Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 334
December 8, 1997

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 334
BID: $OPDX.334
December 8, 1997
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, W2KKZ, W3LEO, N4GN, K6RIM, K8RF, N0TG, N0AH, DL2HEB, DL7IO, DL7RAG, DU9RG, F6AJA & LNDX, G3SXW, G4BUE & DX News Sheet, G0ULN, LA6WEA, OH2KI, ON4BDS, TU5EX and ZS6PHD for the following DX information.

3B6, AGALEGA and ST. BRANDON. The "DX News Sheet" reports that Dov, 4Z4DX, and others will be active from this rare spot in May, 1998, as 3B7AZ and 3B7/HB9JAI.

3D2, FIJI. Hide, JM1LJS, is making an early announcement of his upcoming trip here in the new year. His activity will take place April 30th, through May 7th (of 1998) as 3D2LJ. Operation will be all bands including the WARC bands. QSL via home call.

4G, PHILIPPINES (Special Event). The special callsign 4G50N (4GfiftyN) was issued to ACES (Amateur Communications and Emergency Service Club) of Naga City, Philippines, to celebrate Naga City's 50th charter anniversary. This call will be in use from January 1, 1998, to March 31, 1998. QSL via DU9RG's new address: Robin U. Go, 818 Acacia Avenue, Ayala Alabang Village, 1780 Muntinlupa City, Philippines.

9M8, EAST MALAYSIA. The "DX News Sheet" reports Peter, PB0ALB, is planning to be active again for six weeks in April/May of 1998 as 9M8CC. Activity will be from Serian, 50 miles from Kuching, Sarawak. Operations will be on all bands. QSL via home call.

C5, THE GAMBIA. Lee, G0ULN, reports to OPDX that he will be here from December 19th to January 9th (1998). He will be on holiday in Gambia, but has received permission to take his H.F. radio with him. He will be signing C56/G0ULN, unless he is able to get a local call then it might be C56LE. Lee will be active daily around 14200 kHz and 21200 kHz (+/- QRM), on SSB only. He will be using an Icom 706 and a 1/2 size G5RV. QSL is via Lee Fuller, PO BOX 803, Hull, England, HU7 4BY.

DU100, PHILIPPINEGS (Special Event). Look for this special prefix to be used during the whole year of 1998 to celebrate the Philippines' 100th year of independence.

FG, LES SAINTES ISLAND. Alain, F2HE, will once again be active as FG/F2HE from this French Guadeloupe island (IOTA NA-114) between February 1-15th.

FT5X, KERGUELEN ISLAND. The French LNDX reports Helios, F6IHY, has left Reunion on the boat "Marion Dufresne" (ed. GEEE! Where did I hear that name before?). He will stop at Crozet Island from December 6-9th, without doing any radio activity. Helios will, however, arrive at Kerguelen on December 12th. He will use the FT5XN callsign for 6 months. He will use an IC-730 with a vertical and dipole. His suggested frequencies will be: SSB - 14209, 21209/309, 28509, 18159, 24959 and CW on request. QSL via F6PEN via bureau.

FT5Z, AMSTERDAM & ST. PAUL ISLAND. Eric, FT5ZG, has been showing up on 20 meters around 14278 kHz between 1500 and 1630z. Sometimes there is a list operation being taken by F5PFP. QSL via F5RQQ.

HP, PANAMA. You have little over a week left to work Gerard, F2JD/HP1XBI, before he leaves Panama on December 16th. He will go back to France, but he may be returning to Panama in January.

IOTA NEWS......

• David, ON4BDS, informs OPDX that his job will be taking him to Umea, Sweden, in early February, 1998, and he will stay there until the end of July. Off the coast of Umea, in the Gulf of Bothnia, there are two IOTA island groups, EU-135 Holmon island in SM, and EU-101 Norrbyskar in OH6-land. David states he just can't resist and will activate them both. Look for SM/on4bds/P and OH6/on4bds/p on the usual IOTA frequencies during the weekends. He has no clue when he will be active, and how much time he will spend on each island. He knows for sure that he will activate both groups for at least a weekend, but if the pile-ups are good, he will spend more weekends there. David will announce any planned operations a few weeks in advance. He will be taking his TS-50 with his switched-mode power supply and a FD4 wire antenna. He mostly works SSB, but if you want a CW QSO, don't hesitate to ask. QSLs are preferred through the bureau via his home callsign, or direct to David Steeman, Kapelweg 11, B9200 Dendermonde, Belgium (CBA).
• Ulli, DL2HEB, will use the callsign OZ/DL2HEB/p from Roemoe Island (EU-125) in the Danish Northsea Group (This island is actually well known because of the many stranded whales!). He will be active from December 19th through January 2nd (1998). Operations will be on 80-10 meters. He will only use CW and the "modern digital modes" (Amtor, Pactor I/II). All will be done by QRPower, maximum 4 watts. Check the IOTA and QRP frequencies, especially on CW, 14040 and 14060 kHz. QSL to his homecall DL2HEB via the bureau.

J7, DOMINICA. Bob, W2KKZ, will be operating from here March 1-8th (1998). He will be active for only part of the ARRL DX SSB Contest that weekend. He plans to be on 80-10 meters CW and SSB. He expects to be using the J7/W2KKZ callsign. QSLs go to the home call direct or via the bureau. He will QSL 100 % via the bureau shortly after his return.

K3VOA (Rare Section in the 10 Meter Contest). The Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC), thanks to the hospitality of the Voice of America Amateur Radio Club, will again activate K3VOA for the rare DC Section multiplier in the ARRL 10 Meters Contest December 13-14th. The multi-operator team (W3LEO, K3IXD, KD4QVT, N3NT, and WB3ECU) will be active on both CW and SSB. QSLs for this contest only go to W3LEO [ex KA3TGY], CBA, SASE please.

LA, NORWAY (80 meters). Ken, LA6WEA, reports to OPDX that there are hardly any times available during the winter season that LA stations can work the U.S. stations during their sunrise. He states, "We up here in the north (66.09N) are now in the greyline or darkness 24 hours." Ken mentions that he will be active almost everyday from 1100-1500z along with a couple of other Scandiavian stations too. So, look for them around 3780-3799.9 kHz.

NEW OFFICERS/DIRECTORS.......

• The Redwood Empire DX Association (REDXA), in Petaluma, CA, recently held an election of officers and directors. The new officers and directors, who will assume office in January, 1998, are: President - K6RIM, Al Burnham; Vice President - N6AD, Wally Pugh; Sec/Treasurer - WA6IKQ, Jim Selmi; Director - K6ANP, Len Giraldi; Director - N6YEU, Fred Leoni; and Director - N6OJ, Chuck Ternes.
• The Mile High DX Association has elected the following officers: President - Don McCoy, W0DM; Vice President - Bill Leahy, K0MP; and VP/Treasurer - Greg Dunn, W0ZA.

HEADED TO THE PACIFIC. Northern Ohio DX Association (NODXA) members and very good friends Holger, DL7IO, and Brigit, DL7IQ, will once again head back to the Pacific Ocean. This will be mainly a holiday/vacation trip. Holger states this is the first time in 8 years that Brigit and he will be going on a trip without their good ham radio friends. (Holger... Only she and me...) By the time you read this, Holger and Brigit, will be on their way to Vanuatu and should be there by December 9th. Currently they do not know what their callsigns will be. However, Holgers hints they hope to get something like YJ??IO and YJ??IQ. Their activity will last until December 16th, and then they will travel to the Solomon Islands (H44). Holger will be active again as H44IO (many may remember his activity in late 1992 along with his friends Tom and Frank) and Brigit is hoping to get H44IQ callsigns. Their stay on the Solomons will last only until January 3rd (or possibly the 10th). If they leave the Solomons on January 3rd, they will return to Vanuatu for another week. If they end up leaving the Solomons later, they will head to the Fiji and then home on January 12th. There will be no operation from Fiji. The equipment to be used on this trip are a Yeasu FT-890, 3 element beam, R7 Vertical and dipoles. Holger mentions that Lyndon, VE7TCP, will be providing a log search engine on the WEB for them during their activity. They will be able to upload their logs on a daily basis, and you should be able check out your contacts at: http://ve7tcp.ampr.org/cgi-bin/dl7io QSL direct to DL7VRO, Fritz Bergner, Sterndamm 199, D-12378 Berlin, Germany, or the preferred way, which is via Bureau. Bureau requests can also be obtained by sending an E-mail message to Fritz's InterNet address: dl7vro@aol.com

QSL INFO AND NEWS......

• QSLs for the TU3F special callsign must be sent to F6AXP. This is for all QSOs made on CW/SSB/RTTY by the TU3F Team during the period of November 23rd through December 3rd.
• Ron, AC7DX, was announced as QSL Manager for the 1998/99 SSIDXG Bouvet (3Y) operation.
• QSLs for VK9LX go to Nick, VK2ICV. PLEASE NOTE: Nick's address is NOT correct in callbooks before 1998 !!!!!! So PLEASE QSL Via: Nick Hacko, PO BOX 730, Parramatta 2124 NSW, Australia. The VK9LX operation made 500 QSOs on 160 meters and a total of 13000+ QSOs on all bands. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive an additional bulletin containing the "VK9LX Summary" by K8RF.
• On November 9th, the South African Radio League launched a WEB site at: http://www.sarl.org.za. This WEB site has the "Southern African Call Book" online. The callbook contains entries for South Africa (ZS), Lesotho (7P), Swaziland (3DA), Namibia (V5), Botswana (A22), Mozambique (C9), Tanzania (5H), Zambia (9J2) and Zimbabwe (Z2). The direct URL address is: http://www.sarl.org.za/callbook.htm
• QSLs for TF3IRA. There seems to be some confusion on where to QSL this station. The correct method for QSLing TF3IRA is directly VIA THE CALL BOOK ADDRESS (and NOT, repeat not N4GN). You may also QSL via the bureau if you wish. TF3IRA is the club call for the Iceland IARU society. Even though Tim, N4GN, was active during last week's contest from the TF bureau, which just happens to be located in the very same room as the Iceland IARU station, he is not the QSL Manager. However, Tim, N4GN, is handling his own cards from the TF/OH4GN operation. Please send those cards to Tim's address in the U.S. at: 8309 Dawson Hill Road, Louisville, KY 40299-5317, U.S.A.), or via the bureau.
• Tim, N4GN, reports that the OJ0/N4GN and OH0/N4GN cards are not yet out. He states, "If I ever get back to Kentucky, I'll get that done. I'm still hoping for some time over the holidays. Tnx for your patience."
• QSLs for ZB2X during the CQWW CW Contest go to OH2KI: Jorma Saloranta, Karhutie 39, 00800 Helsinki, Finland.
• Roger, G3SXW, would like to remind everyone about the QSL route for 5V7A which was active in the 1997 CQ WW CW contest. QSL via GM4FDM. NOT via G3SXW and NOT via GM4AGL (who are doing the 5V7A 1996 contacts). A flood of cards are already arriving at these two addresses and need to be forwarded to GM4FDM. Send only direct to: Tom Wylie, GM4FDM, 3 King's Crescent, Elderslie, Renfrewshire, PA5 9AD, Scotland. Requests for bureau replies may be sent to Tom by E-mail at: wylie@sol.co.uk -- Already Tom has received over 100 such E-mail requests. More are encouraged. QSL cards are being printed this week and direct replies will start to flow by December 15th.
• Heinz, DL7RAG, states he has been receiving a lot of direct QSL cards for ZF2RA (from CQWW DX CW 97 Contest). He reports that he is NOT the QSL Manager for ZF2RA. Please QSL ZF2RA via K7AR. Heinz is the QSL Manager for: 5W0HW, ZK1RAG, ZK2RA, 3D2/DL7RAG, DL7RAG/SV9. He also mentions that you don't have to send a card, he automatically sends a QSL for every contact via the bureau.

VP5, TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS. Randy/N0TG, Murry/WA4DAN, and Ronald/AA4VK will all be operating as /VP5 from January 16-23rd. Emphasis will be on CW with activity on all bands including WARC bands. All QSLs will be via N0TG.

XQ0, SAN FELIX. John, CE0ZAM, will be active from this rare Chilean island for about 20 days in 1998. Activity is planned to take place in April/May, and he will use the callsign XQ0X. Operations will be CW/SSB on all bands.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! Users of the online BARF-80 BBS (Home of the OPDX Bulletin) take note, the area code has change as of August 16th. The new 440 area code will replace the 216 area code. Currently both area codes can be used, but the 216 area code will be permanently replaced in April 1998. BARF-80 BBS online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1

SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE EDITOR. Please send all DX announcements/information "ONLY" to the addresses below and "NOT" to the distribution InterNet address of: dxinfo@barf80.nshore.org

OPDX INTERNET SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST: opdx-request@nshore.org
OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE):
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/opdx.html
OPDX SPANISH WEB SITE. (provide by "QTC Magazine" and Tony Pernas, EA1CSI):
http://www.intercom.es/qtc/qtcopdx.htm

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 14400/9600/2400/1200/300 and leave a message with the Sysop or send InterNet Mail to one of the two following addresses: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org -or- aq474@cleveland.freenet.edu - OR - Send a message via packet to KB8NW @ WA8BXN.OH.USA.NA - 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 14.4k-300 baud