on 20 meters, possibly the WARC bands or 40 meters.

P5, NORTH KOREA
Ed, P5/4L4FN, continues to be active on 10 meters after 2200z. However, he has been showing up on 20 meters on 14260 kHz after 1300z, usually working stations from Asia and Europe.

PJ2, NETH. ANTILLES
Marty, NW0L, will be operating from the island of Curacao (IOTA SA-006), January 2-8th, and will be signing PJ2T in the ARRL RTTY Roundup Contest on January 5-6th. Before and after the contest, he will sign PJ2/NW0L, primarily on RTTY and SSB, on 80-10 meters, including 17/12 meter WARC bands. QSL PJ2T only via KN7Y and QSL PJ2/NW0L via his home callsign.

PJ2, NETH. ANTILLES
Remember to look for William/W9VA, Joe/W9JUV and W9EFL to be active from Curacao (SA-006), December 11th to 17th. They plan to operate in the ARRL 10-Meter Contest (December 15-16th), Single Op category, as PJ2T. Before and after the contest, look for them to be signing PJ2/homecall. QSL via home calls.

PY0F, FERNANDO DE NORONHA
Tony, PY8IT, will once again operate as PY0FT from here, December 12-18th. He will be concentrating on RTTY and PSK31. QSL via JA1ELY.

QSL INFO AND NEWS
Paulo, CT1ETE, reports that he is receiving QSL cards for 5V7A. He is NOT the QSL Manager for this station.

Rolf, DL6ZFG, reports that he is NO LONGER a checkpoint for the Russian Robinson Club (RRC) and for the Award Programme of RRC and RRA. Please send all applications and questions to the headquarters of the RRC in Lipetsk, Russia. The official Web site of the RRC is at:

Terry, N6CW, informs OPDX that anyone wanting QSL cards for ZD8A (Glenn, K6NA, who was currently active from Ascension Island) via the bureau can E-mail their QSO information to: QSLvia N6CW@aol.com This should speed up the QSL process and cut costs. He will also accept E-mail for any of the other QSLs he handles via the BUREAU ONLY. These included the recent activity of: VP2ECW, VP2VCW, VP2V/N6CW and TI4/N6CW.

Barry, ZL2RR, Manager of the NZART QSL Bureau, reports: "Many QSL cards are still arriving at the ZL QSL Bureau for ZL9AI, Z9C (Op says 'QSL Via NZART Buro') and ZL9DOC. All are for CW QSOs. These stations are PIRATE operations. Don't QSL! Also, many cards are arriving for CW QSOs with ZL7H. Please note that this callsign is ZL75. We are returning a large number of cards to senders because of the misreading of this special callsign."

S9, SAO TOME
A group of Scandinavian Hams will be active from here February 4-10th, possibly as S92LA. The "Team Hot Coil", co-ordinators Rune Oye/LA7THA and Stein Roar Brobakken/LA6FJA expect to be active on 160-6 meters, including the WARC bands, with operations on CW/SSB/PSK31/ RTTY and SSTV. Their main target will be the low bands, WARCs, DigiMode, CW, SSB and 6 meter. They plan to have at least two stations active 24 hours per day. Team members (along with their specialties) include the following:

   LA6FJA - Stein Roar Brobakken, age 22, HF Contesting, Lowbands, mostly
            CW DX Hunter, Antenna Builder, Technical man
   LA7THA - Rune Oye, age 34, CW/SSB/PSK31, HF contester
   LA5QKA - Oystein Sorheim, age 51, HF/VHF Contester, mostly SSB, Digimode
   LC3EAT - Svein Jarle, age 39 ,IT-cons.+ Technical man, 6m
   LC6ZBT - Robert, age 29, 6m, First-Aid
   LA5UF  - Harald Jorgen Hoel, age 62, HF Contester CW, SSB, PSK31
   SM5COP - Rune Wande, age 55, CW, LowBand, HF..UFB DX Hunter
   LA6EIA - Ole Forr, age 45, SSB Lowband, Contester, DX Hunter
   LA7WCA - Arne, age 50, SSB HF, Contester
   SM5IMO - Dan Hultgren, age 30, CW/SSB HF, is one of the Swedish Team
            for WRTC 2002

Rigs include: Yaesu FT1000MP (CW/Digi), Kenwood TS-850S (CW/SSB/Digi), Icom IC-746 SSB), Kenwood TS-2000 DSP (CW), Icom IC-706 (6m+ Beacon). Their Amplifiers: 3 x 1kw amplifiers. Antennas included: Titanex V160E, Battle Creek Wire Special (160/80/40), Inverted L (80/75m), 4 Square on 4x 10m glass fibre towers (40m), 2 x Beaverage Antennas for 160/80 or K9AY Loops (depends space in garden), Pre-Amp's for 80/160, Halfsquare 30m, MU Antenna for 30m, Butternut HF9VX 80-10 incl.WARC, Butternut HF6V-X 80-10, Churscraft AV5 80-10, 3 element yagi 6m, and a home made 2 x End-feed Zepp (one north and south SP/LP for all continents on 20-10 meters). The QSL Manager's address (LA2N) is: Sore Sunnmore Gruppa av NRRL, v/ Otto Norhagen, NO-6143 FISKAABYGD, NORWAY, Europe. Pilot stations are:

Trond, LA9VDA - North/South America & Low-Band; E-mail: la9vda@online.no
Tor, LA3WAA - 6m / Europe & Africa; E-mail: torpet@online.no
Teru, JM2HBO - Japan, Asia & Oceania; E-mail: teru@k-net.or.jp

For more information, check out their Web site at: http://www.qsl.net/s92la/

SPECIAL EVENT
On December 15th and 16th, the Catalonian Ham Radio Union and the Television of Catalonia will put on the air the very special callsign EG3TVC. The station's activity will be on the air during this year's 10th Marathon devoted to collecting funds for the scientific study of AIDS. For more information, please check the following WEB sites:

V5, NAMIBIA
DL2SL and Janusz/SP6IXF will be active from here next year (February/March 2002). Their departure is scheduled on February 14th from Berlin, and they should be active from February 15th from Farm Heimat, 130km west of the capital. They will head back home on March 8th. Their activity is planned for operations on all bands using a TS-450, TS-50, IC-706 MKII and the following antennas: 3 element Delta on 80/40m, TH3, slopers for the WARC bands, QQ or 4 element Yagi on 6 meters, also wires for beverages for 160m. The callsign used by SP6IXF will be V51/SP6IXF, and for DL2SL it will be V51/DL2SL.

VP8/SS & VP8/SG, SOUTH SANDWICH AND SOUTH GEORGIA ISLANDS (Update)
James Brooks, 9V1YC, sent out a press release on December 3rd on the upcoming DXpedition. In it he states, "VP8/sg South Georgia and VP8/ss South Sandwich will be activated on the HF bands in January and February of 2002. Operators are EI6FR, EI5IQ, HB9ASZ, PA3FQA, K0IR, W3WL, K4UEE, VE3EJ, N5KO, K5TR, W7EW and 9V1YC. Exact dates, callsigns and QSL managers are not being made public until we are on the air." The complete press release will be sent to all OPDX InterNet Subscibers as an addtional bulletin.

XU, CAMBODIA (Attention Topbanders)
Dick, N6FF, is now active from Sihanoukville signing XU7ACB. He will be here until December 17th. His activity is centered around the low bands, especially 160 meters. Look for him around/on 1828, 3525, 7003 and 10106 kHz. QSL via N6FF.

YA, AFGHANISTAN
Currently, all YA5T operators are out of the country and are expected to be back sometime early this week. Be advised that there has been a SLIM active using the YA5T callsign on 20 meters CW.

ZD8, ASCENSION ISLANDS
Jim, ZD8Z, has been really active on 80 meters this past week (with some activity on 40/30/17/10 meters). Watch 80 meters as early as 2145z and as late as 0300z between 3788 and 3797 kHz. Watch 30 meters (10102 or 10106) around 0200z and 17 meters starting at 0100z on 18072 or 18106 kHz. QSL via VE3HO.

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

OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

Help: opdx-request@nshore.org Subject:help
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OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE):
http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

ALSO VISIT THE NORTERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.papays.com/nodxa.html

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:

Additional Bulletins for OPDX InterNet Subscribers

December 3, 2001

VP8/sg South Georgia and VP8/ss South Sandwich will be activated on the HF bands in January and February of 2002. Operators are EI6FR, EI5IQ, HB9ASZ, PA3FQA, K0IR, W3WL, K4UEE, VE3EJ, N5KO, K5TR, W7EW and 9V1YC.

Exact dates, callsigns and QSL managers are not being made public until we are on the air. (Please note that the dates in an unofficial press release from 425 DX News were NOT correct. They are from an older plan.)

The New Zealand registered vessel "Braveheart" of ZL9CI fame will be supporting this team of 12 for the entire 30 day trip.

This DXpedition is the result of over two years of planning, coordination, and detailed permit applications by 9V1YC, EI6FR and N5KO.

A few important points:

1. This DXpedition is funded entirely by the 12 team members and a grant by the Northern California DX Foundation. There are no club, individual, equipment or QSL sponsors.

2. There will be no websites, no online-logs, no pilots, and no promises of any bands or modes. Given the dangerous nature of our destination we will simply focus on giving out a new overall DXCC entity.

3. Due to heavy environmental and safety restrictions on our permit we are taking ultra-light generators, simple antennas and low power. Despite a lengthy and difficult application process we are extremely grateful to the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands for their support and cooperation in this endeavour. Please understand that personal safety and a clean environmental approach is as important to us as it is to them.

4. Even though we are with an experienced Antarctic-rated support vessel and crew, there is always the chance we may not even make it to one of our destinations (Thule Island, South Sandwich) due to the extreme nature of Southern Ocean. We are prepared for this, and we hope the DX community will be too.

5. Contrary to the 425 press release, this DXpedition is NOT about QSO totals. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Unlike previous DXpeditions you may have worked, this time we are taking far less hardware and presenting the DX community with much more of a challenge. We feel that DXers need to get back to basics and work harder, so this time the burden of working the DXpedition is being shifted back home. (The hunt will be part of the fun, so if you need either of these two countries as an all time new one we suggest you beef up your stations and train your ears.)

6. We may be restricted to 6db less of signal, but we are taking 30db more of operator. You will probably notice many familiar callsigns on the roster.

See you on the bands.

James Brooks, 9V1YC"

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