OPDX Bulletin 840 January 7, 2008

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 840
BID: $OPDX.840
January 7, 2008
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, N1NK, NC1L, N3ZOM, NG3K, W3AWU, W3TN, W3UR & The Daily DX, WK3N, N4AA & QRZ DX/DX Magazine, N4SIA, KH6BZF, K8CX, K8YSE, DX-IS News Site, Pete's-DX-Newsdesk, DK8JB, DL6IAN, DL7MAE & The DX News Letter, F5NQL & UFT, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, F8AFC, GM3ITN, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, OK3AA, RSGB IOTA Web Site, VA3RJ & ICPO, VK4FW and XE1GRR for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 30th-December, through Sunday, 6th-January there were 225 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 3Y/b, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5U, 5V, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, R1FJ, S2, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T32, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2V, VP8, VP8/h, VP8/o, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, 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" (WFWL).

3Y, BOUVET ISLAND (Update)
There have been a few reports that Petrus/3Y0E has been active, but there have also been some reports that there have been several pirate stations on. Sounds clips of Petrus operations is now available on the 3Y0E Web page. Look for updates and announcements on the official 3Y0E operation Web page at:

http://www.3y0e.com

5H, TANZANIA (IOTA Op)
Hans, DL7CM, will once again be active as 5H1CM from Uroa White Villa, Zanzibar Island (AF-032, Grid KI93, WLOTA LH-1080), January 13-24th. He will be here on holiday with his wife, so activity may be limited. Activity will be on 160-6 meters (mainly on the low bands), CW, SSB and RTTY. He will be using an IC-706 w/800 watt amp into a long sloper (31 meters) for 160/80m and other wires antennas. QSL via DL7CM; bureau is "OK" or direct (prefered) to: Hans-Rainer Uebel, Hartmannsdorfer Chaussee 3, 15528 Spreenhagen, Germany. For more info, visit his Web page at:

http://www.qsl.net/dl7cm/5H1.htm

AH0/KH0, MARIANA ISLANDS (Reminder)
Operators Koya/JI5RPT and Toru/JI5USJ will be active as AH0V and KH0/JI5USJ from Saipan this week between January 10-14th. Activity will be on 80-6 meters, also 60m for USA, the satellites, CW, SSB and Digital modes. Operations will be from Saipan Rental Shack. Koya states, "I'll try to operate on 60m. If you want a SKED on 60m band, please E-mail me." His E-mail address is: ji5rpt@jarl.com QSL AH0V via JI5RPT and KH0/JI5USJ via JI5USJ. ADDED NOTE: Visit JI5RPT's Web Blog at:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/ji5rpt
Also his Web page at:
http://www.ji5rpt.com/ah0v/

ANTARCTICA NEWS
Helmuth, W6KDX, current radio operator at KC4AAA from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Antarctica Base can usually be found on 20 meters SSB (watch around 14177 or 14200 kHz) between 1700-0400z. Scotty, WK3N, recently talked to Helmuth and was told that Larry, K1IED, is the QSL route. He was also told that Larry has not answered cards currently, as many of the logs remained at the South Pole. Helmuth intends to gather up all logs he can find and have them sent to K1IED. Helmut says he likes to chat rather than run pile-ups. He also stated that some have received cards by using the direct mail route to the KC4AAA station.

Les, GM3ITN, has put together a very nice "Antarctica QSL Gallery". Maybe you worked some of these stations. Take a look! You can visit the Web page at:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/leshamilton//1stalbum/

The La Salle Radio Club has received a license to operate from the "Spanish Antarctic Base Juan Carlos 1" as ED3RKL. The Spanish scientific expedition will stay there until January 17th. Activity will be limited to operator's spare time.

Ludwig, ZS6WLC, is expected to be active as ZS7BYRD from the SANAE IV Antarctic Base between now and February. Activity will be on 20 meters using CW, SSB and AM. QSL via operator's instructions.

DXCC NEWS
Bill Moore, NC1L, ARRL DXCC Manager, informs that the following operations are approved for DXCC credit:
5L2MS - Liberia 2007 Operation
D2NX - Angola 2007 Operation
S79UU and S79AB - Seychelles Islands 2007 Operations

DX MAGAZINE'S "2007 MOST WANTED SURVEY RESULTS"
You may want to pick up a copy of the January/February 2008 "The DX Magazine". The magazine has the results of the top 100 "Most Wanted Countries" for the year 2007. The survey's breakdown and results were done by Carl Smith/N4AA (DX Mag's editor), Roger Western/G3SXW and Tim Kirby/G4VXE. The "Top Ten" countries (entities) in the "World-Wide" ranking mixed modes are as follows (listed with last year's results):


              2007           DXCC               2006
              Rank          Entity              Rank
            ---------    ---------------     -----------   
               1         North Korea (P5)        3
               2         Yemen (7O)              4
               3         Navassa (KP1)           5
               4         Glorioso (FR/G)         6
               5         Bouvet (3Y/B)           7
               6         Marion Island (ZS8)     9
               7         Desecheo (KP5)          8
               8         Scarborough Reef (BS7H) 1
               9         Crozet (FT8W)           11
              10         Heard Island (VK0/H)    10
From the looks of the list, last year's top 5 entities have moved up two. Why? Two major operations in 2007 have caused this change in the list. First was the Lakshadweep (VU7) operations in late 2005 and early 2007. VU7's ranking last year was 2, but now it is 64 (Wow! What a drop.). Then there was Scarborough Reef (BS7H) in May 2006. BS7H went from a ranking of 1 to 8. This number is real deceiving. After further looking at the breakdown of the regional charts, BS7H's ranking (*w/2006) are as follows: Europe Only - 28 (1), Asia Only - 39 (7) and North America - 3 (1). No charts were published in the article for the VK/ZL, South America and Africa. North American stations may find this interesting. Ranking by time zones: Pacific - 20 (4), Mountain - 8 (3), Central 3 (1) and Eastern 3 (1).

For more details on the results, please pick-up a copy of this super publication. Also, Carl, N4AA, editor of "The DX Magazine" and "QRZ DX Newsletter", will usually have a listing of the results on the following Web page at:

http://www.dxpub.com/
We will make an announcement when they are added to that Web site. ONE LAST NOTE: Also in this January/February 2008 issue is the interesting story of the BS7H operation.

DX SOUND CLIPS
Tom, K8CX, noted for his great "Ham Gallery" Web site, has added a new page of interest for DXers. He now provides 111 DX Sound Clips from DXpeditions that took place in 2007. Visit the new page at:

http://hamgallery.com/dx2007/
All were recorded by K8CX.

FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY (DXCC Newest Entity!)
By the time you read this, Paul/F6EXV and Yuichi/JR2KDN should be on Saint Barthelemy and "possibly" active as early as late evening January 6th. Activity will last until January 20th. Paul/F6EXV informed OPDX that they have received the proper license and were issued the special callsign TO5FJ. This callsign will be used on all bands and modes. QSL via F6EXV. Support will be appreciated, as some of the equipment will be donated to the FJ5KH radio club for the use by club members. A Web page is now up and running for this activity at:

http://www.f6exv.org
Paul suggests, "Please update your logging programs so the call is recognized as Saint Barthelemy." Activity will be on 160-10m, CW, SSB and RTTY. They will use beam antennas from Cushcraft, vertical and dipole antennas, Yaesu FT2000 and FT857 plus 500W amplifiers.

Gregg, W6IZT, will be active from the club station FJ5KH on the island between January 9-11th. QSL via FJ5KH using the QRZ.com address.

Craig, AH8DX, has announced that he will be active as FJ/AH8DX during the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 1-2nd) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. Look for activity before and after the contest on 30/17/12 meters and RTTY. QSL via AH8DX.

(Update) Members of the RZS Amateur Radio Club (W2RZS) are expected to be active from here between March 25th and April 1st. They plan to operate in the upcoming CQ WW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th). The W2RZS team will tentatively consist of Bob/WB2NVR, Mike/WA2VQW, Bob/N2DVQ and Adam/N2DHH. They will be concentrating on 160m and the 30/17/12 meters bands before and after the contest, and of course, operate 80/40/20/15/10 meters during the contest. Mike/WA2VQW informs OPDX, "Our antennas will be the same as we have been using for our three previous J75 DXpeditions. We hope to get as many of you in our log as possible during our 7 day stay. Please don't hesitate to give us a call, we will look for the 'weak ones' and the MOBILES!"

FO/M, MARQUESAS ISLANDS
Operators Jouko/OH1RX, Pertti/OH2PM, Veijo/OH6KN and Juha/OH8NC will be active from Nuku Hiva (OC-027), January 9-22nd. Activity will be on 160-10 meters with a maximum of three stations running. However, they plan to concentrate on 160-30 meters. Here are the following suggested frequencies:
CW - 1822, 3502, 3523, 7008, 7023, 10108, 14008, 14023, 18068, 21008, 21023, 24898 and 28008 kHz
SSB - 1845, 3790, 7050, 19195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495 kHz
RTTY - 14080, 21080 and 28070 kHz

Their callsigns will be announced later. QSL via OH2PM, by the Bureau or direct to: Pertti Simovaara, Suomusjarventie 460, 25390 Kiikala, Finland. Martti, OH2BH, has been announced as the pilot station for their operation. Their Web site is now available online at:

http://sm0w.com/marquesas/

HB0, LIECHTENSTEIN
Bernd/DL6IAN and his XYL Petra/DO6IAN will be active as HB0/DL6IAN and HB0/DO6IAN, July 13-18th. Activity will be holiday style mainly on SSB with some CW. QSL via their home callsigns, by the DARC Bureau or direct.

HI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (NA-096)
Look for Simone, IZ5JNQ, to be active from Santo Domingo this week. Callsign was not announced but he is expected to be there between January 8-26th. Activity will be on 20/15/10 meters, SSB and the digital modes. QSL direct to his home callsign.

IOTA NEWS
SA-071. (Correction - not SA-021 as listed in OPDX.839) A team of Brazilian operators will be active as PW2M from Moela Island, February 1-8th. See OPDX.839 for details.

KG4, GUANTANAMO BAY
Tip, N4SIA/KG4AS, informs OPDX that he and three other operators will be going to GTMO at the end of January for 2 weeks. The team will be erecting a new Force 12 and a new windom antenna, plus make some repairs to other equipment. They plan to be on the air on all bands. More info and the callsigns are forthcoming.

NEW SOLAR CYCLE 24 HAS BEGUN!
Solar physicists, who have been waiting for an appearance of a reversed-polarity sunspot, state that this event has taken place on January 4th. This reversed-polarity sunspot signals the start of a new solar cycle. However, this mark may indicate the beginning of "Solar Cycle 24", but does not mean we may see large increases in solar activity right away. "Space Weather News" states, "Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max (expected in 2011 or 2012). It's a slow journey, but we're on our way!" For pictures of the new sunspot and updates, please visit the following Web page at:

http://spaceweather.com

PJ7, SINT MAARTEN
By the time you read this, Gregg, W6IZT, is expected to be active as PJ7/W6IZT (just before his FJ operation -- See above) until January 8th and again between January 11-13th. Activity will be limited (family vacation), but operations will be on 80-10 meters, CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via AI4U.

QSL INFO AND NEWS
Tony, XE1GRR, Pilot Station for 6E4LM, XF4YK and XF4YW, informs OPDX that he has uploaded all the logs (6E4LM, XF4YK and XF4YW) on the following Web site at:

http://www.6e4lm.xedx.org

Milan, OK3AA, QSL Manager for ET3JA, informs OPDX that as of January 1st (2008), international postage from OK-land has gone up, so one USD is now not sufficient for QSL returns.

FJ/OH2AM logs are now available online at the following Web site:

http://www.n4gn.com/cgi-bin/fjlogsearch

NEED A QSL MANAGER! Frank, N3ZOM, informs OPDX that he is offering his services as QSL Manager to any Amateur outside of the USA. His E-mail is good via (QRZ.com).

OLD QSL COLLECTION. Jean Michel, F6AJA, wants to remind everyone to visit the Les Nouvelles DX (LNDX) Web page to see more than 4900 old QSL cards in several different albums/galleries. This site contains:

- The ten most wanted DXCC entities (2004, 2005, 2006) with more than 160 QSLs
- At least, one card, for each 58 deleted DXCC countries (more than 400 QSLs)
- Nearest the totality of current prefixes, disappeared now (more than 1900 QSLs)
- More than 600 QSLs from the Antarctic bases.
- Nearly 230 QSLs from the TAAF (Terres Australes and Antarctiques Françaises).
- More than 100 QSL for the rare French islands such as FK/C, FO/C, and FR/B/E/G/J/T
- More than 250 cards for the old timer with more than 110 countries before 1945.
- A card from the French Department before 1945.
- One card from each of the states in the U.S. before 1945.
The URL address for the Web site is :
http://LesNouvellesDX.free.fr
Some cards are still needed for the collection, and your particip- ation is welcome. Please visit their site and give them your comments by sending an E-mail to: LesNouvellesDX@free.fr

VK4FW QSLING. QSL Manager Bill Horner, VK4FW, reports: "All QSLing has been postponed until further notice for all callsigns I manage. I am 4 hours away from home, nursing my wife back to health. She has just coompleted her 6th session of chemo, so we expect to be here for another couple of months at this stage. As soon as I return home QSLing will be an IMMEDIATE PRIORITY..... Regards, Bill Horner VK4FW" (OPDX and its readers wish Bill's wife a complete recovery.....)

QSL Manager Jim, N1NK, has informed the DX community that he has uploaded the logs for Yuri, XE1UN, to LoTW. This includes XE1NVX, 6J1UN, 4A1UN, 6H1UN and XE1UN.

QSLS VIA LOTW: 4O3A, 5J0A, CT3IA, DL2DX, GI0KVQ, GM3POI, J3A, J38AA, N8S, PJ2/DL5CW, V26H and ZL8R

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 3C7Y, 3D2VB, 3X5A, 5B4NC/p, 5X1VB, 5Z4/UA4WHX, 6W1SJ, 7Q7VB, 9J2VB, 9U0VB, C6ATA, HI3A, OY/PA0VHA, TK/F5OAM, V36M, VE1OTA, VE1OTA/9, VP8CXV, Z2/UA4WHX, Z29KM and ZP5AA

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: No reports this week....

TF, ICELAND
Siggi, TF3CW, will be active during the CQ 160-Meters CW Contest (January 26-27th) as a Single-Op/Single-Band (40m) entry. His QTH will be from Seltjarnarnes (EU-021, WLOTA LH-2975). QSL via LX1NO.

TR, GABON (Update)
Roland, F8EN/TR8CR, continues to be active from Libreville until January 12th. He has received a special callsign TR50R (TR5 Zero R) for celebrating his 50 years in amateur radio. Roland was spotted using the special callsign this past week on CW on 14006 kHz around 1530z. Generally, most of his activity will be on 20 meters during his morning and evening hours. QSL via F6AJA or F8EN.

VP6/D, DUCIE ISLAND
Thirteen operators are still preparing for their large operation to this remote island which takes place in February. The VP6DX international team consists of Dietmar/DL3DXX, Ben/DL6FBL, Carsten/ DL6LAU, Andy/DL8LAS, Tonno/ES5TV, Eric/K3NA, Milt/N5IA, Harry/RA3AUU, Les/SP3DOI, Robert/SP5XVY, Cliff/SV1JG, Andy/UA3AB and Robert/WA6CDR. All operators will fly to Mangareva on February 5th and board "Braveheart" (already waiting in port). After clearing French Polynesia customs, the team will set sail to Ducie Island (as early as February 6th, but no later than February 9th). Weather and sea conditions permitting, the team should be at the island early Saturday morning at sunrise (but no later than the 11th). The schedule for the beginning of the tear down will be February 27th.

They will have two operating sites with possibly 7 stations on the air. Activity will be on 160-6 meters, CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via DL6LAU, Direct only to: Carsten Esch, Drosselweg 3, 21376 Salzhausen, Germany. For Bureau QSL cards, they request you use the "Online QSL Request System" found on their Web site (See the Web site for details). They will confirm the online QSL requests for bureau cards at the very last after the direct requests are processed (probably 8-12 month after the expedition). PLEASE DO NOT send cards via the bureau! The team is still looking for contributions because of the very high cost of this operation. For details on how to donate funds, up-to-date news, profiles of the operators, and an on-line log search during the operation, please visit the VP6DX Web page at:

http://www.vp6dx.com

** IMPORTANT NOTICE/REMINDER **
The Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin now has a new FAX number.
Contributors can now send/fax their DX information to the following number:
1-419-828-7791 ( F A X only! )

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

PLEASE NOTICE (as of February 12th), NEW ADDRESS CHANGES FOR THE OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

Help: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:help
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OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE (k8yse@papays.com):
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, please send via InterNet Mail to:
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- OR -
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Information can now be faxed to the following "NEW" phone line at:
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