Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 520
July 16, 2001

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 520
BID: $OPDX.520
July 16, 2001
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, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, WC1X, K2JXW, W3UR & The Daily DX, K4VUD, KJ4UY, WD4NGB, AC6V, NI6T, K8YSE, WB8YJF, 9A5K, 9A6AA, 9V1YC, E21EIC, DJ4ZB, DL1EK & DX News Letter, F5NQL, F5TYY, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, HK3CW, I1JQJ & IK1ADH and 425 DX News, ON5FP, PA5ET, RA3SL, SM3CVM, VA3PL, VK3DYL, XE1KK, YO4ATW and YV5EED for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 8/July, through Sunday, 15/July there were 215 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3C, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4S, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, C9, CE, CE0Z, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H40, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J7, JA, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH8, 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, S2, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T32, T7, T8, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TL, TR, TT, TU, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9X, VP2V, VP8, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, XZ, YB, YI, YK, YL, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZF, ZK1/s, ZL, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations. As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later" (WFWL). OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive an additional bulletin (due to its size) with a complete breakdown and "DXCC/Entities Chart of Activity".

3D2, FIJI (Still Going Strong!). The "425 DX News" reports that well known DXer Ron, ZL1AMO, should be active again as 3D2RW from the Fiji Islands as of July 12th. OPDX still has not seen QSN reports as of July 15th. They also state that he will operate from Nadi Island (OC-016) for a few days, around July 16th. He will then move to the Lau Group (OC-095) for a couple of weeks. QSL via ZL1AMO.

3V, TUNISIA. Yannick, F6FYD, has left from Alegria, and he is now in Tunisia. He is expected to operate from 3V8BB.

4Z8, ISRAEL (Attention Prefix Hunters!). Marc, WC1X, is a U.S. ham operating in Israel with a rare prefix. He will be there until June of 2002, using the callsign 4Z8BB. There is only one other licensed operator that shares the "4Z8" prefix. Although Marc states, "I know Israel is certainly not a rare country but the prefix '4Z8' is." Marc has worked many stations on 20/15 meters SSB (mostly North Americans). He informs OPDX that he would like the readers to know he can also be found on RTTY on 20 meters. His schedule is: 0330-0430z on 14082 +/- QRM, 7 days a week. QSL manager is WC1X.

9A, CROATIAN ISLAND HOPPING TOUR 2001 (Also Lighthouse Activity).... Marc/ON5FP and Jose/ON4CJK will be island hopping in Croatia from July 16-31st. Their base QTH will be the lighthouse of "Veli Rat" (CRO-183) on the island of Dugi Otok (EU-170 and CI-018). They will have a motorboat at their disposal and plan to visit 3 more nearby small Croatian islands (not specified yet) in the same IOTA group. Their planned schedule of activities include:

Their aim is to transmit from as many lighthouses as possible. ON4CJK will be an entry in the IOTA contest from their "Veli Rat" lighthouse QTH. QSL all QSOs to ON4ADN via the UBA bureau or direct to: Geert Decru, St. Laurentiusstraat 18, B- 8710 Wielsbeke, Belgium.

9A, CROATIAN ISLANDS............

CARIBBEAN TOUR 2001 (Updated). In addition to previous announcements, the Low Land DX-pedition Team (LLDXT) have received 2 special callsigns J3PA and J8PA which will be used on Topband to avoid dupes and for several Contests. No individual callsigns will be used on 160 meter. All licenses and import permissions for the equipment are pre-arranged. The LLDXT's 6th Caribbean tour will take them to the island of Carriacou (Grenada) IOTA NA-147 (2nd - 15th August) and the island Bequia (St. Vincent) IOTA NA-025 (16th - 27th August). The team members will be Bouke/PA0ZH, Ronald/PA3EWP, Rob/PA5ET and Dennis/PA7FM. The callsigns will be J3/homecall, J8/homecall, J3PA and J8PA. The last 2 callsigns will be used on Topband and during contests. They will use 2 x FT1000MP's with amplifiers and will be active around the clock on 160-10 meters on the modes CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. Titanex sponsored a V160E vertical to give them a good low-band signal. As in other years, they have a Tour Web-Site which will be updated daily with the latest information, on-line logs, tour diary, digital photo's, propagation forecasts and digital pile-up recordings. The Guestbook can already be signed. The LLDXT home-page is ready for the tour and can be found at: http://www.qsl.net/lldxt/ All QSLs will be managed again by PA5ET, Rob Snieder, Van Leeuwenstraat 137, 2273 VS Voorburg, The Netherlands.

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

ISLAND NEWS. Marc/F6HQP and Pierre/F5NGB will operate from some islands in Brittany for the DIFM and IOTA award between July 29th to August 12th. No other details were provided.

LIGHTHOUSE ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO GROW! Over the last few years, more and more DXers have been taking an interest in lighthouses/lightships activity. This week we received a message from Jim Weidner, K2JWX, President of the "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society" ARLHS. He states the following: "The ARLHS is the world's largest amateur radio society devoted exclusively to ham radio and lighthouses. Less than a year old, our membership already totals several hundred worldwide, with an average of 2 new members being added every day. In addition to sponsoring expeditions to lighthouses and lightships around the world on a weekly basis, we also sponsor four operating events throughout the year. The next events are the immensely popular NLLW and ILLW annual operating events. (The latter event is in co-sponsorship with GM4SUC.) We offer an extensive lighthouse awards program and maintain perhaps the internet's largest and most complete list of the lighthouses and lightships of the world.............. Full details can be found on our main web pages at: http://arlhs.com Our main web site contains our stated purposes in sponsoring expeditions to remote lighthouses as well as details about our worldwide organization, the largest ham radio society devoted to lighthouse/lightship operations. Membership details and FAQs are also accessible from this main page."

  1. National Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (NLLW) - August 4-5th. Guidelines are on the web page at: http://www.waterw.com/~weidner/arlhs/page2a.html For the first time awards and prizes are offered for this event. The prize drawing is an exquisitely detailed miniature collectible lighthouse, signed limited edition, donated by one of their sponsors, Harbour Lights.
  2. International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW) - August 18-19th. Guidelines are on the web page at: http://www.waterw.com/~weidner/arlhs/page2b.html

MORE LIGHTHOUSE ACTIVITY. Just a reminder that a new lighthouse will be activated for the "World Lighthouse Award" next weekend for one day, July 22nd. Look for 9A5KV/P, 9A3VM/P, 9A3DU/P and 9A5V/P to be active from the Croatian lighthouse "Otocic Lirica" (LH 0381). QSL via 9A5KV: PO Box 286, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia.

NEW DX PUBLICATION. OPDX was informed that a new DX publication is available for DXers, "The Amateur Radio DX Reference Guide - DX101X By AC6V". This guide includes information on DX Equipment, Propagation, Operating Aids, Working DX, QSLing, DX Secrets,14 Appendices... etc. This 226 page book took a year to write and features the DXing advice of several noted DXers and technical gurus. For an outline and samples of this guide, vist the Web page: http://ac6v.com/

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

QSL.NET BLOCKS THE OPDX BULLETIN. OPDX InterNet Subscribers using QSL.NET as their InterNet Mail Address will no longer receive the OPDX Bulletin. This will affect some 42 subscribers. OPDX has been having trouble sending the bulletin over the last few weeks to these subscribers of QSL.NET. Apparently, (as we are told) it has something to do with a SPASM control on QSL.NET. We recommend that these subscribers PLEASE unsubscribe from the OPDX mailing List to prevent continued message bounces and resubscribe from another address. We are sorry for this inconvenience.

S2, BANGLADESH. Look for John, KX7YT, to be active as S21YV from Dhaka now through August 5th. He will operate on 20/15 meters SSB/PSK31 between the hours of 1400-1800z.

SPECIAL EVENT. A special event station will be on the air from now through the end of August to conmemorate the "Copa America 2001" soccer football tournament that will be held in Colombia. The Copa America is the most important football tournament in South America. All South American national teams will compete for this prestigious cup. The special callsign to be used is 5K3CA which will be on the air 80-10 meters, CW, RTTY, PSK31 and SSB. Operators are: HK3DDD, HK3WGQ, HK1APN/3, HK3PDX, HK3LGO, HK3CW, HJ3ISB, and HJ3JSF. QSL via HK3DDD, Beto. QSL direct or via the bureau. The QSL will be a beautiful color photo depicting the highlights of the tournament.

SPECIAL EVENT. In connection with the celebration of "The King Chulalongkorn Days" in Utanede, Sweden, special event station SI9AM will have "open house" between 0800-1800z, Thursday, July 19th through Sunday, July 22nd. They will allow a 2 hour slot for each operator during the operating hours of 0800-1800z daily. Whoever happens to be in the area/vicinity and would like to operate with this unusual callsign SI9AM, please contact them via E-mail at " si9am@qsl.net " for booking of time slots. The suggested frequencies are:

QSL via SM3CVM via the SM bureau or CBA. For more information about SI9AM, check the Web site: http://www.qsl.net/si9am/

T5 OPERATION CANCELLED. Bruce, WD4NGB, informed OPDX that: "Due to the recent DXpedition to T5 reducing the need, and the increase in hostilities in the country, the planned trip to Somalia this fall is cancelled. Any other group that may wish to go, I would be glad to change what I have done for a web page so far for their use. Sorry to those that were expecting us to be there... 73/DX, Bruce"

TK, CORSICA (Lighthouse Activity). From July 20th to August 10th, Claude, F5MCC, has planned a South Corsica ham radio tour (IOTA EU-014 and DIFM TK-001). Claude will be active from the land lighthouses, valid for the French Phares et Balises du littoral (DPLF Award) and numbered: PB-169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 188 and 288. He will go to the IIe du Toro (IOTA EU-164 and DIFM TK-031), with TK5XN on a weekend (dates unknown at the moment, and this depends on the weather and the boat possibilities). The stay there is planned for at least one day. Claude will enter the IOTA Contest with TK/F5MCC/EU014 for some hours. Claude will also be active from several Castles and Genovese Towers numbered from TK/2A002 to TK/2A013 which are valid for the French Forts and Castles award (DFCF). All activity will be on 40/20/15/10 meters SSB, CW on request, except for the IOTA contest and Ile du Toro activity where it will be CW only. The QSL for any of these activities go to F5MCC's direct CBA or via the French bureau to F3GJ.

V4, St, KITTS AND NEVIS. Larry, KJ4UY, will be traveling back here on July 19th. He will be operating from V44NK's QTH on Nevis as V47UY from July 20th through July 31st and will also operate during the IOTA contest. Activity will be 160-6 meters with the primary bands being 10 meters through 20 meters, operating CW/SSB/RTTY/PSK31. He should be joined by RB, WB4FNH, on July 25th and his proposed/requested callsign should be V47FNH. Please QSL V47UY via KJ4UY and V47FNH via WB4FNH with SASE for USA stations and SAE plus IRC or USD for return postage. They will be returning to the USA on August the 1st.

VU3, INDIA. Charly, K4VUD (also HS0ZCW, 9N7UD, V26V and A52UD), is now here and has just received recently his India callsign VU3CHE for HF operation. However, no QSNs were spotted by Charly on the cluster networks. A "BIG" disappointed Charly announced this week: "I am now sitting in Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India... that's VU4 land, guys... and I hold a new VU callsign... VU3CHE...but it is good only for operations in one location in New Delhi, India. !!!! close and yet so far!!!, I will file a full report on the test trip to VU4 land later. Very pretty place... trying snorkling today. Sked not not possible for VU3CHE. Back to HS-land soon."

XW, LAOS. Charly, K4VUD, also mentioned this past week that the Laos Frequencies Manager is still working on his XW operating permit application.

ZC4, U.K. SOV. BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS. Steve, ZC4BS, informs/updates OPDX that Steve/ZC4BS and Dez/ZC4DW, and the club station ZC4ESB are fully active "on-the-air" on all bands from 160-6 meters, including the WARC bands, and on all modes. Steve/ZC4BS is also operating SSTV (possibly the only ZC4 ever on this mode!). Their antennas range from coaxial dipoles to a 200ft doublet (basic but impressive ... worked 204 countries in 5 months on a dipole !!!). Steve mentions that once it cools down a little they will be building a few quad antennas for 15/10 meters. They are both active in most contests; usually one active on all bands, the other on a single band or even different modes to allow a better chance of catching a ZC4. Steve states that over 25,000 QSOs between them so far suggest their signals are getting out "OK", so check the cluster because they will be listening for you (ZC4BS is also an avid county hunter !!). Check out these interesting home pages about Steve:


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