Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 485
November 13, 2000

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 485
BID: $OPDX.485
November 13, 2000
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, N1DG, WB2YQH/WB2RAJ & The 59(9) DX Report, AA3B, NG3K, W3UR & The Daily DX, W3HY, K4VUD, N4AA & QRZ DX, W4ADJ, W4FOA, WB4PVT, K8YSE, KD6WW, NI6T, WA6ITF, KU8E, NC8V, W8QZA, N9XX, CO8LY, CX6VM, DJ5AV & DX News Letter, G3LDI & RSGB News, G4UZN, IZ8AJQ, JF6OJX, PA3AWW, PS7AB, PT7AA SM5MX, UA0MF, VE7PL and VK0MM for the following DX information.

1SL1A, SEALAND. OPDX has received information from Bill, WA6ITF, of "Newsline" and a couple of other sources stating that the UK Radio-communications Agency appears ready to act to stop the Sealand operation and calling it "ILLEGAL". The announcement from the Radiocommunications Agency states the following: "The Agency has noted that certain persons intend to operate on amateur radio frequencies using the callsign series '1SL' from Roughs Tower situated in the Thames Estuary between 9 and 12 December 2000. The structure is situated within United Kingdom territorial waters. Consequently, any such operation which is other than under and in accordance with a valid amateur radio licence issued by the United Kingdom or other Administration, would constitute an offence contrary to section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949."

"If the persons concerned do not hold a United Kingdom amateur radio licence, it would be necessary for them to hold an amateur radio licence issued by another Administration, and with whom the United Kingdom has a reciprocal agreement under which nationals of that country can operate using their callsign together with the appropriate 'M' prefix for a limited period from within the United Kingdom. The callsign series '1SL' is not permitted for use in the United Kingdom. If an UK radio amateur were to reply to an operator using a '1SL' callsign, they would be in breach of clause 1(4) of BR68."

"Although some persons have called Rough Tower 'the Principality of Sealand' the United Kingdom does not recognize 'the Principality of Sealand' as a sovereign independent state and is not aware that any other state has accorded such recognition. Consequently, and as explained above, unless radio use on the structure is authorized under a licence issued by a recognized state, an offence will be committed."

3W1A PIRATE. The 3W1A pirate has once again been active this past week. This station was also active in September, and again giving out Steve, N6HK, as his QSL manager. Steve reports that he "is not the manager for this station knows nothing about him".

3W, VIETNAM. Hans, WA1LWS, was heard active this past weekend on 20/15/10 meters. Begin watching 14024, 21022 and 28014 kHz between 1630 and 0230z. His activity should last until November 26th. QSL via WA1LWS. Also, heard this past week was 3W2FM on 24901 kHz around 2345z.

5H, TANZANIA. Ralph, 5H3RK, was pretty active on 20/30 meters this past week on or around 14026 and 10106 kHz after 0330z. He was also heard during the weekend on 10 meters CW on 28009 kHz after 1800z (also between 1330 and 1430z). Also, watch 7005 kHz around 1430z.

5T, MAURITANIA. While staying behind, some of the JA1UT IARV team continues to be active as 5T5U as the other members head to Western Sahara and are now active as S07U (see below). Activity has been mainly on 20 meters CW/SSB.

8P9, BARBADOS. Look for Martyn, G3RFX, to once again be active from here as 8P9FX, November 12-16th. His activity will be mostly CW on 40-10 meters, but there will be some SSB. QSL via G3RFX. He does have a Web site available with more information and pictures at: http://www.btinternet.com/~g3rfx/

9G, GHANA. A group of PA operators are now active from the Dormaa-Hospital in Dormaa-Ahenkro, Ghana. Look for the following stations to be active: 9G5EE (QSL via PE1LUC), 9G5WP (QSL via PE1PFN) and 9G5GM (QSL via PA3GGM). Also look for activity from the club stations 9G1AA and 9G1OO. QSL both to PA3ERA. Activity is expected to be on 40/20/15 meters CW/SSB.

A3, TONGA. Mike/A35MO (KM9D) and Jan/A35TO have been very active. Mike has been mainly on 160/80/40/30 meters CW. Watch between 1100-1500z and after 0500z. Jan was active on 10 meters SSB this past weekend on 28460 kHz after 1930z. By the way, both are reportedly active from Lifuka Island (OC-169). QSL both to OM2SA.

A5, BHUTAN. Charly/K4VUD and Yani/9M6US report that their departure date in A5 has been changed. Jani (signing A52AP) and Charly (A52UD) have extended their planned stay in Bhutan to depart December 12th (instead of December 9th as first reported). Any changes to the arrival of December 1st, will be due to airplane delays and because of snows in Bhutan; delays are possible. During the past week, Charly provided the DX community with a tentative/possible operating schedule. At appropriate times of day, during his sunrise and sunset, he will call CQ on the hour on CW in the DX window on 160m. However, after 5 minutes on 160m and no answers, he will move to either 80m or 75m (as the spirit moves him). If no one answers there, Charly will move to 40m... and so on up the band until he hits stations that answer him (operating only split). Then on the next hour (or half hour, if he can get away from the other bands), he will head back to 160m and will listen for anyone, if not, we guess he will head back up the band again. Charly states that he will not be at the bottom of any band unless QRM drives him there, but will spend some time in the General portion. He will try to remember to stand by for 100 watters and QRPers. He will definitely try to work stations out of Asia and promised not to forget Africa and S. America. Lastly, Charly reports that Jani will be taking RTTY equipment. He states that some ICE bandpass filters are in transit to the Bhutan Ham Center now, so they should be able to operate with two rigs on two bands at all the times.

CO8, CUBA. Eduardo, CO8LY, will participate in the CQWW CW Contest as a Single Op/Multi Band/Low Power entry. QSL via EA7ADH only direct. ADDED NOTE: Eduardo who is in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, planned to be active in last month's CQWW SSB Contest last, but ended up in the hospital before the contest. He had some kind of a kidney problem but is fine now. He asked to please excuse him for not being on the air to give a multiplier to all his ham friends.

CQWW CW 2000 "ANNOUNCED OPERATIONS" ON THE WEB! Bill, NG3K, "Announced Operation" table for the 2000 CW CQ World Wide DX Contest has been substantially updated. It can be found at the following URL: http://www.ng3k.com/Misc/cqc2000.html The operations may be viewed/sorted by any of the following: Callsign; DXCC Entity; or CQ Zone. The tables at the above URL is sorted by callsign. The complete press release by NG3K will be sent to OPDX InterNet Subscribers as an additional bulletin.

CX, URUGUAY. Jorge, CX6VM, will be active in the CQWW CW Contest using the callsign CX5X. He will be a Single Op/Single Band (10 meters) entry. QSL only to W3HNK because he has the cards for this operation.

D2, ANGOLA. There was a rare appearance by Fernando, EA4BB, was heard active as D2BB this past weekend on 10 meters SSB, 28006 kHz at 2055z. QSL via W3HNK.

HS, THAILAND. Tony, G4UZN, informs OPDX that he will be active from here on various dates during the last two weeks in November. He is hoping that this will included an entry in CQWW CW Contest. His callsign will be HS0/G4UZN.

HS, THAILAND. Charly, K4VUD, states that after his A5 operation (see above), he plans/hopes to activate his HS callsign (HS0ZCW) later in December.

HV, VATICAN. Look for Dan, N1ND, to be active with the special callsign HV0A from station HV4NAC November 23rd starting around 1400z. He is using the callsign to commemorate the "Jubilee Year of 2000". By the way, this callsign was used earlier in the year by Francesco, IK0FVC. The suggested frequencies to watch for are: 21295 and 28430 kHz. QSL via IK0FVC: Francesco Valsecchi, Via Bitossi 21, 00136 Roma - RM, Italy.

IOTA NEWS..................

J3, GRENADA. "The 59(9) DX Report" reports that Chip, W1AIM, will be active from November 10-22nd, from Carriacou Island (NA-175) as J3/W1AIM. Activity will be on 6 meters with 100 watts and 3 element yagi. Listen on 50110 and 50125 MHz.

J7, DOMINICA. Gerd, DL7VOG, was heard active as J79GU this past weekend in the WAE RTTY Contest. His activity will continue until November 28th where he plans to be an entry in the CQWW CW Contest. Most of his operations will be on CW/RTTY using an IC-706 and Butternut. QSL to DL7VOG, via the bureau or to his CBA.

KH6, HAWAII. Bill, W8QZA, will be operating from KH6SQ's QTH for the CQWW DX CW Contest as KH6/W6QU. He will enter the contest as a Single Band 15 meters QRP entry. QSL via W8QZA.

PJ2, CURACAO. The Caribbean Contesting Consortium (CCC) will be operating in the CQWW DX CW Contest as a multi-single operation as PJ2T from their new club station in Curacao. The operators will be W0CG, KU8E, W9EFL, KP2L with a possibility of some additional last minute operators joining them. Look for activity, which should have started this past weekend, and last until the CQWW Contest weekend with some of the operators operating homecall/PJ2. Checkout the CCC webpage at: http://asgard.kent.edu/ccc/

QSL INFO AND NEWS....................

R1, ANTARCTICA. The "DX News Letter" reports to look for Gennady from the Russian base "Progress" to be on the air as R1ANP on 14160 kHz between 1500 and 1800z in the near future.

S0, WESTERN SAHARA. JA1UT and several members of the International Amateur Radio Volunteers (IARV), who were on the air as 5T5U from Mauritania, have moved onto Western Sahara as S07U. They have been active on 20/12/10 meters. Excerpts from a press release by Tad, JF6OJX, indicates that by the time you read this, the operators of S07U will have two stations active on the air at the same time. They reportedly have already set up a Force12 C3 antenna and a dipole antenna for 160m. They have spent most of their time operating mainly on CW, however, there has been some SSB. They will probably be on RTTY by the time you read this using the callsign S07CRS (which is expected). All QSLs via JA1UT.

SILENT KEY (SK). Norby, LX1NO, reports with deep regrets that Toni, Z21KD, who was recently active as XW4XJ, became a silent key (SK) on October 19th. Reports indicate that he died in an airplane crash while on a business trip in Laos. OPDX (along with its readers) would like to send his family our deepest sympathy. It is recommanded/requested to "Please" DO NOT send any QSL requests for Z21KD or XW4XJ to Toni's address in Bulawayo. Currently, there's nobody at his home in Z2 capable of taking care of the QSLing. His wife is not in Z2 and definitly has some other tasks to do. Also, please DO NOT send QSL requests using the address of his German callsign. Norby states that together with Toni's wife, he will try to get hold of Toni's log book. Norby may assume the task of answering the QSL requests if the data and QSL cards are available. So PLEASE do not QSL and PLEASE WAIT for further details to be known or announced.

SY2, MOUNT ATHOS. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP, was heard this past weekend on 40/20/10 meters signing SY2A. He was heard on 7085 kHz around 2130z, 14245 kHz around 1815z, also 14212 kHz around 1845z and 28409 kHz around 1145z. QSL via SV2ASP.

V3, BELIZE. Gisela/DK9GG and Gerd/DJ4KW are now active as V31YN. They were very active during the RTTY Contest this past weekend. Their activity will continue until November 16th, so look for them on HF and 6 meters using CW/RTTY/AMTOR/PSK31. QSL via DJ4KW.

V6, MICRONESIA. Bud, AA3B, will be activating V26K for the 2000 CQWW CW Contest. He will be operating in the Single Operator, Low Power, All Band category. Activity during his stay will be CW only. QSL via AA3B.

VP9, BERMUDA. John, NC8V, will be operating as VP9/NC8V during the CQWW CW Contest late this month. He will also operate SSB during the week following the contest. He hopes that he will be on 40-10 meters. QSL via NC8V.

VK0, MACQUARIE ISLAND. Alan, VK0MM, reports that due to last minute un-forseen circumstances, he will be staying on at Macquarie Island for a few weeks. He states that he will continue to be active mainly on 20 meters CW/SSB with some operations on 30 meters CW. Per Alan, "I will NOT be active on any other band or mode, so please do not ask me to come up on 15m, RTTY etc." Alan is now due to depart Macquarie Island onboard the Russian vessel "Akademik Shokalskii" which will visit the island on December 17th. He will return home via the Auckland Islands (ZL9) and Snares Islands to New Zealand. He hopes to be back home in time for Christmas. If possible, Alan will try to be active from the Auckland Islands, but if it happens, it will only be for a day or so with 100 watts and a dipole. He does have the relevant landing permits etc.... for operating. Check his Web site for skeds and updates at: http://www.geocities.com/vk0ld/1.html

XV9, VIETNAM. Rolf, SM5MX, informs OPDX that he is about to travel from Tokyo, his present QTH, to Hanoi to revive/reactivate his callsign XV9SW for his November 19th through December 2nd operation. Rolf will take part in the CQWW CW Contest. He is now the only remaining XV station on CW, since only 3W calls are issued nowadays. His activity will be mainly on CW and the higher bands. QSL via SM3CXS as usual.

ZF, CAYMAN ISLANDS. John/K6AM, Dan/N9XX, Vicky/AE9YL and Carl/K9LA plan to be on Grand Cayman November 21st through November 28th. K6AM, N9XX and K9LA are planning a single band efforts in CQWW CW Contest. During the contest, N9XX (ZF2RR) will operate 10m, K6AM (ZF2AM) will operate 15m, and K9LA (ZF2LA) will operate 40m. AE9YL (ZF2YL) will be active on SSB during the contest. Other operations with the aforementioned callsigns will occur outside of the contest. All QSLs go to their respective home callsign. AE9YL was formerly KB5EAM, so use that if you have an older callbook.

ZM8, KERMADEC ISLAND. Jacky, ZL3CW, still continues to be active as ZM8CW. He was heard this past weekend on 30/20/10 meters CW. Activity on 10 meters was between 1945 and 2230z, while active on the other bands between 1300 and 1630z. He reported this week that there will be NO RTTY operation because he had to carry a lot of equipment on the island and had no room for a TNC for RTTY. His length of activity is still not sure, it could have ended by the time you read this or comtinue until the 23rd. QSL via ZL3CW.

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