Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 441
December 27, 1999

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 441
BID: $OPDX.441
December 27, 1999
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, K1BV, KF2TI, N4GN, WB5KAU, N6RT, W6/G0AZT, W7KCN, K8RF, K8YSE, DJ5AV & DX News Letter, ER1LW, F5RMY, F6IRA, FM5GU, G0REP, G0SAH, HL0C, I2YSB, IK0FVC, IN3QBR, IN3ZNR, JM1LJS, PA3AXU, PA5BW, PA5ET, UA0QBA, UT7ND, UU2JQ, VE3BW, YO3APJ, ZL2AL and ZS5IR for the following DX information.

SPECIAL EDITOR'S NOTE: My family (wife/OPDX's chief proof-reader Linda, Tedd [TJ], Katie) and I (KB8NW) would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy New Year". Let's hope the new year brings the DXers/Contesters another exciting year and great band conditions. As always, I would like thank the many who have contributed information over the year (there are too many to list). REMEMBER, without them there would not be an OPDX Bulletin.

5H4/5H9, TANZANIA (Operation update). Chris, ZS5IR, is in a small town called Geita about 80km west of Mwanza on the southern shores of Lake Victoria. He orginally was issued the Tanzanian amateur radio licence 5H4IR and made about 200 QSOs before learning that the Tanzanian Communications Commision had issued the wrong callsign for his operation. The Mwanza region where he is located should have been a 5H9 prefix, not 5H4. Chris is now signing 5H9IR and states, "All QSOs I have made before 10:00 UTC on 24 December 1999, with my 5H4IR call will be valid..... I apologise for any inconvenience caused."

5R, MADAGASCAR. A new resident is now active from IOTA AF-013. Look for Michel, ex-F5LET, to sign now as 5R8GL. He will be active with a 2 element beam on 3 bands and has antennas for the WARC bands. The low bands will come later. Michel is active all days mainly on CW but can QSY to SSB if requested. QSL only via direct because there is no QSL Bureau in 5R yet. Also, DO NOT send any mail to his old address in France because the postal box is closed indefinitively. For any information or QSL requests write to: Michel Bon, BP 342, (201) Antsiranana, Madagascar. ADDED 5R INFORMATION: Ben Witvliet, PA5BW (old call: PA3BXC), who worked for Radio Netherlands on the shortwave radio station and was active as 5R8DS between 1993-1995, wanted to inform everyone that the QSL information for 5R8ET and 5R8FT are as follows:

        5R8ET                                5R8FT
        Solofo Randrenjason                  Eddy Rahamefy
        B.P. 404                             B.P. 404
        Antananarivo-101                     Antananarivo-101
        Madagascar                           Madagascar

Ben mentions that Solofo was the first local citizen to ever become active with a 5R8-call. Before only foreigners held licenses. There are currently about 10 locals holding callsigns, although not all very active. However, they are preparing to start a national amateur radio society, a dream Solofo and Ben had back in 1995.

8Q, MALDIVES. Ronald/PA3EWP and Rob/PA5ET will be active from the island of Kuramanthi (IOTA AS-013) from January 12-18th, with 2 HF stations operating on 80-10 meter on CW, SSB and RTTY. They requested the callsigns 8Q7ET and 8Q7WP (The callsign are not confirmed yet). QSL via PA5ET: Rob Snieder, Van Leeuwenstraat 137, 2273 VS Voorburg, The Netherlands. A 8Q-2000 Web site is now available and maintained by Alex, PA1AW, who will also be a pilot station for the operation (E-mail - pa1aw@okdxc.cz ). Depending on the availability of a telephone and/or Internet, the team will try to upload the logs on a daily basis together with digital photos and a diary of their activities. The Web site is: http://www.muurkrant.com/pi4com/Maldives/8q-2000.html

A2, BOTSWANA. Look for A22EW to become active February 6th for a 3 week period. Activity will be on all bands depending on conditions. A planned schedule to work NA on 80 meters is currently set between 5:30 and 7:30 EST to take advantage of greyline propogation. QSL via KB2MS.

C5, THE GAMBIA. Peter, G4MCK, will sign as C56/G4MCK from here now through about January 5th. Activity will be on SSB only on: 1860, 3780, 7070, 14185, 18160, 21260, 24950, 28490 and 50110 kHz. His equipment is an IC 706 Mk II w/100w into G5RV at 7Mts AGL. QSL via bureau or direct to his home callsign, G4MCK.

CE8/CE9/KC4/R1, ANTARCTICA. Nick, RK1PWA, who is the QSL manager for R1ANF, reports that he has a weekly schedule with Oleg every Sunday at 2000z, on 14010 kHz. Nick also reports that Oleg will be returning home in March or April and is planning to stop off in Germany where he is planning to have color QSLs printed for his recent R1ANF/A operation. Oleg will be replaced by Alex who will be active as R1ANF and R1ANF/A until 2002. Meanwhile, the "DX News Letter" reports that Yuri/UA9OBA and Valery/ RW3GW are team members of the international Antarctic "Millenium Expedition" and are expected to operate as CE8/R3CA and CE9/R3CA from the Antarctic Base "Patriot Hills" and possibly from other bases as R3CA/ant. They have regular skeds on 14135 kHz between 0500 and 0600z. Also, KC4AAA from the USN Mars Amundsen-Scott Base has been active after 0200z on 14243 kHz. QSL via K1IED: Larry F.Skilton, 72 Brook Street, South Windsor, CT 06074, USA.

DX AWARDS WEB SITE CHANGE. Ted, K1BV, informs OPDX that he now has his own domain WEB site at: http://www.dxawards.com/ The Web site lists all kinds of award hunting information, concentrating mostly on short term (contacts during the current year) awards. He has just added a small bunch of Milennium awards requiring the contacts to have been made during the year 2000. Other pages cover award hunting terms and links to club/association awards pages all over the world. Ted plans to increase the scope of coverage this winter.

HV0, VATICAN (Special Callsign). Francesco, IK0FVC, reports that he has received the special callsign HV0A to celebrate the Giubileo 2000, special holy year. Activity by Francesco will be done from HV4NAC's shack. He was seen this past weekend on 15/12/10 meters (21021, 24958, 28014 kHz) between 1530-1630z. QSL via IK0FVC.

IOTA NEWS......

• AS-049. Takeshi "Take", JI3DST/7N3UXO, plans to be active from Tokara Archipelago (Kuchinoshima, Kogashima-Ken) between December 29th and January 9th. Two callsigns (JI3DST/6 and 7N3UXO/6) will be used (one for U.S. and S.A. stations and the other for EU, AS, AF and OC). Activity will be on 40/17/15/12/10 meters SSB. QSL via the JARL Bureau (the BEST) or direct to: Takeshi Funaki, 2-18-26 Hannan-Cho Abeno-Ku, Osaka-City Osaka 545-0021, Japan.
• AS-085. The Hanyang University Wave Research Club (HL0C) will go to Soan Islands. They will activate the Korean island between December 31, 1999, and January 5, 2000. Activity will be on 80/40/20/15 meters operating on CW/SSB/RTTY modes.
• EU-070. Herve, F5RMY, and a few friends will activate Porquerolles Island as TM5CRO from January 29th through February 5th. Their activity will be on 160-10 meters. Also, there will be activity on 2 meters and 70cm from JN32 which is very rare. Skeds for 2m and 70cm are possible and can be taken via the Internet at: clarenne@club-internet.fr --or via -- f1mbm@wanadoo.fr QSL via F5RMY.
• OC-176. If you are not an OPDX InterNet Subscriber, you missed the announcement that the Association des Radio Amateurs de Nouvelle Caledonie (ARANC), the amateur radio society of New Caledonia, plans an IOTA DXpedition to Chesterfield Islands which may result in a new DXCC entity as well. Activity will begin March 15th. The radio operating team consists of FK8GM, FK8HC, JA1BK, N4GN, N7NG, OH1RY, OH2BC, OH2BH, OH2RF (team doctor) and another ARANC representative who will be named later.

MORE YEAR 2000 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS.....

• Lysy "Slawa", ER1LW, informs us that he will be active as ER2000L now through January 20th. QSL via ER1LW at: P.O.Box 112, Chisinau, MD2012, Moldova.
• Gene, UT7ND, reports that he is QSL Manager for ER2000D, the special Millenium station. Activity has been on 80/40/20/10 meters SSB. QSL via: Gene Chumakov, P.O. Box 5235, Vinnitsa, 21018, Ukraine. Gene is also QSL Manager for ER0N and ER4DX.
• There has been a station active lately signing Y2K from Berlin on 40 meters between 0400 and 0500z. Operator states to QSL to DK2OC.
• The Romanian Amateur Radio Federation (FRR) is planning to activate the callsign YR2OOO (Yankee Radio Two Oscar Oscar Oscar), between December 27th and January 2nd, 2000. This will be a special callsign to celebrate the Millennium, and the activity is supposed to include operations on different modes on HF and VHF. QSL via YO bureau.
• The Hastings Branch Radio Club of the NZART has been issued the callsign ZMY2K for three days use on/around the New Year Millennium. Many of the club's operators will activate the station on most bands and most modes. QSL via Bureau.

PACIFIC OPERATION CHANGE. Hide, JM1LJS, informs OPDX that he has changed his operation plans to Ponape, Micronesia (V6), to included an operation from Palau (T8). By the time you read this, Hide should be active as V63LJ until the afternoon (12 PM local time) December 31, 1999, only. However, if Hide can get a continuation on his license, he will be active until January 4th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters CW/SBB. QSL via JH8DEH. Hide will travel to Palau on January 4th and stay until the 10th. However, he will only be active for about 24 hours as T88LJ. Activity will be on 80-6 meters CW/SSB. QSL via JH8DEH: Akira Miyata, 4-28-5, Minami Nishi 23 Jyou, Obihiro 080-2473, Japan.

PACIFIC TOUR UPDATE (Refer to OPDX.439). Adriano, IK2GNW, will start his operations on January 13, 2000, from North Cook Islands for a week and the callsign will be ZK1GNW. The exact dates for the other countries (A3, FO, FW, KH6) all depend on local flights. For more complete details, check the I2YSB Web Site at: http://digilander.iol.it/i2ysb/

QSL INFO AND NEWS.......

• Dennis, FM5GU, reports that he has changed his QSL Manager. His QSLs are now being handled by: KU9C, Steven M. Wheatley, P. O. box 5953, PARSIPPANY, NJ 07054, USA. However, he states that his Martinique station is still down (the tower fell some months ago). He hopes to restore (and even improve) all aerials in 2/3 months and to put out one of the best signals of the Caribbean for the next CQ WPX Phone Contest again. Dennis also mentions that he spends half of his time in Italy for his job and has a second station there and is very active from there. He signs as FM5GU/I ( on DX segments, SSB and CW). For more detailed information, frequencies and operations, visit his Web site at: http://www.qsl.net/fm5gu/
• QSL the recent KG4RF operation (November 23-30th) via K8RF at: Dan Flaig, 2101 Ronaldson Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45230-1510
• Eddie Schneider, W6/G0AZT, wants to advise OPDX subscribers that he is NOT the general QSL Manager for 3V8BB, TS8QI or TS8ZA. Eddie DOES QSL for his own RTTY operation as 3V8BB, October 9-13th (1999) ONLY. Everytime 3V8BB is very active, he receives a bunch of QSL requests. Out of 35 QSL cards received this week in his P.O. Box, 20 were for the last 3V8BB operation! Eddie states, "From January 2000, any cards received for which I am not the manager, will be destroyed. I don't have time to respond to mis-directed cards as I manage ZF1RY, TY1RY, P40RY, 8R1TT, (VK9LZ,VK9LX & VK9NM 1996 only), VP9/N1RCT, VP5/G0AZT, V2/G0AZT, VP2M/G0AZT, VP9/G0AZT, C6A/G0AZT and GU0AZT, so I'm busy enough :-)".
• Doug, N6RT, reports that the following new/updated logs are now online at: http://dx.qsl.net/logs/

        9H0VRZ  (thru October 10,1999)     KL7AC   (thru December 20, 1999)
        A61AJ   (thru December 7,1999)     LX2AJ   (thru December 19, 1999)
        CO2WF   (1999 ARRL 10m Contest)    NH0E    (thru December 21, 1999)
        JY4NE   (thru December 21, 1999)
  

• The logs for the special event station M2H are being held by Stratford-upon-Avon District Radio Society and are being dealt with by Tony, G0REP, who is QTHR. Requests for cards can be sent direct (SASE) or via the Bureau.
• QSL UA0QBA via his new address: Aleksandr Sinyakov (UA0QBA), Box 51, Vitebsk 210001, Belarus. Please send your QSL + SASE (1 USD or 2 IRC) only Direct.
• Rusty, UU2JQ, informs OPDX that there is a big mistake in the CBA-2000 CD! The correct DXCC country of all stations with the "UU" prefix is the UKRAINE, not RUSSIA!!! Another note: Since January 8, 1999, the Ukraine has a new "Zip Code System". The new zip codes are 5 digits. Beginning January 1, 2000, letters with old 6 digits zip codes will be not accepted! If you wish to send your QSLs direct for Ukrainian amateurs make sure that you have addresses with the new zip code.

R1, ANTARCTICA. Nick, RK1PWA, who is the QSL manager for R1ANF, reports that he has a weekly schedule with Oleg every Sunday, at 2000z, on 14010 kHz. Nick also reports that Oleg will be returning home in March or April, and is planning to stop off in Germany where he is planning to have color QSLs printed for his recent R1ANF/A operation. Oleg will be replaced by Alex who will be active as R1ANF and R1ANF/A until 2002. Meanwhile, the "DX News Letter" reports that Yuri/UA9OBA and Valery/ RW3GW are team members of the international Antarctic "Millenium Expedition" and are expected to operate as CE8/R3CA and CE9/R3CA from the Antarctic Base "Patriot Hills" and possibly from other bases as R3CA/ant. They have regular skeds on 14135 kHz between 0500 and 0600z.

V4, St. KITTS. Joe, VE3BW, informs OPDX that Julio/WD4JR, Bruce/W4OV and himself (possibly one or two more operators) will be active here between February 14-24th. They will be active as a Multi/Single in the ARRL DX CW Contest. Look for them before the contest on all bands CW/SSB and especially on 6 meters. Joe states that his own callsign will be V47CA (QSL via VE3BW), and the others will have their callsigns issued upon arrival.

XU, CAMBODIA (Update). Mauro/IN3QBR and Fabrizio/IN3ZNR are now in Phnom Phen where they got their licence but orginally for only fixed frequencies on 20 and 15 meters SSB/CW. However, after several conversations with the Ministry of Telecommunications, they were granted use of all bands and modes (including RTTY), excluding the 160 meters which is not permitted from Cambodian Government. So, look for Mauro to be active as XU7AAZ and Fabrizio as XU7AAY until January 3rd.

ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Just, LA9DL, was heard as ZK1DLL this past weekend on 10 meters SSB (around 28510 khz after 1900z). QSL via LA9DL.

ZK2, NIUE. Gerard, PA3AXU, reports to OPDX that he had a nice stay on Fiji (3D2XU), Tonga (A35XU) and Samoa (5W0GD), he is ready to announce his plans for the next Pacific stop in July of 2000 on the Web page at: http://www.qsl.net/pa3axu/ He has applied for the callsign ZK2GD and plans to be active on CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31

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