OPDX Bulletin 1198 January 19, 2015

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1198
BID: $OPDX.1198
January 19, 2015
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, K3LR, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WX3P, N4AA & QRZ DX, WB6RSE, K7UA, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m News, W9ILY, DC8QT, DJ4KW, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DL1SBF, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/ IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, the VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF) and ZL4PW for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 11th/January, through Sunday, 18th/January there were 217 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 3X, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5W, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FO/a, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, J7, J8, 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, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, YA, YB, YI, YJ, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later".

3A, MONACO
Operators Patrice/F5RBB and his XYL Mireille/F4FRL will be active as 3A/F5RBB and 3A/F4FRL, respectively, from Monaco between now and January 24th. Activity will be on 20/15 meters RTTY and PSK31. QSL via their home callsigns.

3G0, JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLAND (Update to OPDX.<1193/a>/1197)
Members of the Provins ARC (F6KOP) will activate Robinson Crusoë Island (SA-005, aka Juan Fernandez Archipelago) as 3G0ZC between February 20th and March 8th. A team of 20 operators plan to be active with 8 stations on the air on 160-6 meters, using SSB, CW and the Digital modes. A Web site will be online soon. A FaceBook page is now available at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/JuanFernandez2015/747628888649765
More details will be forthcoming.

BILL MOORE, NC1L, UPDATE
Bernie, W3UR, from "The Daily DX" put out on January 18th the following update on NC1L:

"The following very important update on NC1L, Bill Moore, is from W1RM, Pete Chamalian. It’s sad news to DXers around the globe as Bill helped many of us through his carrier running the ARRL DXCC Desk. Let’s all shower Bill with words of encouragement at his email below and his callbook address. On a personal note I am sure this was a very difficult decision to make and we all need to support Bill as it wasn’t easy to do. Bill Thanks for all you did for the Amateur Radio DX Community!...... 73, Bernie"

"After much consultation with my family and as a result of the life changing accident I suffered in July, 2014, I have decided to relinquish my position as Awards Manager at ARRL HQ and focus my full effort on physical therapy. I have enjoyed my years at ARRL and the countless friends I have made within the ham radio community.

I hope to maintain contact as best I can via email and hope someday I will be able to get back on the bands. Email can be sent to me at BillMooreNC1L@Gmail.com and while I plan to read each and every one, I cannot promise to reply in a timely manner.

With much gratitude and sincere thanks,
Wilfred (Bill) Moore, NC1L"

DAYTON HAMVENTION NEWS
SWODXA DX DINNER ANNOUNCEMENT UPDATE
Bill Salyers, AJ8B, reports on January 9th [edited]:
The SouthWest Ohio DX Association (SWODXA) has announced that ‘C82DX ­ Plan, Plan, and Plan again, Murphy still makes a visit!” will be the keynote topic for their 30th annual DX dinner. The dinner, held in conjunction with the 2015 Dayton Hamvention®, will be on Friday, May 15th, at the Marriott Hotel in Dayton. N1DG and N4XP will be the presenters. Don Greenbaum, N1DG, grew up in New York City and the NJ Shore. His father, WA2UDV, was his radio mentor and two other siblings also had their licenses by the time Don became WN2DND at age 11 in 1962. Don has been on several major DXpeditions including VP8ORK, K4M and A52A. He has also operated as A61AD, A51DG, C91DG, A73A, and /KH9, /VP9, /VS6, /BV2, /4X and /9V. His latest DXpedition was to C82DX which he co-led with N4XP.

He has been webmaster for over 50 DXpeditions. In 2005 Don was honored at Dayton by CQ Magazine by being inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame. In 2009 Don was one of the founding members of the CW Operators' Club (member number 2). He is Treasurer of the Northern California DX Foun- dation and has authored several articles on the rising costs and financing of major DXpeditions.

Tom Harrell, N4XP, was first licensed in 1960 as KN4TSJ in Norfolk, VA, but upgraded quickly to K4TSJ at the age of 15. After working a "YU" as a novice, DX was discovered and became a prime interest which is as strong today as in those early years. Previous calls include V73XP, OK8XP, ON9CXP, ZK1XXP, AL7EL, K4TSJ and W8FCI.

Tom, currently credited with 365 entities also holds DXCC #1 Honor Roll; CW, Phone, and Mixed Honor Roll; 9 Band DXCC; 5BWAZ (190); CQ DX - SSB & CW; WPX - CW, SSB and Mixed.

Tom has led DXpeditions to Wake Island as AL7EL/KH9, KH9/AL7EL, and N4XP/KH9 and North Cook as ZK1XXP. He co-led DXpeditions to C82DX in Mozambique and K4M on Midway with N1DG and K5K on Kingman Reef with NI6T. In all Tom has either visited or operated from 41 countries.

In 2009 Tom was honored at the Dayton Hamvention by CQ Magazine by being inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame. Tom also has been a member of four DXpeditions of the Year. Tom has authored or co-authorized over 12 articles.

For more information and to order dinner tickets, visit WWW.SWODXAEVENTS.ORG and follow us on Twitter (@SWODXA).

CONTEST DINNER UPDATE
Tim, K3LR, reports [edited]:

North Coast Contesters are proud to announce that ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, will be the main speaker for the 23rd annual Dayton Contest Dinner event.

Thanks to Icom America, the main door prize is a IC-7600 full featured HF transceiver. Details and ticket information is available here:

http://contestdinner.com
EP, IRAN
Members of the Rockall DX Group are now active from Kish Island (AS-166), Iran, until January 31st. The group arrived on Kish Island on January 16th, and they reported that "everything is going as planned"... Activity will be on all bands and modes, having 5 stations on the air. Suggested frequencies are available in OPDX.1197 or their Web page at:
http://www.rockall.be/index.php/frequency-list
For more information and updates, visit QRZ.com or http://www.rockall.be

FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY (Reminder)
By the time you read this Gene, N9SW, will once again be active as FJ/N9SW from St. Barthelemy (NA-146, DIFO FJ-001, WLOTA 0377) until January 25th. Activity will be holiday style on 40-6 meters (possibly 80m) and mainly CW. QSL via his home callsign.

FR, REUNION ISLAND
Guy, F5MNW, will once again be active as FR/F5MNW from Saint Leu, Reunion Island (AF-016, DIFO FR-001, WLOTA 1812, WWFF FFF-011), between March 19th and April 14th. Activity will be on the HF bands using only CW. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. NO IRCs!

IOTA NEWS
AS-200. (Reminder) Kenji, JA4GXS, will once again be active as JA4GXS/5 from Shodo Island (Kagawa Prefecture) between January 23-25th. Activity will be on 40-15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via JA4GXS, direct or by the Bureau.

EU-059. Members of the Cray Valley Radio Society (G3RCV) will be active as MM8C from the rare Hirta Island (St. Kilda) between July 22-28th. Dates may change due to weather. Their plan is to be in the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 25-26th) as a Low-Power entry. QSL via G4DFI. The group plans to be active on the HF and VHF bands (IO75RT) using CW and SSB. They will also attempt to activate Conachair summit (GM/IS-098); which has yet to be activated. Operators mentioned are Nobby/G0VJG (Team Leader), Dave/G4BUO, Toby/M0TBS, Giles/M0TGV, Justin/G4TSH, Tony/G2NF and Chris/G0FDZ.

EU-177. Olaf, G0CKV, will once again be active as SM5CKV/P from Harstena Island during the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 25-26th) as a Single- Op/All-Band entry. QSL via LoTW.

NA-027. Members of the "Panama's Colon DX Group" plan to activate Taboga Island between February 27th and March 1st. No callsign was provided.

INTREPID DX NEWS (Press Release-The 2014 Intrepid Spirit Award)

The Intrepid-DX Group is pleased to announce the recipient of the 3rd annual “Intrepid Spirit Award”. We are pleased to have received so many worthy nominations to consider. This year’s award goes to a notable Dxer and DXpeditioner that we have come to respect and admire greatly, Mr. Dmitri Zhikharev-RA9USU. This award is to recognize Dmitri’s outstanding efforts to activate Yemen from 2012 through 2014 as 7O6T and 7O2A. Dmitri is largely responsible for fulfilling the need for 7O contacts since 2012.

Yemen is a place of much uncertainty and danger. We recognize Dmitri’s unselfish acts to activate this challenging and much needed entity. We acknowledge Dmitri’s pursuit of operating excellence and his quest to activate the rare and often dangerous entities. It is for these reasons that we honor him with our Intrepid Spirit Award, to be presented at the International DX Convention, Visalia, California on April 18th, 2015.

This “Intrepid-Spirit Award” is made in memory of our fallen friend and member, James McLaughlin, T6AF who was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan in April, 2011. The award is intended to recognize and honor those individuals or teams that boldly activate rare entities where their own personal safety is secondary to their pursuit of providing contacts to the DX Community. While we do not encourage Dxers to go into harm’s way, we recognize that circumstances sometimes require that and we recognize those Intrepid Dxers with the Intrepid Spirit Award.

Thank you, Paul S. Ewing, N6PSE - President, The Intrepid-DX Group

K1N NAVASSA DXPEDITION NEWS
If you missed the recent special bulletin OPDX.1197.2 sent out on January 17th, or were unable to see the propagation prediction diagram for North America, Japan, India and Poland, go to the OPDX Web page at:
http://papays.com/opdx1197.2.html

K6VVA ANTI-PIRATE & K6VVA CO-PILOT EXPEDITION SOLUTIONS VIDEO
The K6VVA Anti-Pirate & K6VVA Co-Pilot Expedition Solutions video was developed as a part of the continued planning and preparation for a CW ONLY Expedition to North Korea (P5). It can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlQroPxFOiQ&feature=youtu.be

NEW DXER'S HANDBOOK (Second Edition - Available For FREE!!!)
Yes that is right -- For FREE!!!
Bryce, K7UA, informs OPDX: Four years ago I wrote a series of short articles for our local DX club that came together as the "New DXer's Handbook." Much to my surprise it has turned into a fairly big thing with thousands of copies of it out in the world. It was translated into other languages too. The original has become outdated and wasn't written for a broad audience in the first place. I am retired now and I had some time to improve it. It is now available for download in the revised second edition. It is still free of charge as my gift to the world's new DXers. I will now be hosting it on my own Web site (which just came online January 11th):

http://www.k7ua.com
I have four overseas hams that have asked to translate it into their own languages and those versions will also be on my site when they are completed.......

P4, ARUBA
Jack, WX3P, will be active as P40JP from Aruba between February 14-19th. Activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters (no 30m) as conditions allow. Operations will be QRP with a KX3 and AlexLoop (maybe a wire OCD also). QSL via his home callsign.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (January 19-25th)

 Jan/19th HN      Jan/22nd  HN      Jan/24th  HN
 Jan/20th HN      Jan/23rd  AN      Jan/25th  LN
 Jan/21st HN


   SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE
   ======================================================
    NORMALITY               GEOMAG       K Values    Alpha
   -----------------        ------       --------    ------
   AN  - Above Normal       Quiet        K=0-1       0-7
   HN  - High Normal        Unsettled    K=2         8-15
   LN  - Low Normal         Active       K=3         16-29
   BN  - Below Normal       Minor Storm  K=4         30-49
   DIS - Disturbed          Major Storm  K=5         50-99
   VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9       100-400
REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE http://www.bandconditions.com:
The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA.

QSL INFO AND NEWS

  QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (January 18th)
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  5P7XJ via OZ7XJ          GB4UAS via MN0VFW          PS06J via PR7JP
  8Q5MQT via VU2NRO        HG4F via HA4FF             R35ASK via R4AAS
  C5X via M0OXO            K3Y via K9JP               T88HS via JA6KYU (d)
  DA300CFG via DL3JRA      LY19EURO via LY3BY         XV9NPS via JA2NPS (B)
  DQ70ELBE via DJ9ZZZ      MX0WFF via G0WOU (d)       YL20IARU via YL1UB
  EA8/DL6RO via DL6RO      OU0POLIO via OZ1ACB        YL45GBC via YL3GBC
  EN0U via UT7UT           PJ7/VA3QSL via VA3QSL      YP0C via YO3CZW
    (e) eQSL only  (d) direct only   (B) Bureau only  (L) LoTW only
    (O) OQRS only  (C) ClubLog only
QSL RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 1A0C, 5R8IC, 9A6TKS, EA5RU, HV0A, JA7AKH, PJ4/K5KG, VE2GSO, VP2VGG, VU2JAB, YC8UTI and ZD9ZS

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: C21GC, P4/W6HGF, T30D, TO2A and V6T

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 4X0L, 5C5T, 5Z4/EA4ATI, 9K2/SP4R, AM04ENP, AM04YTD, AM05AR, AM05LD, AM07ATE, AM07HY, C31AT, C31CT, C31KC, C31MO, C79BWW, C98BWW, CO8CML, CR2T, CU2AF, CU2AAR, CU3BL, EA6AR, EA6AZ, EA6ACT, EA6AIU, EA6ALH, EA6BB,EA6CA, EA6EJ, EA6FG, EA6LH, EA6LP, EA6OM, EA6SK, EA6TT, EA6ZS, EA8AF, EA8AT, EA8AAW, EA8ADL, EA8AGF, EA8AHM, EA8AJO, EA8AJY, EA8AMN, EA8AVK, EA8BMG, EA8BTM, EA8BTQ, EA8BLV, EA8BWL, EA8BXH, EA8CBC, EA8CPN, EA8CQN, EA8CQW, EA8CSD, EA8CSG, EA8CVA, EA8CYQ, EA8CYR, EA8DAJ, EA8GP, EA8KG, EA8KL, EA8KV, EA8OV, EA8PE, EA8QP, EA8MT, EA8TJ, EA8UP, EA8URE, EA8YN, EA8YT, EA9BO, EA9UG, EA9PY, EA0JC, EA200URD, EB6VP, EB9PH, EC8AFM, EC8AQQ, EC8AXS, ED8DD, ED6QY, ED8URE, ED9NA, EE8L, EF8F, EF0JC, EG8CLP, EG8LP, EG8WFF, EH6ARD, EI9HQ, FG3INT/7, FR5DZ, J28RO, LU7YS, MD/EB1BSV/P, MI0/EI9HQ, ON1RAFMOTA, OZ12SJ, TK5IH, S5300TP, SV1PAS, SV2MAP, SV7BOT and VX6AO

SILENT KEY
It has been brought to OPDX's attention that Ruben Kun, C21RK, became a Silent Key (SK) in September at the age of 73. OPDX has not been able to find any announcements about him passing away other than QRZ.com stating he is SK. John, K8YSE, one of the operators of the C21BH Martti Lane Birthday operation on Nauru, is the one who informed OPDX about Ruben's passing. He states,

"He (Ruben) was the most prominent op on Nauru and had some sort of government position as I recall. He was there when we landed and worked with the customs people to get all of our radio equipment through. He was a very gracious host and just a very hospitable guy."
Peter, ZL2VK (C21TA, VK3TAF), informed K8YSE [edited],
"There are now only two hams left on Nauru, Darkie/C21DJ, who now has no antennas as trees at his house have all been cleared, and Robbie/C21DX, who has no equipment...... Dumas/C21DD and Norman/C21NJ, both passed away a few years ago. Undoubtedly, Ruben was one of the finest gentleman I have ever met and I will always remember him and his generosity. I managed to get to know him well with my many trips to Nauru in a variety of roles."
Even though this may be belated, OPDX and its readers would like to send out our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of C21RK. His signal and friendship will be missed......

T32, EASTERN KIRIBATI
Richard, AD7AF, will be active as T32RL from Captain Cook Hotel, Kiritimati (OC-024), between January 22nd and February 9th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, including the 30/17/12m bands - not 60m, using CW, SSB and possibly some RTTY. His rig is a K3 with 110 watts into 1/4 wave verticals on the beach (40-10m) and an inverted Ls for 160 and 80 meters. Activity on 160m will be dependent on conditions, but he will be on during the CQWW 160 CW Contest (January 23-25th). Logs will be posted on ClubLog if he has internet access, and he will upload the log to LoTW when he returns home. QSL via AD7AF direct with SASE or SAE with green stamps.

TG9, GUATEMALA (Reminder)
Dwight, VE7BV, will once again be active as TG9/VE7BV from Guatemala between January 22nd and February 17th. Activity will be holiday style on 20/17/15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW.

TI9, COCOS ISLAND (Update OPDX.1190/1191)
Operator's list has grown for the upcoming TI9/3Z9DX to Cocos Island (NA-012) to air between February 16-23rd. The current operators are now Dom/3Z9DX, Jorge/TI2HMJ, Przemek/ SP8SIW and Dmitri/RA9USU. Two stations will be on the air operating 160­10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. There "may be" some 6 meter activity. A survey/vote for bands/modes needs is available at the following Web page, as well as more details and updates, see:

http://www.nielsen.net/ti9a

TO66, GUADELOUPE
Operators Gildas/F6HMQ and Michel/F6GWV will once again be active from here between February 18th and March 8th. Look for them to sign TO66R during the ARRL International DX SSB Contest (March 7-8th) as a Multi-Single entry. QSL TO66R via F6HMQ. Outside of the contest they will be active on all bands signing FG/homecall. QSL via their home callsign.

TX3X CHESTERFIELD ISLAND DXPEDITION (Press Release dated January 12th)
Gene, K5GS, reports [edited]:

Joining the team last week were: On-Island -- Tom Berson, ND2T. Tom is well known contest enthusiast and DXpeditioner. He was licensed at age 11 as WV2ASJ. He is a member of the Northern California Contest Club (President 2003-2004), the Stanford Amateur Radio Club, and CWops. Tom is President of the Northern California DX Foundation. He operates contest multi-ops from W6YX, K6IDX (W6OAT), and K5RC (W7RN). A member of DXpeditions to Scarborough Reef (BS7H, 2007), Midway Island (K4M, 2009), South Orkney Islands (VP8ORK, 2011), and Swains Island (NH8S, 2012).

Pilot Team -- Alexander (Al) Teimurazov, 4L5A, Asia pilot (except JA). Additionally, Al is the publisher of the website DXnews.com and was our first committed corporate sponsor. Luke Steele, VK3HJ, Oceania pilot.

Also signing on as an early corporate sponsor is:

http://www.foldingantennas.com
V3, BELIZE
Gerd/DJ4KW and XYL Gisela/DK9GG are once again active as V31YN and V31GW, respectively, from Consejo Shores until March 5th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters including the 30/17/12m bands using CW and RTTY. Gerd informs OPDX that they will stay on the mainland the whole time and will not be visiting any IOTA-locations. Look for Gisela to possibly be in the CQWW 160m SSB Contest (February 27-28th). They will only operate with 100 watts max. See their equipment and QTH at:
http://echo34.de/Mitglieder/V31YN/Information
QSL via their home callsigns, direct or by the Bureau or LoTW. For more details about their operation, see:
http://www.qslnet.de/member/dj4kw/v31yn.htm

V5, NAMIBIA (Update)
For the third year in a row, operators Werner/DC8QT, Georg/DD8ZX and Klaus/DJ9KM will be active again as V5/homecall from Namibia between February 10-19th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via their home callsigns. Logs will be uploaded to LoTW. They also will take part in the CQ WPX RTTY Contest using V55V on February 14-15th. QSL V55V via DJ8VC, direct or by the Bureau.

V6, MICRONESIA
Taka, JA8COE, will be active as V63CO from Falalop Island (OC-078), Ulithi Atoll, between March 2-6th. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via JA8COE, direct (2 USDs or IRCs) or ClubLog's OQRS. NO Bureau QSLs. For more details, updates and pictures, see Taka Blog page:

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/takaja8coe

VISALIA IDXC NEWS
Some details for the Top Band Dinner at the Visalia 66th International DX Convention (IDXC) have been announced. The dinner will be held on April 17th, at the Marriott Hotel Ballroom — In the Marriott Hotel immediately adjacent to the Visalia Convention Center. Bob Allphin, K4UEE, will be the keynote speaker and will present: "Top Band from Navassa, K1N." There will be a self-serve buffet dinner and door prizes. Complete details and registration information can be found at:

http://topbanddinner.jimdo.com

VK0EK HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION NEWS
(VK0EK Radio Team Leader and QSL Manager Appointed):
Rich, KY6R, reports on the VK0EK Web page on January 14th [edited]: We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dave Lloyd, K3EL, as the Radio Team Leader. Dave is a PhD chemist, with experience on major DXpeditions. He brings not only his skills as an operator and team manager, but also his understanding of the project goals and strategy. Dave is leading the radio team to define the requirements and make pre- parations for the operation, and he will be the manager of the radio operations on Heard Island.

QSL TEAM LEADER APPOINTED -- We are pleased to announce the selection of the Diablo DX-ers, a coalition of local San Francisco Bay Area DX club members led by co-organizer Rich, KY6R, to carry out the QSL service for VK0EK. The group brings considerable IT experience that will enable the operation to be accurate and efficient. The team will implement a variety of innovations which will be documented on the VK0EK.ORG web site in the near future. Stay tuned!

VK0EK DX-pedition Mentioned in Australian Travel Magazine! -- The Heard Island Main Web site has a link in this excellent article:

http://www.traveller.com.au/australias-most-remote-territories-and-how-to-visit-them-12nz6m

A HUGE THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS! -- We owe everything to our wonderful sponsors - now fully recognized on both of our sites - this DX-pedition specific site:

http://vk0ek.org/sponsors-3/
and our Main site:
http://www.heardisland.org/HD_pages/HD_sponsors.html
Again - thank you so very much!

VP8/G, SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
Paul, ZL4PW, informs OPDX [edited]:

Denis, ZL4DB, is heading to VP8\G South Georgia (AN-007) in a few days. En route, he hopes to collect his license and VP8\G callsign in Stanley, Falkland Islands, around January 24th. He also hopes to meet Bob, VP8LP, who has been very helpful in providing information on requirements and contacts with the VP8 administration. Once on the South Georgia, he needs to obtain permission to operate which could be late February as there are important tasks to complete for the team he's working with. A QRZ.com page and possibly Clublog will be set up when his call is confirmed.

Denis will arrive at King Edward Point, near Grytviken around January 27th and will be tasked with providing comms for a helicopter operation as part of the South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project. The helicopter team will be rat-poisoning, with Denis setting up a global positioning warning system to track the choppers and a repeater system between the main base and forward operating positions. His time for ham radio will be largely dictated by the weather. If its adverse for flying, then he'll be off to the shack. The operation is scheduled to end late March/early April.

Denis is very inexperienced in using a computer logging program or pile-up handling so may not be calling CQ initially, he may only S&P for a while until his confidence increases. If you hear him, please be very patient. He has been given some training using N1MM software with a simulated steady stream of callers. He knows how to use split, but initially may be simplex only.

His rig is a TS-480 barefoot into a 17/20m GP. The TS-480 has auto-tuner so he may appear on other bands. Unfortunately, he is not permitted to operate from the main comms room on the base or use their antennas. He will only be operating SSB.

From Grytviken, there is a tall mountain range to the North which will largely block SP signals towards WEU, NA & SA. Fortunately, these is a large bay right in front of him on the SP to ZL, VK & Asia.

Denis has been on Macquarie before and had hoped to operate from there, but this never eventuated. There is a possibility he may not operate from VP8\G either. With a large team planning to activate South Georgia and South Sandwich in 2016, it won't be long before we get a crack at a large-scale activation from these highly sought-after entities.

Denis will not be reachable by e-mail while at Grytviken. He hopes to gain some internet time to send logs to his QSL manager (Paul, ZL4PW). Please do not request skeds, different bands, different modes etc etc. If he isn't too intimidated by the pile-ups and caller behavior he will work more of the deserving. QSL information will be posted on QRZ.com at a later date. Uploading to LoTW and eQSL is very unlikely.

VQ9, CHAGOS (Postponed)
Bob, N7XR, who planned to be active as VQ9XR from Diego Garcia Island (AF-006), had to postponed his operation again due to logistics. Bob states, "So whomever is using my call is indeed a pirate."

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