Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 421
August 9, 1999


The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 421
BID: $OPDX.421
August 9, 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, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, N6FF, N6HR, N6RT, K7BV, K9YO, AH0W/OH2LVG, G3NOM, HA0HW, JE1DXC, JM1LJS, ON4LDF, PA1AW, PY7ZZ, RW4HW, SM0CCM, SP2BIK, TA3YJ, UT5RP, V63PD, VK8NSB, VK9NS and 7N2UTO for the following DX information.

MYSTERY OPERATION FINALLY ANNOUNCED! During all last week there were reports that an operation was going to take place from one of the "Top 20 Countries Wanted" (P5 was mentioned not to be one of them). Finally, thanks to a press release from Ray Gerrard (G3NOM), he reported that the International Amateur Radio Volunteer (IARV), as per the annual aid program previously announced, has dispatched nine members (including the leader JA1UT) to the Republic of Yemen (7O) on August 5th, and they will stay until August 19th for voluntary work to establish a hospital communication network in remote areas. The opportunity will be taken to offer a donation of amateur radio equipment to the government of Yemen and to help them resume amateur radio activity in their country. IARV would sincerely appreciate cooperation from the DX community on this inititative of inviting a new comer to our Amateur Radio field. More news will be announced later.

5H8, TANZANIA. "The 59(9) DXReprt" reports that Terry, W7RNF, is stationed here for the next few years and is active as 5H8TL. He is the first station to use the 5H8 prefix. QSN reports seem to show Terry likes 15 meters SSB between 1800 and 1900z. Also, check 20 meters SSB after 0400z. QSL via W7RNF.

8P, BARBADOS. Early reports mention that operators K4BAI, K1TO and N4TO plan a serious Multi-Single effort in the CQ WW CW Contest in November. Their activity will between November 23-30th. The contest callsign is not set yet; it will be either 8P9Z or 8P0 something.

CLOSER TO A POSSIBLE NEW AND MAYBE A DELETION??? In international news, the Associated Press reports that Montenegro has said that it wants to abolish the Yugoslav federation (in its bid to win independence) in favor of a loose partnership with Serbia that would allow the two republics to go their own ways. Montenegro government has approved a plan that would give it the right to maintain its own army, foreign ministry and currency while remaining lossely linked to Serbia in a confederation called the Association of the States of Serbia and Montenegro. The report states that President Slobodan Milosevic is beleived to be almost certain to reject the proposal in which case Montenegro says it would call a referendum on full independence.

CORRECTION TO OPDX.420. The callsign ZK1MSG under the section "ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS", was wrong and should read ZK1MGS.

CT3, MADEIRA. Ben, DJ8FW, will be active as CT3/DJ8FW during his holiday from August 12-20th. He will concentrate his activity on the PSK31 Mode mainly in the mornings and evenings, but if bad WX, look for him also on CW on the WARC bands.

ES75, ESTONIA. The amateur radio operators of Estonia will be signing ES75 + their callsign's suffix throughout August to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the first QSO ever made with an ES callsign. A special station will operate as ES75M from Muhu Island IOTA EU-034. QSL to home calls.

FS & PJ7, SAINT MARTIN AND ST. MAARTEN. The "Caribbean Tour 1999" has started as reported in OPDX.414. Now until August 11th, look for Ronald (PJ7/PA3EWP), Rob (PJ7/PA5ET), Peter (PJ7/PA4EA), Martin (PJ7/PA4WM), Henk (PJ7/PA3GCV), Dennis (PJ7/PA7FM) to be active on all bands 160-6 meters CW/SSB/RTTY and maybe Satellite/SSTV operations. During this time, the team will become active from Saint Martin (ed. which they have as this bulletin was being prepared) and sign FS/PA3EWP, FS/PA5ET, FS/PA4EA, FS/PA4WM, FS/PA3GCV and FS/PA7FM. Also see below, V47 and VP2E. The QSL manager for this tour is Rob, PA5ET. QSL can be sent via the bureau or direct to: Rob Snieder, van Leeuwenstraat 137, 2273VS Voorburg, The Netherlands. Detailed information about the tour can be found at the Web site: http://www.muurkrant.com/pi4com/tour99/

IOTA NEWS......

IOTA WRAPUP (NA-169). The W7W Team from Waadah Island NA-169 cleaned up the worldwide demand for the Western Washington Island Group. Over 3000 QSOs were logged before, during and after the IOTA Contest. QSL via W5DX.

JW, SVALBARD. The latest news about the 1999 Svalbard Arctic Polar DX- pedition by Jo/DF6VI and Tom/DL4OCM, is that they should be on the air during the afternoon of August 9th. Their planned end of this operation is August 16th. They want to work on all bands from 80-10 meters including the WARC bands on CW/SSB/RTTY. Their QTH will be Longyearbyen, Svalbard (EU-026). The QSL cards should go to JW/DF6VI's and JW/DL4OCM's home addresses or via the DARC bureau. More information is available and maybe a log search on Jo's home Web page at: http://www.qsl.net/df6vi/jw.htm DF6VI's address: Joerg Engelbrecht, Heeperholz 1, D-33719 Bielefeld, Germany DL4OCM's address: Thomas Steinmann, P.O.Box 1117, D-37162 USLAR, Germany

KH3, JOHNSTON ISLAND. Information from Dick, N6FF, indicates that Bill, NH6D/KH3, should be active from August 9-13th. Bill should be active daily starting about 0330-0400z and again about 1500-1530z, depending on work committments. He prefers CW, and expect to find him on that mode, but he does operate SSB occassionally. His present antenna set up only allows operations on 10/15/20/30 meters, antennas for the lower bands is presently a problem, and they are working on it. They must convince the powers on Johnston Island that the antennas and birds can co-exist, a difficult job (as ZS8D on Marion Island well knows). QSL via N6FF. Watch for logs to be posted on the Web at: http://dx.qsl.net/logs/ Meanwhile, reports from "The Daily DX" reports indicate that Bill, NH6D, will also be active (as time permits) from August 9-13th. His estimate operating time on the air will between 0330Z-0400z. Look for him on 10/15/20/30 meters CW. Emphasis will be on EU, AF, W1,2,3,4 and all points south of Florida. QSL to N6FF.

LIGHTHOUSE ACTIVITY. Celebrating the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend during August 21-22nd, the radio station using the callsign SN2KM will be active from the marine lighthouse in Krynica Morska. Krynica Morska is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea in Poland (19E2712 and 54N32112). The station will be operated by five operators: SP2BRN, SP2IZC, SP2TQW, SP2NBD, SQ2BXJ and SP2BIK. QSL via SP2BIK.

OH0/OJ0 DXPEDITION (Trip Two). Dennis, K7BV, Editor for the National Contest Journal, has been invited back to operate from Aland Islands (OH0) and Market Reef (OJ0) in September, thanks to Seppo/OH1VR, Lars/OH0RJ, Ari/OH1EH, Jukka/OH2MAM and Juha OH1JT. The primary focus of this trip will be OJ0. Dennis anticipates arriving on Market Reef via helicopter during the afternoon of Tuesday, September 14th. He will stay until the early morning hours of Monday, September 20th. Special emphasis will be made to do an extensive amount of operating on 80 and 160 meters each night. The trip will include operations on all bands 160-10 meters (WARC bands included) on both SSB and CW. RS13 satellite appearances will be as frequent as possible. QSL OH0 - OJ0/K7BV via KU9C, Steve Wheatley, 12 Netherton Terrace, Morristown NJ 07960. The complete press release by Dennis, K7BV, will be sent to all OPDX InterNet Subscribers as an additional bulletin.

PALESTINE OPERATION WRAP UP. Hide, JM1LJS, reports having a very pleasant trip and operation from Gaza and the West Bank. He informs OPDX the following totals (NOTE the QSL Managers):

   July 26-29th                        July 30-August 1st
   Callsign: E4/JM1LJS                 Callsign: E4/JM1LJS
   QTH: West Bank                      QTH: Gaza
   QSL via JL2XUN                      QSL via VK4FW
   Total QSO: 1713 (includes dupes)    Total QSO: 1703 (includes dupes)
   CW: 426 / SSB: 1287                 CW: 1413 / SSB: 290

On August 1st, Hide was active as 4X/JM1LJS from Tel Aviv and made only three QSOs on SSB. He could not receiving permission from the hotel to operate. QSL via JL2XUN.

PY0F, FERNANDO DE NORONHA ISLAND. Fred, PY7ZZ, is now active as PY0FZ, possibly for only a few more days. He reports that this is not a DX-pedition, but he will be active during his free time from PY0FF's station. He was spotted on Sunday on 14195 kHz at 0645z. QSL to his home callsign.

QSL INFO AND NEWS......

RARE/NEW IOTA'S TO BE ACTIVATED. Stuart, VK8NSB, reports in a press release that he has been granted permission to operate from 2 IOTAs in the Northern Territory. The first island, Melville Island (OC-173) will be activated from the November 4- 9th. The second island, Croker Island (NEW IOTA, never been activated before - located in the Central Island Group NT) will be activated November 11-16th. Stuarts states: "This DXpedition will be for the children on both Islands, Amateur Radio Display for the kids, 2 out of 6 days is to show the children on both remote islands Amateur Radio (1 SSB station mainly for the children to listen and talk to other Hams from around the world)." Currently Stuart is looking for some assistance, either green stamps or EQUIPMENT and operators. He is putting together a 5 man team, and two of the operators are confirmed (Stuart/VK8NSB and Peter/VK8PDG). They plan to have three stations active (2 SSB and 1 CW). QSL Manager will be Jim Smith, VK9NS. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive Stuart's complete press release (with details) as an additional bulletin.

SPECIAL EVENT. Belarus Amateur Radio Union's President Alexander Pyatunin (callsign not given) reports that a group of Belarus Hams will provide communications for the Belarus team going to climb Mont Blanc, August 9-20th this year. Operators will be EU1AZ, EU1DX, EU1ABC, EU1UC, EU1ABC, EW1CM, EW1PA, EW2CR, EW2KW, EW8DX, EW8EW, EW8MW, EW8RR and DL7VFM. Callsigns to be used are F/EU5HQ (base) and TM0MB (Mont Blanc team). Activity will be on all HF bands and on 6m, 2m, 70cm CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV and FM. Pictures would be transmitted by SSTV and Internet.

SV, GREECE (YL and IOTA operation). Nilay/TA3YJ (XYL) and Berkin/TA3J (OM) will be active from Athens (SV1) and Khios (SV8, EU-049) between August 12-17th as SV/TA3YJ and SV/TA3J. Activity will be SSB on 160/80/40/20/15 /10/2 meters and 70 cm. QSL via home callsigns, bureau or direct to:

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE STATION ACTIVE. Look for ON7SUN to be active from August 8-11th. This will be the only special event ON station under the total solar eclipse activity. Activity will be on all modes and bands. A special QSL and Award is available. QSL via the bureau or direct to ON4LCV.

V47, NEVIS. After their St. Maarten/Saint Martin operations, the "Caribbean Tour 1999" will be active from here August 11-18th as VP2E/PA3EWP, VP2E/PA5ET, VP2E/PA4EA, VP2E/PA4WM, VP2E/PA3GCV and VP2E/PA7FM. Their three stations operation should be the same as on FS/PJ7. QSL via PA5ET direct or via the bureau.

V6, CHUUK ISLANDS (Micronesia). Peter, V63PD, informs OPDX that he is the only remaining resident station in the Chuuk Islands. He operates on the 40/30/20/17/15/12/10 meter bands on SSB and with some CW. Chuuk has an IOTA reference number of OC-011, and its location is 7.5 degrees North and 152 East. Peter mentions that it seems that most hams he talks to do not know where Chuuk Island is. The former name of these islands was Truk. Since the name was changed some ten years ago to Chuuk, he identifies his QTH consistently as Chuuk. It is pronounced "chuke"--- rhyming with Duke. Peter's QSL Manager is VK4AAR and has a website at: http://www.qsl.net/v63pd/

VP2E, ANGUILLA. After their St.Maarten and Nevis operation, the "Caribbean Tour 1999" will be active from here August 18-25th as VP2E/PA3EWP, VP2E/PA5ET, VP2E/PA4EA, VP2E/PA4WM, VP2E/PA3GCV and VP2E/PA7FM. Their three stations operation should be the same as on PJ7 and V47. QSL via PA5ET direct or via the bureau.

YJ, BANKS ISLAND (Vanuatu, IOTA DXpedition). Masayoshi, JE1DXC, will be active from Banks Islands between August 12th and 16th. The callsign was not given, but Masayoshi has operated as YJ0AXC. He will be active from Banks Islands between August 12th and 16th. Operation will be on CW/SSB, 14/18/21/24/28 MHz running 100 watts with a generator and dipoles. QSL requests should go to ONLY his CBA. Masayoshi reports, "The Banks Island group ranks 61st on the list of Most Wanted Island Groups. The Banks and Torres groups have 62 islands, 13 of which are inhabited. Most of the remainder are either sandy islets or jagged volcanic rocks poling out of the sea. This area is one of Vanuatu's most humid, and has an average rainfall of 3900mm per year. As elsewhere, the islands suffered heavily from black-birding and disease in the latter half of the 19th century. By the 1930s there were barely 2000 people left, but now the population is recovering and currently stands at about 6000. There are four airfields in the area, but little in the way of accommodation and motor transport. Despite its considerable beauty and fascinating culture, very few visitors make it to this part of Vanuatu."

ZL7, CHATHAM ISLAND. Lothar, DJ4ZB, plans on be active between February and March in the year 2000. Callsign may be ZL7ZB or ZM7ZB. Activity will be 80-6 meters, with an emphasis on 10 meters.

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
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