OPDX Bulletin - Internet Edition
OPDX 545 January 14, 2002

Note: Beginning with OPDX Bulletin No. 393, web sites mentioned in the bulletin are highlighted as hyperlinks so you can click on them and go directly to the website! Email links have also been added so that your email program will launch automatically when clicking on an email address. Enjoy!

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 545
BID: $OPDX.545
January 14, 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, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, WB4PVT, KI6T, ND5S, N6DHZ, K8YSE, N0NM, CE6TBN, CT1END, DL1EK & DX News Letter, DL2RUM, E21EIC, F6AJA & LNDX, F8BBL, LA8AJA, PA9JJ, VA3RJ & ICPO, VK1AA, VK4FW and YT1AD for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT:
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 6/January, through Sunday, 13/January there were 228 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3D2/r, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4S, 4W, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5T, 5V, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9U, 9V, 9Y, A3, A4, A5, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C6, CE, CE0A, 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, F, FG, FH, FJ, FK, FM, FP, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J6, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JX, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH4, KH5, 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, PY0F, PZ, R1FJ, S2, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T30, T7, T8, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TR, TT, TU, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2E, VP2V, VP5, VP8, VP8/h, VP8/o, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XZ, YB, YI, YJ, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZD9, 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).

4W, EAST TIMOR
Thor, 4W6MM, continues to be active almost every weekend. This past weekend he was on 40/20/15 meters. He was heard on 21002 kHz around 0900z calling CQ with no takers before he moved to 7006 kHz after 0915z. From 1300-1330z, he was on 20 meters CW on 14002 kHz before moving to 14195 kHz and operated until 1450z.

8Q, MALDIVES
Denise, F6HWU, will be active from here between January 23rd and February 7th. She will be active mostly on CW. No other details were provided.

A5, BHUTAN
Ray, G3NOM, was heard active as A52OM over the past weekend. The length of his activity is unknown, but he was on 14009, 21025 and 21251 kHz during the period of 1300-1430z. QSL via G3NOM.

C5, THE GAMBIA
Jan, PA9JJ, announces that he will go on a little DXpedition to The Gambia. He will be there from April 15-29th, and will be staying in the Senagambia Hotel in Kololi. Jan will be asking for the callsign C56JJ upon his arrival in Banjul, but he is not 100% sure if he will get this. He will try to operate on 80/40 meters and the WARC bands mainly on SSB but also the other bands and some CW. There will be no RTTY and no topband operations. His rig will be the FT-100 running 100 watts and a multiband dipole antenna. Jan is actually on holiday, so no 24 hour activity. Logs will be available on his web site after returning at:

http://www.qsl.net/pa9jj
QSL via PA9JJ. Please include a greenstamp if QSLing direct.

CLUB OFFICERS FOR 2002
It was announced that the 2002 officers for the "Mother Lode DX/Contest Club" are:


            Ray Parker,    ND6S          President
            Dick Wilson,   K6LRN         Vice President
            Gary Stilwell, KI6T          Secretary/Treasurer
            Ron St. Jean,  KG6CMS        Director
            Rick Casey,    W6RKC         Director

DU1, PHILIPPINES
Larry, N6HPX, will be going on vacation again to the Manila area and plans to operate from there as N6HPX/DU1. He plans to be active on 20-6 meters. This should take place after January 15th. He plans to also operate on 6 meters since it has been hopping the last few weeks and hopes to listen around 50.125-260 Mhz. He will also devote more time to the other bands like 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters as well. The QSL mailing route is: Larry Fields, 1207 E.Victoria Ct., San Pablo, Calif., 94806 USA. QSLs can also be sent via the W6 bureau, or through the PARA, the Philippines Amateur Radio Association. He will respond to all as soon as he receives them. This trip is again a vacation, and he will spend as much time as possible on the air.

DU6, PHILIPPINES
Gerard, F2JD, who has been in the DU-land, was active from Boracay Island (OC-129) as DU6/G0SHN, but unfortunatly he made only a hundred contacts.

DU9, PHILIPPINES (160m Activity)
Jon, N0NM, is now active as DU9/N0NM from Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, and reports that he has installed an inverted L for 160 meters. He is currently only running 100 watts with his Icom-756, but hope to get an amp soon. Jon states that he is listening during his sunrise and sunset. His sunrise is about 2130-2200z. This past week he was also heard on 40 meters (7008 kHz) around 1315z. QSL via W4DR.

FS, ST. MARTIN
Look for Ron/ND5S and Sue/KF5LG to be active as FS/ND5S and PJ7/KF5LG between February 11-22nd. They will be staying on the Dutch side of the island (see PJ7 below) but will venture to the French side of the island during their stay. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, CW and RTTY primarily with some SSB. QSL via their home callsigns, direct or bureau. Ron's web page is at:

http://www.qsl.net/nd5s

IOTA NEWS
SA-021. Memebers of the Argentina DX Group will activate Bermejo Island, February 1-3th. Look for operators LU1DK/D (Daniel), LU8EEM/D (Ruben), LU7DP/D (Paty), LU7DR/D (Mauricio), LU7DSY/D (Carlos) and LU8DWR/D (Osmar)to be active on 160/80/40/20/ 17/15/12/10/6/2 meters on CW/SSB. Equipment will be Yaesus FT-757, FT-301, FT-101ZD and FT-840 for HF, and Yaesus FT-212 and FT-2600 for VHF. Antennas are: Directional Yagi for 20/15/ 10/6/2 meters; Vertical for 12/17/20/40 meters; Dipoles for 80/40 meters; and long wire 160-40 meters. QSL via LU8DWR: Osmar Margoni, P.O.BOX 22, 8103 ING. White, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA.

JW, SVALBARD
Andreas/LA8AJA and Jan/LA5QFA will be active from here now through January 20th. Activity will take place from the JW5E's club house in Longyear City, on 160-6 meters, CW/SSB and maybe some RTTY. Callsigns to be used will be JW4X for 6 meters, else JW5QFA and JW8AJA. They will have a 6 meter beacon running 24 hours on 50080 kHz sending "JW4X BEACON JQ78 + phone number". If you hear their beacon, they want you to call them on the phone. LA8AJA's phone number is +47 95161006. LA5QFA's phone number is +47 41688884. They will transmit on CW/SSB on 50145 kHz. QSL Manager for JW4X and JW5QFA is LA6EIA via the bureau or direct to: Ole Forr, Frya, N-2647 Hundorp, Norway. QSL JW8AJA is via LA8AJA, bureau or direct. LA8AJA's Web page has more information on this operation at:

http://www.qsl.net/la8aja

KH1, BAKER & HOWLAND ISLAND (Also T2)
Dr. Hrane Milosevic, YT1AD, informs OPDX that he has received landing permission from United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and plans to activate Baker Island at the end of April. The list of international operators are: YT1AD, YU1AU, YZ7AA, RZ3AA, Z32AU, Z31FU, Z32ZM, K1LZ, K6NDV, N6TQS, KW4DA, AH6HY, K3NA and possibly YU7AV, G3UML, YU1NR, YU1DX and W2YC. Part of the team of operators will leave/depart on April 23rd from Port Denarau-Nadi, Fiji, for a 6 day trip (1100 miles one way) to KH1 on the boat the "Princess II". Five of the operators will leave Fiji by plane to Funufuti, Tuvalu (T2), to operate for 3 days before the "Princess II" arrives and picks them up and refuels before they head to KH1. The team expectes to arrive on KH1 on April 29-30th, and expect to be active by April 30th. Activity will last until May 10th. They will then return to Fiji before heading to LA and onto the Dayton HamVention. The callsign will not be announced until after their landing on KH1. Activity will be on 160-2 meters with operations on CW/SSB/FM/PSK/ RTTY/ SSTV/Satelite (144/28 MHz). Their list of equipment include: 6 transceivers, 5 LPA (3 x ACOM 1000 + 2 x 400 W), 6 beams, 3 verticals, 2 dipoles, 2 beverage 320m, 2 generators 5 kW, 2 generators 2 kW, 1 km coax cable, 2 km wire, 1 km cord, 2000 l fuel, 120 anchors for support and 4 tents. Their pilots are: VE3EXY and YU1AA. Their Web masters are: 4N1NM and 4N1FG. Total cost for this trip is about 80,000 USD, without op's flying tickets. Any donations are welcome. For sending donations, please contact Will, K6NDV, via E-mail at: k6ndv@contesting.com QSL all CW/RTTY/PSK/SSTV QSOs via YT1AD. For all SSB, QSOs QSL via RZ3AA.

KH4, MIDWAY ISLAND
Tom, DL2RUM, informs OPDX that after the cancellation of their trip to Midway last September, they now have a new confirmed date for their activity as KH4/DL7VFR and KH4/DL2RUM, March 3-16th. They will have two stations active on 160-6 meters with operations on CW/SSB/RTTY.

PIRATE ALERT
Laurent, F8BBL, has informed OPDX that someone has been using his callsign for the last two months on CW, SSB, RTTY, and also on the DX PacketClusters putting out bogus spots for YA, P5, VP8 and LU1 stations. He states that he has written to the French REF Union Intruders Commission and also has notified the French Regular Telecommunication Authority (ART) and the French National Frequencies Authority (ANF).

PJ7, ST. MAARTEN
Ron/ND5S and Sue/KF5LG will again be active from Dutch St.Maarten as PJ7/ND5S and PJ7/KF5LG from February 11-22nd. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, CW and RTTY primarily with some SSB. Ron will be active in the ARRL CW DX Contest SOABLP. Ron states that over 8,000 peri-contest contacts have been made from here in past years. QSL via their home callsigns, direct or bureau. Ron's web page is at:

http://www.qsl.net/nd5s

PY0F, FERNANDO DE NORONHA
It was anounced that Bill, W5SJ, plans to participate in the CQWW DX 160m CW Contest from Andre's PY0FF QTH at the end of January. He will be there between January 23-29th. Activity is planned before and after the contest on all bands, mostly CW, with some SSB and 6 meter operations.

QSL INFO AND NEWS
Marco, CE6TBN, reports that he has a new QSL Manager. His new QSL Manager is N1IBM (he managed Marco's QSOs from 1999, including his CE6TBN/7 SA-018 opration 2000-2001). QSL CE6TBN via N1IBM: Morris E. Maze III, 847 Dolan St., Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734 USA.

Special event station HS1BK, which was active this past weekend to celebrate the 89th anniversary of the historical Siam Radio Telegraph Building (HS-BK), should be QSLed to E21EIC: Champ C. Muangamphun, P.O.Box 1090, Kasetsart Bangkok, 10903 THAILAND.

NOT THE QSL MANAGER. Bill, K0DEQ, reports that he is NOT the QSL Manager for KP2J.

OD5NJ/p activity was by OD5NJ (Gabi) and EA5BYP (Elmo) operating from Ramkin Island (AS-108). QSL via K1WY.

QSL Manager Bill Horner, VK4FW, would like to remind everyone that his old "P.O. Box 929" address will totally cease operation as of April 2002. Currently, he is having his mail forwarded up until then. The new P.O. address is: P.O. Box 1343, Maroochydore, 4558, Australia. It takes approx. 4 weeks for mail to be forwarded from the old address. He would appreciate it if this was spread far and wide to ensure that there are no problems with QSLing turnarounds etc.....

SPECIAL EVENT
Look for the Brazilian special event callsign ZX2F to be used now through February 12th, during a Ham radio public demonstration and during the big Fig Festival held annualy in Valinhos/SP - Brazil. The operators will be running a full equipped station on all bands/modes in order to celebrate the event and also to introduce the local people to the ham radio hobby. Special attention will be given to the WARC bands. A colored QSL card will be available via PY2AE (qrz.com) after the event.

V5, NAMIBIA
Klaus, DJ4SO, will be operating as V5/DJ4SO from Janaury 16th through February 6th. He will be a guest on a farm near Windhoek. Activity will be on 160-10 meters on CW/RTTY and possiblly a little SSB and 6 meters. QSL via the bureau or direct. For bureau QSLs, you can E-mail your QSO info to: dj4so@darc.de

VK9 MELLISH OPERATORS WANTED
Nick, VK1AA, informs the DX community this past week that the VK9M team is looking for 1 CW and 1 CW/low band operator to join them for their expedition approximately April 10-25th. If you are interested, contact Nick via E-mail at: vk1aa@qsl.net

VP5, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
John/G4RCG, Ray/VK4BRC and Bruce/KI7VR are planning to be active from North Caicos Island using the callsigns VP5/homecalls between January 20th and February 2nd. Their activities will include operations on 160-10 meters and also an entry in the CQWW 160m CW Contest on January 25-27th. QSL via homecalls.

VP8/SG & VP8SS DXPEDITION UPDATE
As this was being written, the whole South Sandwich and South Georgia DXpedition team was expected to meet at at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, and should have departed on the vessel "Braveheart" to head to South Sandwich Islands on January 12th. This will be a 7 to 8 day voyage, so we may hear them next weekend. Be listening for James, 9V1YC/MM, on 14025 kHz between 0100-0200z for updates and news.

WEB SITE ANNOUNCED
The 2002 International DX Convention now has a Web site at:

http://www.qsl.net/visalia2002
The International DX Convention is held each year in Visalia, California USA. The year 2002 will be the 53rd year for the convention and is presented this year by the Southern California DX Club.

YA, AFGHANISTAN
Nick, G4KUX, has been active as G4KUX/YA and usually on 20 meters. Reports indicate that he is there working and setting up an international communication network. Also reported is the ARRL has NOT received any documentation from Nick. So WFWL. He is expected to be here for a while. Watch 14198 kHz after 0330z.

SPECIAL NOTE BY EDITOR: If you are having a problem receiving bounced mail by sending mail to me via " kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org ", please send mail to me via " kb8nw@arrl.net "...... TNX de Tedd KB8NW

OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

Help: opdx-request@nshore.org Subject:help
Subscribe: opdx-request@nshore.org Subject:subscribe
Unsubscribe: opdx-request@nshore.org Subject:unsubscribe

OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE):
http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

ALSO VISIT THE NORTERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.papays.com/nodxa.html

Excerpts and distribution of The OPDX Bulletin are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receive credit. To contribute DX info, call BARF-80 BBS online at 440-237-8208 28.8k/14400/9600/2400/1200 and leave a message with the Sysop or send via InterNet Mail to:

kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
- OR -
Use the VOICE or FAX answering machine at 440-237-8208
which shares the same phone line as BARF-80 BBS using a data/fax/phone switch. To access: 1) Dial Number. 2) Wait for first ring (the second ring should be a false ring from the fax/data switch box) and then dial four quick ones ("1111"). (NOTE: Some FAX machines that send single "BEEPS" every second will not have to do this step.) 3) The phone will pick up and after the "BEEP" leave your voice message or FAX.

Additional Bulletins for OPDX InterNet Subscribers

From: "Alan Roocroft" {almee@bigpond.com}
To: "DX News - OPDX" {kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org}
Subject: IRCs
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 16:04:15 +1000
MIME-Version: 1.0

I have been getting some pieces of information about the future of International Reply Coupons (I.R.C.s) and things are finally happening. The type of IRC that we have been using world-wide for so many years is being phased out. The new (larger) type are now in use as I've received a number already. Two post offices have told me that the old type will be honoured for a short time but neither was able to give me a "cut off" date yet.

The new ones, besides being larger, have a "use by" date printed on them (appears to be 5 years from date of issue) and they will NOT be honoured after that date.

TO AVOID BEING CAUGHT WITH USELESS COUPONS WE SHOULD STOP CIRCULATING OLD ONES THAT WE RECEIVE.... CASH THEM IN.... NOW !!! The new type can be circulated while they are still fairly new, however. Other QSL managers, with whom I have spoken about this matter, agree that if we receive "out-of-date" IRCs that the post office refuses..... we will be unable to respond to the QSL request. If uncertain, use the good old Greenstamp. A US$ often costs less than a new IRC, anyway. Ask your local post office for more information.

Alan Roocroft....VK4AAR
POB 421
Gatton 4343
Australia

Phone: +61 7 54661880
Fax: +61 7 54661880
Mobile: 0407-752742

Back to the OPDX Index
Back to the NODXA
Back to the EIDX Network