OPDX Bulletin 1261 April 11, 2016

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1261
BID: $OPDX.1261
April 11, 2016
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, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, W4DN, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, Heather Parsons, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PA3CNO, PS7DX, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF) and YT3W for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 3rd/April, through Sunday, 10th/April there were 213 countries active. Countries available: 1S, 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5U, 5V, 5W, 5Z, 6Y, 7P, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FR, FS, FT/j, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J6, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T32, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK0H, VP2E, VP5, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, 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".

102 AND STILL ACTIVE!!
Maurice, F5NQL, informs us that on April 7th [edited]:

"Today, our good friend Ivan Pastre, F3AT, turns 102 years young. Still active on the band quite exclusively on CW on the HF bands and 6m. He is on every day at his station chasing DXpeditions and new bands for his DXCC Challenge. He is Top of the Honor Roll. He is still a member of numerous societies like REF, ARRL, Clipperton DX Club, Union Française des Télégraphistes, FOC, EUDXF, Provins ARC/F6KOP and more. Congrats may be sent to:
ivanf3at@dbmail.com
73 and Happy Birthday to Ivan"
4W, TIMOR LESTE
By the time you read this, JA operators (Tack/JE1CKA, Hide/JI1AVY, Jim/7K4QOK, Yutaka/JQ2GYU and YL Miho/JJ2VLY) will be ending their activity sign 4W/homecall from Timor Leste (QRT April 11th). QSL 4W/JI1AVY via LoTW/DIRECT/NO Bureau. QSL all other callsigns via JJ2VLY or LoTW.

9H, MALTA
Mek, SQ3RX, will be on a short holiday and active as 9H3SQ from Marsalforn, Gozo Island (EU-023) between May 13-19th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters (possibly 80m) using CW and SSB. The equipment consists of a Kenwood TS-480SAT w/100 watts into an Inverted V on a Fiberglass 10m pole. QSL via SQ3RX, direct or via the Bureau. Uploads to LoTW and ClubLog (OQRS) after the operation (possibly during).

9M0, SPRATLY ISLANDS (Reminder)
If you missed 9M0O, look for Michael, DF8AN, will be active as 9M0S from Layang Layang Island (AS-051) between April 19-29th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using mainly CW. QSL via DF8AN, direct or by the Bureau. No eQSL and NO LoTW. For more details and updates, watch his Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/227645770903070/?fref=nf

9M6, EAST MALAYSIA
Operators Hrane/YT1AD/YT5A and Acim/YT3W will be visiting the city of Kota Kinabalu between May 13-19th. They will try to be active using the prefix 9M6. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via their home callsigns.

A2, BOTSWANA (Reminder)
Operators Nobby/G0VJG, Nick/G4FAL, Giles/M0TGV, Tony/G4DLD and Edd/GM0WED will be active as A25UK from Tuli Block between April 13-19th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via M0OXO, direct, eQSL or ClubLog's OQRS (direct or Bureau). For more details and updates, see:

http://www.prismembroidery.co.uk/dxexp/a25uk

BS7, SCARBOROUGH REEF
As we mentioned last year in May, some BY operators are planning to activate Scarborough Reef (BS7H) in 2016. Something interesting popped-up on the DX Engineering Web page (under Tech Info & News) on April 4th. Read the article "DX Engineering Supports the BS7 Scarborough Reef DXpedition" at:

http://www.dxengineering.com/techarticles/dxegeneralnews/dx-engineering-supports-the-bs7-scarborough-reef-dxpedition

CE0Y EASTER ISLAND
Henry, LU4DXU, will be active as CE0Y/LU4DXU from Easter Island between April 16-29th. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using only SSB. QSL via his home callsign direct.

CY9C, ST. PAUL ISLAND DXPEDITION (Update)
The following update was posted on the CY9C Web page on April 5th [edited]:

We have decided to setup "two" sites. One will be on the Northeast point, a separate island where the lighthouse is located; the second site is the more traditional site for DXpeditions known as Atlantic Cove. The distance between sites will max- imize the ability to operate two stations simultaneously on the same band. Many times there will be a CW/RTTY and SSB operating on the same band. Have you viewed the AERIAL Fly-over?
http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/dxpedition-site.html
ADDED NOTES: Also, take a look and fill out "NEED" SURVEY on their website at:
http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/need-survey.html
A serious effort is being planned to address those specific needs.

SUPPORT DONATIONS: A special "thank you" to donors is listed on their Web page

http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/news--sponsors.html
that contributed financially to the DXpedition. All pre-DXpedition donors that work them will receive a QSL automatically without any request required. Every donation is significant....none is too small. Thank you for considering to assist the DXpedition. The single most expensive item is the cost for the transportation to access the island. Donations can be made Via this link: http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/donate.html (If desired, more details / info on this matter, contact: N0TG - E-mail address per QRZ.com).

QSL INFORMATION: There are several methods to QSL. It is recommended to use Club's OQRS. For more details on QSLing, see:

http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/qsl-info.html
E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS
Mike, ZL1MRC, will be active as E51MRC from Muri, Rarotonga Island (OC-013) between April 13-22nd. Activity will be on the HF bands using Icom 7200 with 100 watts into a CrankIR vertical antenna. QSL via his home callsign.

ET, ETHIOPIA (Update)
The Ukrainian operators continue to be active as ET7L from the INSA Radio Club in Mekanisa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Activity will be limited due to their work duties, but they are expected to be active until May 1st. Their activity has been on 9 bands and they have made 30,000 QSOs as of April 4th. They continue to pay attention to the Top band. Operators are members of UT7L Contest Club (Yarik/UW7LL and Andy/UR4LRQ). Logs are being uploaded daily on Clublog's OQRS. Upload to LoTW will be after the end of the operation. QSL Manager is US0LW. The Web site is now up and running with updates and log search at:

http://et7l.dxer.com.ua

FT4JA JUAN DE NOVA DXPEDITION NEWS
By the time you read this, the FT4JA DXpedition should be QRT or coming to a close (QRT April 10th, departure on the 11th). The latest Press Release:

* April 7th (Thursday) - Good propagation is back again on high bands, and that is of course excellent news! We are keeping as many stations on air on the opened bands, staying until they close. We had excellent runs with NA west coast on different bands; we will continue to focus on difficult areas.

Unfortunately, we will have to work on the dismantelling plan to match with the necessary high tide. Depending on the high wind these days this might makes things difficult for loading/unloading things with the zodiac - we’ll keep fingers crossed…We plan to leave the island next Monday. More info with the remaining antennas day by day soon.

Operators are tired by the long radio shifts and high temperature but are all still giving their best to put everyone in the log. We really appreciate the cooperation of everyone when we ask to QRX to give a chance to a special area.

The next weekend we will concentrate on the band/modes with the most QSOs in the log to give all a last opportunity for an ATNO.

QSL FT4JA via F5CWU, ClubLog's OQRS (recommended) or LoTW. After the end of the operation, you can order either a Bureau or direct QSL card using the OQRS provided by ClubLog. This method is by far the most simple way to proceed without having to send your own paper QSL! As this was being written Saturday night, the FT4JA team made 92232 QSOs with 22947 Unique callsigns per ClubLog as of 2054z, April 8th:
http://www.juandenovadx.com/en/online-log/
https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/FT4JA
Breakdown by modes are 18364/CW, 18275/SSB, and 3958/RTTY. Break- down by percentage by Continents are 1.0/AF, 0.0/AN, 16.0/AS, 60.6/EU, 20.8/NA, 0.9/OC and 0.6/SA. For more detailed information, see:
http://www.juandenovadx.com
LAST MINUTE NOTE: One of the FT4JA operators were heard saying on 20 meters Saturday, April 9th, that the team has reached 100k QSOs at 1820z.

HB0, LIECHTENSTEIN
A group of Dutch radio amateurs will be active as HB0/homecall from Steg, Liechtenstein, from April 16-23rd. Operators mentioned are Mans/PA2HGJ, Bobert/PA2RDK, Frank/PA3CNO, Henry/PA3HK, Gert/PE0MGB and Piet/PE1FLO. Operation will be on all bands, 160-10 meters using mainly CW and some SSB/Digital. QSL via PE1FLO.

HR5, HONDURAS
Gerard, F2JD, will once again be back in Honduras as HR5/F2JD from Copan between April 16th and July 13th. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via F6AJA, direct or via the French REF Bureau. The log will be posted on:

http://lesnouvellesdx.fr/voirlogs.php

IOTA NEWS
AS-026. Nobu, JA0JHQ, is now active as HL4ZHC from Seogwipo, Cheju Island (AS-026) until April 11th. Activity is on 160-15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. Visit his Blog page at:

http://pandasan.jimdo.com

AS-200. Kenji, JA4GXS, will be active as JA4GXS/5 from Naka Island (JA5 Ehime Prefecture) in the Shikoku's Coastal Islands Group between April 17-18th. Activity will be active on 40/30/20/17/15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via JA4GXS, by the Bureau or direct.

AS-202. (New IOTA) FINAL PRESS RELEASE (April 3rd) [edited]: In just 3 weeks from now, the A91HI DXpedition team will assemble in Al Dar, Bahrain, to prepare for their departure to Hawar Island AS-202 NEW. Since our last update, the team have been rather busy. All equipment has been shipped and has already arrived safely in Bahrain. Everything is good to go with all necessary clearances, permits and licenses now in hand.

Please give a big welcome to Charles, M0OXO, as our QSL Manager. As we will now have internet on the island, Charles plans to upload each day to Clublog. This will help to minimize any dupes.

We will be QRV with up to 5 stations at any one time. A comprehensive range of VDAs, verticals and SP7IDX technology Hexbeam antennas will be used to ensure good signals into all geographical areas of the world. We aim to work as many unique stations to give this brand new IOTA to as many as possible so therefore, we will only operate from 40m through 10m, CW, SSB and Digital.

New photos have been added to our website which is being updated regularly. Please consider making a small donation to help offset the team's expenses and remember, we are still offering a 'Free QSL' to those who donate a minimum of €5.00. http://a91hi.com/support/ We will be delighted to add your callsign to this page. A big thank you to those groups and individuals who have already contributed.

To make your QSO happen, we will now be QRV for one extra day - expect 1st signals from 18:00 UTC 27th April to 1st May 2016.

You can follow our progress on Twitter especially while we are en-route to the island where tips, news, plans and photos will continue. See for further up-dates.

See you soon from Hawar Island AS-202 NEW vy 73 de A91HI Team.

EU-112. Members of the GMDX Group (Scotland's DX Association) will be active as GS8VL/P from the Shiant Islands between April 14-17th (weather permitting). Operators mentioned are Gavin/ GM0GAV, Dave/GM0LVI, William/GM4ZNC and Charlie/MM0GNS. Activity will be on 40-15 meters using CW, SSB and maybe RTTY. QSL via GM4FDM.

EU-127. Operators Joe/DM4DL, Christoph/DM5HF, Marc/DL1MRD and Axel/DB1WA will be active as DR0F from Neuwerk Island (WFF DLFF-005) between July 28th and August 1st. QSL via DM4DL by the Bureau.

OC-183. Operators Pavel/VK6NAX and Sergey/VK6FSAG will be active as homecall/p from both Boullanger and Favorite Islands in the western part of Australia between April 15-18th (depending on the weather). Activity will be mostly on 40/20/15 meters CW and 40/15 meters SSB possibly (propagation depending). Their activation schedule (times and freqs) and QSL information is available on QRZ.com http://www.qrz.com/db/VK6NAX/P. Look for updates on QRZ.com.

SA-034. Operators Vasily/R7AA, Alexey/HC2AO and possibly others (Fausto/ HC5VF, Placido/CO7YM and Gunther/HC2G have been mentioned) will be active as HD2RRC (pending) and/or HC5ZY/2/p and HC2GRC/p from Puna Island sometime in mid-April. QSL via R7AA. The group is looking for funds which can be sent via PayPal to: r7aa@mail.ru

SA-090. If you worked 4M5I this past weekend, it was Luis, YV5ENI, on Piritu Islands. QSL via YV5ENI direct.

JW, SVALBARD
Kaare, LA8EKA, is currently active JW8EKA (was sign JW/LA8EKA first) from Svalbard Island (EU-026). Length of stay is not known. Activity has been on 20 meters SSB. QSL via his home callsign.

KH8, AMERICAN SAMOA (Reminder)
Tom, KC0W, is expected to be on the air as KH8/KC0W from Tutuila Island (OC-045) between April 11-18th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using mostly CW. QSL via KC0W direct.

OFFICERS FOR 2016-2017
On Monday, April 4th, the members of Northern Ohio DX Association (NODXA) re-elected the following to serve as officers between May 2016 and April 2017:

President: Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Vice President: Dwaine Modock, K8ME Secretary: Glenn Williams, AF8C Treasurer: Mary Michaelis, N8DMM Newsletter Editor: David Autry, WD8IOU
For more information about NODXA, check out the club's Web site at:
http://www.nodxa.org
NODXA has a FaceBook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation

PJ7, ST. MAARTEN (Early Announcement)
Phil, K0CD, will be active as PJ7/K0CD from Sint Maarten Island (NA-105) during the CQWW DX CW Contest (November 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All-Band (40-10m)/QRP/Unassisted entry. QSL via his home callsign.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (April 11-17th)

 Apr/11th LN      Apr/14th  AN     Apr/16th  AN
 Apr/12th LN      Apr/15th  HN     Apr/17th  AN
 Apr/13th LN


   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.

Also, checkout the VOACAP predication Web page at:

http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html

PS, BRAZIL (LH Op)
Look for Ed, PS7DX, to be active from the Calcanhar Lighthouse (ARLHS BRA 035) between April 15-17th. He plans to be in the CQMMDX Contest (April 16-17th) on 80 meters. QSL via PS7DX.

QSL INFO AND NEWS

  QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (April 9th) 
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4W/7K4QOK via 7K4QOK      EG5WRD via (L/e)       SN1050PBW via SP1PBW
  4W/JE1CKA via JE1CKA      HF100PP via SP5PPK     SN1050PKA via SP3PKA
  8P6DR via G3RWL & (L)     HZ1DG via EA7FTR       SN1050PRR via SP9PRR
  9M0O via OH2YY            LZ1700SIP via LZ1KCP   SV9/DL4KM/P via DL4KM
  9X9MM via SQ3PMM (d)      R102PWO via *          TA0/DL7UCX via DL7UCX
  AM1MDC via EC1CSV         RC55GC via UA3X        TC2016EXPO via TA4ED
  CE0Y/CA3SOC via (d/L/C/e) RG55GC via RZ3LC       V55DX via DO4DXA
  CS0RCL via (CT-B/d)       RL55GC via R3LA        V85AVE via W3HNK
  DL20GDXF via DL6DH        RM25RP via R5AX        W0W via N5CW (d)
  E50W via E51WL            SN1050LVK via SP4LVK   YR55GC via YO8AXP
    (e) eQSL only  (d) direct only   (B) Bureau only  (*-B) DX's- Bureau
    (O) OQRS only  (C) ClubLog only  (L) LoTW only    (*) eQSL.cc or Hamlog.ru
9M0O via OH2YY. Activity was by operators Pekka/OH2YY and Pekka/OH1TV from Spratly Island's Pulau Layang Layang Island (AS-051) between April 5-9th. Logs were expected to be uploaded to ClubLog.

U.S. POSTAGE GOING DOWN. For the first time in about a century, the U.S. Postal Service is dropping the cost to mail a letter by 2 cents. On April 10th, the price for a first class forever stamp will go from 49 cents to 47 cents. The cost of mailing post cards will drop from 35 to 34 cents. Other rates will also drop as part of the first price cut since 1919. More details at:

http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_019.htm

QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 8Q7NC, DD6UD/P, DY1/A61DJ (OC-042), J43TR, VE4DXR, VE7ACN/P (NA-051), VK0EK and Z21MG

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 3XY1D, 3XY1T (AF-051), 5H3JA, A35T, CE0Y/W7YAQ, FR/DJ7RJ, OJ0S and TX7G

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3Z14XMAS, 5B/SP7VC, 5W0AG, 7K1CPT, 7L4VYK, 8N150KC/1, 9K2/SP7TF, A52LSS, HF1TYTUS, HF3ATOMEK, HF0S, J3/SP7TF, J6/SP7TF, J8/SP7VC, J79SP, J79VC, KH2KY, PJ5J, SD7SUB, SE7M/LH, SN0CHIPHER, SN40KRF, SN82LOT, SN90IARU, SP50PAB, TM10FLY, TM48B, TM70DD, TM320NEO, TM850N, VP2V/SP6CIK, YV5EAH, YV5JAG, YV5SF, YV5TAV, YY5JPA, YY4GRO, YY4MGC, ZK3E and ZK3Q

RSGB NEWS
Following the announcement in January that Graham Coomber, G0NBI, was to retire from his role as General Manager of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), the RSGB is pleased to announce that Steve Thomas, M1ACB, has been appointed as his successor.

SEANET TO BE REACTIVATED (Press Release). [edited]
The Southeast Asia Net (SEANET) will be reactivated next week by the members of RAST, Thailand's National Amateur Radio Society. Beginning on Monday, April 11th, a Thai net control station will invite stations to check into SEANET from across the Southeast Asian region on 14.320 MHz from 1200z (7 p.m. in Bangkok and Jakarta) onwards. Subsequently, the net will be conducted twice a week, every Monday and Friday, when a Thai net control station will invite stations around the region to check in on a country-by-country basis. Later this year the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the patronage of His Majesty the King (RAST) will host the 2016 SEANET Convention in Pattaya, a popular beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand, from November 18-21st, and RAST President Jakkree Hantongkom (Jack), HS1FVL, along with directors of the society believe that it is important to ensure that the net on 20 meters continues to be conducted regularly. Amateur radio stations anywhere in the world are welcome to check into SEANET, whose main role is to be on standby to handle any medical or emergency traffic. In the past SEANET has helped sailors and crew members on yachts in distress while also serving as a guide to propagation conditions and being a meeting point for hams in the region where they can meet friends before QSYing away from the net frequency for a QSO. SEANET began operating on 14.320 MHz in late 1963 and the first SEANET Convention was held in Penang in 1971. Since then the convention has been an annual event while the net had been manned by volunteer net control stations from around the region. However, the net activity had declined and the it no longer meets regularly and this initiative by RAST hopes to redress this by conducting the net at least twice a week. It is still possible to register to attend the 44th SEANET Convention in Pattaya and full information can be found at the SEANET 2016 website:

http://www.seanet2016.com
Any amateur radio station can check into the net and the net control operator begins by calling for check-ins from countries in Southeast Asia, followed by elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific, then in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North, Central and South America. For more information about RAST and amateur radio in Thailand, please check out the English-language website http://www.qsl.net/rast/ while there is also a website in Thai http://www.rast.or.th/. Sincerely and 73 de Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX -- Vice President, RAST

TC2016, TURKEY (Special Event)
Look for special event station TC2016ANT to be active during "Expo 2016 Antalya", with the theme of "Flowers and Children", from Antalya between April 23rd and October 30th. QSL via TA4ED.

UP50, KAZAKHSTAN (Special Event)
Members of the UN8LWZ Radio Club in Kostanai are now using the special callsign UP50LWZ to celebrate their club's 50th anniversary until May 7th. QSL via RW6HS direct only.

VK0EK HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION NEWS
By the time you read this, the VK0EK DXpedition should be QRT or coming to a close (QRT April 11th, departure on the 12th). The latest news as this was being written:

* Status Update: Final Weekend by KY6R (2016-04-09 09:11:40z): Bad weather has begun to set in, and is likely to be here for a while. With our departure coming soon, this means that teardown is beginning. We will try to stay on the air as long as possible, but may have a reduced number of stations on the air, and a reduced complement of antennas to use. Watch DXA to see where our stations are operating. We will post updates as they become available, but everyone is busy here, either working the pileups or packing things up. Please listen to operator instructions---if they are calling for all-time new ones and you have us in the log, please stand by. At 0900z, the sky was overcast with a light wintry mix of precipitation falling (snow/graupel/ drizzle). The temperature was 2 C, sustained winds at or in excess of 30 kts, and a pressure of 968 mbar.

* Status Update: by KY6R (2016-04-09 14:31:04z): We've begun disassembling the antennas in anticipation of our impending departure. Our 80 meter operations have concluded. On 40 meters, we have gone from having a 4-square to a vertical. If you've seen the pictures of the partially- flooded area in which our low-band antennas are placed, you may have thought it was foreshadowing something, and you would be correct. Today, in high winds (>30 kt), light drizzle/snow/graupel, and water up to the middle of the shins, our intrepid crew recovered and disassembled the 80 meter vertical and 40 meter 4-square. Tonight, we're celebrating the birthday of Alan (VK6CW, VK0LD). As we were blowing up balloons to celebrate, a few CW contacts were made between squeaking balloons. Despite the cold and wind outside, all is well here in the tents. At 1400z it was partly cloudy (4 octas), the temperature was 3 C, strong westerly winds, and the pressure had risen to 978 mbar.

Here is a list of several important/interesting press releases that were again sent out and posted on their Web page over the past week. This includes many pictures being posted. All of the press releases can be viewed at: http://vk0ek.org The dates and titles of the press releases are as follows:

April 3rd: The Inquisitive Rock Hopper

http://vk0ek.org/2016/04/04/the-inquisitive-rock-hopper/
April 4th: So, Exactly How Many Operators Are On Right Now?
http://vk0ek.org/2016/04/04/so-exactly-how-many-operators-are-on-right-now/
April 4th: New Photo’s from Adam, K2ARB
http://vk0ek.org/2016/04/04/new-photos-from-adam-k2arb/
April 7th: Photo’s from Jim, N6TQ and Adam, K2ARB
http://vk0ek.org/2016/04/07/photos-from-jim-n6tq-and-adam-k2arb/
April 7th: Final Days of VK0EK (“ATNO Days”)
http://vk0ek.org/2016/04/07/final-days-of-vk0ek-atno-days/
April 8th: VK0EK Enters the “70K Club”!
https://vk0ek.org/2016/04/08/vk0ek-enters-the-70k-club/
April 9th: Visalia IDXA 2016 Preview
https://vk0ek.org/2016/04/09/visalia-idxa-2016-preview/
Just a reminder, operations will continue until April 11th and QSOs are now being logged almost instantly on the DXA Web page at: http://dxa3.org

QSL VK0EK via M0URX, direct or the OQRS (recommended) or LoTW. After the end of the operation, you can order either a Bureau or direct QSL card using the OQRS which will be processed by the QSL Manager (Tim Beaumont, M0URX). This method is by far the simplest way to proceed without having to send your own paper QSL! As this was being written Saturday night, the VK0EK team has made 73593 QSOs with 20773 Unique callsigns per ClubLog as of 2234z, April 9th:

https://secure.clublog.org/logsearch/VK0EK
Breakdown by modes are 54967/CW, 15472/SSB, 3148/RTTY and 6/FM. Break- down by percentage by Continents are 1.3/AF, 0.1/AN, 23.2/AS, 52.2/EU, 19.4/NA, 2.7/OC and 1.1/SA. For more detailed information, see:
http://vk0ek.org

YW0, AVES ISLAND
Rafael, YV5RED, reports on Twitter that it is very difficult now to receive the "many legal official permissions" from the "Venezuelan Army, CONATEL, MINEA, MRE" to do an operation. He also states, [edited] "RCV-ARV plan to do it, but without permission from the author- ities, it will be illegal". To follow the 4M5DX Group's tweets, go to: https://twitter.com/4m5dxgroup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Also watch: http://www.avesisland.info

ZD7, ST. HELENA
Bill, G0VDE, will be active as ZD7VDE from St. Helena Island between May 22nd and June 6th. Bill mentions that he is "planning to go to St. Helena on the first commercial flights, which is expected to be on May 22nd.... (The only problem is that the new Airport is not yet certified - this is expected to be in mid-April. If this does not happen in time I will have to delay my visit)." Activity will be on 40-10 meters using SSB, with some Digital modes (RTTY and PSK31) and maybe just a little CW. Bill states, "I am staying in self-catering accommodation a couple of miles from Jamestown, on a plateau above the town with a good take-off to the W, N and E. The radios I am planning to take are FT-991 and TS-2000, with a vertical antenna and a variety of wires, dipoles and fiberglass supports." QSL via ClubLog's OQRS. For more details and updates, see:

http://www.sthelenadx.com/index.php

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