Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 554
March 17, 2002

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 554
BID: $OPDX.554
March 18, 2002
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, ARRL Letter, K1XN, NC1L, NT1N, WA2MOE, K3LR, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, N4VA, NX4D, K6JAT, K6SE, KH6BZF, N6DE, NH6D, W7TSQ, K8YSE, DL1EK & DX News Letter, F5NQL & UFT, FJ5DX & La Gazette du DX, G3SXW, G4ZFE, IN3ZNR, JA0SC, JH4RHF, OZ6OM & OZ 50 MHz DX Bulletin, SP5UAF, UT3UY, UT3UZ, VA3RJ & ICPO, VK4CP, VK4DX, YT1AD and ZL4HU for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 10/March, through Sunday, 17/March there were 235 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4S, 4U1I, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5V, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C6, CE, CE0A, CE0X, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH3, KH6, KH8, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ7, PY, PY0S, PZ, S2, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T30, T7, T8, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TL, TN, TR, TT, TU, TY, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9C, VK9N, VP2E, VP2V, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP8/h, VP8/o, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YJ, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZD9, ZF, ZK1/s, ZK2, ZK3, ZL, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations. As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later" (WFWL).

3B8, MAURITIUS. Mart, DL6UAA, is heading back to Mauritius and is expected to be there by March 25th. He will be there for some weeks. He will probably sign 3B8MM. Activity should be on 80-10 meters, CW/SSB/RTTY. For more information, check out the following Web sites: http://www.dl6uaa.de and http://www.hamradio-mauritius.com

3V, TUNISIA. Mustapha/DL1BDF, DL1BDI, and Jun/JH4RHF are expected to visit the five 3V clubs for technical support between March 27th and April 13th. During their visit, they will activate the stations, 3V8CB, 3V8SJ, 3V8SQ, 3V8SF and 3V8SM. Jun, JH4RHF, will operate 3V8CB during the CQ WPX SSB Contest (March 30th-April 1st). Hiro, JA0SC, reports that Jun told him he would be active on SSTV before and after the contest. All QSLs go to DL1BDF direct.

DINNER ACTIVITIES.............

DXCC NEWS..........

EM0, UKRAINE. Alex, UT3UZ , was informed that at Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies and Supervision for Telecommunications have set up an amateur radio station and were issued the callsign EM0U. The employees of the Center and radio amateurs representatives of other Administrations will take part in an ITU seminars and conferences to be held in Kiev and will operate this station. This station will be active March 30-31st in the CQ WPX SSB Contest. QSL via UT3UZ either direct (Alex I . Arbuzov, P.O. Box 240, Kiev-232, 02232, Ukraine) or through the UARL bureau.

J6, SAINT LUCIA. Remember to look for Gary, KI6T, as J68GS between March 21st and April 2nd. Activity will be on 80-10 meters CW. Look for him in the CQ WPX SSB as J6DX. QSL via KI6T (direct or bureau is OK).

JD1, MINAMI TORISHIMA. Reports of a station signing JD1BLL or JD1BLL/JD1 on 10 and 15 meters have been showing up lately. However, Mack, JJ2QXI, reports that the information found on the following Web site http://www.k-denkan.go.jp/faq/atfaq/atfuyo.html indicate that this callsign has not been assigned yet. Japanese callsigns are issued alphabetical, and the last one is JD1BKZ as of February 21, 2002.

JD1, OGASAWARA ISLAND. Minomiya, JA2NQG, is expected to sign JD1/JA2NQG from March 22-31st. No bands or modes of activity were provided.

IOTA AND LIGHTHOUSE ACTIVITY. On March 23-24th, beginning each day around 0700z, look for Alain, F5HPY, to be active from RE Island (IOTA EU-032) from several lighthouses which are good for the French Onshore Lighthouses program (DPLF). He will use the callsign F5HPY/p on SSB on 40 and 20 meters. The name and the reference number of the lighthouse will be annouced periodically. Alain will work the following lighthouses which have never been activated in the order listed below:

To finish the trip on Sunday, Alain will be active once more from Les Baleines: PB 017, ARLHS FRA 136. QSL via home callsign direct CBA or via the French bureau.

KH4, MIDWAY ISLAND. Bill, NH6D, found out late last week he will be heading over to Midway, Monday, March 18th. He is scheduled to arrive there during the evening hours, their time. This is a very short trip. He will depart KH4 during the evening of March 21st (Thursday). Bill is going over on business and has a full schedule, but he is packing his "bug" in the suit case and will try to get it on the air. QSL is via N6FF.

KH9. WAKE ISLAND. It looks like Bruce, AC4G/V73CW, is once again heading here. His plans are for another, longer, Wake Island operation sometime around June/July 2002. He expects to use the callsign AC4G/KH9. Activity will be on all bands 160-6 meters with a 50/50 mix of SSB and CW. More info is forthcoming.

KP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Dean/N6DE and Eric/K6EP will be active from St. Croix between March 27th and April 2nd. During the CQ WPX SSB Contest, they will use the callsign WP2Z. They will also operate as KP2/homecall before and after the contest on 160-10 meters, including the WARC bands, using SSB, CW, RTTY, and PSK31. QSL WP2Z contacts via KU9C, and non-contest QSOs via the operator's home callsign.

P5 OPERATION ABORTED! Hrane, YT1AD, informs OPDX that he will not go back to P5. According to a press release that Hrane sent us, he states: "In one word it was a thrill!!! We (Hrane and Voja, YU7AV) arrived to Pyongyang on March 5th, where we were welcomed by representatives of Ministry of Telecommunications and Foreign Affairs. We were stationed in YANGAKDO Hotel, on the bank of the river with the same name. The hotel has 47 floors, and we were on the 40th floor, with almost ideal conditions for work. All our equipment was put together, and we were about to start our operation with previously assigned callsign P5A. Unexpectedly the uniformed military official appeared, and imposed ban on our operation, until the permission of military authorities is obtained. It was supposed to be available on March 8th, but nobody showed up, possibly because of holiday. We did not want to risk starting unauthorized operation. Meanwhile we had fun listening to all pirates pretending to be us, when we did not make a single contact. Finally, the military official showed up on Sunday and simply said: 'No transmission until further notice.' Than we did not have any choice but to leave. After landing in Beijing, our only comment was: Never Again !!!"

P5, NORTH KOREA (There still is hope!). Ed, P5/4L4FN, is reportedly back in Pyongyang. He received good news that his contract has been extended until June 2003. This means Ed will have a chance to work more stations than expected. However, according to the KK5DO's Web site, Ed's current work load is heavy right now. This means he will not be able to be back on the air until March 23rd. There is still much to do in the outlying field stations, so he will be out of town during the week.

PJ2, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Jim/K6JAT and his XYL Lilah/KE6EHD will be taking a family vacation to Curacao from March 24th through April 2nd. Jim is bringing a TS-50s and a MP-1 vertical to operate some casual SSB as PJ2/K6JAT. He states, "Who knows, maybe I'll even pass out some points in the CQ WW WPX Contest." QSL via their home callsign.

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

S2, BANGLADESH..............

TM5, FRANCE (Good for an award!). Dom, F5SJB, will once again be active as TM5CW for the CQ WW WPX contest. His activity will be CW and QRP between May 18th through June 1st. TM5CW is valid for the Lons-le-Saunier City Telegraphy Award. A special QSL can be obtained via the Bureau, direct (Dominique MEIGE, F5SJB, F-39130 HAUTECOUR, France) or SPRAT.

VISIT THE GOLIST WEB SITE. John, K1XN, of "The Golist" (QSL Manager DataBase), requests that you visit the Golist web site. There are many new services available to you in your quest for those QSL cards. The old DOS program is still available but has been improved. A new 32 bit Golist for Windows is being written and will be available at Dayton. Please stop by for a visit and see what he has to offer. He also has a special discounted price on the RAC call book CD when you purchase the Golist program with the monthly database updates via E-mail or download. The Web site is at: http://www.golist.net/ -or- http://216.242.115.105/

VK9M, MELLISH REEF. Adam, VK4CP (VK9ML Webmaster & Pilot), sent out a press release during this past weekend. All OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the complete press release as an additional bulletin. An excerpt from the release states, "In only four weeks time Mellish Reef will be active on all bands 160-6M, including WARC, on CW, SSB and RTTY. If you need VK9M for a new one, then get your station ready! Joining the team is Frank Hunt, ZL2BR, who replaces David "Harry" Holton, VK4DH. Unfortunately Harry's leave was cancelled due to a new business commitment, but he still continues as a support member of the team." More mirrored web sites have been added to serve the DX community. This will allow DXers in different areas to catch up on all the news, not to mention checking the all-important on-line log for your QSO. Logs will be updated twice a day, sometimes more often if they can! The urls are: (US) http://www.qsl.net/vk9ml/2002/ (VK) http://www.users.bigpond.com/vk4cp/2002/ (JA) http://www.pedi.jp/

VP6, DUCIE ISLAND. The Ducie Island DXpedition team is now active as VP6DI for about one week. First reports started showing up on the DX Clusters about 1915z Saturday. Remember the main frequencies for this operation are 21020 kHz for CW and 21295 kHz for SSB twenty-four hours a day. Note, please, that the expedition will have both 15 meter frequencies active at the same time. Other suggested frequencies are 14195 kHz for SSB and 14020 kHz for CW, as well as 28495 kHz for SSB. If conditions on the higher bands are poor, they will use 7045 kHz for SSB and 7005 kHz for CW. The operators will not be active on 75/80/160 meters and on the WARC until the last part of the operation. A frequency for CW on the WARC bands will be announced later. Per Yoshi, JE2EHP, states there will be 5 stations (Stations A, B, C, D and E). Stations A and B will share one tent and stations C, D and E will each have their own tents. The team will try to set up the A and B tent about 500 meters from the other tents. This arrangement is not carved in stone; there may be changes depending on the situation.

The Pilot Stations Yoshi/JE2EHP, Stu/WA2MOE and Jay/AF2C release the following statements on Friday about the VP6DI operation:

  1. They decided that they will basically use 40m Inverted V for 40m and 75m.
  2. They will try to utilize the 80/160m vertical which the VP8 team has left in the vessel Braveheart for Ducie team.
  3. They are asking all the stations on SSB to call with a full callsign, NOT BY LAST TWO LETTERS.
  4. They will stay on Ducie at least until next weekend (March 23/24th) by local time.
  5. They will stop over at Hendersen Island for IOTA service just for one day on their way back to Pitcairn.

QSL Manager is Garth Hamilton, VE3HO, for all HF operations only. QSL Manager for 6 meter operation is JA1BK. For the latest updates on this operation, it is recommend to watch the following Web sites:

SPECIAL ADDED NOTES (for VP6DI)......

* Propagation guru Lee, KH6BZF, reports the following propagation for the VP6DI operation: FOR ALL (dated March 17th): The propagation has been good this first day for VP6DI. K-indices from 0000UTC to 1800UTC were: 0,0,0,0,1,1,1 that is a running Alpha of 1.5 The Solar Flux Index appears on the rise. At 1700 UTC this morning it was 185.6, a good sign. Also Aurora levels have been low. Last index was a level three (3). For the next week and a half will be HN (High Normal) now through the 20th March, the AN (Above Normal) propagation through the 25th March. If no Solar perturbations occur, we'll all be in "fat city!"

* Mike, VK4DX, informs OPDX to tell its readers to check out the few audio files from the VP6DI operation on his "VK4DX Contest Calendar" Web site to hear what the pile up does sound like from "the other side". The URL is: http://www.vk4dx.net By the way, the "VK4DX Contest Calendar" Web page now also includes a U.S. contest calendar (state QSO parties 'n things) and the Australian contest calendar.

XR0, SAN FELIX. The San Felix DXpedition became active on March 16th as XR0X, Activity will be for approximately 12 to 14 days on all bands and modes. The San Felix DXpedition Web site is: http://www.cordell.org/SFX/ The Web site will contain frequent updates and a log search. QSL via N7CQQ: John Kennon, P. O. Box 31553, Laughlin, Nevada 89028 USA.

XW, LAOS. Fabrizio, IN3ZNR, informs OPDX that he will be again in Vientiane, the capital city of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos this upcoming springtime. His old previous callsign, XW3ZNR has been issued again, and he will leave for South East Asia on April 23rd. He expects to operate from April 24th through May 4th. Activity will be on all bands SSB. Fabrizio states that he will not use the normal DX windows, like 14195, 21295....etc. This is due to the following reasons:

  1. He will leave the usual DX frequencies to the others big DXpeditions that will be active during the same weeks he will be active.
  2. He will give a chance to the USA general licence holder to work Laos.
  3. To work many casual DXers as possible, out of the more crowded DX frequencies.

So, Fabrizio expects to operate on the following announced suggested frequencies: 28475, 21375, 14275, 7075 and 3775 listening up 5 to 10 kHz,. He will have the following equipment: tribander yagi, dipole, delta loop (home made for low bands), and amplifier. QSL via IN3ZNR: Fabrizio Vedovelli, via Gramsci, 27, 38100 TRENTO, Italy.

YA, AFGHANISTAN. It has been reported that Chris, G0TQJ, will be going here around April 15th for two or three months. He is expected to try to get a license. If he does, look for him to be active on SSB and RTTY during his spare time. QSL via his home callsign.

ZL7, CHATHAM ISLAND. Ken Holdom, ZL4HU, (Group Organizer, Team Leader and QSL Manager), reports that the Kermadec DX Association is going to undertake a DXpedition to Chatham Island (ZL7) later this year. They realize that ZL7 is not the most wanted country in the world, but because of the proposed timing of this DXpedition, they anticipate making a significant amount of contacts with both DXers and contesters alike. Due to the non-availability of some members of their very successfull ZL8RI and ZL9CI teams, they are now looking for additional operators who are experienced in both CW and SSB operation. As this will be a 24 hour per day operation, they are looking for operators who feel they have the willingness and ability to operate during both day time and night time. If you are interested and would like more information, please contact Ken, ZL4HU, via E-mail at: zl2hu@clear.net.nz Or by snail mail at: Kermadec DX Association, P.O. Box 7, Clyde, Central Otago, New Zealand. 


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